GOPer Toomey mocks Democrats trying to help veterans in defense of shooting down health bill
Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday morning, a combative and animated Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) defended taking the lead in shooting down a much-needed veterans' health bill over a procedural issue while mocking Democrats for wanting to help those in need.
Toomey, who has been the subject of a wave of criticism for blocking the bill aimed at helping vets suffering the after-effects of burn pits overseas was first asked by host Jake Tapper to watch a video clip of a military widow whose husband committed suicide to spare his family the expense of his medical care.
"What do you say to those who find it impossible to believe that of all the multitrillion of dollars in our federal budget, this is where you and Republicans decided to take a stand?" host Tapper asked.
"Here's what you need to keep in mind, Jake," the unmoved Pennsylvania Republican shot back. "First of all, this is the oldest trick in Washington. People take a sympathetic group of Americans and it could be children with an illness, it could be victims of crime, it could be veterans who have been exposed to toxic chemicals, craft a bill to address their problems and then sneak in something completely unrelated that they know could never pass on its own and dare Republicans to do anything about it because they know they'll unleash their allies in the media and maybe a pseudocelebrity to make up false accusations to try to get us to just swallow what shouldn't be there. That's what's happening here, Jake."
Toomey then went on to complain about an amendment that has been in the bill since its inception and said that now he wants a vote to be held to strip it out.
"If I get my way, I get my change, it will not change by one penny in spending on any veterans program," he asserted. "What I'm trying to do is change a government accounting methodology designed to allow our Democratic colleagues to go on an unrelated $400 billion spending spree that has nothing to do with veterans and won't be in the veteran's space. That's what I'm trying to do. They could have agreed to this a month ago and this bill would sail through at any time. We can resolve this with an amendment vote but some Democrats don't want an amendment vote."
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