Obama’s signing statement on the defense bill
Aside from the fact that the President said when he took office he wouldn’t issue signing statements with his signature to bills, he did after he signed the defense bill last night. And he complained that Congress wouldn’t let him and Panetta jack up health costs on veterans – you know Congress helped Obama keep his pledge to not balance the budget on the backs of veterans. But here’s the part of the statement;
Additionally, the Department has endeavored to constrain manpower costs by recommending prudent cost sharing reforms in its health care programs. By failing to allow some of these cost savings measures, the Congress may force reductions in the overall size of our military forces.
So basically, he’s pitting veterans against current members of the military services, and complaining because Congress won’t let him fund the Defense Department out of the pockets of veterans. Remember how they took the $700 million surplus out of our Tricare fund to spend on their defense programs? That was just a preview. That’s not “constraining manpower costs” that’s theft of services. Telling us on the one hand that he’s not going to balance the budget on our backs, raising the costs of our benefits to us, and raiding the surplus that we built. And, oh, yeah, telling us how much of a better system is at the VA. Even though we have to pull teeth to get into the VA system.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Veteran Health Care
Sadly, it wouldn’t be the first lie he’s told, nor the first promise broken.
Situation Normal at 1600 Penn Ave.
I once had a business teacher at my community college explain to me how great the VA is and that I should be there rather than Tricare. I had no idea how he could ever know how “great” the VA is since he never served a day in his life. It was fun pointing out that he was regurgitating MSNBC propaganda.
It’s so easy for our congress and president to rob veterans servicemembers while giving themselves pay raises and extended corporate tax credits.
Our current government is absolutely disgusting.
Based on his signing declaration he should not have signed the bill. It’s clear the president has multiple concerns over the constitutional legitimacy of several components of the bill. His declaration states he intends to comply with those sections only as he interprets the appropriate constitutionality of the document and not with the specific framework of the legislation in those components he has concern about the appropriate separation of powers or constitutionality.
That type of statement seems to set the Legislative and Executive branches on a collision course over implementation that will no doubt involve the Judicial branch at some point.
A man of principal does not always do what is expedient just to procrastinate confrontation. I respect the president’s prerogative regarding the constitutional concerns, he has that right as the holder of the office. However, if the concern were so great don’t sign it and reject it with that statement forcing Congress to amend or defend.
It appears we are now in possession of Executive and Legislative branches convinced they can continually procrastinate on these issues. Maybe at some point we will stop re-electing 9 out of 10 of these lazy turds and see if we can’t find some new blood that actually wants to address the business and concerns of the nation. I suspect we the electorate will also continue to be a bunch of lazy slobs who re-elect appropriately lazy representatives.
@3 – I heard the news that the president wants Congress to “hurry up” and start hammering out a plan for immigration reform within the next month. I suppose we’ll rush through that legislation as well – and he’ll issue a signing declaration on that, too?
@4 it wouldn’t surprise me, then he can declare which parts of the legislation that he is signing he intends to ignore, just like this most recent example….
@3 – “A man of principal does not always do what is expedient just to procrastinate confrontation.”
Since when has Obama ever been a man of principle? Or honor? Or integrity?
Only 1,772 days ’till the next election.
@6 I always appreciate when folks pick up on those rare lucid moments of mine….
Unfortunately, he really doesn’t mean “prudent cost sharing reforms”. He means “I want to jack up Tricare fees to an amount that forces retirees to look elsewhere for their healthcare.”
Per WAPO: “Under Obama’s plan…The maximum fee would quadruple to $2,000” Which WAPO supports and is also far greater than the free health care promised at each reenlistment. Why am I not surprised?
@7- less than that. Congressional elections are less than 22 months away
Maybe he could use those millions of dollars from the gas pumps on base that my soldiers never seem to see and have MWR donate them to our healthcare instead.
@10/Stacy0311 – Noted… I was referring to the presidential election, though.