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Anything dumb Canuck civvies can do to pitch in?
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Jul 16, 2018 22:01
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MohawkSatan posted:Anything dumb Canuck civvies can do to pitch in? If you were Russian, probably, our politicians listen to Russians.
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Jul 17, 2018 20:48
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I just got a phone call from someone from the senator who sent me an email about the wrong bill. Turns out that the bill they told me about is designed to just raise DIC by an amount that most people's offsets would be gone anyway, like a backdoor repeal of the offset. He apologized that neither their email nor the bill itself made it clearer that that was the intent. He also explained that the biggest hurdle to eliminating the offset is that nobody really agrees with how to get rid of it: Do we attack it from the VA side, the DOD side, or scrap it all and start over? Basically it's just Congress inaction in action.
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Jul 19, 2018 18:57
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Anyone live in the Colorado 6th - McNally
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Aug 3, 2018 00:19
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Viva Miriya posted:Anyone live in the Colorado 6th - McNally Mike Coffman of the Colorado's 6th District is the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee for Military Personnel. H.R. 846, a bill to repeal the SBP-DIC offset, has been sitting in that subcommittee since February 2017. H.R. 846 has 269 cosponsors. That's 60% of the House of Representatives. 60% of the House has cosigned this bill yet it's still in committee. Tomorrow I'm going to ask him why. I think we all should. DC office - 202.225.7882 District office - 720.748.7514
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Aug 3, 2018 00:38
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McNally posted:Mike Coffman of the Colorado's 6th District is the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee for Military Personnel. H.R. 846, a bill to repeal the SBP-DIC offset, has been sitting in that subcommittee since February 2017. A summary of the conversation: "It hasn't been voted on yet." "Why?" "Because it hasn't. Do you live in this district?" "No, but I've been trying to get a response from my congressman on this issue for two months." "Keep trying."
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Aug 3, 2018 16:38
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No one wants to talk about the scheduling for voting on it.
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Aug 3, 2018 17:03
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:No one wants to talk about the scheduling for voting on it. Nobody wants to actually vote for it. Cosponsoring bills is a great way to say "I support..." without the burden of actually having to support it.
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Aug 3, 2018 17:26
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Look buddy when I said support our vets and their families I meant I’d put a flag and a ribbon made in China on my house and make sure there’s always a war for you to pointlessly die in, not that I’d put any effort into making things better for you ya fuckin commie.
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Aug 3, 2018 17:29
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Viva Miriya posted:Gonna take some time Sunday to go through all McNally's posts in the Army thread and get the timeline done. i'm a bitch rear end but this got done
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Aug 5, 2018 18:44
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This timeline is an attempt to collate all the ways McNally has been hosed. October 2015: Wife’s initial suicide attempt. Command response to unit’s request for mental health support for soldier was apparently “Has she completed suicide prevention training?”. December 9th, 2015: Second attempt, which is unfortunately successful. January 2016: McNally tries to get a new dependent ID card at the RAPIDS office at Ft. Meade. Wastes 90 minutes of his life there only to be told by a supervisor he was not eligible for any benefits as his spouse’s active duty period had expired. He asks her if she was telling him a military survivor is not entitled to any benefits following the end of the deceased service member’s term of service. She says yes which is as wrong as it is extremely infuriating to hear. McNally doesn’t get a new ID card, because of issues with orders not being in the RAPIDS office system. Instead he must surrender his own ID card, which is his only proof of eligibility of benefits. A week later, McNally reaches out to the base Casualty Assistance Center (CAC) who contacts RAPIDS. RAPIDS responded with a “sorry nobody at fort knox picked up, smdftb.” Fort Meade IG eventually gets involved and he gets his ID card a week later. This theme of having to make noise to be heard and get poo poo done is going to be consistent throughout this timeline. February 2016: DFAS W-2 bullshit: McNally tries to get a copy of wife’s W-2 from the finance office, is unable to and is referred to base CAC. CAC proves worthless in having wife’s W-2 sent in. They tell him DFAS doesn’t mail in W-2’s for deceased service members. They don’t know how to get copies of W-2s either as they then proceed to call up the local IRS office, fail to get through to anyone, and then suggest McNally make an appointment. FYI the IRS doesn’t issue W-2s. McNally gets the W-2 from DFAS on his own. Additionally, it takes 3 weeks for base legal to get an appointment, at which point he learns setting up an estate to handle his wife’s affairs is as easy as a trip to the county courthouse. CAC should have known this poo poo. February 11th, 2016: It apparently takes two months for CID to remember to request Mental Health records. Toxicology report still not in. April 2016: Even in death, the American healthcare industry will bill you for testing to ensure your organs are viable for transplant. Bill was addressed to the deceased wife. April 2nd, 2016: Insult to Injury: Certified letter arrives from US Army. Addresses wife as daughter. May 6th, 2016: Redacted copy of Army investigation (completed in February) received. MPs were apparently called because wife called friend and told said friend she was going to commit suicide. Preliminary report MPs found her and bought her story that she was ok. Corrected report notes that that didn’t happen, and instead the MPs responded, found her, stayed with her till the ambulance arrived, and did all they could to save her life. “Additionally, numerous individuals in [McNally's wife]'s chain of command expressed frustration that after the Soldier's [redacted] requests for information (RFIs) seemed to greatly outnumber offers of help and support. [McNally's wife]'s leaders and support personnel were particularly irritated to receive repeated variations of the question "has the Soldier undergone suicide prevention training?" This question implies that suicide prevention training is an inoculation against suicide. Repeated RFIs seemed motivated less by concern for [McNally's wife]'s well-being than a bureaucratic desire to avoid blame and ensure a specific block was checked. [Redacted] like [McNally's wife] [Redacted]. [McNally's wife]'s leaders in [unit], who worked to get her on orders and linked up with mental health professionals, deserved resources and support, rather than second-guessing of their actions and unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles.” May 16th, 2016: McNally submits travel claim to Ft. Meade CAC since he’s entitled to be reimbursed for traveling to his wife’s funeral. Cue a few months of email tag that ends in namedropping IG regarding this and the LOD investigation. July 7th, 2016: Call from Casualty Assistance Center, Ft. Meade. Line of Duty (LOD) investigation being handled by wife’s unit. Travel Claim bullshit from May still ongoing. September 30th, 2016: McNally meets with a Brigadier General Nixon from wife’s Chain of Command (CoC). General conducts powerpoint presentation that confirms/is practically the same as the redacted investigation McNally received in May. McNally provides General with letter detailing all the issues he’s dealt with from the Army during this entire ordeal. Same letter is also sent out to the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Army, Sergeant Major of the Army, McNally’s Senators, McNally’s Congressman, and both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. October 11th, 2016: First response received from the mass mailout. McNally’s senator provides some canned form letter that talks about forwarding McNally’s concerns to the VA and reporting back when they get a response. McNally did not write about the VA at all. McNally responds by inquiring as to why his letter was not read in full and responded to generically i.e.: why didn’t they make it less obvious they didn’t give a gently caress. October 25th (ish), 2016: McNally calls said senator’s local office, explaining the situation, and requests a callback. Callback request is responded to by another form email virtually identical to the previous email, addressing the Department of the Army instead of the VA. Week of November 2nd (ish): After venting on his congressman’s Facebook page, the congressman’s veterans service rep emails McNally is forced to have the explain the situation for the umpteenth time. Vet Rep promises to reach out to the Army on McNally’s Behalf. A couple of days later, McNally receives a response from someone in the Secretary of the Army’s office. Although not a form letter, it might as well be with its generic message about “suicide prevention is taken seriously.” Below is an excerpt from the letter. “Your heart-felt letter highlighted significant areas that we will evaluate and target as our processes evolve to address the emerging needs of the force. Additionally, your letter has been forwarded to the Fort George Meade RAPIDS Office and Casualty Assistance Center to address your concerns regarding the lack of service and information provided to you by Fort Meade after the death of your wife. Please be assured that there is no greater priority for the Army than the safety, well-being, and care of our Soldiers, their Families, and our Army Civilians. Thank you for the service and sacrifices of both you and SGT (NOT MY WIFE'S loving NAME, rear end in a top hat) to our Nation.” If Suicide Prevention was taken serious, McNally’s wife would have been in to see a MH provider within a week of her first attempt, been on a medication and therapy protocol, and would likely be alive today. Also loving up her name is just more insult to loving injury. November 11th, 2016: Happy Veteran’s Day! McNally is defrauded of over 2800 dollars before USAA fraud protection kicks in. Unrelated to the whole “getting hosed by the Army and ignored by everyone else” theme but very relevant to the getting hosed in general theme. USAA apparently does do right by McNally. November 16th, 2016: Related to the November 2nd entry: McNally gets a phone call from one his senator’s staffer. gently caress all happens. McNally reaches out to SMA Dailey on twitter and gets DM’d the email of his PAO. Fuckall happens as well. November 21st, 2016: VA calls McNally all confused like “homie your senator called. What is it we need to help you with?” McNally dies a little more inside whilst blueing a musket or whatever he does in his spare time as he explains for the umpteenth time “IT’S THE GREEN WEENIE THAT’S loving ME, NOT THE WHITE ONE.” Congressshitters cannot or will not keep it straight that it’s the Army that’s responsible for this debacle. They seem to automatically assume if it involves Vets it’s the VA’s fault. Also, on this day the XO to the Army G-1, a full bird, reaches out to McNally. He’s actually a standup guy about this. He assures McNally he’s going to get a response to his original letter that addresses its points one by one and actually had some empathy and poo poo about his situation. December 30th, 2016: CID report comes out (MCNALLY, FILL IN THIS ENTRY PLS) “In addition to people who had never met me making remarks about my character, they also managed to misquote me in my statement to them: I told them that my wife had quit her job in October. The report said I said that *I* quit my job.” March 20th, 2017: Related to the November 21st entry: McNally, after months of calling, finally gets in touch with the case manager at his senator’s office. She’s apparently horrible at reminding McNally she’s still on the case. And whenever she contacts the Army they forward her to the VA. You’d think she figure out how to raise some more hell and get through to the right but but she’s just a civil servant, she did the best she could! gently caress McNally! October 18th, 2017: McNally’s friendly Colonel apparently works at the Pentagon and is still staying in touch. Just gonna quote the post below As it happens, it might not even be necessary. Yesterday I emailed that colonel who contacted me after I responded to the letter that called my wife the wrong name. He started making calls and today I received a phone call from the SES who signed that letter and then a phone call from the colonel who runs the office that trains casualty assistance officers. In the course of the conversation, I've learned some of the things I had issues with have changed (for example, I was eligible for travel pay to and from my wife's funeral. The funeral was in January, the casualty assistance center [which, it turns out, is completely different from the casualty assistance officers: one's a civilian office, the other is a .mil function and they're run by different people] gave me the form to fill out at the end of May, and I didn't get paid until August, before which I had to contact the IG because the casualty assistance idiots had stopped responding to my requests for updates. Travel vouchers for survivors are now part of the casualty assistance officer's checklist, is handled directly by the .mil office, and is a "this must be done within 30 days item). It turns out that I was supposed to have received an official response to my concerns but never received the letter. Anyway, once we established my beef is with the DA civilians in the Casualty Assistance Center and not with my Casualty Assistance Officer, she said she'd have the person who runs that department contact me. She told me to call her if I don't hear anything by Friday afternoon. Reading between the lines, it sounded almost like I'm an urban legend at HRC. October 21st, 2017: The Ft. Meade CAC hits up McNally. Apparently, they got a call from higher and had the impression McNally was stirring poo poo because he was still waiting on benefits. Not at all related to them loving him over the better part of a year. To make this even sweeter, its not the person in charge of the office who calls, it’s a call from someone McNally put in an IG complaint in about over a year ago! Ayyyyyy lmao November 1st, 2017: Unrelated to McNally poo poo but Mustang starts dying inside on this date. January to February 2018: McNally reaches out to his friendly colonel, who is now at Human Resources Command. He puts McNally in touch with the colonel in charge of casualty assistance. It turns out the Army has two casualty assistance programs: One deals with the uniformed officers who act as Casualty Assistance Officers (CAOs), the other is the civilian-run Casualty Assistance Office (also CAO because lol). The military office started making adjustments as soon as McNally’s letter arrived (the travel claim is now an item on the military CAO’s checklist, meaning it’s way more likely to get done). A detailed letter was supposed to have been sent to McNally in response to his letter detailing all the changes that were made, but somehow some DA civilian forgot to send it. McNally was also supposed to get a call from the DA civilian running the civilian CAO but never did. McNally’s senator finally receives a response from the Army because McNally did the legwork. May 26, 2018: McNally sends out a letter to all his congressshitters related to the SBP-DIC bullshit. The content can be boiled down to “stop making surviving spouses pay for their own benefits” – A SOF DEPENDA June 22nd, 2018: McNally gets a form letter response from one of his senators thanking him for his input on the 2019 NDAA. Lol ok fuckers. June 25th, 2018: Senator’s legislative correspondent emails McNally on his fourth wedding anniversary to be like “ayy so we support eliminating the SBP-DIC offset but legislation is hard and finding money for it is harder. Sorry pal.” Said correspondent gets roasted for his bullshit. July 23rd, 2018: McNally gets a generic form letter from his congressman thanking him for his input. August 1st, 2018: McNally follows up with his senator’s legislative correspondent only to get a “message can’t be delivered because you don’t have permissions to send to this email address.” Suspecting he’s been blocked, McNally calls his senator’s office only to learn that the legislative correspondent no longer works for the senator. McNally is promised a callback from a case manager. August 2nd, 2018: McNally receives a phone call from the case manager who promises to get someone over at legislative affairs to look at this. McNally forwards the email chain to the case manager.
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Aug 5, 2018 21:32
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 McNally needs to start writing a book. Not a joke.
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Aug 6, 2018 02:03
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Angry all over again, god loving drat
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Aug 6, 2018 02:44
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I guess this is the part where I develop some sort of form letter and tell you guys to "go forth and stir poo poo" but I honestly have no clue what the next step is. All I know is McNally doesn't deserve any of ^
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Aug 6, 2018 03:01
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Have you tried reddit? It might pick up there depending on how you frame it.
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Aug 6, 2018 04:13
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Soulex posted:Have you tried reddit? It might pick up there depending on how you frame it. Gross, dude.
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Aug 6, 2018 04:53
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ded posted:Gross, dude. Keep playing with soap then
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Aug 6, 2018 05:14
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Boy it's cool that we've been fighting these wars almost as long as I've been alive and basic poo poo like handling casualties and survivors programs is still hosed beyond belief
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Aug 6, 2018 09:54
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I had earlier mentioned getting an email from my other senator, the one I hadn't had two years worth of back and forth with, in response to my "hey make this issue a priority" email I sent on Memorial Day. I received an email about S.1990, a bill to increase the amount of the VA survivor benefit. I responded back with "this isn't what I'm talking about." I later got a phone call from a staffer who explained that the intent of the bill is to increase the VA compensation as kind of a backdoor around repealing the offset. I looked up the details of the bill and hahaha nope. The intent of the bill is to make military survivor benefits more similar to federal employee survivor benefits. Apparently I'd be getting a bigger check every month if my wife had been, say, an FBI agent killed in the line of duty or a Department of Agriculture employee who was crushed by a cow or whatever. S. 1990 wants to change the language of the Dependency Indemnity Compensation to be 55% of what a 100% disabled veteran receives. That's about another $300 or so dollars. So between that (which, let's be real, is not going to happen) and the $315 I'm getting from DOD as the special allowance aimed at recognizing the offset is crap to begin with would bring me to somewhere around half of what I'd be getting if they repealed the offset.
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Aug 6, 2018 20:38
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Larry Parrish posted:Boy it's cool that we've been fighting wars for as long as anyone can remember and basic poo poo like handling casualties and survivors programs is still hosed beyond belief I do not mean to make light of anything here but if McNally isn't a Nightingale, he sure is a canary. The particular neglect of humanity he is dealing with is a running theme throughout history. The only way it ever changes, even temporarily, is by fighting against it.
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Aug 6, 2018 20:39
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madeintaipei posted:I do not mean to make light of anything here but if McNally isn't a Nightingale, he sure is a canary. The way I see it is this: We all know nobody actually gives a gently caress about ARE TROOPS. It follows that nobody gives a gently caress about the widow of the guy who died fighting for ARE FREEDOMS.
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Aug 6, 2018 21:13
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McNally posted:Mike Coffman of the Colorado's 6th District is the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee for Military Personnel. H.R. 846, a bill to repeal the SBP-DIC offset, has been sitting in that subcommittee since February 2017. I'm in the 6th District. Honestly man I'm super busy this time of year, here's what I'm planning on saying tomorrow sorry if it's way too boiled down. The SBP-DIC offset makes survivors pay their own benefits, get your rear end in gear on that subcommittee and pass it wtf is wrong with you?
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Aug 7, 2018 02:51
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Grem posted:I'm in the 6th District. Honestly man I'm super busy this time of year, here's what I'm planning on saying tomorrow sorry if it's way too boiled down. That's about what I wanted to say, but they didn't want to hear from me because I don't live in his district.
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Aug 7, 2018 03:53
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Word, I'll go with that then. e: I called too late in the day for the DC office, I guess. District office referred me to the DC office, I'll try again tomorrow. E2: price tag, holy poo poo....basically they need to find an offset for the money. They said I'd get a direct response if I e-mailed them. McNally you want to do a little e-mail blurb for me? Grem fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Aug 8, 2018 |
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Aug 7, 2018 04:29
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Grem posted:Word, I'll go with that then. Eh, something about "Congress just authorized a DOD budget of $717 billion dollars, quit nickel and diming when it comes to taking care of those left behind when the people you send to war die."
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Aug 9, 2018 19:05
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gently caress it https://www.gofundme.com/help-mcnally-get-tough-cookies
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Aug 9, 2018 20:07
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McNally posted:gently caress it Dude, you already have enough to buy a pack of premium Pepperidge cookies. Pepperidge Farm remembers, America... forgets. I will totally send you some stale cookies, if you want.
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Aug 9, 2018 21:08
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madeintaipei posted:Dude, you already have enough to buy a pack of premium Pepperidge cookies. You're right, I should adjust the goal.
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Aug 9, 2018 21:10
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Let's make this poo poo go viral.
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Aug 10, 2018 02:24
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Godholio posted:Let's make this poo poo go viral. lol should I change the url first?
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Aug 10, 2018 03:39
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I get the best replies.
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Aug 10, 2018 03:51
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McNally posted:I get the best replies. Holy loving poo poo what an rear end in a top hat
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Aug 10, 2018 03:54
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Tossed my Senator a line. Ernst is a veteran herself, and on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, so while she'll inevitably do loving nothing she's in a position to maybe try if she can be bothered to give a poo poo about anything but re-election.
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Aug 10, 2018 05:28
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Do we have a form letter we can send or something so it looks concerted? Dick Durbin is a useless turd but something tells me Tammy Duckworth might be a little more keen to listen.
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Aug 10, 2018 06:03
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Johnny Five-Jaces posted:Do we have a form letter we can send or something so it looks concerted? Dick Durbin is a useless turd but something tells me Tammy Duckworth might be a little more keen to listen. quote:Dear useless legislator: Clean it up as needed.
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Aug 10, 2018 06:11
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Emailed Coffman. Should note he's a fantastic turd so I'm not expecting anything.
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Aug 10, 2018 06:11
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Grem posted:Emailed Coffman. Should note he's a fantastic turd so I'm not expecting anything. If we're not pointing out that the federal budget is like 4.4 trillion dollars, so whats another ten billion then I don't know what we're doing.
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Aug 10, 2018 06:18
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Well, I got the canned response, but it's at least topical.quote:Dear Mr.
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Aug 10, 2018 18:08
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Liquid Communism posted:Well, I got the canned response, but it's at least topical. Things to ask: Since you're a member of this committee, why has it been just sitting in committee since February 2017? Especially considering 50% of the Senate cosponsored the bill. Why are you leaving out the fact that the SSIA is funded by Tricare fees, which surviving spouses also pay? Why are you leaving out the fact that the SSIA was never meant to be permanent and was, in fact, intended as a temporary band-aid while Congress was supposed to be working on a permanent end to the offset? Also thanks for reiterating what we already know.
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Aug 10, 2018 19:25
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Alright I sent mine off to Duckworth and Quigley. Quigley didn't even have the "Veterans" option in the dropdown for his issues so I'm not real hopeful but I will report back if either of them sends me more than an "eat poo poo" form letter.
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Aug 10, 2018 21:46
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