Veterans

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Michael Steele: The VA is ‘Encouraging [Vets] to Commit Suicide’

Media Matters catches Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele repeating (and botching) the false charge that the Department of Veterans Affairs, by making available a guide to writing a living will, is telling veterans to kill themselves.
[Y]ou have a manual out there telling our veterans stuff like “are you really of value to your community?” [...]


The Commander-in-Chief Hates the Troops, Part XXVII

Republicans put some effort into painting presidential candidate Barack Obama as an insufficient friend of American soldiers, with Exhibit A being his decision not to visit wounded soldiers in Germany. Once Obama became commander-in-chief, it became harder to argue that he hated his own troops. But the Department of Homeland Security report on right-wing extremism [...]


The American Legion Sticks Up for Right-Wing Extremism

Most of the criticism of the Department of Homeland Security’s guide to right-wing extremism has been along the lines of Pamela Gellar’s panic about “the fascist blueprint to create a police state and legalize gulags.” But the American Legion is jumping in to give a patina of respectability to the panic. From its letter to [...]


Why Would the Obama Administration Want to Make Vets Buy Private Insurance for Their Health Care?

Something for the “What in the World?” file:
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.


McCain Fails Vet-Group Scorecard

Sen. John McCain, first debate:


Veterans Groups Question McCain Voting Record

Part 2: Sen. John McCain’s military service is central to his campaign, despite a record in Congress that raises doubts about his support of veterans.


McCain’s Pro-Vet Image Clashes With Record

PHOENIX — Sen. John McCain paints himself as a pro-veteran’s veteran, but his voting history tells a different story.


Veterans Health Bills Where Obama and McCain Break

In 2006, McCain voted against, while Obama supported, an amendment to provide $20 million to the Dept. of Veteran Affairs for health-care facilities. The measure was defeated, 39-53.
In March 2006, McCain opposed — and Obama backed — an assured funding stream for veteran’s health care that took into account annual changes in veterans’ population and [...]


Tammy Duckworth Hits McCain On Vets Issues

DENVER–Tammy Duckworth — Iraq war veteran, Illinois Veterans Affairs director, amputee and netroots favorite — is smacking John McCain silly. She’s talking about supporting troops with more than rhetoric. Wants us to win in Afghanistan. “Instead of destroying the enemies who attacked us on 9/11, we diverted our military might to Iraq, which had nothing [...]