No action of what local congressmember Pat Ryan termed “the far-right, extreme Republicans in Washington” has stoked his ire more than what he said was a 22 percent cut in veterans’ services. “I refuse to make our veterans pay the price for extreme politicians’ decisions,” he declared at a sparsely attended press conference in Kingston’s city hall on Saturday afternoon, May 29.
Ryan, a West Point graduate and Iraq combat veteran who resides in Gardiner, said that the most sacred obligation that members of the United States armed forces learned was to leave no one behind, The Republican 2023-24 budget proposals, he said, left behind those who had put their lives at risk for their country.
Three invitees echoed Ryan.
“It is appalling that people are trying to cut benefits for my fellow veterans who put their lives at risk for this country,” said Ulster County sheriff Juan Figueroa, a Marine. “We as veterans served and sacrificed for our country, it’s the duty of our government to take care of us.”
Kevin Keaveny of the Hudson Valley Center for Veteran Reintegration, the House of Representatives expressed dismay about the budget bill that threatened to cut and reduce services to veterans. “The hypocrisy bewilders me,” he said.
Army veteran Ray Harvey, president of the Newburgh/Highland Falls NAACP and father of twin boys who served in the military, one in the Army and the other in the Navy, thought the cuts “absolutely disgraceful.” Said he, “These reckless budget cuts are an insult to everyone who has sacrificed for this country. Veterans should never be bargaining chips.”
As debt ceiling negotiations continue in Washington, Democratic congressmembers are spreading out across the country objecting to projected GOP cuts in other areas, among them mental health, Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security and even the Border Patrol. Meanwhile, their Republican counterparts are underling the need for tax reduction.
Where would Ryan save money?
“If Republicans want to get serious about cutting the deficit,” he said, “let’s talk about finally making the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share: removing the yacht tax deduction, cutting the private-plane tax break, and reining in the big corporations who don’t pay a cent in taxes.”
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