Fred, it’s Ramaswamy & Musk who may FAFO. If it were me, I’d honestly be a little concerned about eliminating VA benefits for the roughly 18 million vets who are likely to be (a) annoyed and (b) armed.
Lotsa shit going down right now, and as mom used to say when we were roughhousing, “Somebody’s gonna git hurt.” Not by me, certainly. Fuck, I can barely walk these days. And I’m not encouraging it. But look around. This shit is existential to a whole lotta folks. And as Bobby said, “When you ain’t got nothin’ you got nothin’ to lose.”
I will make this personal because I believe in speaking to what you know. I am a 58-year-old retired vet of 26 years. I served during both Desert Storm and OIF/OEF. I get all of my healthcare through the VA because I am a disabled vet, and as I retired from the reserves, I don’t get my retirement benefits until I hit 60.
I didn’t sit on my ass and do nothing during this election. I ran for school board, I worked my ass off (for myself and also some other races), and I unseated an incumbent Moms for Liberty board member. I will continue to fight and work my ass off because that’s the right thing to do. I will fight to ensure our kids get the education they deserve. I’m at a school board conference and just heard an amazing student school board member introduce herself as the US presidential candidate of 2044, and I believe her. She, and others like her, are why I and many others I know will continue to fight. They aren’t quitting, and we can’t either.
I absolutely agree with you Fred. My sister is a disabled vet. She has MS. She was forced out. They are paying her disability pay. Soon, she will go on her normal retirement. Long story but even though she is wheelchair bound, her husband of 20+ years abandoned and divorced her, taking the majority of their retirement with him. She has been so stressed out since a year ago when that happened that she has not been able focus on or completed her PACT Act paperwork. She got her Social Security Disability paperwork in but now she had to hire an attorney for that.
She lives in GA, I live in MI. I can do nothing to help her. And her only son, and his wife, are about useless to her. She has been homebound for about the last 10 years, except for very infrequent trips to the doctors and the few times that I have been able to get her out when I visited her. I'm not sure why I am telling you all this. Except to say, GA purged her from the voting rolls, plus she can't get to the DMV/SOS (whatever it's called down there) to get a driver's license or to fight to get back on the voter's rolls. So she hasn't been able to vote for several years. She has 16 years active duty plus, I don't know how many years in the Guard (both Air Force). Plus Civil Service time. It just pisses me off that she served all that time. And isn't even able to vote, and she is going to get F*CKED, too. Again.
I just hope we can get enough clout, to get Elon Musk away from budget recommendations. And to fight to keep our benefits from being cut or taken away, and enough people wake up before mid-terms, that we can take the House and Senate. I'm not holding my breath. We have to force them to let the 2017 Trump Tax Scam Sunset/Expire. And NOT allow them to increase the tax break they have been given.
According to John Thune, it seems like those of us on Social Security will be joining the veterans who republicans intend on screwing over. We’re all going to be in a world of hurt. I’m wondering where the public’s bottom line on these outrages is. If we don’t find it soon, our ability to do something about it will be sorely curtailed by this thieving bunch of grifters.
This is all so unfair. Not everyone fucked around but worse, veterans are not people who you turn your back on. The math doesn’t lie when it comes to the actual numbers of veterans who count on veterans benefits for their health care. They have fought for our country and the least we can do (which is FUCKING SAD) is take care of them during and after they decided to fight for their country. They have given the ultimate sacrifice. They are the reason we are free and living in a democracy. This is just some sick shit. Thank you so much for your service. You matter a lot to people like me. 💙💙💙
I agree in some respects, but I will also point out as an actual Independent voter (last partisan registration was 1976, when I first registered to vote) that the duopoly, and in particular the pseudo-progressives have driven centrist Independents out of the discussion. You want higher turnout out, change election laws to reduce (ideally eliminate) partisan advantage. Outlaw gerrymandering, eliminate primaries, and use Ranked Choice Voting — you do that and actual citizens might believe their vote counts again.
Fred, it’s Ramaswamy & Musk who may FAFO. If it were me, I’d honestly be a little concerned about eliminating VA benefits for the roughly 18 million vets who are likely to be (a) annoyed and (b) armed.
Lotsa shit going down right now, and as mom used to say when we were roughhousing, “Somebody’s gonna git hurt.” Not by me, certainly. Fuck, I can barely walk these days. And I’m not encouraging it. But look around. This shit is existential to a whole lotta folks. And as Bobby said, “When you ain’t got nothin’ you got nothin’ to lose.”
I know... I want to go out and get a gun. I mean, I do have my dad's 357 Magnum... But I think I want something a little bigger than that...
I will make this personal because I believe in speaking to what you know. I am a 58-year-old retired vet of 26 years. I served during both Desert Storm and OIF/OEF. I get all of my healthcare through the VA because I am a disabled vet, and as I retired from the reserves, I don’t get my retirement benefits until I hit 60.
I didn’t sit on my ass and do nothing during this election. I ran for school board, I worked my ass off (for myself and also some other races), and I unseated an incumbent Moms for Liberty board member. I will continue to fight and work my ass off because that’s the right thing to do. I will fight to ensure our kids get the education they deserve. I’m at a school board conference and just heard an amazing student school board member introduce herself as the US presidential candidate of 2044, and I believe her. She, and others like her, are why I and many others I know will continue to fight. They aren’t quitting, and we can’t either.
I love it! Great story. Thank you.
I absolutely agree with you Fred. My sister is a disabled vet. She has MS. She was forced out. They are paying her disability pay. Soon, she will go on her normal retirement. Long story but even though she is wheelchair bound, her husband of 20+ years abandoned and divorced her, taking the majority of their retirement with him. She has been so stressed out since a year ago when that happened that she has not been able focus on or completed her PACT Act paperwork. She got her Social Security Disability paperwork in but now she had to hire an attorney for that.
She lives in GA, I live in MI. I can do nothing to help her. And her only son, and his wife, are about useless to her. She has been homebound for about the last 10 years, except for very infrequent trips to the doctors and the few times that I have been able to get her out when I visited her. I'm not sure why I am telling you all this. Except to say, GA purged her from the voting rolls, plus she can't get to the DMV/SOS (whatever it's called down there) to get a driver's license or to fight to get back on the voter's rolls. So she hasn't been able to vote for several years. She has 16 years active duty plus, I don't know how many years in the Guard (both Air Force). Plus Civil Service time. It just pisses me off that she served all that time. And isn't even able to vote, and she is going to get F*CKED, too. Again.
I just hope we can get enough clout, to get Elon Musk away from budget recommendations. And to fight to keep our benefits from being cut or taken away, and enough people wake up before mid-terms, that we can take the House and Senate. I'm not holding my breath. We have to force them to let the 2017 Trump Tax Scam Sunset/Expire. And NOT allow them to increase the tax break they have been given.
Peggy
According to John Thune, it seems like those of us on Social Security will be joining the veterans who republicans intend on screwing over. We’re all going to be in a world of hurt. I’m wondering where the public’s bottom line on these outrages is. If we don’t find it soon, our ability to do something about it will be sorely curtailed by this thieving bunch of grifters.
Keep fighting the fight! I will help however I can.
This is all so unfair. Not everyone fucked around but worse, veterans are not people who you turn your back on. The math doesn’t lie when it comes to the actual numbers of veterans who count on veterans benefits for their health care. They have fought for our country and the least we can do (which is FUCKING SAD) is take care of them during and after they decided to fight for their country. They have given the ultimate sacrifice. They are the reason we are free and living in a democracy. This is just some sick shit. Thank you so much for your service. You matter a lot to people like me. 💙💙💙
It SO angers me that those who happily f*cked around make us all have to “find out.”
I agree in some respects, but I will also point out as an actual Independent voter (last partisan registration was 1976, when I first registered to vote) that the duopoly, and in particular the pseudo-progressives have driven centrist Independents out of the discussion. You want higher turnout out, change election laws to reduce (ideally eliminate) partisan advantage. Outlaw gerrymandering, eliminate primaries, and use Ranked Choice Voting — you do that and actual citizens might believe their vote counts again.