This was all foreseeable but it’s still tragic nonetheless. Elon Musk made no bones about the fact that there would be “temporary hardship” when and if Donald Trump got reelected and “necessary” cuts were made to government.
The word I disagree with is “temporary.” I completely believe the hardship part. That’s a no brainer with the corrupt cabal that’s about to take over on January 20th, 2025. The tragic part, of course, is that all veterans will be affected, not just the ones who voted for Trump. America is about to be dragged into a tragi/farce, brought on by 49.7% of the electorate, who decided to vote against their own interests for whatever reason. Unfortunately, some people can only learn in the school of hard knocks. Doubly unfortunately, they drag the rest of us with them.
— Dirtbag (@CryptonicCarl) December 9, 2024
I don’t know what the mystique is that Trump holds for people. I have asked people to explain it to me. And some of the people I have asked are dumb as rocks. I asked an evangelical wingnut once why she liked Trump. I was told, “He’s a born again Christian. (False. That’s a fable cobbled together by a conspiracy theorist and faux historian named David Barton when it became evident Ted Cruz wouldn’t get the nomination.) Also he’s “a nice guy,” (?!!?) and “he’ll create jobs.” This from a religious fanatic with an IQ of maybe 95. Sheer Idiocracy material.
And other pro-Trump comments range from, “He’s funny,” to “He’ll run the country like a business.” Bla Bla. In any event, we now have Trump 2.0 to look at and it appears that veterans will face challenges, and that’s putting it mildly. Newsweek:
President-elect Donald Trump‘s newly created Department of Government Efficiency could impact health care for veterans if plans to cut appropriations for expired bills go ahead. Trump announced on Tuesday that Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy would spearhead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, once he takes office in January. Trump said DOGE, which will not be an official government department, will “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Ramaswamy, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination before suspending his campaign in January, has since said that money spent on expired government programs should be stopped. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Ramaswamy cited the $516 billion spent on expired acts for the 2024 fiscal year.
“There are 1,200+ programs that are no longer authorized but still receive appropriations,” which he described as “totally nuts” and advocated for saving “hundreds of billions” of dollars each year by “defunding government programs that Congress no longer authorizes.”
Legislative authorities can expire and continue to receive appropriations—a law of Congress that provides an agency with budget authority—subject to congressional reauthorization. Among those expired appropriations is the Veteran’s Health Care Eligibility Act, which amounted to $119 billion in government spending for 2024.
And don’t forget, “restructuring the Department of Veterans Affairs, as touted by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation‘s Project 2025, is also potentially in line under a second Trump presidency.” It will be tragic to see the benefits accorded to our men and women who have served in uniform be truncated or cut in any way. This is an area of key resistance. I hope that veterans all over the country will join with Democrats to see that this doesn’t take place.
As to the veterans who voted MAGA, this should be like an ice water bath. It would be for me. But we tried to tell them. They didn’t listen.
f
f
Those leopards aren’t going to be eating as many faces now.
They must be getting quite full.
Time for new leopards.
We.Told.Them. FAFO Yet it is everyone who has to pay. My husband, all veterans but because they are racist haters they couldn’t vote for a woman of color. Well, that is just the tip of the iceburg. Next is social security, medicare, medicaid, snap, welfare, etc. FU to all the magats. I hope that they also suffer terribly. Terribly. I’m guessing that many don’t have any savings to fall back on. They will blame the Democrats, but We.Told.Them. Over and over and over and …..
I expect military pensions will be on the chopping block.next. The only questions are When?” and “Will it apply to current retirees or only future ones!” My husband stayed in for 23 years for the pension. Without it he would have left after 12, gone to.nursing schools 12 years sooner without caring for my Dad with dementia interfering, and working for 20 Yeats in the field with a nice fat investment account.