The Podcast Patriot

There are 1.3 million active duty military and another 1.4 million Reservists and Guardsmen serving at this moment. There are also 25 million veterans, which makes up over 12 percent of the voting population. In 2004 more than 16 percent (20 million people) of all those who voted were identified as veterans. To put that in perspective, while only 67 percent of non veterans voted, over 80 percent of the veterans showed up at the local voting booth to punch out that chad.

With the military being so traditionally associated with the Republican Party, and Senator McCain being a very notable war veteran, it would be easy to assume that this will mean some easy votes for the McCain in the 2008 presidential election. Unfortunately, this will probably not be the case.

Even in the 2004 election, when the war in Iraq was still a “fight them there so we don’t fight them here” issue; President Bush only received 55 percent of the vote. Senator Kerry was still able to pull nearly 44 percent of the veteran vote.

Why? Because, while the military may be have a 40-year trust in the Republican Party as the political party that is pro-military, there has been a significant disillusionment of our country’s priorities.

Most Soldiers are expected to return from Iraq with a pretty pro-military “we are there doing good, but it is slow work” attitude. However, when they return, they are finding the exact opposite to be true. As the military pours all of its blood and sweat into Iraq, they are discovering that their homes are being neglected.

This is not a particular party’s fault. Congress and the Executive have enough blame to go around.

1) We are in a recession brought on by little oversight into the sub-prime lending market.

2) Little was accomplished by FEMA in various disasters, including the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The military did the lion’s share of the rescue work; with little follow up by the rest of the government. The area is still a disaster area. While both parties complain and debate, people suffer.

3) While the military performs admirably in Iraq and Afghanistan, there still is no progress in building political strength, invaluable infrastructure, and social cohesion in the region that is needed via diplomacy. While the word “victory” is debated in the Senate, bombs continue to explode in the streets of Bagdad.

4) While the military is still effective, it is working at more than capacity. Deployments are still 12-15 months long, with no significant replacements. The military is over-deployed, over-worked, and under compensated.

5) The cost of war is not being paid for, but instead being put on the federal debt that is now at $9 trillion dollars. The war in Iraq alone costs more than $2 billion a week. To date, there has never been a war of ideology that has been successfully won with a bullet, spear or sword.

6) The inevitable globalization of the planet has significantly shifted the power of business in the world. The free market we asked the world to adopt is succeeding. Unfortunately, the only people that are unhappy about this are the U.S. citizens, because we are failing to adjust to the shifting global market. Manufacturing jobs are going overseas and blue collar workers need to re-educate themselves for new opportunities. They need help. No party has made this a priority.

7) While $162 billion war funding bills are passed, the funding for the veteran’s administration has diminished every year since the start of the war. VA hospitals are closing. In my town of Butler, Pa., emergency services has been eliminated.

The military/veteran TRICARE system is tied to Medicare. For three years in a row Medicare rates have decreased, prompting many health care providers to discontinue their participation with TRICARE because they no longer wish to pay the cost burden of caring for veterans. Unlike Medicare, TRICARE is a voluntary insurance program for health care providers.

9) The advent of privatized 401(k) programs has been great for employers. It relieves them from the expense of retirement programs. However, as the market goes into recession those retirement savings disappear. Also, matching funds into 401(k) programs are voluntary, which means that the employer can save costs by lowering or cancelling their matching funds. In addition, unless an employee is vested into the program, a company can “let go” an employee and recoup the investment. As the recession continues and employment creeps up, there are more than houses and jobs being lost—there are entire retirement savings as well. No one in Congress is seriously looking into this issue; and while not a veteran specific issue it does feed into the overall feeling of stability of the nation.

10) Finally, there are many reports, rumblings, and rumors about Iran. There is a very real fear that as much pressure as possible is being put on the U.S. and Iran to irritate the diplomacy between both countries to start ANOTHER war front. This time, it would not be against terrorists, but against anti-American philosophy.

Some veterans view these issues as part of a liberal conspiracy to turn America into a vassal of a new world global order. Some veterans are disillusioned with the current leadership and feel that that the very real issues of America today are part of a neo-conservative power play to bilk America for all its wealth through fear and war profiteering.

The reality is that America is in trouble, and instead of looking for solutions from a “big picture” prospective, we are looking for the sound bites that will show us who to cast blame on.

Veterans have 12 percent of the vote, and they could have more. We also have the unique perspective of understanding the horrors of war, the price of freedom, firsthand knowledge of what it is like to live in another country, and the difficulty of making the right, but hard choices to heal this nation.

So my advice to you is NOT to let some 18 year old MTV skateboarder being the one that “rocks the vote” and let those with some experience of the world make change (positive and intelligent) change happen.