Abusing the military for political gain

Republicans always run around saying they are the party that fights for a strong defense and supports the troops. In reality, they like to use the troops to support their own political careers.

Take this story from Talking Points Memo that show the Republicans are using uniformed members of the military at their fundraisers now. It's against the law and military regulations. And it should be. Neither party should abuse the military like this to raise money.

This story in the Washington Post would lead you to think that the Bush administration is making sure our troops have everything they need in Iraq. But you'd be wrong.

Check out this website for Operation Helmet. Yes, despite $502 billion in defense funds and around $100 billion more in supplemental funding every so often for the Iraq war, the Bush team just can't seem to find enough funding to make sure our soldier's heads don't bounce around like a ping pong ball inside their helmets when IEDs go off near them. So the American public has to hold the internet equivalent of a bake sale to get the proper helmets for them.

The regular appropriations would be more than enough to buy this stuff if 'pro-troops' congressman like the now jailed Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) and others weren't selling out the troops by making the military buy stuff they don't want or need so congressmen can collect campaign donations.

And here is Wisconsin our Republicans have the same problem. They have time to vote on the same bills over and over again that the public doesn't want, like concealed carry, but as Xoff points out here, they just don't have time for Senator Dave Hansen's (D-Green Bay) bill to get our National Guard troops the best body armor available.

Why not? Probably because Senator Hansen is a Democrat and they have more important things to spend money on like new tax breaks for companies that make engines. I guess their needs are more important than our men and women in uniform.

But they still want the troops to come to the fundraisers, right? Maybe they will have to so they can get Senator Hansen's bill on the floor.

It's moves like this that have propelled a large group of military veterans to run for congress this year - as Democrats. Here's hoping they all win.