Every Memorial Day we hear much moaning and groaning from Republicans, about how much they loved our fallen heroes and how Democrats do not support our troops. In fact, most support for our troops has come from Democrats, while Republicans have only supported them insofar as they are useful as cannon fodder for Republican wars for oil and conquest.

Speaker John Boehner spent his Memorial Day weekend at a funeral for an Ohio solider killed in Afghanistan, solemnly attending the services and weeping at the end, during the playing of taps.

Boehner’s respect for the military sacrifice is admirable. Unfortunately, his apparent feelings are not borne out by his voting record. In recent years, Boehner’s Republican caucus in the House of Representatives has taken several votes this year that are substantive insults to veterans and active duty members of the military. The GOP has long enjoyed voters’ trust as the political party most likely to defend the armed services—but the facts tell a different story…

…Accordingly, lawmakers offered a wide range of bills to assist recent veterans—and Republicans opposed nearly all of them…

…Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) … offered a measure that would offer emergency mortgage relief for members of the armed services. Republicans killed the bill on a party-line vote.

In February, Republicans passed a budget bill that slashed $75 million that would have funded housing vouchers for homeless veterans…

…Even before they were in the majority, Republicans often voted against seemingly simple measures to help out members of the armed services over-stressed by nearly a decade of war.

In June 2009, a vast majority of Republicans voted against providing extra money to active duty members of the military subject to “stop-loss” orders—those who had their enlistments involuntarily extended…

…Republicans also initially opposed a new GI bill to provide a four-year college education to those who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan…

…At the height of the economic crisis, there was a bill in Congress that would have given a tax credit to businesses that hired unemployed veterans, as well as provide a $250 economic relief payment for any disabled veterans who would no doubt have an even harder time finding work amidst a wide recession. Republicans uniformly opposed the bill…

…Republicans have, alas, been voting without emotion when it comes to members of the military. If Boehner can perhaps impart some of his deeply felt sentiment to members of his caucus, next Memorial Day could be less grim for many service members struggling in a difficult economy.