McCain's Bluster about Vets, continued
I love them. And I'll take care of them. And they know that I'll take care of them."
The other day, I posted a refutation of this claim of McCain's about veterans during the Sept. 27 debate.
A friend came up with more. I haven't vetted (sorry) this compilation of McCain's votes on troops and veterans, but at a glance, and then again at a second and third glance, it looks pretty impressive, putting the lie to yet another blusterbash from the Crooked Talk Express. See the website of Veterans for Common Sense for all the links.
McCain's Voting Record: He Does Not Support Our Troops and VeteransJohn McCain skipped close to a dozen votes on Iraq, and on at least another 10 occasions, he voted against arming and equipping the troops, providing adequate rest for the troops between deployments and for health care or other benefits for veterans.
In mid 2007, Senator Reid noted that McCain missed 10 of the past 14 votes on Iraq. However, here is a summary of a dozen votes (two that he missed and ten that he voted against) with respect to Iraq, funding for veterans or for troops, including equipment and armor....
September 2007: McCain voted against the Webb amendment calling for adequate troop rest between deployments. At the time, nearly 65% of people polled in a CNN poll indicted that "things are going either moderately badly or very badly in Iraq....
And so on. Continued after the jump--
The rest:
July 2007: McCain voted against a plan to drawdown troop levels in Iraq. At the time, an ABC poll found that 63% thought the invasion was not worth it, and a CBS News poll found that 72% of respondents wanted troops out within 2 years.March 2007: McCain was too busy to vote on a bill that would require the start of a drawdown in troop levels within 120 days with a goal of withdrawing nearly all combat troops within one year. Around this time, an NBC News poll found that 55% of respondents indicated that the US goal of achieving victory in Iraq is not possible. This number has not moved significantly since then.
February 2007: For such a strong supporter of the escalation, McCain didn't even bother to show up and vote against a resolution condemning it. However, at the time a CNN poll found that only 16% of respondents wanted to send more troops to Iraq (that number has since declined to around 10%), while 60% said that some or all should be withdrawn. This number has since gone up to around 70%.
June 2006: McCain voted against a resolution that Bush start withdrawing troops but with no timeline to do so.
May 2006: McCain voted against an amendment that would provide $20 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care facilities.
April 2006: McCain was one of only 13 Senators to vote against $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.
March 2006: McCain voted against increasing Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.
March 2004: McCain once again voted for abusive tax loopholes over veterans when he voted against creating a reserve fund to allow for an increase in Veterans' medical care by $1.8 billion by eliminating abusive tax loopholes. Jeez, McCain really loves those tax loopholes for corporations, since he voted for them over our veterans' needs.
October 2003: McCain voted to table an amendment by Senator Dodd that called for an additional $322,000,000 for safety equipment for United States forces in Iraq and to reduce the amount provided for reconstruction in Iraq by $322,000,000.
April 2003: McCain urged other Senate members to table a vote (which never passed) to provide more than $1 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment in Iraq related to a shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests.
August 2001: McCain voted against increasing the amount available for medical care for veterans by $650,000,000. To his credit, he also voted against the 2001 Bush tax cuts, which he now supports making permanent, despite the dire financial condition this country is in, and despite the fact that he indicated in 2001 that these tax cuts unfairly benefited the very wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
So there it is. John McCain is yet another republican former military veteran who likes to talk a big game when it comes to having the support of the military. Yet, time and time again, he has gone out of his way to vote against the needs of those who are serving in our military. If he can't even see his way to actually doing what the troops want, or what the veterans need, and he doesn't have the support of veterans, then how can he be a credible commander in chief?
Your post is total garbage. You look at specific votes on bills without detailing what the bills were really about, and that there were other competing proposals that he supported that did in fact support the troops and veterans. Most of the bills you cite were cynical attempts to set timetables to withdraw or to make it impossible to continue by reducing the available troops, or to derail the reconstruction process. It is total bull for a democrat to argue they support the troops since they have always voted against providing more money for defense. As usual they were simply playing politics.
October 1, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's also earning a lot of disrespect from active duty personnel as well. They're donating to Obama's campaign at the rate of 6 to 1. McCain has lost the support of the troops.
October 2, 2008 9:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bulldog,
Sorry chap, but you're missing the point.
These were largely votes against veterans bills, not military bills. Although there are also a number of votes in there where McCain voted against defense issues too, most notably against body armor for troops.
McCain has earned his failing grades here from the Disabled American Vets and the Iraq and Afghanistan Vets. He has earned the fire of veterans' groups who wonder why he never stood up for VA healthcare funding, or why he opposed the new GI Bill.
Facts are facts. Obama and Biden have a much better record when it comes to taking care of veterans and military families.
October 1, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
here is an EXTENSIVE list with back up documentation, links, youtube etc from Daily Kis today ....
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/1/15819/2776/481/616832
October 1, 2008 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
But, but, but-John McCain told the Des Moines Register that he has absolutely 100% always told the complete truth and nothing but the truth, and he takes strong exception to anybody to asserts otherwise. I think McCain would say you are going to have to do something much better than mere facts to challenge his record with--you are going to have to persuade someone whose opinion he respects, like General Petreus--to say it. Facts from the mouths of liberal Athenians mean nothing to a true Spartan Warrior.
And if you have a problem with that, anyone is invited to knock that chip off his shoulder, cause he is just itching to get all medieval on your hiney.
October 1, 2008 9:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Spicecakes69--I thank you and Gitlin and Friedman for opening my eyes further to this issue. I had heard that McCain was a lousy supporter of vets, but to see the length and breadth of his nonsupport makes one wonder what what is going on in his mind.
Why does this "hero" hate vets?
October 2, 2008 7:48 AM | Reply | Permalink