Being a Jerk, but maybe there is a reason for it?

Wow apparently R is for Jerk on this Sesame Street.

Okay sure they are being Dicks, but there might be a reasson for it

Okay so anyone who has been reading Any of my blogs knows that I am not overly fond of Republicans. Fact is I put them on the evolutionary scale right under bread mold and Democrats. Course that feeling is pretty much extended to 95% of all politicians because I really feel that there must be a very special, dark place that Politicians sell their souls to in order to become what they come. Republicans and Democrats have committed more atrocities upon the American people then all of the Terrorist Organizations in the world and that is being kind.

So I grok peoples' knee jerk reaction when someone posts a picture like the one above. “OH NOSE, Evil mean nasty Republicans are screwing over our nation's vets! Bad Politicians! Bad Politicians! No cookies for you! However, people really should dig a little bit deeper before they break out the Rubio Voodoo dolls. ( I make them by the gross and still sell out. Really popular item.) Cause the truth, while still nasty, is a little bit more involved.

Now, on the surface of it, the poster is accurate, these Republicans did vote against a bill that would extend and improve benefits for our Nation's Vets. Absolutely, there is no denying that. However, the reason (well okay at least the listed reason which is all we can go with.) they denied it is because the bill would be funded. They objected that the bill would actually increase our debt since the bill was being funded by what amounts to imaginary money.

See, ever since the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been winding down, the Democrats have been trotting out the old saw about “putting the money saved from the wars to good use.” I have seen this said at least a dozen times, mostly by the President or one of his mouth pieces. That same magical money is being applied to the GI Bill. The only problem is that the money doesn't really exist.

See, in previous wars, we helped fund our war efforts by selling War Bonds. It was a surprisingly good way to eliminate at least some of the costs of war. Sure it didn't pay for everything, but at least there was a little bit of extra cash coming in. With Iraq and Afghanistan, we didn't really go that route, probably because it would have meant admitting that they were actual wars instead of Peace Keeping Actions or Police Actions. Instead, we combined borrowing and magic money printing to finance the wars even though we really really couldn't afford it. Essentially, all of the money (Nearly 5 Trillion to date) existed only in our minds and a computer hard drive somewhere.

So now, since the money wasn't really real to begin with, there is no “war savings” to use for other things. Sure, we are technically saving money, but that is only because we aren't using the play money any more. No real money is being saved so the idea of using war savings to pay for the bill is a little silly. The Republicans didn't want to sign onto a bill that would add even more money to our national debt that they claim they want to reduce. (Still haven't seen any real evidence of that, but hey hope springs eternal.) They didn't kill the bill because they hate Veterans and want them to suffer. They claimed to be doing it stop even more run away spending.

Don't get me wrong Folks. I think that our nation's Vets deserve everything they can get and even more. These brave men and women risk their lives and often times pay a horrible price for it. Fugg, I personally think we should give each and every single War Vet a house and a car and cookies for life. They are all heroes, every single one of them. However, there are so many other ways we could fund this bill that don't result in even more debt. $32 Billion is chump change for the way we spend money. Don't buy a few tanks or Hells one nice sized ship. Have all the Brass eat at Burger King for a few months. Simple easy ways to make the money available. Cut out some of the pork and poof money galore.

So like I said, I despise politicians and really Republicans are the lowest on the list of dislike, so please feel free to hate them for things they deserve hating for. Trust me, I do. But take some time to research the posts, rumors and outright propaganda before you hate. In some rare cases there might actually be some legitimate reason behind their actions. Even stopped clocks are right twice a day.

End of Rant