A Veteran Liar, Our Ricky

This Andy Kroll piece at MoJo is yet another reminder that no Republican makes it into contention to be President without a long and ugly history of screwing over the American public.  That of course includes career politician Rick Santorum, who has no problems with making winners, in this case the Catholic Church, and losers, in this case, America's retired vets.

Take the Armed Forces Retirement Home, for example.  The DC facility ran into cash problems in the late 90's, and was forced by Congress to sell off some of its land.  But thanks to then Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, the Catholic Church was able to buy the land for a steal...a fraction of the price it was worth.  And as a result, the facility remains in terrible condition.

Enter Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.). At the behest of the Roman Catholic Church, and unbeknownst to the Home, Santorum slipped an amendment into the 1999 National Defense Authorization Act handcuffing how the home could cash in on those 49 acres. The amendment forced the Home to sell—and not lease—the land to its next-door neighbor, the Catholic University of America. Ultimately, the Catholic Church bought 46 acres of the tract for $22 million. The Home lost the land for good, and by its own estimates, pocketed $27 million less than the land's value and $83 million less than what it could've made under the lease plan. Santorum's amendment sparked an outcry from veterans' groups and fellow US senators, who barraged his office with complaints.

Laurence Branch, then the executive director of the Home's board, says Santorum's amendment was "a travesty" and the Church's lobbying for the land a case of "coveting thy neighborhood's goods." To this day, Branch says he blames Santorum for the Home not receiving more money for the 49-acre parcel of land. "I'm convinced Sen. Santorum is no friend of veterans," Branch says. (A spokesman for Catholic University did not respond to a request for comment.)

And in 2012, the home is still in bad, bad shape.

Yet today, despite some improvement in the Home's financial health, its campus is pocked with boarded-up, decrepit buildings. All but one of the Home's gatehouses is shuttered, as are some of the Home's more elegant buildings, including the historic Grant building (named after the Civil War general) and the red-brick hospital that now sits empty, bearing a sign warning off trespassers. Some veterans believe the Home's constant financial struggles have led to a slow-motion decline of the Home. As longtime resident and Navy vet Robert Devaney says, "I like to call it demolition by neglect."

This is just one example of Santorum's predilection for the church over everyone else. He's a theocrat, period.  It's crazy that anyone would think anything different about the man.  And remember, he went on a total tirade in Thursday's debate accusing the President of declaring war on both the military and religion.

Glass houses and all.