Jon Stewart Calls Out GOP For Abandoning Poisoned Veterans
WARNING: Contains strong language that some may find to be offensive.
“Republicans are literally blocking care for veterans poisoned by burn pits as part of their temper tantrum over a deal to tax corporations and create clean energy jobs,” said another commentator.
KENNY STANCIL
A version of the PACT Act easily passed the Senate 84-14 last month. It was overwhelmingly approved by House lawmakers 342-88 two weeks ago, but because of a small technical fix made in the lower chamber, the upper chamber was required to vote on the measure again before it could be sent to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
Instead, the latest iteration of the bill was defeated 55-42 in the Senate, with 41 Republicans in opposition.
The 25 GOP lawmakers who switched their votes on Wednesday are “stab-vets-in-the-back senators,” Jon Stewart tweeted Wednesday.
“Fuck the Republican caucus and their empty promise to our veterans,” he added.
The GOP torpedoed the burn pit legislation after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced a surprise deal on a filibuster-proof economic and climate package just hours after several Republicans joined Democrats to pass the CHIPS Act—a bill that seeks to bolster the domestic production of semiconductor chips but has been criticized by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and others as a massive “corporate giveaway.”
Previously, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had vowed to kill the CHIPS Act unless Democrats abandoned their reconciliation bill. The filibuster-proof economic and climate package looked dead in the water prior to the CHIPS Act vote, but Schumer and Manchin quickly brought it back to life afterward, infuriating McConnell and dozens of other far-right members of Congress.
Schumer was the lone Democrat to vote against the PACT Act on Wednesday. As C-SPAN‘s Craig Caplan explained, “Schumer switched his vote from ‘yes’ to ‘no’ and entered a motion to reconsider the failed cloture vote,” which allows him to bring the bill to the floor at a later date.
According to “PBS NewsHour Weekend” anchor Geoff Bennett, Schumer said the Senate will vote again on the PACT Act on Monday.
First aired on Common Dreams.
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