Time Magazine wonders how a decorated vet and POW has a vets problem and strengthens the perception that McCain's train derailed and he is "AWOL" on veterans issues in this piece: Does McCain have a Vets Problem?
I'll give you a key reason why:
S-22, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007, proposed by Freshman Senator Jim Webb on his first day in office is clearly a well-thought out, well-regarded measure supported by both current and former (meaning R and D) heads of Senate Veterans and Armed Services Committee Chairs.
Bush is threatening to veto this bill over the cost of it, and McCain, rather than joining those who truly support the troops, sucks up and enables bush and draws cover for his own complicity by co-sponsoring another far cheaper version of the bill.
There are significant differences. Follow below to watch more of this train wreck:
Webb's
S-22, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007,
has tremendous non-partisan support and as I wrote above, is co-sponsored by present and former chairs (both R and D) of the Senate Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Committees as well Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, the only senator who, in addition to fighting in Vietnam, served as a senior official within the Department of Veterans Affairs. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are signed on among the 58 co-sponsors nearly equally represented on both sides of the aisle.
Senator McCain, rather than signing on to this bill, is co-sponsoring his own, miserly version of the measure which doesn’t allow for full benefits until a completion of 12 years of service. This is a slap in the face for those who stepped up to serve after 9/11 since 70-75 percent of the ground troops in the Army and Marines leave the service by the end of their first enlistment and would never be able to obtain the kind of education given their fathers and grandfathers who served in earlier wars.
Supporters of the phony Lindsey Graham - McCain alternative say it is attractive since it offers the ability to transfer benefits to the veteran’s family member. That is a false distinction, though, since the Secretaries of each branch of the service have the ability and lawful means to establish a transfer mechanism. And McCain and Graham know this is a straw man argument since it was covered in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing in early May, according to spokespersons for Veterans and Military Families for Progress and Empowering Veterans who were there. The McCain alternative bill offers a flat sum benefit, rather than covering the full tuition the way Webb's bill does.
Seeing through the BS, "McCain's butt-covering Folly"isn't found palatable by any of the Veterans Service Organizations and has no Democratic co-sponsors. In fact, of the 22 enablers (I mean co-sponsors, 21 are Republican. The other is independent Joe Lieberman)
More cover for Bush's veto threat was promoted early on by the Department of Defense and parrotted in the media somewhat. The pentagon claims Webb’s S-22 might lead to an exodus of troops. Remember, as noted above, some 70-75 percent of ground troops ALREADY refuse to re-up anyway. Webb is confident the pentagon's argument is weak since his time serving before becoming a Senator last year included a significant amount of time working on readiness and manpower issues.
He's not alone in calling the Pentagon manpower concern phony. Republican Senator and former head of the Senate Armed Services Committee John Warner called the DOD’s argument "very thin and tenuous" adding, "The flip side of that is, putting a big piece of cheese out there will induce more qualified people to join just to get this. It should be a tremendous incentive for recruitment."
The Congressional Budget Office supports Webb's measure and Warner’s assertion, showing that the 16 percent drop in re-enlistments would be offset by a 16 percent increase in new recruits. As a boon, recruiting costs would be reduced and the quality of recruits would increase under Webb's bill.
"These are the people who answered the call," Webb, a former Marine Infantry Officer said recently. Clearly he gets it. Clearly, that's why, on his first day in office he proposed this. "These are the people who moved willingly forward toward the sound of the guns."
Thank you Senator Webb. Senator McCain, President Bush, you co-sponsoring enablers, we the veteran and military family community see through your BS and are calling you out.
Call John McCain (202) 224-2235 now to encourage him to co-sponsor S-22, or better yet, leave him be and tell your senators to co-sponsor it, since a veto-proof majority is only two co-sponsors away and we can show McCain's stark lack of support for Veterans come November.
By the way, so their names show up in searches, here are the 22 fellow enablers:
Lamar Alexander (TN)
Wayne Allard (CO)
John Barrasso (WY)
Richard Burr (NC)
Saxby Chambliss [GA]
Thad Cochran [MS]
Susan Collins [ME]
Bob Corker [TN]
John Cornyn [TX]
Larry Craig [ID]
Elizabeth Dole [NC]
Pete Domenici [NM]
Kay Bailey Hutchison [TX]
James Inhofe [OK]
Johnny Isakson [GA]
Joe Lieberman, [CT]
Mel Martinez [FL]
John McCain [AZ]
Ted Stevens [AK]
John Thune [SD]
David Vitter [LA]
Roger Wicker [MS]