Paul Begala unleashes on 'gutless, spineless, soulless hacks' Republicans for blocking veterans health bill
Democratic strategist Paul Begala unleashed on Republicans for flip-flopping on their support for the veterans' health legislation that would help those who've developed cancers and other health issues after exposure to toxic chemicals and toxic burn pits during combat operations.
"There's a special place for Republicans who oppose helping save the lives of the men and women who served our country," he began. "It's Sunday, I don't want to say where it is, but it is not the United States Senate. They don't belong there. They are gutless, spineless, soulless hacks. I cannot believe that people excuse this. It is the exact same bill. They've passed it before. The only thing that changed is the politics. I think they're angry that Sen. [Joe] Manchin is passing the president's climate and health care bill. Fight about that later. But to do that to veterans is despicable. I'm being careful to watch my language but, you can imagine what I'm thinking."
Conservative Alice Stewart tried to explain that Democrats have added things that somehow make it unacceptable for Republicans to support. In reality, what was added by Democrats in the House was nothing more than a technical fix that required the Senate to vote on it again. It shouldn't have been controversial, given 84 Senators supported it just weeks before.
There are no additional parts of the legislation that would have done something outside of the original intent and purpose of the bill. It was a technical fix and nothing more. The so-called "budget" issue they have with the bill was in the bill they supported months prior.
What has changed, however, is that Republicans didn't think that President Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" bill was going to pass after Manchin indicated he was against it. Manchin worked with Democrats to rework the bill and put it into the budget reconciliation package that can't be filibustered.
Republicans have tried to stop all legislation from moving forward under Biden's presidency to eliminate any possibility of Democrats being able to show progress. The problem they faced, however, is that a lot of the bills moving through are bipartisan, if not straight-up GOP supported.
Republican Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) was furious when he saw his GOP colleagues vote against the semiconductor bill that he has been trying to pass for years. He explained to Raw Story that the bill was suggested by top Cabinet secretaries in Donald Trump's administration because manufacturing was brought to a stop in the 2020 COVID crisis. Not being able to have certain chips and electronics, and relying on Taiwan for them, put the U.S. in a difficult position climbing out of the supply chain issues post-pandemic.
McCaul also said that it made good sense in terms of national security. If China were to invade Taiwan, it would mean China would also be taking over chips used in American defense equipment. Republicans were supportive of the effort, in fact, many of them voted for it two years ago, but suddenly some of McCaul's colleagues refused to support it this year.
Sen. Jon Cornyn (R-TX) was miffed, saying that he felt tricked by Republicans supporting the semiconductor bill and then being told the Manchin bill would be under budget reconciliation that they couldn't stop from passing. It was hours later that Manchin announced the budget package. So, Republicans can't stop the budget bill and the only other legislation that will likely come up for a vote is the veterans' bill. Protesting the veterans' legislation is the only power they have left to exercise, even if it is a public relations disaster for them.
Alice Stewart later dismissed the veterans' bill, saying that Americans won't care about issues like the burn pits during the election because they care about pocketbook issues and inflation. Families fighting cancers from these burn pits are being pressed with impossible expenses and are losing family members. One soldier's wife who appeared on CNN earlier Sunday afternoon explained that after being diagnosed and knowing there was no money or help, the soldier simply committed suicide.
Begala explained that it's Republicans who are playing politics with the veterans' bill.
The adage goes that when a politician is trying to explain away something, they're losing. That will likely become the case for the GOP on this issue.
Approximately 3 million veterans could be impacted.
See the debate below:
Leave a Comment
Related Post