As a veteran, I noted how Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan bounded down the gangway of the battleship USS Wisconsin.

How ironic. Neither of them ever served in the military, but they love to use military props to pander to military, veteran and patriotic voters. Will it work? Not likely, if voters peel back the first layer of the onion. Ryan has consistently voted against veterans' benefits: education, medical, housing, and post-traumatic stress disorder recovery efforts for our returning heroes. His budget plan to gut Medicare as we know it, among other travesties, passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives twice. And the word veterans is not mentioned a single time in this legislation. No wonder. It cuts $11 billion from veterans' benefits. For those vets who believe the Republicans are your friends and Democrats your enemies, look carefully at the facts and think again. Rep. Tim Scott, the Republican candidate in the 1st Congressional District, voted for the onerous Ryan anti-veteran budget.

Blaine Lotz

Hilton Head Island