Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke announced Monday his four-part plan to take care of America’s veterans.
The plan focuses on ending the “forever wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan, modernizing the Veterans Affairs Department, fighting access-to-care discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation, and the creation of a Veterans Health Care Trust Fund financed through a “war tax.”
“We must be willing to pay any price, and bear any burden, to provide the full care, support, and resources to every single veteran who served every single one of us,” O’Rourke said in a statement. “The best way to honor our veterans’ service is to cancel the blank check for endless war — and reinvest the savings to ensure every American can thrive upon their return home.”
The former Texas congressman’s proposal would ask Congress to reinvest $1 of every $2 saved by ending the “forever wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Out of an estimated $400 billion saved, $200 billion would go toward benefiting those who served.
The plan would create a Veterans Health Care Trust Fund at the start of every authorized war. The fund would be used to finance hospital care, medical services, and disability compensation for the veterans of the war.
To bankroll the trust fund, O’Rourke plans to institute a “war tax” on households without military members or veterans.
In 2017, the median household income in the United States was $61,372. Under O’Rourke’s “war tax,” the average family would pay $164. Households making less than $30,000 a year would pay $25, while those earning more than $200,000 would pay $1,000.
“This new tax would serve as a reminder of the incredible sacrifice made by those who serve and their families,” the plan reads.
O’Rourke’s proposal also outlines his plans to address staffing shortages in the Veterans Affairs system, increase accountability and transparency, make suicide prevention a “top clinical priority,” and utilize VA resources to solve the opioid epidemic.
He also hopes to “restore military service as a pathway to citizenship” by giving veterans more opportunities to apply for citizenship.
O’Rourke, a former member of the House Veterans’ Affairs and Armed Services committees, introduced legislation to establish war taxes in 2016 and 2017.
