Tax Breaks for Super Rich as Soldiers Die from Brain Injuries

Here+óGé¼Gäós the issue: USA Today writes, "Congress appears ready to slash funding for the research and treatment of brain injuries caused by bomb blasts, an injury that military scientists describe as a signature wound of the Iraq war," from $14 million to $7 million.

There are a lot of veterans who are impacted, as USA Today reports that 10% of troops face traumatic brain injury or concussion.  An estimated 150,000 U.S. service members are at risk for serious TBI that often causes permanent damage out of the 1.5 million troops who went to war.  Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services that:

Finally, we must be ever mindful of the sacrifice of our young men and women in uniform. Out of the over 1.5 million service personnel who have rotated through the Central Command region since September 11th, 2001, over 3,000 have given their lives.

How many more of my friends and my friends children will die needlessly because Republicans like George Allen wanted to give tax breaks to the super rich?

The bottom line: with the Iraq War escalating and casualties rising, the Republican Congress is out of town on vacation, while their staff slashes desperately needed TBI research for our wounded soldiers.  Congress is saying there is no money for TBI research, yet there are tens of billions of dollars wasted on pork spending, such as that infamous Alaskan "bridge to nowhere."  TBI research now can lead to more effective treatments that are less expensive in the long-term.  This is better for our soldiers and for taxpayers.

Instead of a vacation, Congress should be finding ways to provide medical treatment for our nation's most important military asset, our troops on the front lines during war.

This is a damn [expletive deleted] moral outrage. Not only that, but the Republican Congress is undermining the morale of our troops with their message that Congress doesn't care about very serious life-threatening battlefield injuries.

The Republican Congress is being both penny unwise and pound foolish. This is as bad as Tom Davis+óGé¼Gäó vote against $50 million in prosthetics research last year.

These Republican non-combat veterans have no problem with tax breaks for their rich campaign contributors.  Yet when it comes to our fellow citizens bleeding and dying on the battlefield, these [really nasty expletive deleted] are deserters when it comes to their responsibility to be elected representatives.

OK, I+óGé¼Gäóm done venting.  Those damn bastards.  They lied to start the war, they bungled the conduct of the war, and now they leave our warriors twisting in the wind.

Are you listening, Sen. Allen?  Oh yeah, I forgot, you only "listen" to your big campaign contributors, not to the people who fight and die for this country.  Just like your role model, George W. Bush, who has yet to attend a funeral of a US serviceman killed in Iraq.  Pathetic.
******************************************************************
Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign.  The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not necessarily represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.

Comments