Sen. Tom Coburn may be standing on principle, but he’s also standing in way of help for veterans.
Supporters of the Veterans’ Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act of 2009 hoped to have the bill passed by Veterans Day. It hasn’t been voted on in the Senate, though, because Coburn, R-Okla., has put a hold on the bill.
Thirteen major military and veterans groups have complained, but Coburn has stood his ground. He says that the Senate should not create new and unfunded benefits, adding to the country’s debt. He says, according to news reports after talks with Coburn’s staff, that the $3.7 billion cost of the bill should be taken from economic and job stimulus programs.
We have appreciated the senator’s economic policy and his stand against government overspending, but sometimes principles aren’t practical or in some people’s best interests.
Soldiers are coming back wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan and need the assistance that bill can provide. Veterans groups say the delay has cost the injured soldiers and their families jobs and their savings.
Coburn voted for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, wars that required debt to pay for them. Coburn reluctantly voted for the Economic Stimulus Relief Bill in 2008 that provided $700 billion in bailout funds for huge investment corporations. Americans will never see much of that money again, but Coburn said it had to be done.
And if Coburn is proposing that money from the second stimulus passed earlier this year be used, that, too, is borrowed money.
The money for veterans is clearly money Coburn should approve, principles aside.
