(PM.) When the Senate GOP declined to pass the PACT Act this week, comedian and pundit Jon Stewart blasted from for what he termed voting against veterans. But as Human Events Daily’s Jack Posobiec pointed out, the senators weren’t voting against veterans, they were voting against a random $400 billion that had been snuck into the bill.
Posobiec took a look at the bill, which was passed in June, but then required to be put up for a revote after the House made a change to the legislation. The change in the bill up for a vote before the Senate, according to the Congressional Budget Office, was to the tune of $400 billion in completely unrelated spending.
Had a friend ask me to look into the @JonStewart meltdown about the PACT bill and the nonpartisan CBO has 2 different scores for the House bill and Senate bill, with a gimmick to reclassify $400B discretionary spending to direct
This is all GOP Senators asked to take out pic.twitter.com/VVOBZPxj3H
— Paxlovid Rebound Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 30, 2022
Posobiec cited Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, who said that his “concern about the bill has nothing to do with the purpose of the bill. It’s not about about the $280 billion, approximately $280 billion of new spending that is meant to be required under this bill for the VA [Veteran’s Administration] to cover healthcare, and other benefits for veterans who are exposed to toxic burn pits.
$400 Billion dollars https://t.co/n4VIjTnPhz
— Paxlovid Rebound Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 30, 2022
In response, Joseph Hickman, who authored a book on burn pits, said: “Jack is right, everyone would have voted for it, if the Dems didn’t add 400 billion dollars in additional spending to the bill that has nothing to do with the burn pits. It was a political move in an election year.”
$400 Billion dollars https://t.co/n4VIjTnPhz
— Paxlovid Rebound Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 30, 2022
“What I want to change,” Toomey continued, “has absolutely nothing to do with any of that.” Toomey said that he expects that there would be 85 votes for the bill if the issue was remedied.
Here are links to the House and Senate bill scores from the CBO, again, an non-partisan office
House – https://t.co/e1e4ZrrSvy
Senate – https://t.co/cFMclUYM7o
— Paxlovid Rebound Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 30, 2022
That issue, he said, is “completely unrelated to the $280 in new spending, there is a mechanism created in this bill, a budgetary gimmick, that has the intent of making it possible to have a huge explosion in unrelated spending, $400 billion.”
“This budgetary gimmick,” he went on, “is so unrelated to the actual veterans issue that has to do with burn pits that it’s not even in the House version of this bill. The fact is that we can fix this tonight.”
Toomey urged his Democrat colleagues to remove the unrelated spending and get the bill passed to help veterans.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz echoed Toomey’s points, saying “Jon, you’re a funny guy and I appreciate your engaging on issues of public policy, that’s a good thing. But if you’re gonna do so, the facts matter.
“Listen, when it concerns the PACT Act, I support the PACT Act. I voted for the PACT Act, and I’ve advocated for it for a long time. We have an obligation to take care of our veterans, particularly those who were wounded or injured from burn puts or in other ways from combat.”
Literally @tedcruz even said he’d vote for the PACT Act if the Dems take out the $400B in separate spending, and @JonStewart responded by screaming and insulting him
What gives, Jon? pic.twitter.com/6pPuU8utjj
— Paxlovid Rebound Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 30, 2022
