I hope so but I doubt it. So many are so deep in the cool-aid that they will kill their own mothers if they thought it would help the party.
It may help in regards to moderate Republicans but I don’t think there are enough left to really affect a big difference.

Then you have the slash and burn types who are for voting for republicans because they hate our nation and will be happy to see it all burn down and they know that the republican party will help facilitate that.

Whether those events actually hurt – it’s hard to say.

But they repeatedly show themselves as uncompassionate and uncaring. You would think that over time, citizens would get that message.

Unless republican fanboys are also uncaring, in which case it fits their world view.

What it does show is that the so-called Christian morals of love for their fellow man, are totally lost on the republicans.

Unknown. I don’t know the story behind the PACT act…why they voted against it. That part seems to always be glossed over in the news stories. It might be that something completely onerous was added in at the last minute that they couldn’t support.

But things like this tend to blow over. Some people might remember them, but people tend to have short memories. But the economy is the thing that I believe most people will be feeling and will be reacting to. And the Dems don’t have a plan to help with that. The only thing they can come up with is tax and spend which is what got us into this situation.

No, I don’t think so. People will vote based on the state of the economy. Economic downturn = time for a party change. Happens no matter what party is currently in power. We all think switching parties will fix things and it rarely does (especially when the economic downturn is global in scale).

@seawulf575 THere has been nothing added to this bill since it was passed in June, but now the Rep/cons flipped their vote saying some spending gimmick was added ,since June one and only one amendment was added and nothing to do with spending.
Are you not a veteran, these service people are sick and dying from the exposure they got while in service and the Rep/cons are blocking the health care and aid they need .
Here is a clip on the bill, but you probably wont like the source so won’t watch it but you really should these Republican politicians should be ashamed of what they are putting these ex serice people through.
https://youtu.be/FUAco6guw8Q

@SQUEEKY2 @cheebdragon, on a different but related thread, posted this answer:

“CBO estimates that fewer veterans would receive disability compensation under this version of the act than it did for the House-passed version. Costs are reduced primarily because the act would phase in the effective date of some presumptive conditions and reduce the number of people who receive retroactive benefits. Costs also are lower because the assumed enactment date is later for the current version. As a result, estimates for mandatory spending for compensation and other benefits are lower in this version”
https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2022-06/hr3967_senate_version.pdf

That is from the Congressional Budget Office, not an opinion from Jon Stewart on MSNBC. And what it basically says is that this version of the bill will offer veterans less coverage than what was originally planned. Do you think that is fair? Do you believe that veterans should have to “settle” again because the bill got changed for the worse?

I am a vet and I take things like this very seriously. But I don’t jump down the rabbit hole because a celebrity screams. I want to know the facts before I get upset because I want to make sure I’m understanding things. If the bill was the same as before and and the Repubs just reneged on their support, I would have no problem lambasting them. You forget…I’m an Indy. But if I get mad at the Repubs and they are trying to do what is right, what does that really do?

So here’s a question: Would you be mad at the Democrats because the bill changed and they were trying to use that change as a political weapon instead of fixing the issue and getting the Veterans the medical help they deserve?

@seawulf575

Silly hypotehtical. Trying to point a “what if” at the democrats is simple deflection. The fact is that it was the republicans who played political ‘take-away’ last week.

What you or I might do in a future situation where the facts are going to be different – that’s not relevant today.

The pure fact is that Veterans will be suffering more because of the acts of the republican party. End of argument. No excuses of yours change that fact.

@elbanditoroso The entire question revolves around a what-if. It starts with an assumption that is not founded in fact. So it is relegated to what-if status. And repeating that same unsubstantiated assumption and taking it as fact doesn’t make it so. I just gave you a citation that shows there were changes to the bill that cut benefits to the veterans. Are you saying they should just take it and shut up?

I don’t see any cuts, and here is another video on the subject and why Republicans chose not to support it. https://youtu.be/V9KP5fNKI5s

I think anyone who was going to bail on the Republican party did it during Trump’s reign. People who have stayed in aren’t leaving. The best the Democrats can hope for is Democrats being inspired to show up and vote.

Here is a video showing the exact change in the bill if you care to watch it..
https://youtu.be/VwYfzjhgWvE

And @JLeslie I feel you are probably right about the steadfast Rep/con base ,one thing Trump said that was totally true he could walk out into the street and shoot someone in cold blood and not lose a single vote , heck the Rep/con base would come up with a million excuses of why he did it and it was justified in their eyes .

I mean things like Jan 6, voting against the Pact act, and the way they treated that 10 year old rape victim and her Doctor shows you how disgusting they truly are and yet their base will forget all that come November and cling to some lie they spewed during the election.

@SQUEEKY2 How did the Republicans treat the ten year old? I think a lot of average Republicans did have empathy for that particular situation. From what I understand some talking heads on Fox News first said they didn’t believe it was a real situation, but I think most Republicans felt bad for the girl.

The problem is they think it’s very rare and just ignore those things can happen even though they OBSESS about sex trafficking, which people in both parties care about, but my point is sex trafficking young girls leads to very young pregnant girls sometimes.

@SQUEEKY2 Here’s an actual interview with a Republican that voted against the bill and WHY he voted against it. There was more to the shell game than Jon Stewart is privy to. And you keep citing Jon Stewart like he was in the deliberations. He wasn’t. He is a known leftist, a Dem supporter. It doesn’t surprise me that he is a mouthpiece on this. AND, what Toomey says balances with what the CBO says. So now you have someone who was in on the reading of the bills…all of them…AND the CBO that confirms what they are saying. And on the other side you have a celebrity known to ridicule Republicans and support Democrats to the end. Election season is coming. Of COURSE he will come out like this. Stop citing Jon Stewart and get to the meat of the issue.

OK I watched your whole video,and Toomey is concerned about a 400 billion slush fund that the Dems could go on a wild spending spree.
But any extra money has to has congress ok before it’s spent,and I thought you said the dems were slashing this bill making less funds for vets? what is it?
If you watched the full video clip on my last post the poster shows exactly what was changed since June.
So at least watch my video clip on my last post the whole thing.
and tell me what was so bad.
And Stewart might be a left talking mouth piece but he is concerned about vets that need this bill passed unlike your Republican heros that don’t care that these vets are dying an need the aid NOW.

@SQUEEKY2 By changing the pot of money for this bill, adding this money allows them to slush it out over and over again and still not let it get to the veterans.

Look at the history: During the Obama years, Obama and the Democrats screwed the veterans at every turn. Funding was cut like crazy, vets were dead in the hallways of facilities until flies started laying eggs on them and nothing was done. Trump got into office and the Dems fought against every effort he made towards helping the veterans and cleaning up the VA. Now, suddenly, they are all about helping Veterans? C’mon. Now they are past masters of pork spending, slush funds, and all sorts of other ways of using bills that need to be passed to get extra money for themselves and their cronies. They didn’t just change. You know it and I know it.

Here’s the solution: rewrite the bill so it specifies a set amount of money that can be used to fund the services to veterans. That it sits specifically with the VA. That’s all it can be used for….now or in the future. Not for research, not for funding of research projects to look at sociological aspects that might impact how veterans are treated, not spending on anything other than actual, honest to God, medical treatment for veterans. Out of the later reach of congress. The whole bill should be about a page long. THEN put it forward. See who votes for it. I’d guarantee the Dems would balk and the Repubs would be all for it.

Any extra money in the bill has to have congress ok, before it’s spent.
You still didn’t watch my video the poster explains that, all the money in the bill has to go to vets.
I watched your whole video ,just watch mine.

Your saying rewrite the whole bill and Rep/cons will vote for it hands down, but this bill right now is the same bill the Rep/cons voted for in June, now come this time around and they flip and say NOPE.
Listen to the poster in that video he says the Rep/cons are claiming this slush fund of 400 billion that they would have no control over,first any extra funds have to have congress ok.
BUT first show where they stuck this slush fund.

It starts getting a little sketchy on page 126 sec 902 through 908.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-117hr3967eas/pdf/BILLS-117hr3967eas.pdf

Well they past the Pact act today, I really doubt there was any time to write any amendments, and the Republicans were on board today,think them flipping their votes the other day was pure politics that blew up in their face?
And @cheebdragon your link wanted me to download it and I wasn’t into that if I could have seen it with out down loading I would have read it so sorry.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr3967/text/dhg-407146

The bill benefits employees of VHA far more than it’s going to help veterans who actually need help.

@cheebdragon I didn’t see any of that but I just scanned it, but don’t you think your Rep/con heros would be screaming that fact from the roof tops? if it was true.
The main thing is these vets getting the health care they need without fear of losing their house or life savings.
The good thing is they came together and got this bill passed for the vets that need it so badly.

“Sec 902. Authority to buy out service contracts for certain health care professionals in exchange for employment at rural or highly rural facilities of Department of Veterans Affairs.” “The total amount paid by the Department under this section shall not exceed $40,000,000 per fiscal year.”

“904.Modification of pay cap for certain employees of Veterans Health Administration.” Pay cap increases 50%. Seems a bit excessive considering VHA employees are already making between 87k – 404k a year.

“908.Elimination of limitation on awards and bonus for employees of Department of Veterans Affairs.”
”(1)the Secretary may repay a student loan pursuant to section 5379(b) of title 5.
(3)Payment under this subsection shall be made subject to such terms, limitations, or conditions as may be mutually agreed to by the Secretary and the employee concerned, except that the amount paid by the Secretary under this subsection may not exceed—
(A)$40,000 for any employee in any calendar year; or
(B)a total of $100,000 in the case of any employee.”

Another issue with this bill, as it is written, is that it assigns all sorts of ailments to burn pits. There really isn’t any real verification of when a soldier was near a burn pit or even if they were. If they once saw one that seems to be enough. And things like diabetes and high blood pressure are now symptoms of expose to a burn pit. So if you were “exposed” 20 years and then, as you got older, developed HBP or diabetes, you now get preferential treatment at the VA. Ahead of soldiers who only got shot or blown up in war. So the VA is going to go back to what it was before Trump started cleaning it up where lines and wait times will be long and veterans will actually have to wait for services they don’t currently have to wait for.