| The Sinning Senator has long been misleading Louisianans on his support for veterans. In person, he will be gracious, and thank veterans for their service. The following anecdote from the Louisiana Conservative is telling:
I was completely sold on his sincerity when Veterans approached him one by one after the meeting and he thanked them for his service.
In person, the Sinning Senator can be quite charming when he wants to be. But for a Senator, the key to knowing what he believes lies in how he votes. And veteran's groups have been watching quite closely, and I have posted the highlights below:
Disabled Veterans of America consistently gave Vitter failing grades, including three "zeroes". Of the six rankings given to Vitter between 1999 and 2006, only one was above 42 percent. Vitter's ranking of 40 in 2006 was the lowest in the entire Louisiana delegation.
The Retired Enlisted Association gave Vitter two failing grades of 35 percent and 33 percent in 2006 and 2004, respectively, which are the most recently rankings available.
American Veterans, an organization that traces its roots back to 1944, gave Vitter a ranking of 50 percent in 2003 (most recent ranking available).
Vietnam Veterans of America gave Vitter a ranking of 25 in 2003-2004 (most recent ranking available). For comparison, this is lower than either Congressman Rodney Alexander (50) or Senator Mary Landrieu (50).
The American Legion gave Vitter a ranking of 40 in 2003 (most recent ranking available). By contrast, Congressman Rodney Alexander received a ranking of 80 from the organization.
In 2006, the veterans group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America graded all members of Congress on their votes since 9/11, and they graded Vitter an "F." While Vitter denounced IAVA as "a very liberal group aligned with the Democratic Party;" he still scored lower than other members of the Louisiana delegation including Republicans Bobby Jindal - graded a "D"; Rodney Alexander - graded a "B"; and Charles Boustany - graded a "D".
Is this the kind of representation that our veterans deserve in Washington? Or can we do better?
UPDATE: An interested reader forwarded me a link to a report that the Sinning Senator, along with his fellow GOPers on the Senate Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development decided it was not worth their time to attend a hearing entitled, Ending Veterans' Homelessness. Such compassion for our veterans, no? |
