Veterans Groups ‘Didn’t Have That Much Input’ On ‘Very Partisan’ Graham-McCain GI Bill
Veterans Groups ‘Didn’t Have That Much Input’ On ‘Very Partisan’ Graham-McCain GI Bill
Last month, the Senate passed Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) 21st Century GI Bill on a veto-proof 75-22 vote. Steve Robertson, the American Legion’s legislative affairs director, said Webb’s bill “was clearly a cooperative operation, bipartisan and with involvement with the veterans service organizations,” adding, “That’s why I think everyone’s pretty much in sync with it … it was a group effort.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) not only skipped the vote on Webb’s bill, but he and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also failed to include veterans’ concerns while drafting their competing measure. Veterans groups said they were not consulted for the Graham-McCain version of the GI Bill, calling their measure “very partisan“:
“We didn’t have that much input into [the Republican version] - there was no dialogue to my knowledge other than ‘this is it,’” Mr. Robertson said. […]
The Graham-Burr-McCain plan is “very partisan and is seen as a way to convolute the GI bill, or to slow the Webb-Hagel proposal down,” [VFW’s deputy director for legislative affairs Eric] Hilleman said.
This isn’t the first time McCain has ignored veterans concerns. While he has claimed that he has “received the highest award from literally every veterans organization in America,” it seems he has some trouble with the literal meaning of “literally”:
– Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave McCain a grade of D for his record of voting against veterans. (By contrast, Obama got a B+.)
– Disabled Veterans of America noted McCain’s dismal 20 percent voting record on veterans’ issues. (Obama had an 80 percent.)
– In a list of “Key Votes,” Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) notes McCain “Voted Against Us” 15 times and “Voted For Us” only 8. (Obama voted for VVA 12 times, and against only once.)
Last month, McCain said, “I take a back seat to no one in my affection, respect and devotion to veterans,” except when in comes to rewarding them for their sacrifices.
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Has anyone ever seen Scanners??
June 4th, 2008 at 11:53 amraynman, Yes. Is it possible his head really will explode?
Having all those Vets groups dismayed about McSame is news…
June 4th, 2008 at 11:56 amgood luck seeing any coverage of that on the liberal media!
It is beyond belief that McCain, having suffered as a prisoner or war can be so removed from appreciating what soldiers do for America. I understand bush who actually would be considered a deserter but McCain ?
June 4th, 2008 at 11:57 amInteresting that the VFW who supported bush wholeheartedly is now questioning McCain’s motives. Always puzzeled me that a group of people who actually fulfilled their obligation supported an administration of dodgers and deserters.
June 4th, 2008 at 11:59 amshhh, don’t mention McCain is the Republican Nominee, it may beg the question: ‘who is the Democratic Nominee?’
June 4th, 2008 at 12:00 pmCaption:
‘I have Bush on this thumb & Cheney on the other!’
Don’t ask, don’t smell.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:02 pmIs anyone else creeped out by the Ed Grimley smile that McCain has plastered on his face in this picture?
June 4th, 2008 at 12:08 pmTexas Lady notes that: “It is beyond belief that McCain, having suffered as a prisoner or war can be so removed from appreciating what soldiers do for America.”
Yes, and it could be that a) since he suffered for so long he feels all must suffer, or b) that his time in Viet Nam prisons has altered his ability to reason about the military. Either way, he is damaged goods.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:08 pmVeterans Groups ‘Didn’t Have That Much Input’ On ‘Very Partisan’ Graham-McCain GI Bill»
Thats funny,even the very conservative VFW supported that bill along with a long list of other veteran groups.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:10 pmRevisionist history much, grampy McFlipFlop?
.
Q U E S T I O N:
Is the Web GI legislation a bill or an amendment?
Is there a difference?
And if it is an amendment, what bill is it attached to?
Does that bill have to pass in order for the Web Amendment to pass?
Who benefits from the bill it is attached to?
Can we have some truth?
.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:10 pmCaption Contest:
Narrator: “And here we see the Maverick flip-flopper trying to thumb a ride in each direction, confused over who he is supposed to be pandering to today”
or
“when the announcement came over the loud speaker this morning at the Grand Old Folks Home that residents today will have a choice between jello or tapioca pudding, senior resident Johnny McCant raised both hands excitedly and shouted, “I vote for both!” He later pooped himself and insisted to referring to his feces as “my friends” for the rest of the morning until several interns wrested the doo-doo from his hands while he repeated, “My name is John Sidney McCain and I am a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy–
June 4th, 2008 at 12:15 pmserial No. 624787.”
McGrampa never embraced veterans because he’s an elitist. He thought he was too good for the military. He just wanted to act like a reich-wing tool and fly jets really, really fast.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:15 pmI still believe the “party” allowed McCain to be the nominee because they are aware they can’t win this time, throw a bone to the old dog save the fighters for next time.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:17 pm“I think I’d just commit suicide.”
June 4th, 2008 at 12:22 pm~McGrampa in October 2006, on the prospects of the Democrats taking back the Senate in the November election
Let’s see . . The Republicans claim to be patriotic and support our troops, but get hung up about little flag pins made in Indonesia and won’t provide mental health care for even active duty ones. The Democrats want real education benefits for soldiers and don’t care about little pins, but want service to be rewarded. As a retired Master Sergent, I know who I’m voting for in November, and he isn’t old Eddie RickenbacherMcCain either.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:24 pmMcCain looks like some midget lunatic holding onto the wheel of a runaway semi truck.
No offense to midgets, or lunatics, or trucks.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:25 pmMcCain - for the veterans before it because politically expedient to be against them. Against torture before his handlers decided to be for it.
And is it true that McCain graduated 894th out of a class of 899 at Annapolis? And that he probably wouldn’t have graduated at all if not for daddy’s pull?
Just what we need… another Prez who rode daddy’s coattails rather than succeeding under his own steam.
PEACE
June 4th, 2008 at 12:26 pmHey! The Pentagram and the military industrial complex had plenty of input. What the hell else would you expect from a McIIIrd proposal?
June 4th, 2008 at 12:27 pmCaption:
I can’t remember why I’m holding my thumbs up.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:28 pmMcCain assumes all the veterans will find rich new trophy wives when they leave the service just like he did and won’t need benefits.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:29 pmHe was talking about the Organization of Old Prostitutes of the Senate, aka OOPS; they’re all lobbyists now (old habits die hard). Those are the only vets who matter.
Also, texaslady is right.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:30 pmnow I understand why the psychiatrist that interviewed him said he was insensitive to the killings in Vietnam- he simply doesn’t give a (blank- fill in appropriate word)
Now, this from yesterdays thread makes more sense, it’s all clear to me now. Sometimes it takes me a while to process certain realities:
Rowan Berkeley Says:
McCain’s CIA file : totally “Manchurian Candidate” stuff, honestly:
June 4th, 2008 at 12:31 pmhttp://cryptome.org/ cia-mccain-pow/ cia-mccain-pow.htm
Once again Johnny is showing how out of touch he is with Vets and their issues….
June 4th, 2008 at 12:33 pmHey Shane be kind to us old people, some of us have most of our senses. Some of us even are still contributing in many ways. I know a 75 year old that works rings around many 30 year olds, also many older people believe in accountability and giving an honest days work.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:34 pmMcCain: “Thank you for your sacrifice. Let me extend to you a HEARTY handclasp.”
June 4th, 2008 at 12:39 pmCaption:
“Um. The Haley’s MO oops. has finally worked!”
June 4th, 2008 at 12:49 pmEwwwww. Pappy McCryptKeeper is just …scary.
*shudder*
June 4th, 2008 at 12:54 pmCrikey - that purple suit reminds me of Jim Carey in The Mask….*shudder*
Now I’m even MORE a’skeert.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:55 pmFire Marshall Bill, anyone…?
Dayum, after this, I’m going to have nightmares.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:59 pmHere’s my favorite bit, Ninique:
Interview with McCain - Hanoi VNA International Service in French 1339 GMT 9 Nov 67 B - Interview of American POW LT CDR John Sidney McCain published in 9 November Nhan Dan - Excerpt
To a question of the correspondent, McCain answered: ‘My assignment to the Oriskany, I told myself, was due to serious losses in pilots which were sustained by this aircraft carrier (due to its raids over North Vietnam territory–VNA) and which necessitated replacements. From 10 to 12 pilots were transferred like me from the Forrestal to the Oriskany. Before I was shot down we had made several sorties. Altogether I made about 23 flights over North Vietnam.’
McCain admitted that he participated five or six times in the attacks on the Haiphong sector.
Fear still clearly showed on his face when he recalled his disastrous sortie on 26 October against Hanoi. ‘The briefing was held in the morning,’ he said. ‘That’s right. I remember that it was the morning that they told me of the situation and the plan of the raid, which should take place about noon. A reconnaissance officer explained this plan to me. They showed me photographs of my target marked out the paths to be followed by the Oriskany at this point. They pointed out to me a number of antiaircraft positions near Hanoi and a number of possible rocket positions, the position of our rescue ships, the radio frequency, the composition of the flight, and so forth. Upon arrival near the target, our formation with six bombers, would mount the attack according to the following order: I would be number three, and the chief of the formation, number one. Each pilot would have to approach the target from a different direction, the choice of which would be left to [undecipherable].
‘While moving toward the target, we stumbled over a very dense network of fire, a very powerful riposte. A few rockets were seen. Our chief turned to approach the target and I followed him at a distance. At the time when I was preparing to drop my bombs–I did not know whether or not I could drop them because things were happening too fast–I heard a terrible explosion which shook my plane and sent it toward the ground. It was hit so violently that I was thrown on my back and went straight toward the ground in this posture. I tried to pull the direction-stick
[Image] I do not know at what [undecipherable]
Naturally I felt buffeting because my bailing out was made at the time when the plane was falling too fast. When the parachute opened I looked down and found out I was going to fall into a lake. I was really lucky to be able to fall into a lake. All around me bombs were exploding while rockets and antiaircraft shells were streaking through the sky. I hit the lake and went to the bottom. While trying to return to the surface, I was seized by Vietnamese and pushed to the bank of the lake. They disarmed me and brought me to prison.’
‘What do you think of Hanoi’s fire barrage?’ asked the Nhan Dan Correspondent.
McCain cried out: ‘Very intense, very accurate. When a fire barrage is so accurate, one has to reckon with it. You are excellent artillerymen. Naturally, I have never seen such a fire network, because it was the first time I flew over Hanoi.’
‘Were the pilots who had flown over Hanoi afraid of the firepower from the ground?’
‘Yes, certainly!’ McCain said, ‘How lucky are those who do not have to come often to the Hanoi Sector. Very dangerous! Because they could very well be shot down, hit, something that no one wants! When I arrived near my target I saw two rockets streaking by my side, and it was terrible to see. They flew very fast, very strongly.’
Suddenly the air pirate was silent as if still obsessed by the memory of his disasterous sortie.
‘For me,’ he concluded, ‘there is no longer any doubt. Things are taking place in a favorable opinion. The United States at present seems to be standing alone, so much is its isolation.’
June 4th, 2008 at 1:02 pm.
Y’all do know that the Web Amendment is attached to the war spending bill…
And y’all do support the troops…
And so the war spending bill will get passed, least you be accused of not supporting the troops.
The Web Amendment should be stand alone bill, but then what tool could the Fascists use to pass a spending bill that continues the Iraq blunder, aka, A WAR CRIME.
And yes, McCain sux.
.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:10 pmNever let it be said that the GOP lets facts get in the way of it’s rhetoric.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:22 pmI wonder if all this information will get to the actual soldiers still on active duty? If so, their support of him would be a sad thing indeed.
But maybe the Repugs plan on another caging effort to keep many of them from voting.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:44 pmWhy is every picture of McGrampa even creepier than the last?
June 4th, 2008 at 2:01 pmJane E. Schneider Says:
Why is every picture of McGrampa even creepier than the last?
Maybe that nasty RPG (Repug Power Virus) disease has taken over his body.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:06 pmOops, meant RPV
June 4th, 2008 at 2:07 pmI know texaslady, I’m pretty old myself. And my mother who is 81 is sharper than I am. Alzheimers can start in the 40s. Or McCain could have the mad cow like I do.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:49 pmLast month, McCain said, “I take a back seat to no one in my affection, respect and devotion to veterans,” except when in comes to rewarding them for their sacrifices.
Yet again proving that Republicans have the highest regard for the military, but not the people seving in it.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
June 4th, 2008 at 3:37 pm>Or McCain could have the mad cow like I do.
All i know is that anyone who has 50 pages of medical records PER DAY, EVERY DAY, for the last 8 years, shouldn’t be allowed to pilot a gold cart, let alone a country..
June 4th, 2008 at 4:02 pmMcCain might have been an honorable man at one time but his obsession with a position he is not competent to do is clouding his vision. If his wife loved him she would help him realize he is making such a fool of himself.
June 4th, 2008 at 4:23 pmI’m no fan of McCain, but it’s getting painful to watch or listen to him.
I am embarrassed for him.
The GOP had no candidate this time around so he ends up out there…..
June 4th, 2008 at 5:43 pmthe wrong man at the wrong time, if his wife had any decency she would not have let let him subject himself for what he’s in for.
Despite the spin of the bs phony “release” of his medical records, it’s clear he is not where he needs to be physically to be taking on the rigors of the grueling campaign he’s embarking on…even with his wife’s private jet and 100 million.
The whole thing is a fool’s errand that’s flirting with disaster.
Well. there’s no fool like an old fool…and there’s nothing like a younger woman to bring out the fool in a man.
I think we’re failing to take into consideration the fact that other than the many many many things McSame is wrong about, that he’s even more right about the things he’s right about. And that that number is equal to, or much much more, than the number of things he’s wrong about. Is it clear? Are we on the same cloud now?
June 4th, 2008 at 8:19 pm