Al E. Gator

Following does not equal endorsement, except for the Florida Gator accounts. GO GATORS!!!

[Saving Country Music @KyleCoroneos]

Chasen Wayne and the Honky Tonk Machine announce new album "The Diamond Saloon"
https://t.co/PpgVx5ZnRo

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

Saw .@TpTroubadours, .@MuscadineBLine , and The Creekers in Nashville this past Friday. Excellent show! My only complaint is that NONE of the merch stands had any actual music for sale, just shirts, etc. The vendors said they just didn't bring any. What? That's money lost.

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

Spending our 22nd Wedding Anniversary at a @TpTroubadours and @MuscadineBLine concert in Nashville tomorrow night. Hopefully they'll give me and Kati a shout-out! This will be our first TPT concert ever.

[DAV (Disabled American Veterans) @DAVHQ]

The House can pass the Major Richard Star Act if 3 more members sign the discharge petition.

#KeepThePromise

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

Is it too early to start hyping up my .@GatorsFB, predict a national championship win, and trash talk the other SEC teams?
.@CoachJonSumrall

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

I hate having to explain when people ask me what kind of music I listen to and I say "country music but not the kind they play on the radio "

[54KVeterans @54KVeterans]

In about 40 minutes from writing this. Pro TCAVA talking points are going to be crushed. 🍿

If McGovern offers the amendment to fund the Major Richard Star Act through reconciliation and Republicans block it, these TCAVA talking points get crushed:

1. “There is no other vehicle.”

Crushed.

Rules Committee would be looking at a reconciliation package carrying major national priorities. If McGovern offers Major Star funding there, then there is another vehicle.

They may block it, but they cannot say the vehicle does not exist.

2. “There is no other offset.”

Crushed.

If the reconciliation bill is moving tens of billions without requiring VA disability cuts, then the argument that Section 108 is the only way to pay for Major Star gets weaker fast.

The new response becomes:

You had a chance to fund the real Major Star Act without cutting veterans’ disability protections, and you blocked it in Rules.

3. “We support the Major Richard Star Act.”

Exposed.

Rules Committee gives them a clean test:

Will you allow the real Major Richard Star Act to be added to a must-pass funding vehicle?

If they block it, they are not just opposing Democrats. They are blocking a path to the actual H.R. 2102 framework.

4. “TCAVA is the best we can do.”

Crushed.

Rules Committee would prove TCAVA is not the only option. It is the option leadership chose.

If they reject a clean Major Star amendment, the message is:

TCAVA was never the only path. It was the path they protected.

5. “Veterans have to accept Section 108 because the money has to come from somewhere.”

Crushed.

If they are willing to fund DoD, intelligence, agriculture, and election priorities without demanding VA disability offsets, then veterans can ask:

Why are combat-injured retirees the only ones being told their bill must be paid for by risking other veterans’ benefits?

6. “Pass TCAVA now and fix it later.”

Crushed

@RulesReps @HASCRepublicans @HASCDemocrats @HouseGOP @VetAffairsDems @HouseVetAffairs @SASCGOP @SASCDems @VFWHQ @AMVETSHQ @WWP_DC @AmericanLegion @realannapaulina @RepThomasMassie @chiproytx @janae_sergio @BskiMike22802

https://t.co/7Wphf5jdsC

[Jeremy Richard ⚔️ @JeremyRichard82]

"There’s been a lot of traffic about veteran disability recently with the recently failed bill in Congress.
I see lots of civilians and even veterans who haven’t been through the process claiming things like “You can still work” and “It’s full of fraud”.

Veterans disability has nothing to do with income or ability to work. It isn’t to replace income like Social Security Disability. It’s to compensate a veteran for their loss. Period.

If a worker is injured in a factory and suffers pain for the rest of their life because of that job are you really going to claim that the massive corporation shouldn’t compensate that worker?

Veterans disability is closer to workers comp. It’s an exchange. I gave the lifetime use of my back, my shoulder, both knees, ankle, brain, face, to the country and the country compensates me for that. It’s simple and I’m thankful.

It’s easy to look at me and think, “oh he’s perfectly able bodied”. You don’t see the hearing loss, the inability to work out, to camp/hunt because I’m tied to a breathing machine, the daily handfuls of Motrin that have jacked up my gut, the blinding headaches, etc etc. Heck, there’s stuff they are still finding out, like mefloquine exposure. You would have no idea that I was forced to take an untested malaria medication that has since been banned and has jacked up my brain.

When I signed up, I signed up to work hard, jump out of airplanes, and accept the risk of death or grave injury in exchange for $750 a month and $20k for college. I had no remote idea that I could live a lifetime of pain and then be subjected to defending my service to pogues and civilians. I actually had one veteran tell me he could get disability for a leg injury but didn’t. So? Do you think that makes you smart or honorable to turn down compensation that your country owes you? Do you think if you owed your country money, your country wouldn’t just take it?

And the fraud thing? Those claiming rampant veteran fraud clearly haven’t been through the process. In 23 years of fighting with the VA I’ve been to dozens (hundreds?) of doctor appointments, specialists, imaging, etc etc, and they routinely deny claims. You think insurance companies denying claims is bad, just try the VA. Do I think fraud happens? Of course. It’s a government program. But it’s far easier to get money for illegal daycares than it is to defraud the VA, I can promise you that.

There are plenty of places to cut spending, clearly!, but we don’t need to cut it from veterans programs.
Most veterans aren’t comfortable talking about their disability, being less than, etc. And if you see a veteran that you think is walking around and “perfectly fine”, maybe they aren’t." -Daniel Kearns

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

@CharleyCrockett I would love to see @JasonScottHH open for you in Dothan AL at the Forum! Can we make that happen?

[DAV (Disabled American Veterans) @DAVHQ]

It is not the job of Congress to make medical decisions for veterans. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and tell your Member of Congress to not sign the Take Care of America's Veterans Act until cuts to earned benefits are removed.

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

@MJTruthUltra They didn't want to run the "office fire" playbook again to bring it down?

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

@DavidWarrenVet I called the DC office (who were actually much more polite) and she told me she would have a staffer call me back. . (...still haven't gotten a call back.)

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

@DavidWarrenVet I called Barry Moore's local office yesterday to ask where he stood on the Major Starr discharge petition. His office said they were not allowed to answer that and I had to call his DC office. They wouldn't even tell me if he would be in the office this week.

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

Is there a nationwide shortage of .@Starbucks sleeves? Everytime I have to ask for one at the drive thru. It's like they don't want to give them out.

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

@DavidHustonFL @ConcernedVets Try to find five more signatures on the discharge petition while you're there!

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

@HouseVetAffairs @RepCiscomani Awesome! So, you'll also sign the discharge petition today?

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

@JohnByrnes13 @ConcernedVets Try to find five more to sign the discharge petition while you're there.

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

@RepOgles Did you sign the discharge petition yet?

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

@CoryMillsFL @codeofvets Will you sign the discharge petition today?

[Al E. Gator @J_T_Johnson77]

@DavidHustonFL