Bush will veto Defense authorization, pay raise and improved health care for troops and investigations into fraud

Will the liars who have supported President Bush at every step of the war - and the lying president himself - ever be called into account for not supporting the troops?

“Despite the Administration’s earlier support for the Department of Defense authorization bill, it appears that President Bush plans to veto this legislation, which is crucial to our armed forces and their families.

“The Defense bill passed both houses of Congress by overwhelming bipartisan margins and addresses urgent national security priorities, including a 3.5 percent pay raise for our troops and Wounded Warriors legislation to remedy our veterans’ health care system. It is unfortunate that the President will not sign this critical legislation.

“Instead, we understand that the President is bowing to the demands of the Iraqi government, which is threatening to withdraw billions of dollars invested in U.S. banks if this bill is signed.

Here's a list of what Bush, who always gives troops "everything they need", and who accuses Democrats of failing the troops every chance they give him, has vetoed:

• Extension of the window for VA care from 2 to 5 years. This would have protected new veterans from losing access to VA care. Without this fix, there's nothing to keep Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from joining the 1.8 million veterans without health insurance.
• Wartime Contracting Commission. A new "Truman Commission" to fight fraud and waste by military contractors.
• Pre- and Post- Deployment Assessment for Traumatic Brain Injury. Studies suggest 150-300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans havereceived this kind of injury. These kinds of injuries don't necessarily leave a visible wound, but they can seriously affect brain function, including memory and emotional response. Right now, many of these injuries are going undiagnosed and untreated.
• Expanded job protections for family members of severely wounded troops. Right now, if a husband or wife of a wounded troop at Walter Reed needs to take more than three months to care for their spouse, they can lose their job. This would have given them six months of jobprotection.
• A new Center of Excellence for PTSD & TBI. Experts believe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder will affect about 30% of returning troops.
• Better Education benefits for National Guardsmen and Reservists.
• Visa/refugee assistance for Iraqi Interpreters.
• As the press release says, this bill also has a pay raise of 3.5 percent for all members of the Armed Forces.

The mistreatment never stops, the lying never stops. Someday one of our Democratic leaders will stand up and point out the truth of what President Bush has done. The president is going down swinging and it looks like the failures and petty partisanship will continue until the bitter end of his historic term.