It is not true that everyone supports the troops. This standard cliché phrase has become all too common in our society, but few understand what it truly means. Veterans that have attended meetings with members of Congress are often greeted with a profession that the congressman or senator, “Of course supports the troops.” It has become as trite as stating that everyone loves motherhood and apple pie. Clearly, not everyone does. Yesterday the Obama administration shockingly demonstrated how actions speak far louder than words when they proposed forcing injured veterans to pay for their own medical care. Is this the change we voted for? God help us if it is.

The Obama administration, fresh off an effort to pump trillions of taxpayer’s dollars into the economy under the guise of an “economic stimulus package”, is now discussing playing the part of Flinty McFrugal when it comes to the care of our wounded troops in order to save a possible $540 million dollars. $540 million? Why, our congress uses that much just to pay for their salaries, postage and perks every year. That’s not a joke.

Yesterday the leaders of eleven veterans’ organizations such as The American Legion, The Disabled American Veterans, and The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America met with Pres. Obama over this proposed change. They were furious over the results of that discussion when told that the plan will likely go forward. Afterwards the leaders of the groups called the administration’s plan, “immoral and unworkable.” That’s putting it mildly. How could any president, the Commander-In-Chief of our nation’s Armed Forces, ever allow such a disgraceful proposal to be considered?

This horrific idea of making wounded veterans pay for their own medical care breaks the bonds of obligation our nation owes to its warriors. The men and women that have served our nation in combat deserve nothing less than the best medical care that we can provide and with no price tag attached. If America decides it is prudent for the government to bail out corporations and deadbeat homeowners, but yet our wounded vets will be stuck paying their own medical bills, then surely our nation has lost touch with whom she once was. What would our ancestors think of this? How can any good American not be outraged by this proposal from Pres. Obama?

It is shocking that this idea is seeing the light of day, but to me it is not surprising. While serving in Iraq a blog update I wrote for a non-partisan political website often had some people that would spew their hate and vitriol about our military in the comments section. At one point I even received an anonymous card in the mail from someone that wished that all of us serving in Iraq would “die in our war of imperialism” and words to that effect. I threw it away and never told anyone about it, but I’m certain that person would support Obama’s proposal to make our troops pay for their own medical care.

Last fall in a congressional election here in Austin the candidate that was running as a supporter of Barack Obama stated that our troops had “killed children for oil” in Iraq. When pressed repeatedly for an explanation or apology the cowardly candidate chose to simply not respond. He chose to ignore letters, emails, office visits, phone calls, a protest in front of his office, and several radio shows that discussed his outlandish comments. Luckily for our nation this person lost his election by a wider margin than expected and surely his comments about our troops could not have sat well with most voters. Still, he was considered a legitimate candidate by his party and by the pundits. He was not thought to be a fringe kook and he was able to raise over a million dollars for his campaign. It would not surprise me in the least if more people felt like him, but lacked the courage to say so. Ultimately the defeated candidate never answered for his comments even after the election. Would it surprise anyone in the least however if he supported Pres. Obama’s proposal to save $540 million by making some of our vets pay for their own medical care? Fortunately his defeat spared us from having to find out. It also seems likely that this proposal by Pres. Obama will fail as well. We cannot take it for granted though. Our veterans deserve that we never let them be dishonored by some politicians who will never understand their sacrifices. Ever.