Just when you thought the feds couldn’t screw war veterans any more than they already have, the government has come along with yet another callous gimmick.
On November 30, Democratic Congressional candidate Bill O’Neill, a Vietnam Veteran whose son has done tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, alerted the media that the Defense Department has been billing wounded soldiers — asking them to refund their enlistment bonuses if their injuries prevent them from completing their contracts. “You don’t have to have served your country to be offended by a policy like this,” O’Neill says. “When a soldier is injured in the line of duty we are all wounded. To me this is an insult.”
The VA already had been criticized for delaying and denying treatment for injured veterans returning from Iraq. Now it appears they’re actually charging them for their injuries, a move many have compared to firing a guy right before Christmas, only 4,345 times meaner.
Congress has responded by proposing a bill that would bar the federal government for seeking such a refund. But on the list of 219 co-sponsors, O’Neill’s congressional opponent, Steve LaTourette (R-Any Place Big Enough to Fit Him, His Pointy Tail, and His Pitchfork), is nowhere to be found.
“Why is it that Steve LaTourette will vote consistently against efforts to bring accountability to this war, but he has so far failed to cosponsor this critical bill for those serving our country?” O’Neill says. “Northeast Ohio — and the men and women serving our country — deserve better.”
On December 3, O’Neill started a petition drive asking LaTourette to finally support the bill. You can sign it here. Or you can visit him at his congressional office in Painesville. Which ever mode of revenge you prefer. — Denise Grollmus
This article appears in Dec 5-11, 2007.
Greetings!
I have no argument with your piece about LaTourette’s position – but why can’t you offer a bit of (again, I find this issue w/ this paper) consistency?
Dennis Kucinich, in this instance, is aligned with what you argue for – yet he is also attacked – and attacked harshly.
Esquire’s Raab truly got it right in his percpetion of Cleveland (heck – even Ohio!)
I have an idea for an article / project for Scene!
Run one your staff as a candidate for congress, win the seat (let the editorial board choose the party), and then ensure they vote, speak, look, and act according to the schizophrenic editorial principles that CS, and even the PD, seem to possess.
I think it’s a great idea. After all, while you might think it’s getting boring attacking people like Kucinich, it’s get quite tiresome reading the puddle deep research found in your assessments of the work that Kucinich does (among others).
Last question – why wasn’t there substantive reporting on the skewed voting (ALL components of it), and the all-to-quick concession by Kerry in 2004?
There never was really a satisfying look at it, and the follow-up in the ensuing years. While it might “feel” like a weatherbeaten subject, it will still haunt Ohio until the next “nervous breakdown” to be planted on an elected representative in any major city in this state.
There HAS to be some kind of medicine for the post traumatic state disorder that is, apparently, part of Ohio’s psyche.
Oh well – and least there are some great bands to make up for it.
In the meantime, if I ever have a divorce to engage in, I can always “Ohio” her. Meaning I’ll just FAX a breakup request.
Regards,
Stephen