Trib Jeers Crapo, Risch Vote

In his weekly Cheers & Jeers column, opinionator Marty Trillhaase of the Lewiston Tribune gives — JEERS …. to U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, both R-Idaho. They were among 40 Republicans who last week blocked Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in her attempt to launch a $1 billion Veterans Jobs Corp Act. Five Republicans joined her effort, but it fell short of the number needed to break a filibuster. Republicans contend Murray and the Democrats were playing politics by blocking a GOP alternative they claim would have been more fiscally responsible. In a $3.6 trillion federal budget, however, $1 billion is a rounding error. Only a sliver of the American public has paid the burdens of a dozen years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The rest of the country has moved on. Now these veterans return, only to find themselves caught up in a hostile economy. The jobless rate for veterans who have served since Sept. 11, 2001, is 12.7 percent. That’s 50 percent higher than the national average. More here (final item) . (AP file photo of Sen. Jim Risch at U.S. Capitol)

Question: Do you agree/disagree that Crapo & Risch deserve jeers for voting against a $1B jobs program for war veterans, for political reasons?