UPDATE This will make your blood boil, U.S. spending on contractors in Iraq to top $100 billion.  More at the bottom of the fold.

 We constantly hear that the Republicans are the party that supports the troops.  But when I was surfing and read this at Crooks and Liars I almost woke up my neighbors shouting out a WTF.  I followed the link to the NYT.  I read this,

WHAT is the secretary of Veterans Affairs thinking? On May 5, the department led by James B. Peake issued a directive that bans nonpartisan voter registration drives at federally financed nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and shelters for homeless veterans. As a result, too many of our most patriotic American citizens – our injured and ill military veterans – may not be able to vote this November.

More after the Jump    Now from different stories I have read about the care or wounded soldiers recieve at Walter Reed and Bethesda,  One would think they are making it better for them.  Believe it or not,

There are thousands of veterans of wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and the current campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan who are isolated behind the walls of V.A. hospitals and nursing homes across the country. We have an obligation to make sure that every veteran has the opportunity to make his or her voice heard at the ballot box.

 This is criminal IMHO.  This is the worst treatment of our brave men and women to keep the voices silent. Efforts have been made to get these Veterans registered to vote and they have been denied.  Here are the TWO reasons,

The department offers two reasons to justify its decision. First, it claims that voter registration drives are disruptive to the care of its patients. This is nonsense. Veterans can fill out a voter registration card in about 90 seconds.

Second, the department claims that its employees cannot help patients register to vote because the Hatch Act forbids federal workers from engaging in partisan political activities. But this interpretation of the Hatch Act is erroneous. Registering people to vote is not partisan activity.

 But blocking them from registering is partisan. These brave people put their lives on the line for this country, and this is how the Bush administration rewards them, not even taking into account the GI bill and what didn’t happen with that.

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 $100,000,000,000,  One Hundred Billion Dollars on Private Contractors and our troops are treated this way. Here is the shocker,

The report, addressed by the Congressional Budget Office, says that one out of every five dollars spent on the Iraq war has gone to contractors for their services to the U.S. military and other government agencies, in a war zone where employees of private firms now outnumber American troops.

 Now this is not meant to offend our great military.  But what in the hell has Bush and Co done to our military that we need more private contractor employees in a war zone?  

 Time to print more magnetic ribbons to put on the back of the car,  Support our Contractors!