John McCain Claims:
"I know the veterans, I know them well, and I know that they know that I'll take care of them, and I have been proud of their support and their recognition of my service to the veterans, and I love them, and I'll take care of them, and they know that I'll take care of them."
link
Barack Needs to ask John McCain why he does not support the troops. John McCain's ACTUAL RECORD should come up in the debate.
Note: This is a re-post, It didn't get much attention the first time, so I decided it was important enough to repost.
Veterans Groups Give McCain Failing Grades
The non-partisan Disabled American Veterans gave Sen. McCain a 20% rating for his voting record on veterans' issues.link (Barack Obama has an 80% rating.)
Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America gave McCain a "D" grade for his poor voting record on veterans' issues.link (Barack Obama has a B+)
McCain Voted Against Increased Funding for Veterans' Health Care.
he voted against increasing funding for veterans' health care in 2004 (To create a reserve fund to allow for an increase in Veterans' medical care by href=".8 billion by eliminating abusive tax loopholes.), 2005 (To increase veterans medical care by $2.8 billion in 2006.),2006 (To increase Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.)2007(A bill making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, and for other purposes.)
McCain Voted At Least 28 Times Against Veterans' Benefits, Including Healthcare.
Since arriving in the U.S. Senate in 1987, McCain has voted at least 28 times against ensuring important benefits for America's veterans, including providing adequate healthcare.
Nov. 20, 1991 To provide for the indexation of cost-of-living adjustments in rates of certain compensation.
Sept. 9, 1992 To reduce the appropriation for the implementation of the Space Station Freedom program by $1,600,000,000 for the purposes of reducing the deficit in the Federal budget and increasing the appropriations for certain health-care related activities carried out by the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Sept. 24, 1994 A bill making appropriations for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and offices for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1995, and for other purposes.
Sept. 27, 1995 To increase funding for veterans' medical care and offset the increase funds by ensuring that any tax cut benefits only those families with incomes less than $100,000.
May 25, 1995 To restore $74 million in FY 1996 spending for veterans programs by reducing spending for tax expenditures.
Feb 22, 1995 To protect the disability and death benefits of veterans.
Sept 5, 1996 To provide that funding for Veterans medical care shall not be reduced to states.
May 16, 1996
July 10, 1997 To require the Secretary of Defense to transfer $400,000,000 to the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs to provide funds for veterans' health care and other purposes.
June 25, 1998 To authorize a transfer of funds from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs for health care.
Oct. 15, 1999 A bill making appropriations for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and offices for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, and for other purposes.
March 25, 2003 To provide a substitute
March 25, 2003 To allow full access to Tricare for National Guard and Reserve Personnel and their families on a continual basis, offset with reductions to the tax cut.
March 21, 2003 To increase FY 2004 funding for the discretionary programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs by $1,019,000,000, so it matches the level proposed by a coalition of veterans groups in the Independent Budget; to decrease the deficit by a similar amount; and to use the unreconciled tax cut to pay for it.
June 23, 2004 To assure that funding is provided for veterans health care each fiscal year to cover increases in population and inflation.
March 11, 2004 To provide responsible restraints on discretionary funding while providing adequate resources for education, veterans, homeland security, and other critical domestic priorities and fully offsetting the cost by closing corporate tax loopholes, improving tax enforcement and reducing tax breaks for certain individuals.
March 10, 2004 To create a reserve fund to allow for an increase in Veterans' medical care by $1.8 billion by eliminating abusive tax loopholes.
Nov 17, 2005 To provide an additional $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010, to be used for readjustment counseling, related mental health services, and treatment and rehabilitative services for veterans with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance use disorder.
October 5, 2005 To ensure that future funding for health care for former members of the Armed Forces takes into account changes in population and inflation.
April 12, 2005 To provide $1,975,183,000 for medical care for veterans.
March 16, 2005 To increase veterans medical care by $2.8 billion in 2006.
August 2, 2006 To appropriate, with an offset, an additional $2,000,000 for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Army for the improvement of imaging for traumatic brain injuries.
April 26, 2006 To provide an additional $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.
March 16, 2006 To prevent the imposition of excessive TRICARE fees and co-pays on military retirees.
March 16, 2006 To provide an assured stream of funding for veteran's health care that will take into account the annual changes in the veteran's population and inflation to be paid for by restoring the pre-2001 top rate for income over $1 million, closing corporate tax loopholes and delaying tax cuts for the wealthy.
March 14, 2006 To increase Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.
February 2, 2006 To support the health needs of our veterans and military personnel and reduce the deficit by making tax rates fairer for all Americans.
McCain voted against providing automatic annual cost-of-living adjustments for certain veterans' benefits.
Nov. 20, 1991
McCain voted for an appropriations bill that underfunded the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development by $8.9 billion.
Sept 27, 1995
McCain voted against an amendment to increase spending on veterans programs by $13 billion.
May 16, 1996
McCain was one of five senators to vote against a bill providing $44.3 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs, plus funding for other federal agencies.
October 15, 1999
McCain was one of eight senators to vote against a bill that provided $47 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
October 12, 2000
McCain was one of five senators to vote against the bill and seven to vote against the conference report that provided $51.1 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as funding for the federal housing, environmental and emergency management agencies and NASA.
Nov 8, 2001
McCain voted against an appropriations bill that included $122.7 billion in fiscal 2004 for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and other related agencies.
Nov 12, 2003
McCain voted against an amendment to appropriate $500 million annually from 2006-2010 for counseling, mental health and rehabilitation services for veterans diagnosed with mental illness, posttraumatic stress disorder or substance abuse.
Nov. 17, 2005
McCain opposed providing an assured funding stream for veterans' health care, taking into account annual changes in veterans' population and inflation.
March 16, 2006
McCain was one of 13 Republicans to vote against providing an additional $430 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.
April 26, 2006
McCain opposed an amendment that would have prevented the Department of Veterans Affairs from outsourcing jobs, many held by blue-collar veterans, without first giving the workers a chance to compete.
Sept 6, 2007
McCain did not vote on the GI Bill that will provide better educational opportunities to veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, paying full tuition at in-state schools and living expenses for those who have served at least three years since the 9/11 attacks. McCain said he opposes the bill because he thinks the generous benefits would "encourage more people to leave the military."
May 22, 2008, Boston Globe (McCain misses vote on a new GI Bill, scorns criticism from Obama), ABCNews.com (McCain Defends Opposition to GI Bill).
"To help veterans who live far from VA hospitals or need specialized care the VA can't provide, McCain proposed giving low-income veterans and those who incurred injury during their service a card they could use at private hospitals. The proposal is not an attempt to privatize the VA, as critics have alleged, but rather, an effort to improve care and access to it, he said. Joe Violanti, legislative director of the Disabled American Veterans, a nonpartisan organization, said the proposal would increase costs because private hospitals are more expensive. The increased cost could lead to further rationing of care, he said."
Las Vegas Sun
McCain voted against increasing spending on the TRICARE program by $20.3 billion over 10 years to give members of the National Guard and Reserves and their families greater access to the health care program. The increase would be offset by a reduction in tax cuts for the wealthy.
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 324 to S.Con.Res. 23
McCain opposed the creation of an independent commission to investigate the development and use of intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq.
(S.Amdt. 1275 to H.R. 2658, Vote 284, 7/16/03)
McCain voted against establishing a $1 billion trust fund to improve military health facilities by refusing to repeal tax cuts for those making more than $1 million a year.
(S.Amdt. 2735 to S.Amdt. 2707 to H.R. 4297, Vote 7, 2/2/06)
McCain voted against requiring mandatory minimum downtime between tours of duty for troops serving in Iraq.
(S.Amdt.. 2909 to S.Amdt. 2011 to HR 1585, Vote 341, 9/19/07; S.Amdt. 2012 to S.Amdt. 2011 to HR 1585, Vote 241, 7/11/07)
According to ThinkProgress, "the Senate brought the Intelligence Authorization Bill to the floor, which contained a provision from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) establishing one interrogation standard across the government. The bill requires the intelligence community to abide by the same standards as articulated in the Army Field Manual and bans waterboarding." McCain voted against the bill.
(H.R. 2082, Vote 22, 2/13/08)
McCain opposed an amendment to prevent the outsourcing of 350 federal employee jobs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center--outsourcing that contributed to the scandalous treatment of veterans at Walter Reed that McCain called a "disgrace."
(S.Amdt. 4895 to H.R. 5631, Vote 234, 9/6/06; Speech to VFW in Kansas City, Mo., 4/4/08)
Senator McCain repeatedly voted against a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.
(S.Amdt. 3876 to S.Amdt. 3874 to H.R. 2764, Vote #438, 12/18/07; S.Amdt. 3875 to S.Amdt. 3874 to H.R. 2764, Vote #437, 12/18/07; S.Amdt.3164 to H.R. 3222, Vote #362, 10/3/07; S.Amdt. 2898 to S. Amdt. 2011 to H.R. 1585, Vote #346, 9/21/07; S. Amdt. 2924 to S.Amdt. 2011 to H.R.1585, Vote #345, 9/21/07; S.Amdt.2 087 to S.Amdt. 2011 to H.R. 1585, Vote #252, 7/18/07; S.Amdt. 643 to H.R. 1591, Vote #116, 3/27/07; S.Amdt. 4320 to S. 2766, Vote #182, 6/22/06; S.Amdt. 4442 to S. 2766, Vote #181, 6/22/06; S.Amdt. 2519 to S.1042, Vote #322, 11/15/05)
McCain also says that he knows how to end wars...
"But the fact is I think we could go in with much smaller numbers than we had to do in the past. But I don't believe it's going to be nearly the size and scope that it was in 1991."
(CBS News, Face the Nation, 9/15/02)
"I know that as successful as I believe we will be, and I believe that the success will be fairly easy, we will still lose some American young men or women."
(CNN, Larry King Live 9/24/02)
"We're not going to get into house-to-house fighting in Baghdad. We may have to take out buildings, but we're not going to have a bloodletting of trading American bodies for Iraqi bodies."
(CNN, Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer 9/29/02)
"But the point is that, one, we will win this conflict. We will win it easily."
(MSNBC, 1/22/03)
Senator McCain said that a policy of containing Iraq to blunt its weapons of mass destruction program is "unsustainable, ineffective, unworkable and dangerous." McCain: "I believe Iraq is a threat of the first order, and only a change of regime will make Iraq a state that does not threaten us and others, and where liberated people assume the rights and responsibilities of freedom."
(Speech to the Center for Strategic & International Studies, 2/13/03)
"We're going to win this victory. Tragically, we will lose American lives. But it will be brief. We're going to find massive evidence of weapons of mass destruction . . . It's going to send the message throughout the Middle East that democracy can take hold in the Middle East."
(Fox News, Hannity & Colmes, 2/21/03)
"But I believe, Katie, that the Iraqi people will greet us as liberators."
(NBC, 3/20/03)
"I believe that this conflict is still going to be relatively short."
(NBC, Meet the Press, 3/30/03)
McCain echoed Bush and Cheney's talking points that the U.S. would only be in Iraq for a short time. McCain:
"It's clear that the end is very much in sight . . . It won't be long . . . it'll be a fairly short period of time."
(ABC, 4/9/03)
More McCainisms
On the Run-Up to War
"Next up, Baghdad!"
John McCain, aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, January 2, 2002.
"I am very certain that this military engagement will not be very difficult."
John McCain, September 12, 2002.
"Look, we're going to send young men and women in harm's way and that's always a great danger, but I cannot believe that there is an Iraqi soldier who is going to be willing to die for Saddam Hussein, particularly since he will know that our objective is to remove Saddam Hussein from power."
John McCain, September 15, 2002.
"But the fact is, I think we could go in with much smaller numbers than we had to do in the past. But any military man worth his salt is going to have to prepare for any contingency, but I don't believe it's going to be nearly the size and scope that it was in 1991."
John McCain, September 15, 2002.
"He's a patriot who has the best interests of his country at heart."
John McCain, on Ahmed Chalabi, 2003.
On Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction
"I think we're doing fine [in Afghanistan]...I think we'll do fine. The second phase - if I could just make one, very quickly - the second phase is Iraq. There is some indication, and I don't have the conclusions, but some of this anthrax may - and I emphasize may - have come from Iraq."
John McCain, on the fall 2001 anthrax attacks in the U.S., October 18, 2001.
"Proponents of containment claim that Iraq is in a "box." But it is a box with no lid, no bottom, and whose sides are falling out. Within this box are definitive footprints of germ, chemical and nuclear programs."
John McCain, February 13, 2003.
"I remain confident that we will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."
John McCain, June 11, 2003.
On Being Greeted as Liberators
"Absolutely. Absolutely."
John McCain, asked by Chris Matthews, "you believe that the people of Iraq or at least a large number of them will treat us as liberators?" March 12, 2003.
"Not only that, they'll be relieved that he's not in the neighborhood because he has invaded his neighbors on several occasions."
John McCain, asked by Chris Matthews, "And you think the Arab world will come to a grudging recognition that what we did was necessary?" March 12, 2003.
"There's no doubt in my mind that we will prevail and there's no doubt in my mind, once these people are gone, that we will be welcomed as liberators."
John McCain, March 24, 2003.
On a Rapid Victory and Mission Accomplished
"I think the victory will be rapid, within about three weeks."
John McCain, January 28, 2003.
"We won a massive victory in a few weeks, and we did so with very limited loss of American and allied lives."
John McCain, May 22, 2003.
"Well, then why was there a banner that said mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier?"
John McCain, responding to assertion by Fox News' Neil Cavuto that "many argue the conflict isn't over," June 11, 2003.
"I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process, but the conflict -- the major conflict is over, the regime change has been accomplished, and it's very appropriate."
John McCain, June 11, 2003.
"I'm confident we're on the right course."
John McCain, March 7, 2004.
"We're either going to lose this thing or win this thing within the next several months."
John McCain, November 12, 2006.
"My friends, the war will be over soon, the war for all intents and purposes although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years."
John McCain, February 25, 2008.
On the Safe Streets of Baghdad
"[There] there "are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today."
John McCain, after touring a Baghdad market wearing a bulletproof vest and guarded by "100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead, April 1, 2007.
"There's problems in America with safe neighborhoods as we well know."
John McCain, March 8, 2008.
On President Bush and His Team
"We are very fortunate that our president in these challenging days can rely on the counsel of a man who has demonstrated time and again the resolve, experience, and patriotism that will be required for success and the hard-headed clear thinking necessary to prevail in this global fight between good and evil."
John McCain, on Dick Cheney, July 16, 2004.
"I think he strengthened our national defenses. I think he has a good team around him."
John McCain, on President Bush, September 3, 2004.
On the Non-Existent Alliance Between Al Qaeda and Iran
"But Al Qaeda is there, they are functioning, they are supported in many times, in many ways by the Iranians."
John McCain, February 28, 2008.
"As you know, there are al Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they're moving back into Iraq."
John McCain, March 17, 2008.
"[Iranian operatives are] "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."
John McCain, March 18, 2008.
"[It is] common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate."
John McCain, March 18, 2008.
"Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated."
McCain campaign statement, March 19, 2008.
On the Timeline of the Surge and the Sunni Awakening
"Too often the light at the tunnel has turned out to be a train, but I really believe -- I really believe that there's a strong possibility that you may see a very substantial change in Anbar province due to this new changes in our relationships with the sheiks in the region."
John McCain, January 5, 2007 (five days before President Bush announced the surge strategy and the deployment of more U.S. forces to Iraq.)
On a Permanent American Military Presence in Iraq
"We cannot keep our forces indefinitely staged in the region. Were we to attempt again to contain Saddam, we would eventually have to withdraw them. The world is full of dangers and, more likely than not, we will need some of those brave men and women to face them down."
John McCain, February 13, 2003.
"Well, if that scenario evolves, then I think it's obvious that we would have to leave because - if it was an elected government of Iraq - and we've been asked to leave other places in the world. If it were an extremist government, then I think we would have other challenges, but I don't see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people."
John McCain, April 22, 2004.
"We have had troops in South Korea for 60 years and nobody minds."
John McCain, June 7, 2007.
"I asked McCain about his 'hundred years' comment, and he reaffirmed the remark, excitedly declaring that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 'a thousand years' or 'a million years,' as far as he was concerned."
David Corn, January 3, 2008.
"The U.S. could have a military presence anywhere in the world for a long period of time."
John McCain, February 20, 2008.
"By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom."
John McCain, May 15, 2008.
"I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr city are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks."
John McCain, on a day when Mosul was rocked by suicide bombs and U.S. troop strength remained abve pre-surge level, May 30, 2008.
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