rssVeterans Groups Question McCain Voting Record
Friday, September 19, 2008 at 1:24 pm
- 44 Comments
Sen. John McCain (Photo by Lauren Victoria Burke, wdcpix.com)
Part 1: McCain’s Pro-Vet Image Clashes With Record
PHOENIX — Though polls show that Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, enjoys solid support from veterans, some vet organizations are sharply critical of the Arizona senator’s legislative voting record on issues important to them. They have lambasted him for voting against the 21st Century G.I. bill; against providing more money for veterans’ health care, and for a proposal that many regard as an effort to privatize their care.
The 21st Century G.I. bill overwhelmingly passed the Senate last May and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on June 30. The legislation, which Sen. Barack Obama supported, increases educational benefits for post 9/11 veterans who serve a minimum of three years. But McCain opposed the measure, citing as a problem its bestowal of full education benefits to members of the military after just one stint in the armed services.
Illustration by: Matt Mahurin
Under pressure from veterans’ groups because of his non-support, McCain sponsored competing legislation that provided benefits to soldiers who served longer terms. “Otherwise, we will encourage more people to leave the military after they have completed one enlistment,” McCain argued. McCain’s plan would also have allowed benefits to be transferred to a soldier’s family members.
McCain’s opposition to the G.I. bill was the reason that former Marine Sgt. Adam Kokesh cq, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, says he staged a protest on the convention floor during McCain’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. Kokesh, 26, demanded an examination of McCain’s voting record on vet issues as he was dragged out by security personnel.
Meanwhile, Paul Riekhoff, director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said in a Sept. 8 interview on MSNBC that vet groups would continue to pounce on McCain for his opposition to the bill. “We told America that if Sen. McCain was on the wrong side of the G.I. bill, it would hang around his neck for the election,” Riekhoff told Rachel Maddow. “That’s exactly what’s happening now.”
This is not the first time that McCain’s voting record on veterans’ issues has been criticized — particularly on health care. According to an AFL-CIO TV ad, broadcast in six battleground states in late July and early August, McCain talks a lot about supporting veterans but repeatedly votes against their interests. McCain, claims the ad, “took Bush’s side against increasing health-care benefits for veterans.”
The ad campaign, however, was criticized as “unduly harsh” by FactCheck.org, a non-profit, non-partisan, consumer advocacy project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. In support of its claim that McCain was against increasing health-care benefits for veterans, the union cited four of his Senate votes. Three–in 2004, 2005 and 2006–were against Democratic amendments to the annual appropriation bills of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. All three votes failed along party lines in the then GOP-controlled Senate.
In each case, FactCheck.org found that McCain had supported different amendments to increase veterans’ health benefits, either that day or the next. “Specifically, in 2004, McCain voted against an increase of $1.8 billion, but an increase of $1.2 billion passed by unanimous consent,” FactCheck.org stated, “In 2005, he voted against an increase of $2.8 billion, but voted for a $410-million increase. And in 2006, he voted against a $1.5 billion increase, but later voted for an $823 million increase.”
The fourth McCain vote cited by the AFL-CIO was against a March 2007 supplemental spending bill for the Iraq war that t was vetoed by President George W. Bush. The bill included $1.77 billion in additional funding for veterans’ health-care benefits. Soon after Bush’s veto, McCain voted for an alternative version, signed into law, that included slightly more money, $1.79 billion, for veterans’ health benefits.
McCain says that many of his votes against veteran funding measures were because the bills were loaded with earmarks for unrelated projects. “If it’s me sitting in the Oval Office…those wasteful spending bills are going the way of all earmarks — straight back to Congress with a veto,” McCain told the American Legion convention last month. “When we make it clear to Congress that no earmark bill will be signed into law, that will save many billions of dollars that can be applied to essential priorities, and above all to the care of our veterans.”
It is McCain’s proposal for a “Veterans Care Access Card” that has draw some of the most intense fire from veterans groups. The card would allow low-income veterans and those in rural areas to use health-care providers outside the VA system.
Critics charge that the proposal is a first step toward privatizing the $100-billion-a-year VA system, because it is being circulated at the same time that McCain is making statements about focusing VA health care on vets with injuries that “are a direct result of combat.” Some vet groups say that the senator wants to direct VA services only to those who have suffered combat injuries in Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat zones.
McCain insists that the “card is not intended to either replace the VA or privatize veterans’ health care.” The card would be made available, he says, to “veterans with illness or injury incurred during their military service, and by those with lower incomes.”
Among the groups opposing the access card is the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Dennis Cullinan, the organization’s national legislative director, told GovernmentExecutive.com that the card would take funding and patients away from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, “undermining the entire system over time.”
Dave Autry of the Disabled American Veterans, which is also skeptical of the card, said Veterans Affairs already pays for outside doctors for vets who live far away from VA medical facilities. “Is this veterans’ access card an expansion of current authority?,” Autry said, “Or is it something designed to supplement the VA system? Or would it open the door for greater privatization of the VA?” Autry said his group is “reserving judgment” until more details are known.
Veterans groups are leery of any efforts to privatize the VA, especially after the Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal that was, in part, related to privatization of key services. The medical center came under fire after The Washington Post reported that wounded soldiers were living in vermin-infested quarters, in some cases lacking heat and water.
“Walter Reed was a warning sign to be very cautious when you push for privatization,” Autry said, “because things can go wrong without proper oversight.”
McCain voted to table an amendment to a 2006 defense appropriations bill that would have prevented the Dept. of Veteran Affairs from outsourcing support services at Walter Reed.
Paul Sullivan, executive director for Veterans for Common Sense, a 13,000-member advocacy group, said that McCain’s proposed access card’s focus on vets with battlefield injuries raises the possibility that benefits for veterans with non-combat wounds, but with medical conditions linked to military service, will be further restricted.
The Army Times reports that the Bush administration is already rationing benefits based on combat and non-combat injuries for a wide array of benefits — including disability payments, traumatic injury insurance and death gratuity payments.
“Sen. McCain repeatedly uses the phrase ‘wounds of war,’” Sullivan said, noting that 20 percent of the women deployed overseas report being sexually assaulted or harassed. “Would John McCain argue that a service member who was raped should not receive VA care?”
The VA is now treating 350,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. That number is expected to increase as fighting continues and post-battlefield health issues, like post-traumatic stress, raise demand for veterans’ health care, he said. Sullivan estimates there are nearly 900,000 veterans currently eligible for VA services.
While McCain’s voting record has cost him the support of some veterans’ groups, he still retains strong backing among rank-and-file veterans, 91 percent of whom are men and most of whom are 50 and older, according to polls.
This is one area where McCain has a healthy lead. More Americans trust McCain than Obama to ensure that wounded veterans get quality health care. A poll conducted in April during the congressional debate over the G.I. bill by the Harvard School of Public Health and Harris Interactive found that 53 percent of Americans believed that McCain was more suited to help wounded veterans, compared to 35 percent for Obama. Some 55 percent of independents said McCain would make sure veterans received quality care, versus 29 percent for Obama.
McCain’s voting record of generally supporting lower spending on veterans’ issues raises questions among some vets about his commitment to overhaul the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to improve health care and other services. Obama’s voting record, by contrast, suggests that he’s more willing to reform the department, though most of his efforts have been derailed by Senate Republicans or Bush.
“Everyone agrees that there should be a plan to take care of the veterans when they come home,” Sullivan said. “Our principal argument is there is still no plan right now.”
44 Comments
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 1:04 pm
Now that we've got a candidate who actually gives a sh**, where are the Veterans? Time to rise up and show some REAL support for the men and women left behind.
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 3:34 pm
I sure don't understand why any veteran would support mccain – he certainly is not supporting us!! Wake up, America!
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
I recommend people go to this site to see how first mccain lie to a fellow veteran at a townhall who criticizes mccain's record, and then this site list McCain's horrible accomplishments
http://sensico.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/mccain-…
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
Psychologists I know suggest that Sen. McCain is showing signs of untreated PTSD. His uncontrolled rage and frequent repetitions of his POW experience are two symtoms of PTSD.
Personally, I know Vietnam Vets who still suffer from PTSD and are not very good in high stress situations, often getting angry and just reactng, rather than being capable in the face of distress.
What do you think about the idea that Sen McCain suffers from untreated PTSD?
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 4:05 pm
McCain and the POW Cover-up …
The “war hero” candidate buried information about POWs left behind in Vietnam
http://www.nationinstitute.org/p/schanberg09182…
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
Do your research people on the issues important to you and your family. Check each candidates voting records on the issues you feel are important to you.
Republican/Veteran for Obama/Biden
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
THIS is the article I've been waiting for. No one can call McCain out on his voting record like the Veterans groups themselves. Of course the Obama campaign has all of this information, but perhaps they trusted the best of the best to bring the information forth. And, so once again, I'm very proud of you and shall always be!
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 4:16 pm
For McCain's views on vetrans and POW's one should read this: http://www.nationinstitute.org/p/schanberg09182…
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 4:39 pm
I'm a vet. EARLY 70's.
i can't stand this guy (Mc Cain) and in no way do i trust him.
He's been an Admiral's kid all along, and hasn't had a paycheck that wasn't cut by the govt. in his whole life, and he's 72! that's hard to do-go your whole life on the govt dime!
i just don't trust him. he says one thing… does another.
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 8:27 pm
I am a vet who just graduated last May thanks to the GI Bill. It just burns me up to know that McCain would not even have the nerve to vote for the 21st Century GI Bill. The only thing left to honor is his service.
Comment posted September 19, 2008 @ 11:20 pm
I am a 100% disabled veteran, war veteran and Ranger course graduate and there is no way I would ever cast my ballot for john McCain. He is a talker not a doer. Someone that demands respect rather than commands it. Someone that creates a personal dynamic rather than being dynamic. John McCain's so called commitment to the disabled veterans of America is pure artifice. i have borne witness to the care provided by the VA under republican governance and as a retiree from the US justice Department's Bureau of Prisons I can attest that convicted felons in federal prison receive a higher standard of care than our disabled veteran population does. That is a little straight talk on republican's promises of caring for our veterans for you.
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 5:55 am
My sister is a psychiatrist and recently said the same thing. She feels strongly that McCain shows signs of untreated PTSD and early signs of dementia (possibly Alzheimer's). My brother is a Viet Nam vet, clearly with PTSD, who would never consider getting treatment for it. He is very intelligent, otherwise, but has an extremely explosive temper. He was only in Nam for a year and didn't have the added POW experience like McCain.
I really don't feel that McCain is fit to serve as president. These are valid reasons for DEMANDING full disclosure of his medical records!
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 6:08 am
I also don't understand why any veteran would vote for McCain. That said, how do we reach veterans like the one in this video, who clearly do no know of McCains voting record on issues affecting them? Is there a veteran's organization that can get the truth about McCain to these vets, before election day?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 8:16 am
I know that mccain was shot down in nam and spent time as a pow.
Fact is, he wasn't the only one that spent time as a pow.
He wasn't the only one that was shot down.
He was really fortunate.
a lot of guys did not return from nam, except in body bags.
A lot of guys have never been found, MIA's
So, what makes mccain special Nothing I see.
He is no more special than anyone else that went to nam.
He is different than most that returned tho, he uses his experience for political and personal gain. The rest of us don't.
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 8:35 am
Maybe Wes Clark and Anthony Zinni and other military leaders who support Sen. Obama can be sent out onto the hustings in an effort to cut into McCain's lead in the polls among rank-and-file veterans who apparently still buy his tough talk, even though McCain continues to say contradictory things, each time with the very same tone and with the very same conviction.
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 9:18 am
john mccain took care of himself with a 60.000 disability, he come home with his arms and legs but he always votes against or to lower payments for our brothers and sisters comeing home from iraq missing there arms and legs missing .I have little support for mccain most vets do not want to talk about the hoores of war, but mcshame does it makes me wonder about all the stories he tells.
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 9:30 am
Continually repeats stories and/or asks the same questions over and over — Makes up stories to fill gaps — Behavioral symptoms common, mood changes, irritability or emotional agitation — Deficits in intellect and reasoning — Signs of memory loss and language difficulties — Physical coordination problems and physical confusion, changes in gait.
Watch the man carefully. These are all, very often, symptomatic of senile dementia and his appearance and behavior over the past few months have been very telling. Those who arranged his questionable nomination in the primaries have known of his condition and they're also the same folks who arranged Sarah Palin's selection as his vice. John McCain had nothing to do with her choice.
Regardless of what you think of this man's past, you really need to examine his present behavior. He reminds me all too much of Reagan during his second term, and with the choice of Sarah Palin as his backup, I do fear very much for our country.
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 9:31 am
Forgive my language, but I'm needing to quote what I hear at VFWs and Legion posts across southwestern Pennsylvania.
The consensus here is “I'm not voting for that n!gger.”
So at least in this swing state, expect ignorant racism to prevail and usher in four more years of abject neglect to our brave veterans.
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
McCain Says One Thing and THEN Votes The Opposite! When you hear McCain talk, think — Wizard of Oz.
http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2008/09/20/joh…
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 1:51 pm
I hope every veteran who has written a response to this article has also taken the time to write a letter to their local newspaper. Please speak up. For somehow who likes to claim he'd make a better commander-in-chief, the choice of Sarah Palin is as alarming as it is irresponsible.
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 8:57 pm
I can't believe that people still hold on to these beliefs, let alone say them out loud. How disgusting. For what it's worth, I'm a 30 year old white woman, PROUDLY voting for Obama.
Comment posted September 20, 2008 @ 11:43 pm
“Nigger”!! That disparaging word shows the racism you possess goes back to at least sixty years. How can someone live so long with so much hate. You soul must be tormented.
Comment posted September 21, 2008 @ 12:12 am
JUST TEN of the 100s of REASONS
NOT TO SUPPORT MCCAIN
(1) McCain gave military secrets to the Viet Cong. Which he admitted to in his own book.
(2) McCain made radio announcements for the Viet Cong telling American sailors and soldiers not to fight and to give up.
(3) McCain cheated on his wife with more than one woman and admitted it.
(4) McCain left his wife when she was sickly and needed him most.
(5)McCain repeatedly mistreated the POW-MIAs’ wives and families and activists on many occasions.
(6) McCain did all he could to normalize US-VIET NAM Relations in opposition to most US veterans groups.
(7) McCain signed that death warrant for any and all living US POW-MIAs in VIET NAM by normalizing relations.
(8) McCain was heavily involved in the Keating 5.
(9) McCain did nothing about Clinton’s Treason of selling NUKES to the Chinese for ten million in illegal Communist Chinese Campaign money… Even though he was in the unique position to do something about it as the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
(10) McCain’s so-called “Campaign Finance Reform” Bill is totally unconstitutional and would stop free speech….. even religious speech!
Comment posted September 21, 2008 @ 12:15 am
Like McCain I have a 100% disability for PTSD and it's clear to me this guy needs to be put out to pasture NOW.
Comment posted September 21, 2008 @ 2:03 am
So McCain is going to veto all all the earmark legislation? Does that include the farm bills and all the BibleBelt state welfare queen bills. What about corporate welfare programs, like the one giving tax breaks to the oil industry?
If so, be prepared for a lot of Republican whining. More likely, just another lie.
Comment posted September 21, 2008 @ 1:14 pm
I would advise undecided vets to go check out the website of VoteVets — or go to http://www.youtube.com and search for VoteVets. These guys are smart, they are paying close attention to politics, and they are the voice of veterans today. They're a great organization and have done a lot of good work.
Any vet who supports John McCain or the Republicans is simply not paying attention – vets voting Republican are voting against their own interests!
Comment posted September 21, 2008 @ 6:46 pm
He's lying , John McCain has been so cruel and intolerant to help with the missing MIA's and POW's. I't's clear, John McCain wants only one hero in his life….'himself' I don't know why he has done that and then mentions the soldiers in Iraq as brave. ….but benefits forget about. I dislike this man so much. He is a complete and utter liar and gutter rat. It's too bad he was one that came home, he doesn't deserve anyone's respect.
Comment posted September 21, 2008 @ 9:35 pm
A quick check of their records will clear that up. These are just old senile white guys who think since he was in the military he gives a sh!t.
If his military voting record doesnt come up in the debates and if Obama doesnt attack him on it I'm gonna be p!ssed.
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 8:50 am
“Sen. McCain repeatedly uses the phrase ‘wounds of war,’” Sullivan said, noting that 20 percent of the women deployed overseas report being sexually assaulted or harassed. “Would John McCain argue that a service member who was raped should not receive VA care?”
Probably, but he would DEFINITELY follow that up with a tasteless joke about a woman who was repeatedly raped and beaten by a gorilla asking, “where is that magnificent ape?”
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 8:57 am
Lighten up larry and read trippin's post again, slowly. Did that clear it up for you?
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
wake up you vets,if you think he is on your side.his records on veterans issues is by far the worst .he is what i call a ceo vet,that is a vet ,that while still in the military follows the motto that you never leave on the battle field but forgets to carry that motto into civilian life.
Comment posted September 23, 2008 @ 12:04 am
Dear Washington Independent. Why don't you write about how John McCain, the self-named war hero, left behind about 600 of his fellow soldiers in Vietnam? I understand that people break under torture and so he accepted to leave beforehand, and this is ok. I understand he is ashamed of that, but there is no need. Only, now comes the big question: what was he doing AFTER he came back to America? Did he give all his energy and might to fight for his brothers to come back? No! And for this there is no excuse at all. No excuse. Because he did EVERYTHING to BURY EVIDENCE THAT SOME WERE LEFT BEHIND, in spite of thousands of clear signs. See http://www.nationinstitute.org/p/schanberg09182…
And if anyone, for example the family members of missed ones questioned him directly about this he just got an anger fit and AVOIDED TO REPLY.
How come? Where is the care for his fellow soldiers in such moments? What is going on here?
And do you know what: This should be the main subject in all the media right now! America threatens to choose 2 criminals for President and Vice President. One beginner and one long-timer. Media: wake up! People: wake up and make the media comment on what REALLY matters.
Check also http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.org
Comment posted September 23, 2008 @ 8:28 am
Oh, there's more–interestingly, most of the media seems totally uninterested. Read it and weep (literally and figuratively), McCain-ites…He's sold everyone else; he'll be happy to sell you right down the river too.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081006/schanberg
Comment posted September 30, 2008 @ 12:51 pm
John McCain dumped his first wife, who was severely injured in an auto accident while McCain was a POW, and pursued an affair with current wife Cindy while still married to his first wife. Moreover, he was still on active duty in the Navy while he had the adulterous affair. Adultery is a violation of Article 134, UCMJ. Any of us soldiers would have been court-martialed, but the Admiral's son got away with it. McCain is not only ant-vet but also anti-family values.
Comment posted October 16, 2008 @ 7:38 am
According to the DSM-VI, MCCain DOES show all classic signs and symptoms of PTSD, dementia, depression and a few other cognitive disfunctions. Meds and LOTS of counseling are in order, not the presidency. As a peace-time vet, I find that getting into the VA a nightmare, and I have seen how the VA is now treating VietNam era vets (like 2nd and 3rd class citizens)… I think that maybe it's time for Mr. McCain to avail himself of the system that he's helped to create. But then, I also think that ALL members of Congress and the Senate should spend a year living on Welfare and ONLY Welfare…
Comment posted October 17, 2008 @ 8:40 am
I wouldn’t vote for Senator McCain for all the tea in China. He is a fraud, flip-flopper and a liar. People talk about him being a hero, my definition of a hero is the wife that stays home a take care of the kids, bill payer, disciplinary and holding the family together while soldiers are their job. Someone that is willing to throw him/herself on a grenade to save their comrades or will continue fight no matter what the situation is to protect their country ideals or buddies. That is my definition of a true hero. McCain cheated on his wife with more than one woman and admitted it and left his wife when she was sickly and needed him the most. To me that is lower than whale crap. He voted against veteran benefits on many occasions just to go along with the administration policies, but what is just right. McCain was heavily involved in the Keating 5. Saying you are a veteran and being a true veteran is two different things. I severed this country for 42 and 10 months and lose blood for this country and would be proud to do so again if asked, but not for someone that will through their fellow comrades to the wolves just to prove his own political agenda. Plus if he can’t organize his own campaign how can you organize the country to lead it in the right direction.
Comment posted October 23, 2008 @ 7:23 pm
I know that there are a lot of people out there who just despise obama and won't vote for him because of that, i just want you to take a few minutes and read this article because your vote does count whether he is ahead in the polls or not.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,…
Pingback posted March 25, 2009 @ 12:18 pm
[...] here are more on mcshame….. McCain’s Voting Record: He Does Not Support Our Troops and Veterans The Washington Independent Veterans Groups Question McCain Voting Record VetVoice:: McCain’s Miserable Record of Not Supporting America’s Troops and Veterans i am no fan of [...]
Comment posted May 21, 2009 @ 7:57 am
Mr. McCain, when are you to stand up, show you have backbone and begin questioning the issues and policies being thrust upon us the citizen.
It seems you are sitting on your hands and are cowering from the resident of the White House.
You are not the Senator we have known in the past………………………………
Comment posted May 21, 2009 @ 2:57 pm
Mr. McCain, when are you to stand up, show you have backbone and begin questioning the issues and policies being thrust upon us the citizen.
It seems you are sitting on your hands and are cowering from the resident of the White House.
You are not the Senator we have known in the past………………………………
Pingback posted December 22, 2010 @ 8:11 am
[...] of the Disabled American Veterans just 20 percent of the time” and as the Washington Independent reported in 2008, Though polls show that Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, enjoys solid [...]
Pingback posted March 10, 2011 @ 7:53 am
[...] Veterans Groups Question washingtonindependent.com [...]
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
