55 veterans running for Congress as a Democrats. (and growing)

[kansasblue]

http://www.bandofbrothers2006.org/candidates/

Band of Brothers is a new political organization formed to assist Democratic veterans running for elected office.

Currently at 55

[Wheezy]

1. oh yeah.

This is the best news of the day. Thank you.
K & R

[DinahMoeHum]

2. And those are just US House of Representatives candidates. . .

Then there is Paul Hackett, who is running for US Senator in Ohio to oust Mike DeWine,
www.hackettforohio.com

and Carl Sheeler, who is running for US Senator in Rhode Island to oust Lincoln Chafee.
www.carlsheeler.com

Looks like the Band of Brothers website better start expanding to include a separate list for these guys.


:kick::kick::kick:

[katinmn]

28. oops. I made a post about Sheeler below. He is another

warrior that we need to elect!

[CarlSheeler4U]

40. Thanks. Ask BoB to speed it up!

[Wordie]

3. Good news! K&R

[carnie_sf]

4. A lot of them

look like Vietnam vets. It'd be nice to see the guys who actually put their lives on the line back then running things rather than this bunch of lily livered yellow bellied chickenhawks that are in charge now.

[speedoo]

5. And they are all running against chickenhawks.

By definition, since their opponents are all republicans and we know they NEVER SERVE!!!!!

[Toots]

26. Well it might be interesting to examine how many current members of Congre

are veterans and from which Party. You may just be surprised. Granted the new batch of Conservatives are decidedly Chicken hawks but officially most veterans in Congress are Republicans. That appears to be changing as we type...Most veterans who saw actual combat are usually very opposed to war. It is those who served in Rear Echelon positions that are "gung ho" for more war....

[Neil Lisst]

6. I just love it!!! And not surprising at all!

The truth is OUT!!

The chickenhawks of the right can't handle the TRUTH!!

[msongs]

7. good news indeed. yellow belly chicken hawks beware :-) nt

[AtomicKitten]

8. 55? Awesome.

I would like to donate to their campaigns.

[FreedomAngel82]

13. Donate to Terry!!

http://www.terry2006.com He's my congress canidate guy running against republican Zach Wamp and will be in DC Feb 8th, 2006.

[AtomicKitten]

15. I will. Thanks for the link. (nt)

[saracat]

22. Please donate to Herb Paine in Az

He is running against Shadegg!

[AtomicKitten]

34. I will, thanks. (nt)

[BrotherBuzz]

32. Look at Charlie Brown, too. He's looking to take Doolittle (Ca4) DOWN!

That would be money well spent!

http://www.brown4congress.org/

[AtomicKitten]

35. I will, thanks for the link. (nt)

[Dunvegan]

9. This is a beautiful thing...

...and tells the story of heroism and true American values better than anything else.

I support every Fighting Dem for their dual service and sacrifice to the country.

[catmother]

10. great news.

:-)

[Mr_Spock]

11. Yes, was not aware of this until Sam Seder

I think talked about this (or was it Randi).

Anyway, good news - thanks for posting it here.

[FreedomAngel82]

12. Isn't it great?

Terry Stulce 2006!- http://www.terry2006.com

[flaminbats]

14. running against those who let us down on 9/11..

and now Republicans boost about their patriotism and great sacrifices to defend us all from terrorism. The veterans running for Congress have the opportunity to tell voters about the turmoil and deaths of comrades caused only by the arrogance of those now holding power.

This is a golden opportunity for our party to win control of Congress and force Bush to give ground to some of the demands of voters he is paid to serve. I hope our party stops copying the puppet exercises of the party controlling Congress, and actually fights to win!

[UrbScotty]

16. To each of them

:patriot:

[BlueIris]

17. Thanks for the link. nt

[RC]

18. Now what about the DINO's?

[laugle]

19. Boy I'll SECOND that one!!! Time to start weeding

all the rotten apples out.

I say let's CLEAN HOUSE--YEAH!!!

I'm starting with DINO DI!!

[FrenchieCat]

20. There's another group which is a PAC to assist

Iraqi and Afghanistan War Veterans running specifically, as opposed to Band of Brothers which includes all Veterans.

This group is non-partisan...HOWEVER, there is a vetting process....

Currently there are nine Democrats running for congress included......no Repugs.

http://www.iavapac.org/

Not all candidates will desire, or qualify for, our endorsement. Candidates will be selected after a formal process, with the following criteria being the key qualifications for endorsement:

-- Candidates must be Veterans of the wars in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, having qualified for the Iraq or Afghanistan campaign medal or qualified for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal

-- Candidates must openly submit their DD-214(discharge papers) for review in order to ensure
their authenticity

-- Candidates will undergo a formal review process by the PAC and the Advisory Board to include personal
interviews

-- Candidates must sign an endorsement of the PAC’s list of policy objectives, which are:

Demand from the administration a victory strategy for Iraq that includes hard success metrics which trigger American troop drawdowns so our forces can safely re-deploy from theater.

Mandatory full funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Thorough investigation of the failure to provide adequate armor for our soldiers, and that those responsible are held accountable.

An increase in the size of the active component army by eight units of action (brigades) and doubling the size of our Special Forces units in order to help relieve our over-extended army. (NOTE: This is not an increase in the number of troops currently deployed in Iraq).

Guaranteeing the exhaustion of diplomacy options by the President prior to approval for military conflict.

TRICARE (health care) for all members of the National Guard and Reserve and their families. As of July 2004, 20% of National Guardsmen lacked healthcare. Currently, Guardsmen and Reservists can buy into TRICARE if they are unemployed or are not covered by their employer. IAVA PAC supports extending TRICARE coverage to all Guardsmen and Reservists.

Lowering the retirement age for members of the National Guard and Reserve from 60 to 55.

An immediate 5% pay increase for our Armed Forces.

[Lasher]

21. I can buy into most of that

But I wouldn't agree with a pollcy of permanently increasing the size of our active military forces. We're spending way too much on defense right now. If we were to close some of those foriegn military bases, we should have plenty of troops to go around.

[FrenchieCat]

23. It's really talking about growing the military force back to where it was

prior to Bush.

You have to know that the military forces are shrinking as we speak due to "enlistment" problems. If we had a competent Commander in Chief, he/she would return the volunteer military to what it used to be...when folks would join to see the world, get educated and NOT GO AND HAVE TO DIE.

Currently our military forces have shrunk to the point of the necessity for the frequent calls to the National Guards and Reserves for extended beyond the reasonable time type of duty.

The large monies spent on defense is not solely on the personnel as much as it is on the military industrial arms procurement, R&D, and the big fat pork.

Total $437.111 Billion
Operations and maintenance $174.081 Bil.
Military Personnel $113.576 Bil.
Procurement $76.217 Bil.
Research & Development $60.756 Bil.
Military Construction $6.310 Bil.

% Increased spending since 2001.....

[Lasher]

29. I'm in favor of a smaller military than that

Thank you for the informative response. I have respect for contributors like you, who back up what they say with facts.

I'm just saying, our military is too big and expensive, and we need to take serious steps to cut back. For example, I think it's time to pull our forces out of South Korea. The locals have had plenty of time, and lots of support from us, to learn how to stand on their own. Our military bases there have helped to pump up their economy, and they're in good shape in that respect. The sentiment of most South Koreans is, they would just as soon have us leave. So, why are we still there?

America's Empire of Bases

It's not easy to assess the size or exact value of our empire of bases. Official records on these subjects are misleading, although instructive. According to the Defense Department's annual "Base Structure Report" for fiscal year 2003, which itemizes foreign and domestic U.S. military real estate, the Pentagon currently owns or rents 702 overseas bases in about 130 countries...

<snip>

These numbers, although staggeringly large, do not begin to cover all the actual bases we occupy globally. The 2003 Base Status Report fails to mention, for instance, any garrisons in Kosovo -- even though it is the site of the huge Camp Bondsteel, built in 1999 and maintained ever since by Kellogg, Brown & Root. The Report similarly omits bases in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, and Uzbekistan, although the U.S. military has established colossal base structures throughout the so-called arc of instability in the two-and-a-half years since 9/11.

<snip>

If there were an honest count, the actual size of our military empire would probably top 1,000 different bases in other people's countries, but no one -- possibly not even the Pentagon -- knows the exact number for sure, although it has been distinctly on the rise in recent years.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0115-08.htm

Andy Rooney has also weighed in on the subject

Ike Was Right About War Machine

October 2, 2005

We had a great commander in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower. He became President and on leaving the White House in 1961, he said this: "We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

Well, Ike was right. That's just what’s happened.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/30/60minutes/main892398.shtml

If you hit the supplied CBS News link, you can view the full text of Andy's referenced segment, and you can also watch a video clip of it.

My point is, we need to encourage dialog on this subject, hopefully to result in significant reduction of our military spending. When the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America PAC requires endorsed candidates to sign onto an objective to increase the current size of our standing military, this discourages the discussion we need to have - and therefore significantly reduces the possibility that badly needed reform will occur.

[ncteechur]

24. Will they get DCCC money?

[saracat]

31. Probably not. DCCC only gives to a chosen few, and none are on this list.

[MrBenchley]

36. Not so...Duckworth is a DCCC candidate, for one....

In fact, there's been umpty-ump threads pissing and maoning that the DCCC is supporting Duckworth.

[ncteechur]

25. Do we know about rethugs? HOw many vets do they have?

[katinmn]

27. They need to get Sheeler on board!

Running for a Rhode Island US Senate seat. He took out a billboard Friday saying Impeach Bush.

http://www.carlsheeler.com/

[Doctor_J]

30. They need to get "Yellow Elephant" lapel pins

and adopt the Chickenhawk emblem

[electron_blue]

33. woohoo!!!

Thanks for passing this on.

[NMDemDist2]

37. and the first on the list? Herb Paine, AZ3rd against Shadegg - My district

my candidate and Arizona's hope for the future :bounce:

[AX10]

38. These Democratic Veterans will be running against GOP Chickenhawks.

:kick:

[DarkmoonIkonoklast]

39. I've considered the idea myself for some years...

... but have always vetoed it, primarily for two reasons:

1] I never served in combat.
I was in the USMC from 1967 through 1969. I was in Schools Battalion, MCB Camp Pendleton, training in artillery, during Tet '68, when, because of some weirdness on a X-ray slide, I spent 3 days in hospital... according to MCSB regs, that meant I had to rotate back to the next available class coming through the point where I was dropped...
My class, the one I HAD been in, graduated, was sent to Okinawa, then on to Nam... they were en route to a forward artillery base on or near the DMZ when their air transport was blown out of the sky by a (barely) man-portable rocket... My class. The one I was no longer in.
That was the closest I ever came to combat, and, while I've always felt grateful that SomeOne spared me, I've always felt unworthy to speak for the guys who DID serve, who DID face the fire...

2] Unlike Mr Clinton, I damned well DID inhale... I also did a few other things which might make for "interesting" press. We all know how the press can turn "youthful indiscretions" into something almost as heinous as kiddy rape -- and a lot harder to live down, even if it's something relatively innocuous. MY "youthful indiscretions" got me on the bloody "Enemies List", as well as more than one C.I.A. "Subversive Surveillance" list.
Now I'm not ashamed of anything I did during that period (or since, for that) but it's not a thing that would be conducive to political success in America today... I'd be willing to stand and endure the grilling, but wouldn't such a history make it impossible for anyone to hear anything -- valid or not -- that I actually had to say?

Many of my friends have told me (since before 2000, actually) that I should stand for office. I'm curious as to what folk who aren't biased think of those points...