While many are highlighting the importance of women's issues in this election, issues concerning veterans should be just as important to the American people. The thousands of courageous men and women who risk there lives everyday protecting this country deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and honored immensely for their service once they return home.
Unfortunately, the United States has a history riddled with instances of government failures in providing services and aid to veterans who need it most. Although the 1994 GI Bill was a much-need step in the right direction and provided government aid to hundreds of thousands of veterans returning from World War II, this country still faces the challenge of helping present-day soldiers returning from combat in the Middle East.
Currently, America remains a nation at war which means an entirely new generation of veterans who will be returning home. With the drastic improvement in emergency medical care, more and more wounded soldiers are surviving once fatal wounds, further increasing the number of veteran who will need government assistance when they return home.
As Huffington Post writer Joseph Graziano points out in his recent article, "The Mystifying Misperception," this "plight of the American veteran is not a new ticket item in electoral politics."
He writes, "Our political leaders have been called to step up and honor the promises made to our veterans for over ten years now. And the notion that the American veteran deserves better can -- and by now should -- be a bipartisan issue around which both sides of the aisle rally to action."
The fact that there is a stark difference in the way each party handles veterans is considered ridiculous by some because both parties can agree that veterans should be honored and rewarded for their service. The idea that these young men and women can be sent to war by the same government who denies them adequate aid when they return is deplorable. And that is arguably what the Republican party supports based on their past and current actions.
Graziano's piece describes the 'mystifying misperception' that is the enduring connection between veterans and the Republican party. This misperception, Graziano says, is the assumption that the traditionally pro-war party will be more inclined to serve those who served this country once they return home from the war they endorsed.
The article makes it clear that neither party has done enough to meet the needs of veterans and their families. However, it does point out the trend of the Republican party to support war while doing little to aid the individuals who are fighting it.
Despite this trend, veterans have been and continue to be more ardent supporters of the Republican party. According to a recent Politico poll, Governor Romney has a comfortable 20 point lead over President Obama in the veteran vote.
When examining the partisan divide on the treatment of ex-service men and women, Graziano argues "one needs only examine the past two presidential administrations to highlight the stark differences" between the parties.
During the Bush administration there were almost as many homeless veterans than there were backlogs in disability claims. On any given day during his presidency, there were about 300,000 homeless veterans in this country and about 400,000 backlogs, and no solutions were offered to fix these issues, "only excuses," Graziano wrote.
"Veterans were left wondering if the Bush administration was just waiting for them to die," Graziano states.
Basically, the article outlines how the Republican Bush administration had no real plan for the estimated 700,000 veterans who would eventually enter the Dept. of Veteran Affairs (VA). Budget cuts proved more important than aiding the hundreds of thousands of men and women loyal to protecting this country as the "VA itself was structured to deny rather than facilitate compensation" under Bush.
Graziano starkly contrasts this handling of veteran programs with a more "passionate problem-solving" Obama administration. Under Obama, the new VA budget has allowed 266,000 veterans who had lost their VA benefits under the Bush administration to re-enroll.
General Shinseki, Secretary of VA, recently praised President Obama in his speech at the Democratic National Convention:
"Since President Obama took office, nearly 800,000 veterans gained access to VA healthcare. There's been a historic expansion of treatment for PTSD and traumatic brain injury. President Obama has expanded job training to prepare vets for the jobs of the future. And we're on track to end veterans' homelessness by 2015. No president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has done more for veterans."
It is important, however, to note that the main differences between each parties' commitment to our veterans are evident even outside the last two presidential administrations. Instead, these differences were most recently on display during last month's Senate vote on the Veterans Job Corps Act of 2012.
Graziano argued, "This Act should not have been a controversial issue that divided our Senate along party lines. The Veterans Job Corps Act proposed spending $1 billion over 5 years to help put veterans back to work by offering our veterans jobs servicing federal lands and bridges, while helping other veterans secure positions as police officers and fire fighters. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans placed their hatred of Obama in front of their duty to serve our veterans. The bill fell two votes short of passing when 40 Republicans voted to kill the bill, claiming that it was too expensive."
While each party shares similar sentiments regarding the importance of veteran aid after service, it is evident that the Republican party is less successful with following through with these ideals.
Regardless of which party does what, Graziano rightly labels American as "a forward looking nation prone to forget its past, especially when that past is burdensome" and points out that "Since the American Revolution, we have consistently failed to adequately care for our disabled veterans."
Hopefully, Democrats and Republicans will one day put aside their differences and "reach across the isle" to come to a solution to the myriad of issues faced by veterans when transitioning from military life to civilian life.
RESOURCES:
Forgotton Heros: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/03/04/forgotten-heroes.html
Great aricle: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-graziano/returning-veterans-_b_2017297.html
Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-munoz-frank-islam-and-ed-crego/election-day-and-veterans_b_2018074.html
http://www.govexec.com/defense/2012/10/video-daily-show-goes-mission-help-vets-get-jobs/59016/?oref=river
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