Supportin' the troops. More budgetary courage from Bushco.

President Bush's budget would more than double the co-payment charged to many veterans for prescription drugs and would require some to pay a new fee of $250 a year for the privilege of using government health care, administration officials said Sunday.

How many Shrub supporters who drive SUVs with the "support our troops" yellow ribbon magnets will recognize the hypocrisy here? My guess? Not many. Apparently, cognitive dissonance isn't a problem for them. But wait...there's a good explanation for the $250 fee:

The administration says the co-payment and the $250 "user fee" would apply mainly to veterans in lower-priority categories, who have higher incomes and do not have service-related disabilities.

So this is who we're asking to make sacrifices? What about all those other people with higher incomes who account for the majority of Bush's tax cuts? Rolling back the tax cuts would generate far more revenue than any "user fee" imposed on veterans would. Cheney, what do you have to say about all this?

"It's not something we've done with a meat ax, nor are we suddenly turning our backs on the most needy people in our society."

He's right. There is nothing sudden about any of this. Cheney and his pals have been turning their back on the most needy people in society for a long time now.