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Sen. Tim Kaine Releases New Plank of Kitchen Table Agenda, Highlighting His Work To Invest In Career And Technical Education  

By
lowkell
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13

From Sen. Tim Kaine’s reelection campaign – let’s “raise” some Kaine this election!

Senator Kaine Releases New Plank of Kitchen Table Agenda, Highlighting His Work To Invest In Career And Technical Education  

Floyd, VA – Friday at a roundtable in Floyd, Senator Tim Kaine released a new plank of his “Kaine Kitchen Table Agenda:” investing in career and technical education.

“I’m proud to be a champion for investing in career and technical education in the Senate. I started the Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus to bring together members from both sides of the aisle who want to ensure the future of our workforce is in good hands,” said Senator Tim Kaine. “An important part of building up the local workforce and partnering with career and technical centers is ensuring that students are aware of opportunities outside of a traditional path. That’s why I am releasing the second plank of my Kaine Kitchen Table economic agenda today.” 

Senator Kaine’s Jumpstarting Our Businesses by Supporting Students (JOBS) Act would allow students to use federal Pell Grants to afford high-quality, shorter-term job training programs. He believes that expanding Pell Grant eligibility will open students to more opportunities outside of the traditional path.

In June, Senator Kaine released the first plank of his Kitchen Table Agenda and highlighted his work to lower prescription drug costs. Around the Commonwealth, in the coming months, Senator Kaine will highlight new planks of his plan to discuss how he is working to lower costs for all Virginians. Other planks of his “Kaine Kitchen Table Agenda” include cutting the cost of child care, slashing taxes for working families, and making housing affordable.

NEW: DNC Launches First Paid Advertising Push of Harris-Walz Ticket on the Las Vegas Strip and In Every Battleground State

By
Blue Virginia
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7

From the DNC:

NEW: DNC Launches First Paid Advertising Push of Harris-Walz Ticket on the Las Vegas Strip and In Every Battleground State
DNC draws the contrast between Harris-Walz and Trump-Vance tickets in first ad blitz across the battlegrounds


Today, the DNC launched its first paid advertising blitz since the announcement of the Harris-Walz ticket with a new contrast ad in the middle of the Las Vegas strip and with over 80 billboards across seven key battlegrounds that will decide this election drawing the contrast between Vice President Harris’ bright vision for the future and Donald Trump’s weird campaign of lies and vengeance. Voters have a clear choice in November: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who are working to lower costs, safeguard our freedoms, and help the middle class get ahead; and Donald Trump and JD Vance, who are only out for themselves and their billionaire donors, and will drag our country backward. 

Today and every day until the election, the DNC will hold Donald Trump and JD Vance accountable while ensuring the contrast between them and Vice President Harris and Governor Walz is clear. In the battlegrounds and in the highly visible Las Vegas strip, we have one message to Americans across the country:

Simply put, Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are fighting for you while Donald Trump and JD Vance are out for themselves.

DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman released the following statement:

“The DNC is blanketing the battlegrounds with a clear message: Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz are fighting for working people, and Donald Trump and JD Vance are only out for themselves. In the final weeks leading up to Election Day, voters across the battlegrounds are tuning into the clear choice before them: a vision for America that prioritizes the needs of working people, that prizes our rights and freedoms, and that helps all communities get ahead, or a dark vision that drags us backwards and puts billionaires ahead of working families. Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are building historic momentum across key battleground states, and the DNC will continue to make sure voters know who is fighting for them as we engage and turn out the strong coalition of voters that will carry Vice President Harris and Governor Walz across the finish line this November.”

See the Las Vegas Strip billboard here:

Find battleground billboard locations below:

Arizona: 

Georgia: 
Michigan:
North Carolina: 
Nevada:
Pennsylvania:

Wisconsin:
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Donors to VA07 GOP Far-Right Candidate Include Slimy Military Housing Provider, Billionaire Who Mused About Having Sex with Employees and “seemed to lament that slavery ended after the Civil War rather than several decades later”

By
lowkell
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5

The VA07 GOP nominee, Derrick Anderson, is certainly not a moderate. As DCCC Chair Susan DelBene puts it, “Anderson’s anti-abortion and MAGA extremism is alarming.” Also note that Anderson actually CELEBRATED the overturning of Roe v Wade, stating:

“SCOTUS finally got it right, and overturned a 50 year decision of federalizing abortions. As Justice Alito stated, the lack of a constitutional reference to abortion requires Roe and Casey to be overturned.”

So that alone should disqualify this guy from VA07 voters’ serious consideration. But wait, there’s more!

“Derrick Anderson’s far-right agenda doesn’t end with abortion. Anderson would be another MAGA extremist doing Trump’s bidding in Congress at the expense of Virginia families. He’s a part of the MAGA following that defends and supports Trump at all costs – even as Trump continues to threaten American democracy. After Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies by a jury of his peers, Anderson was quick to attack the rule of law and an independent jury of Americans to claim that he ‘stand[s] with President Trump and in the defense of his innocence.’ The anti-abortion zealot unironically said ‘This should be rejected by every freedom-loving American.’”

That wasn’t the first time Anderson sided with lawlessness and threats to American democracy. Anderson claimed that the deadly January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol was not an insurrection. It’s no wonder that he enthusiastically accepted the endorsement of Derrick Van Orden, who attended the ‘Save America’ rally on January 6th and marched towards the Capitol. Anderson also happily accepted the endorsement of Elise Stefanik, who has refused to commit to certifying the results of the 2024 elections after voting to overturn the 2020 elections.”

As if all that wasn’t bad enough, in June 2024, Anderson’s campaign also accepted a $3,300 donation from Hunt Companies executive Woody L. Hunt. According to this article, “Hunt Companies, Inc., the largest of the military housing providers, agreed to a $500,000 settlement with no admission of guilt in a similar federal fraud case in 2022.”  And in 2021, military families in Hawaii sued Hunt Companies over its failure to warn tenants that jet fuel contaminated their water supply, which displaced 3,000 families from their homes. Also, in 2018, eleven military families in Mississippi sued Hunt Companies for failing to address mold problems. Hunt Companies has also faced fraud allegations. Oh, and in 2022, the company paid $500,000 to settle allegations that it submitted false information to the Air Force about completion of work orders at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware in order to get higher performance incentive payouts.

Think it can’t get even worse? Well, how about the fact that Derrick Anderson also accepted donations from a guy named Ken Fisher – yeah, THIS guy.

“Billionaire money manager Ken Fisher ignited a firestorm after making offensive comments at a conference earlier this month, costing his firm more than $1.7 billion in client assets. A review of his Twitter feed reveals other instances of similar behavior. 

On June 18, for instance, Fisher responded to a tweet stating that employees never leave a company for monetary reasons alone. ‘That is the general theory,’ he wrote in a tweet saved by Forbes. ‘But, if you have sex with them they either leave a lot faster or a lot slower; all depends. Risky business. LOL.'”

Oh, and then there’s this:

In a separate tweet posted in 2018, Fisher called Abraham Lincoln his least favorite U.S. president. Citing the economist Douglas C. North, he seemed to lament that slavery ended after the Civil War rather than several decades later. 

“Douglas C. North proved slavery was profitable at the time of the war. Wait 30 years and technology would have rendered it profitless and slavery would have fallen peacefully,” he wrote. “And had it African Americans and everyone today would be hugely better off.” 

Finally, check this out – and seriously think about what accepting donations from someone like this says about a political candidate’s judgment:

“The controversy at Fisher Investments dates back to October 8, when Ken Fisher spoke on stage at the Tiburon CEO Summit at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco. According to attendees, he compared gaining a client’s trust to ‘trying to get into a girl’s pants,’ and also made reference to genitalia, Jeffrey Epstein and tripping on acid.”

Yep, Republicans are definitely the party of “family values” – LOL! (Seriously, though, starting on 9/20, everyone eligible to vote in VA07 needs to mark their ballot for Eugene Vindman)

 

 

Monday News: “‘She makes us proud’: Harris raises over $12m in California as Pelosi welcomes her home”; “‘A different level than 2020’: Trump’s plan to steal election is taking shape”; “Trump falsely claims Harris Michigan rally crowd ‘didn’t exist,’ was generated with AI”

By
lowkell
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16

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, August 12.

NEW VIDEO: Governor Tim Walz Responds to JD Vance’s Sunday Show Run

By
Blue Virginia
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8

From the Harris-Walz campaign:

NEW VIDEO: Governor Tim Walz Responds to JD Vance’s Sunday Show Run

Seriously, Who Let JD Vance Do the Sunday Shows?

After JD Vance spent this morning on the Sunday Shows twisting himself into a pretzel to defend Donald Trump’s obsession with women’s personal health care decisions, Governor Walz has some thoughts to share.

WATCH

Here’s what Governor Tim Walz had to say about JD Vance doubling down on his and Donald Trump’s Project 2025 plans to attack reproductive freedom:

“JD Vance and Donald Trump are going to ban medication abortion, making sure they make decisions in getting between you and your doctor. Vice President Harris and I will make sure that you make your health care decisions because we have a rule, whether you’d make the same decision as someone else: Just mind your own damn business.”

In case you missed it, this morning, Vance doubled down on Trump’s plans to ban abortion medication and he defended his cozy friendship with Project 2025 leaders whose plans for a Trump administration would ban abortion in all 50 states, jeopardize fertility treatments like IVF, and put access to birth control at risk.

Things only got worse from there. Here are a few other moments you may have missed from Vance’s morning:

  • Admitted that Kevin Roberts, the head of Project 2025, “is a friend of mine.” (We know, JD, you wrote the foreword in his upcoming book.)
  • Touted his work campaigning to ban abortion in Ohio. (Without the referendum, women in Ohio would be living under one of the strictest, near-total abortion bans in the country.)
  • Lied that “Trump doesn’t know anything about” Nick Fuentes, the far-right conspiracy theorist. (They famously had dinner together at his Mar-a-Lago country club.)
  • On the Florida abortion referendum, Vance said Trump should “do what he has done up to this point … [He] has shown real leadership there.” (Yes, we know, just ask the more than one in three women of reproductive age living under an abortion ban in this country.)
  • Left the door open to banning abortion medication. (Trump greenlit plans to wipe out access to medication abortion.)
  • Backed Trump’s authoritarian plans to wield power over the Federal Reserve, which would skyrocket inflation. (Vice President Harris would continue to protect the Fed’s long-standing independence.)
  • Dug himself deeper into a hole by yet again standing by his attacks against women that have put off even MAGA conservatives. (​​These weird and extreme views are part of “a clear pattern” for JD that includes banning abortion nationwide, giving women’s medical records to law enforcement, and opposing affordable child care.)
  • Stumbled repeatedly trying to defend Donald Trump’s plan to ban abortion medication. (Last week, Trump said he was open to it and today, JD couldn’t answer for him.)

###

Paid for by Harris for President

Trump-Supporting Former VA Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) Bemoans the State of the Presidential Race: “There is bad news for Donald Trump this Sunday”

By
lowkell
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17

Former VA Lt. Governor Bill Bolling (R) used to be a relatively normal, conservative Republican, but this election cycle he’s thrown in his lot 100% with dictator-wannabe, rapist, racist, fascist, felon, etc. Donald Trump. Totally f’ed up. So anyway, this morning, I just had to smile when I saw his latest deep thoughts on Facebook, in this case bemoaning the facts that (my comments in blue/bold/parentheses):

  • “There is bad news for Donald Trump this Sunday. Numerous polls now show that Kamala Harris has not only eliminated the leads Trump had over President Biden in several key swing states, but she has taken the lead in these states.” (Bolling is referring to the latest NY Times/Siena college polls which show Harris leading Trump in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania by about 4 points in each, as well as presumably to other polls showing Harris ahead in Nevada, Arizona, etc.)
  • “Trump and Republicans will no doubt dismiss the polls, but they are legitimate, and they show how Harris has reenergized the liberal base after replacing President Biden atop the Democratic ticket.” (Yep, these polls are as legitimate as the ones that for months showed Donald Trump with a lead against Joe Biden; except these are closer to the election, with early voting starting here in Virginia on 9/20.)
  • “Harris’ opponents continue to attack her…but these attacks do not appear to be working.” (Probably because they’re totally false, moronic, sexist, racist, etc.)
  • “At the end of the day, 60% of the American people simply despise Donald Trump. Although they were not prepared to support Biden, largely because of his age and declining mental status, they are willing to support Harris.” (What’s scary and disturbing is that Bolling isn’t one of those 60%, and that a whopping 40% of the population does NOT despise Donald Trump, despite him being pure evil.)
  • “Thus is troubling news for the Trump campaign, and they are going to have to find a way to reconnect with these voters who have swung to Harris.” (There’s probably no way for Trump to do that, given the fact that he can’t help himself, he is who he is – pure evil, as noted above – and he really can’t change.)
  • “Even more troubling is the likelihood that Harris’ lead over Trump will likely increase following the upcoming Democratic National Convention.” (Yes, if the Democratic National Convention goes smoothly, it wouldn’t be surprising if there is a “bounce” for Harris/Walz afterwards. We’ll see.)
  • “Trump simply cannot win the presidency if he is unable to break through in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona; and right now, he is trailing Harris in each of these states.” (Correct – if Dems hold the “blue wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, let alone win Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, etc., it’s game over for the MAGA/Trump GOP. Let’s make damn sure that happens!)

Historically Unpopular Project 2025 VP Pick JD Vance Tries New Tactic: Don’t Worry, I’m Irrelevant

By
Blue Virginia
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5

From the DNC War Room:

Historically Unpopular Project 2025 VP Pick JD Vance Tries New Tactic: Don’t Worry, I’m Irrelevant
In response to JD Vance scrambling with the fallout of Donald Trump refusing to say if his historically unpopular VP pick is ready to lead, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“The only thing more unlikeable than JD Vance is his and Donald Trump’s toxic Project 2025 agenda – so we can’t blame Vance for trying to cover after being thrown under the bus by his own running mate Trump in a desperate attempt to deflect away from his historically bad poll numbers. Unfortunately for the Trump-Vance ticket, voters are just as put off by their extreme and out-of-touch plans to rip away our basic rights, gut checks and balances, and put billionaires ahead of the middle class as they are by ultra-MAGA creeps like Vance and Trump.”

JD Vance “affirmed” Donald Trump’s desperate efforts to deflect away from Vance’s unpopularity by saying he doesn’t matter.

Margaret Brennan: “President Trump has said… the vice presidential pick rarely matters. How are you going to prove him wrong?”

Vance: “Well I think President Trump is right about that actually.”

ABC: “Sen. JD Vance affirmed former President Donald Trump’s assertion that the vice presidential pick doesn’t matter to the vast majority of voters.”

Trump previously refused to say if Vance is ready to lead on day one.

Harris Faulker, Fox News: “When you look at JD Vance, is he ready on day one?”

Trump: “Is he what?”

Faulkner: “Ready on day one if he has to be?”

Trump: “I’ve always had great respect for him. And for the other candidates too. But I will say this, and I think this is well documented; Historically, the vice president in terms of the election does not have any impact, I mean virtually no impact.”

Vance’s first few weeks as Trump’s running mate have been a complete disaster.

Vox: “J.D. Vance has made it impossible for Trump to run away from Project 2025”

New Republic: “Project 2025 Leader Is Overjoyed by Trump’s Vice Presidential Pick”

CNN: “JD Vance said in 2022 he ‘would like abortion to be illegal nationally’”

CNN: “It’s not just ‘cat ladies’: JD Vance has a history of disparaging people without kids”

ABC News: “Vance argued for higher tax rate on childless Americans in 2021 interview”

NBC News: “JD Vance doubles down on ‘childless cat ladies’ dig: ‘I’ve got nothing against cats’”

Washington Post: “Vance urged DOJ to enforce Comstock Act, crack down on abortion pills”

The Hill: “Some House Republicans slam Vance as Trump’s VP pick: ‘The worst choice’”

The Hill: “Republican senators divided over Trump sticking with Vance”

Axios: “Some Republicans express buyer’s remorse over Vance VP pick”

New Republic: “Is J.D. Vance the Worst Vice Presidential Pick Ever?”

CNN: “Vance confronts upheaval and uncertainty in first 10 days as Trump’s running mate”

Vance is making history as the most disliked VP nominee our country has seen in decades – and many Americans don’t think he’s ready to lead.

Newsweek: “JD Vance Is the Least Liked VP Nominee in Decades, According to Polls”

“JD Vance is the first non-incumbent vice presidential nominee to have a net-negative favorable rating after a convention since 1980, according to poll numbers.”

Salon: “‘Making history in the completely wrong way’: JD Vance is really unpopular and ‘dragging Trump down’”

“Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is making history as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, but not in the way that the Trump campaign had hoped. According to a CNN survey taken after the Republican National Convention, Vance has an approval rating of -6 points, making him the first vice presidential nominee to enter the general election with a negative rating since 1980.

“‘Frankly, I don’t really understand the pick, and apparently neither do the American voters,’ CNN data analyst Harry Enten said on Tuesday’s OutFront with Erin Burnett. Vance, he said, is ‘dragging Trump down.’”

Newsweek: “Nearly four in 10 people do not believe Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, is ready for the presidency if necessary, according to a new survey.

“The poll also found that one-third (33 percent) were not sure if Vance was ready for the presidency or not. This is a possible sign that the Hillbilly Elegy author, who has been a senator for less than two years, still needs to raise his national political profile since being named as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

“It has already been suggested that Trump may have made a mistake in picking Vance as his 2024 running mate.”

Sunday News: “Harris is beating Trump by transcending him”; “Las Vegas event center ‘reaches capacity’ during Kamala Harris campaign rally”; On the Supposed Hack of the Trump Campaign, Remember – They Lie About EVERYTHING; Youngkin Rallies for Far-Right-Extremist Hung Cao

By
lowkell
-
13

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, August 11.

Team Harris-Walz is Doing the Work to Win A Close Election

By
Blue Virginia
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8

From the Harris/Walz campaign:

Hello all,

It’s been almost three weeks since Vice President Harris launched her presidential bid, and since then we’ve seen a groundswell of support — the type of grassroots support, organizing, and fundraising that wins elections.

This week, that momentum has only grown with the addition of Governor Tim Walz to the ticket. Team Harris-Walz has seen an extraordinary amount of enthusiasm for this new ticket, raising $36 million in the first 24 hours. Just a few days into joining the ticket, Governor Walz’s popularity is already surging — as JD Vance’s continues to tank.

Even with this momentum, as Vice President Harris continues to make clear, we are the underdogs in this race and we’re taking nothing for granted. We believe this will be a very close election, decided by a very small number of voters, in just a few states.

This week was a prime example of our theory of the case at work: we broke through, turned enthusiasm into action, and reached the voters who will decide this election. Let’s take a look:

  • In the first 24 hours after Governor Walz was announced as Vice President Harris’ running mate, Team Harris-Walz raised a grassroots-powered $36 million dollars on top of an enormous outpouring of support and praise from Democratic elected officials, Republicans, independents, and both business and labor leaders. This is the money that will go to talking to voters and building campaign presences in every community to elect Democrats up and down the ticket.
  • Vice President Harris and Governor Walz drew historic crowds during our battleground states tour including 14,000+ in Philadelphia, 12,000+ in Eau Claire, and 15,000+ in both Detroit and Arizona. These events matter not only because they make Trump very, very mad, but because they get our message to voters, and expand our supporter network:
    • Event coverage earns us consistent and at-scale earned media to amplify our message in places voters get their news: across evening news, front pages, and local media.
    • The rallies also broke through online: On KamalaHQ across platforms, we saw 54 million impressions on both speeches (Eau Claire and Detroit) on Wednesday, and Vice President Harris’ channels across platforms saw 70 million impressions.
    • They also serve as opportunities to recruit supporters and volunteers that will be critical to reaching the voters who will decide the election — in Arizona alone, we picked up 3,000 volunteer shifts. That’s 3,000 Harris-Walz supporters who will be making the case to their communities about voting this November.
  • Launched a new TV ad and our first ad targeting Latino voters that highlights Kamala Harris’ middle class roots, along with an ad touting her fight to secure the border. Part of a historic $50 million paid media campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention, this campaign helps define who Kamala Harris is for voters in a crowded, divided media environment.
  • Demonstrated how the unprecedented labor support, including the recent endorsement by the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 16 along with the flurry of additional endorsements behind this ticket delivers not just words on a press release but tangible organizing prowess and hundreds of millions of dollars that will help us win a close election in November.
  • Expanded the infrastructure and capacity needed to harness the enthusiasm we’re seeing to win this November. We now tout over 1,500 coordinated staff, over 265 coordinated offices, and this strong existing infrastructure is delivering by mobilizing the surge of enthusiasm into action across the country on the ground, talking to the voters who will decide this election.

This is a whole lot of work — and it’s a testament to a campaign, a party, and a ticket that knows how close this election will be.

Meanwhile, let’s look at how Donald Trump and his campaign are approaching this close election.

Last night in Montana, Donald Trump’s ranting and raving focused (well not so focused) on committing the RNC to subverting the 2024 election, spewing grotesque attacks against the media, and promising to gut funding for every public school in the country.

One month ago, the Trump campaign was “planning for a landslide win.” They boasted of all the paths they had to 270 they even “stopped counting.

Fast forward to this month. Trump isn’t just taking voters for granted with no real infrastructure to speak of, he’s doubling down on the same old angry, spiteful, and self-obsessed extremist views America rejected in 2020.

He’s not campaigning in swing states, is attacking popular Republican governors in states he needs to win and trashing his staff, engages in public meltdowns every several days, spews so many blatant lies we can’t keep up with them, said this week he would ban abortion medication, and was caught (again) completely intertwined in Project 2025.

This morning, The New York Times reports it’s even worse down in Mar-a-Lago. Trump is attacking donors, throwing his running mate under the bus, and lashing out at staff. He is unfocused, unprepared, and incapable of delivering any positive message for the American people.

The bottom line? While the Trump-Vance team is spiraling, Team Harris-Walz is riding a historic wave of earned media and translating the immense grassroots enthusiasm into winning a close election this November.

Kevin Munoz

Harris-Walz Senior Spokesperson

Trump, Vance, and MAGA Mike Johnson’s 2025 Agenda Would Slash PACT Act Protections and Rip Away Care from Veterans Exposed to Toxic Burn Pits 

By
Blue Virginia
-
9

From the DNC War Room:

Trump, Vance, and MAGA Mike Johnson’s 2025 Agenda Would Slash PACT Act Protections and Rip Away Care from Veterans Exposed to Toxic Burn Pits 
DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement:

“After Trump spent his first term calling service members ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ and pushing for devastating cuts to veterans’ hard-earned benefits, Vice President Harris worked alongside President Biden to deliver health benefits for over a million toxic-exposed veterans in spite of Republicans’ attempts to block the life-saving care. Republicans’ Project 2025 agenda for a Trump-Vance administration would go even further, calling for hard-earned health care and disability benefits to be ripped away from our veterans including PACT Act beneficiaries. This election is a choice between leaders who will continue to deliver on our sacred promise to those who’ve served our country and a ticket that’s broken that promise time and again. From Donald Trump and JD Vance to MAGA Mike Johnson, any so-called leader working to rip away access to lifesaving medical care from our nation’s veterans is fundamentally unfit to serve.”

Trump and his MAGA cronies are trying to hide their Project 2025 blueprint behind his second term agenda. Here’s an overview of his real plans: 

Project 2025 calls for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) to place new limits on what claims will make current and future recipients eligible for disability benefits: Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership, p.650:

“The VA’s Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) has assigned disability ratings to a growing number of health conditions over time; some are tenuously related or wholly unrelated to military service. The further growth in presumptive service-connected medical conditions pursued by Congress and Veteran Service Organizations, begun with Agent Orange and most recently for Burn Pits/Airborne Toxins, has led to historic increases in mandatory VBA spending in recent years.

The VA has a time-phased plan to reassess the VASRD and its ratings for compensation, but this internal process can be slow and laborious, requires Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approvals, and can become politically charged both in Congress and with VSOs. The next Administration should explore how VASRD reviews could be accelerated with clearance from OMB to target significant cost savings from revising disability rating awards for future claimants while preserving them fully or partially for existing claimants.”

In other words, this plan would:

  • Rob brave veterans and active service members of billions of dollars in hard-earned benefits.
  • Drastically reduce the federal workforce, which employs 300,000 veterans, leaving a substantial number of  veterans, many of them disabled, without jobs.
  • Privatize the Veterans Health Administration, allowing Trump’s ultra-rich buddies to profit off of Americans who made the fearless sacrifice to serve our country.
  • Slash disability compensation for veterans who were injured in the line of duty and strip some disabled veterans of these benefits entirely.
  • Bar certain groups of veterans from enrolling in Veterans Administration medical care.
  • Shut down VA hospitals and clinics that veterans rely on for lifesaving health care.

House Republicans have repeatedly proposed drastic cuts to veterans’ health care programs, including Medicaid and Medicare.

Fox Business: “The House Republican Budget Chair once again called for cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA, saying it is ‘inevitable’ that they will be on his chopping block.”

Protect Our Care Fact Sheet: “Republicans Propose Budget That Will Raise Health Care Costs and Rip Coverage Away from Millions of Americans”

The White House: “Undermine Medical Care for Veterans: Cutting funding by 22 percent would mean 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits, and 81,000 jobs lost across the Veterans Health Administration—leaving veterans unable to get appointments for care including wellness visits, cancer screenings, mental health services, and substance use disorder treatment.”

White House Fact Sheet: “The Republican Budget would side with Big Pharma to increase drug prices and seniors’ out-of-pocket costs by repealing the Inflation Reduction Act.

“Medicare would no longer be able to negotiate lower drug prices. Big Pharma would once again be allowed to set whatever price they want, leaving seniors and taxpayers on the hook and facing higher prices.

“Big Pharma would no longer pay Medicare back when they increase drug prices faster than inflation, allowing them to jack up prices with no accountability.

“Seniors would go back to paying up to $400 for insulin, instead of the $35 price cap per monthly insulin prescription they have today.”

Vice President Kamala Harris worked alongside President Biden to pass the PACT Act despite Republicans’ attempts to block the lifesaving bill. So far, over 1 million PACT-related claims have now been granted — with more than 888,000 veterans and survivors across all 50 states and U.S. territories now receiving new benefits. 

New York Times: “President Biden announced on Tuesday that his administration has approved more than one million claims from veterans injured by toxic exposures during their service, actions made possible by a new law he championed, officials said.”

Spectrum News: “March 5, 2024 marks the first day of one of the largest expansions in VA health care for veterans across the country.”

“Starting on March 5, veterans with toxic exposure from the Vietnam War, Gulf War and post-September 11th era, will now be covered.”

White House Fact Sheet: “Under President Biden’s leadership, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has processed claims at the fastest rate in history, and is delivering health care to more veterans than ever before.”

MAGA Mike Johnson, Trump’s top minion in Congress, voted against the historic PACT Act. 

Military.com: “Here’s How New House Speaker Mike Johnson Voted on Veteran and Military Issues”

“On veterans issues, last year he voted against the PACT Act, considered the biggest increase of veterans benefits in a generation that expanded benefits and health care for those exposed to toxic substances during their military service.”

“Johnson also voted against a year-end package of smaller veterans and military family measures last year. Among other provisions, the bill mandated that states recognize service members and spouses’ valid professional licenses from other states and ensured veterans won’t lose GI Bill benefits if schools have to close in a future emergency like they did for the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Many extreme MAGA Republicans in the Senate tried to block passage of the PACT Act – literally fist-bumping one another for their attempts to deny benefits to veterans.

CNN: “Senate procedural vote on burn pits legislation fails amid widespread Republican opposition”

NPR: “The Senate passed a bill to help sick veterans. Then 25 Republicans reversed course”

“They are: John Barrasso, Marsha Blackburn, Roy Blunt, Mike Braun, Bill Cassidy, John Cornyn, Tom Cotton, Kevin Cramer, Ted Cruz, Joni Ernst, Deb Fischer, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Jim Inhofe, Ron Johnson, John Kennedy, Roger Marshall, Mitch McConnell, Rob Portman, Ben Sasse, Tim Scott, Rick Scott, Dan Sullivan and Todd Young. Sens. Additionally, Sens. Steve Daines and Roger Wicker voted against the bill after not voting in June.”

HuffPost: “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was captured on video Thursday fist-bumping Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) shortly after Republicans managed to block the PACT Act, which would allow soldiers, sailors and airmen exposed to pits of smoldering waste in combat zones to be covered by the Veterans Affairs health care system for linked illnesses. Many are suffering from cancer.”

Trump has made it crystal clear that he does not respect veterans and their service to our country, calling fallen veterans “losers” and “suckers” and pushing to slash disabled veterans’ benefits while president.

The Atlantic: “Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’”

“When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, near Paris, in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that ‘the helicopter couldn’t fly’ and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true.

“Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, ‘Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.’ In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed.”

USA Today: “Although President Donald Trump’s proposed budget plan for the 2018 fiscal year would increase spending across the Department of Veterans Affairs, the proposal would also slash individual unemployment benefits for disabled veterans by more than $40.8 billion over 10 years.”

Military.com: “Elderly Vets Could Face Benefits Cut Under Trump Budget”

“Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. David Shulkin defended Wednesday a proposal in President Donald Trump’s federal budget plan that would cut a benefit paying thousands of dollars annually to disabled elderly veterans.”
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