The Erratic Joe Wilson's Shameful Record on Troops and Veterans

The only thing more "out there" than Joe Wilson's disrespectful display during the president's speech to Congress on health care is Representative Wilson's all over the place take on two of the largest government-run health systems there are -- the ones that benefit our troops and veterans.

Wilson has railed against health care reform, warning that offering more choice to people amounts to a government takeover of health insurance. To him, it's an evil that has to be defeated.

Yet, at the same time, Wilson hasn't said whether he's opted into TRICARE for Life. The completely government-run health insurance system for certain military retirees is available to Wilson, as he's a 31-year Guard and Reserve veteran (though he joined after getting out of Vietnam). If he's not, of course, then he's taking insurance from the government-run pool offered to Congressmen. Then, there's all of our active duty service members who are on TRICARE -- stuck in an evil government system that must have turned them into Communists by now.

Wilson has saved them and gotten them out of TRICARE, right?

Right?

"TRICARE provides world class health care," said Wilson in a press release. "I believe TRICARE is one part of our health care system that's working."

What?! Joe Wilson is all for this horrible fascist system of government care?

Well, maybe not. Despite being against government health care, and then paying lip service about the awesomeness of government-run TRICARE, Wilson's voted to underfund it.

In 2007, Wilson was against $1.9 billion for military medical care (including funds for Walter Reed) and in 2005 voted against expanding TRICARE eligibility for our Guard and Reserve components, despite the fact that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has them fighting alongside the active component more than ever before.

OK, so Wilson suffers from split personality disorder when it comes to government health care for troops. But, he must be against the Department of Veterans Affairs, another bastion of Marxist thought, turning generations of American veterans into pinkos.

"With a growing number of servicemembers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, we must go to great measures to ensure our veterans receive the best care possible. That means greater oversight of the facilities, hospitals, and clinics that care for our veterans. They deserve access to the highest quality medical technology and a health care system that is responsive to their immediate and long-term needs. Their sacrifice and commitment to this nation deserves nothing less," said Wilson on his campaign site.

Gosh, that sounds just like Hitler, doesn't it?

Oh, but thank heaven, Joe Wilson voted repeatedly to cut veterans care, and save us from modern day Leninism. He voted for a $14 million cut in 2003, against $1.6 billion for the agency in 2005, $2.9 billion again in 2005, for a $13.5 billion cut in 2005, against $1.8 billion in 2003, and millions and millions more.

Maybe it's asking too much for me to ask that Joe Wilson think like a rational human being, but I'll ask anyway. He needs to decide whether offering citizens the option of getting the same kind of coverage we in the military get is evil or not evil.

If it's not -- if military and veterans government-run insurance and care is not malevolent -- then he needs to stop his shouting and properly fund TRICARE and the VA, and let everyone have the option of getting a public insurance plan.

But, if government-run care and insurance really is wicked, then he needs to stop lying about how he feels about TRICARE and Veterans Care. He should tell the truth about why he voted against funding for those programs -- because he thinks troops and veterans should be left out in the cold and turned away in return for their service.

Until he's honest about his position on Veterans Care, Military Care, and the Public Option, I can only say this: Representative Wilson, YOU LIE.

Crossposted at VetVoice.com

Follow Jon Soltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jonsoltz

Comments

[t9chi]

And they just said on tv he had 3 sons in Iraq at the same time.

[isthatso]

The only thing that wilson seems to want is for himself. Like many of his party.

[Greg2000]

Excellent post!

[Rule Of Law]

Spot on Jon! Now we can cut through the k-rap.

This isn't about party politics. It isn't a battle between liberal and so called conservative ideologies. It isn't even a fight between humanistic goodness and "survival of the fittest" social Darwinism.

This is Class Warfare--and we need to admit it to ourselves, right now.

Every time these people in power have the chance to inflict more pain, more damage, more abuse on Americans, especially those that have given there all in two unconscionable wars, they are inflicting on this country more punishment meant only to demoralize and defeat us.

It's not about the money, people. It's about the power and the control. The Oligarchs want it all. And that's not enough. They want us to have nothing! And they take it every chance they get. Class Warfare. Welcome to the new Feudalism.

[seal62]

Jon...thank you

[hischagal]

Great blog. A message to all republicans: "You lie."

[KateinAZ]

The government is so quick to send in the troops! With the amazing advances in medicine many of our seriously wounded troops are alive but then they come home to THIS! We are such a selfish bunch of people and the Republicans lead the charge!

[lightfighter92]

I'm a veteran and you people need to get off your lazy buts and stop googling stuff and do some research. All you have to do is go to factcheck.org to get the real story on the lies you keep projecting.. Also, Joe Wilson is about the only one who says if the Health Care Bills passes, anyone in Congress must opt out of their current plan and go into the public option. How many of you drones believe Democrats and Republicans alike will do this?

By the way, Joe Wilson didn't say specifically Wednesday night "I Hate the Bill". He told the president he was lying. Which he was on more than one occasion. Take the two heart wrenching cases of the two people Obama made everyone believe died because their insurance companies dropped them. Do some research. The first case, the insurance company did drop him, but picked him right back up, paid for a very expensive stem cell experiment. The man lived three years, fully covered. The other lady lied three or four times to her insurance company. She was dropped because she lied (I see a pattern here), not because she had cancer.

Your hatred has blinded all of you to the truth. I don't care what party you are from, find out the truth first.

[Gidster]

As a veteran, and a researcher, I can tell you straight up, your blind adherence to ideology has made you immune to the truth.

The President did not lie. On page 143 of HR 3200, the bill that Obama was referencing:

SEC. 246. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS.
Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.
http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

So in fact, Wilson was lying, and continues to do so. The lady in question did not disclose adolescent acne...How in any way shape or form is that medically relevant to Cancer?

Also your suggestion that everyone dropped from insurance roles are liars is naive.

[33Greeper]

I thinks the DNC will rally all their resources to defeat Addison "Joe" (the south will rise again) Wilson. His career in the House of Representatives will be over in January 2011. Good riddance r@acist Joe!

[ProudMilVet]

Joe Wilson= Typical Republican Hypocrit !

[lastpost]

“Maybe it's asking too much for me to ask that Joe Wilson think like a rational human being”

In personal internal renditions, the checks and balances of external reality are not obliged to add up.

“is evil or not evil”

For “evil”, read “expedient”.

[KoolAidAmerica]

This brings to mind an episode not so long ago when another President made a claim which, by all accounts, he really believed to be true. Unlike the case with Obama, however, where we can't find any experts willing to support his claim, when President George W. Bush went before the country in 2002 and stated he believed Saddam Hussein had WMDs there was a truckload of people - including a number of Democratic Senators, the Clinton administration, current and former intelligence officials, and a number of foreign governments - who had all seen the evidence and came to the same conclusion as President Bush.

But that didn't stop liberals and Democrats in Congress from repeating over and over again for years that Bush "lied" about the matter. Not surprisingly, one of the loudest and most shrill of those voices was Bob Herbert, who opined regularly that the Bush administration "specialized in deceit" and was guilty of "incompetence, duplicity, bad faith and outright lies."

[Rule Of Law]

Sure, since Bush had the CIA sift all the intel to present only information that supported his preconceived biases, I'd guess that he believed it too.

[Gidster]

It has been proven that Saddam had no WMD, no delivery system, no "Yellow cake Uranium from Niger", no ties to Al-Qaeda.

In 2002, the UN Inspectors found no evidence to suggest Saddam had WMDs, the White House respons was to ramp up ties to Al-Qaeda and the 9/11 attacks.

All of which turned out to be false.

They may have believed it from the start, but now we know how the intelligence was cherry picked, and fluffed to support the invasion of Iraq, which was being discussed as early as April 01!

So yeah...Bush lied. Cheney lied. Rice Lied. Powell lied........Those are hard facts.

[leftcoastindy]

President George W. Bush went before the country in 2002 and stated .... - who had all seen the evidence and came to the same conclusion as President Bush."

You can't possibly provide a link to all that 'evidence' because it never existed except in your little fairy tale world. It was all lies and you, Mr. Koolaid, fell for it hook line and sinker. Now that it has been revealed that there was NO solid evidence and that everyone in the Bush admin knew that in 2002 and that Bush without question DID LIE in his speech, your BS is just silly.

[KoolAidAmerica]

Here's a question: if I went out and made a claim I believed but no one else thought possible - that a greyhound could outrun a cheetah, for example - would that be considered a lie or just naive, wishful thinking?

The reason I bring this up is because Bob Herbert made a rather astonishing admission about President Obama's health care plan in his column on Saturday:

The president also said, as he estimated the cost of his proposal at $900 billion over 10 years, that he “will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits — either now or in the future.”

I'm sure he means it. But I have not spoken to anyone, either on Capitol Hill or elsewhere, who believes that is doable. (emphasis added)

So Obama's assertion he can expand coverage and care without adding a dime to the deficit over the next ten years is, by the admission of even one of his most ardent supporters, a claim that virtually no one believes. Generically speaking, when someone makes a claim that no one believes it's characterized as a lie.

[Gidster]

See this is where you lose all credibility.

When Herbert was critical of Bush, you claimed he was a partisan "shrill" voice.

Now that he criticizes Obama, suddenly he is wise.....?

[leftcoastindy]

Generically speaking, when someone makes a claim that no one believes it's characterized as a lie."

A lie is a lie if its not what the person telling it actually believes. The facts are completely irrelevent.

So even you can understand - If I say, Mr KoolAid is a smart man", that would be a lie because I don't believe that statement. Your IQ - or lack thereof - is irrelevent.

You're welcome for the lesson.

[TggerJen]

I'm disappointed in Wilson's record on healthcare for veteran's and our military, but not surprised. I was surprised at how bad some other Republicans' records are - like McCain's, for example. I hope we do better for ALL who served - we owe them and their families and no excuses are acceptable.

[Texleft]

I can't for the life of me figure how they-repubs-can rationalize a society of no taxes, no government at all like Marx preached, and yet expect a large standing army to be all over the earth sticking a bayonet in someone they don't like. Keep that up and you can look forward to God tossing you out of heaven for pulling up the streets of gold.

[Gidster]

Yet Liberals are now "Marxists".....The reality lack is stunning!