John McCain: The American Veteran's Deadbeat Dad

From Pam's, proof positive that Viet Nam War-Hero & former POW Presidential Candidate John McCain has a truly McShameful voting record when it comes veterans of his own war's sequel

During the debate last night, McCain indicated that if he were to limit government spending, he would not spend a dime on anything but "defense, veteran affairs and entitlement program". This statement is interesting for 2 reasons: (1) McCain has no intention whatsover to help the middle class, working poor or anyone who is not rich obtain access to healthcare or tax relief and (2) McCain has a truly reprehensible voting record when it comes to veterans' affairs. From One Pissed Off Veteran, McCain's support for our friend, the American Veteran, is evidenced as follows:

1. August 2001 -- McCain votes against increasing the amount of cash available for veterans' medical care
2. March 2004 -- McCain votes against creating a reserve fund for veterans' medical care
3. March 2006 -- McCain votes against increasing veterans' medical services funding
4. May 2006 -- McCain votes against additional funding to the VA for health care facilities
5. September 2007 -- McCain votes against the Webb Amendment, which would have provided for adequate periods of rest between deployments to Iraq

Despite his atrocious voting record, McCain still tells people that as a former POW (I know, something he rarely uses for political purposes), he knows better than most what is best for our soldiers not only during combat, but how to help them when they're finally home:

MCCAIN: Jim, when I came home from prison, I saw our veterans being very badly treated, and it made me sad. And I embarked on an effort to resolve the POW-MIA issue, which we did in a bipartisan fashion, and then I worked on normalization of relations between our two countries so that our veterans could come all the way home.

I guarantee you, as president of the United States, I know how to heal the wounds of war, I know how to deal with our adversaries, and I know how to deal with our friends.

Why McCain has the support of a majority of veterans is beyond me. From McCain's statement above, one can only surmise that McCain is indicating that it will be his transformation from Senator to POTUS that will miraculously make him someone who heals veterans instead of someone who hurts them. Either that or or McCain really is saying that the best way to heal the wounds of war is to ensure that those veterans who aren't lucky enough to be discharged dead are helped to find a speedy resolution for all that ails them.



Tags: McShame politics conservatism Iraq Afghanistan war veterans debate

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