Jon Stewart shreds Republican 'hypocrites' for filibustering veterans health bill



Comedian Jon Stewart appeared on the right-wing media outlet Newsmax on Thursday and shredded the Republican Party's blockage of a United States Senate Veterans Affairs Committee bill to provide health care to veterans who were exposed to poisonous substances while serving overseas.

The filibuster of the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT) was led by retiring Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania).

"It's not just not true," Steward said of the GOP's claim that the legislation contains "unrelated spending."

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Republicans, Steward continued, "don't like that it's mandatory as opposed to discretionary. There isn't unrelated spending to it. They're saying, 'there could be if there isn't oversight.' But that's what the Senate's job is. The bill itself is incredibly detailed and prescriptive about what it's for. It's about treating and preventing the different conditions that veterans are coming home with including cancers and chronic bronchiolitis and all these other issues from their exposures in Iraq in Afghanistan. And to push back on what they're saying, they're saying, 'what if this creates a slush fund?' Right? So, are you familiar with something called the OCO – the Overseas Contingency Operations Fund?" Steward asked anchor Shaun Kraisman.

"Fairly, yes," Kraisman replied.

Stewart underscored why that obscure statute – and its backing by lawmakers – is significant.

"So every year, 50 billion, 60 billion, 70 billion dollars is added to what's called the OCO on top of the 600 billion, 700 billion, 800 billion that goes to the Defense Department. That OCO fund is actually a slush fund. Sixty to 70 billion dollars every year – no oversight, no guardrails – and every one of those Republicans that voted against healthcare for veterans voted for the slush fund for the war," Stewart explained.

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"They don't support the troops; they support the war machine," Steward added. "And that's gotta stop. The value of the US military isn't in the toys. It's not in the hardware, it's not in the tanks. It's in the men and women. And until they start supporting them in the manner that they purport to online, they are hypocrites."

Watch below or at this link.

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