IAVA Director: If McCain Thinks The VA Isn’t Working, ‘It’s In Part Because He Hasn’t Funded It’
IAVA Director: If McCain Thinks The VA Isn’t Working, ‘It’s In Part Because He Hasn’t Funded It’
Yesterday, Sen. John McCain promoted his veterans private health care “plastic card” in a speech to the American Legion. Though he insisted the “card is not intended to either replace the VA or privatize veterans’ health care,” veterans groups aren’t buying it. AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars all argue McCain’s scheme may undermine the VA.
Today ThinkProgress spoke to Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, at the Democratic National Convention. When we asked him what he thought of McCain’s private health card plan, Rieckhoff slammed McCain for blocking funding for the VA:
Basically every major veterans group is opposed to it so far, so I think that pretty much says it all. We’ve got to come up with a comprehensive solution to VA health care, and that starts with VA funding. Sen. McCain has consistently voted against expansion of VA funding. So if he says the VA’s not working, it’s in part because he hasn’t funded it properly. … A lot of vets groups are going to push back against the card because it may be on the path toward privatization. So we’ve got to really make the VA as strong as it can be, and that should be our priority.
Despite his repeated claims to the contrary, McCain’s record on veterans health funding is disappointing to say the least:
– Voted AGAINST providing $430 million to the VA for outpatient care “and treatment for veterans,” one of only 13 senators to do so. [4/26/06]
– Voted AGAINST increasing VA funding by $1.5 billion by closing corporate loopholes. [3/14/06]
– Voted AGAINST increasing VA funding by $1.8 billion by ending “abusive tax loopholes.” [3/10/04]
McCain can try to convince veterans groups that he opposes privatization, but considering his disdain for government-sponsored health care, it’s no surprise he wants to put veterans health into the hands of private business.
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My friends,(and foes), I am a veteran, I have friends who are also veterans, and friends who are not veterans, I can tell you all, McCain is NO friend to veterans.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:09 pmGive ‘em hell, Paul!!!
McIIIrd, trashing the troops daily.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:19 pmThink about it.
McIIIrd’s proposal for the GI bill would fully fund only those with TWELVE years of service!
Hey, those are lifers at this point.
Effectively gutting the program.
And he didn’t get it through, but still tries to take credit for it? WTF, you slimy FuttBuck!
August 27th, 2008 at 3:20 pmI agree
August 27th, 2008 at 3:23 pmMcCain is NO friend to veterans!
Vets give mccain a D….check out how the dems fare. All A’s B’s and a few C’s Why isn’t this out in the open?
who really supports the troops.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:23 pmSomeone take away McCain’s word parser. He’s gonna get hurt, or injure somebody, swinging that thing around the way he does…
August 27th, 2008 at 3:24 pmFred; I have seen that link before, but thanks for posting it on this thread.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:25 pmWhy does the (so-called) Maverick POW hate the military?
August 27th, 2008 at 3:26 pmUncle Ho Says:
I post it every time a veterans issue is presented. The more people see it the better.
Correction on my previous statement: No dem gets below a B and no rep gets above a C and only 4 of them got C’s
August 27th, 2008 at 3:28 pmFred Says:
Uncle Ho Says:
I post it every time a veterans issue is presented. The more people see it the better.
Correction on my previous statement: No dem gets below a B and no rep gets above a C and only 4 of them got C’s
Where are the commercials highlighting this over and over and OVER and OVER again?!?! McLame HATES veterans.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:30 pmPlastic card?
Let’s see…Cindy McCain charged $750,000 in June with ‘plastic’.
Can a Vet do that?
John McCain IS plastic. Some of his biggest donors are credit card companies.
Remember Frank Zappa’s ‘Plastic People’?
August 27th, 2008 at 3:48 pmPrivatizing veteran’s health care. Goddamnit what is next? If republicans hate government so damn much, why don’t they just pool all their resources, go buy a small third world country and move? There, they can have corporations running everything.
Their armed forces will be Blackwater, Halliburton/KBR can do the rest. They can have a state sponsored religion, no blacks, Latinos, or gays, women can stay at home and serve their husbands. They won’t have to worry about environmental issues as Jesus will be returning to rapture the true believers.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:49 pmUncle Ho Says:
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My friends,(and foes), I am a veteran, I have friends who are also veterans, and friends who are not veterans, I can tell you all, McCain is NO friend to veterans.
Definitely not this veteran.
RIP
August 27th, 2008 at 3:53 pmSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
Grampy McSame says – My friends back in the day I was a POW, that’s right…P…O…W, I stayed at the Hanoi Hilton, that’s right, Hanoi, I didn’t have a table or anything, I was a POW, now I am for veterans, because I was a POW, but for the issue of giving veterans help, well, not so much, did I mention that I was a POW, now if these veterans think being a POW, that’s right POW, was fun, then they don’t know what being a POW was about, when I was a POW I did not get veterans benefits, no sir, that’s because I was a POW, that means alot to my friends, that POW status, so I am going to keep reminding them that I was a POW, and that’s where I stand on the issue, as a POW….I think I sat on a Piece Of Wood.
That POW (piece of wood) is your brain grampy.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:59 pmGrampy McSame says, “Well they’re just veterans. Did you know that for five years I didn’t have healthcare. I think all POWs who have been held for over 5 years should get full benefits other veterans not so much.”
August 27th, 2008 at 4:00 pmWhere is the “Liberal Media”? McWorse keeps harping on his service to America (kudos for that), yet he’s quite happy to sell his brothers and sisters in arms for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver. The silence by the MSM is deafining. So much for dignity, honor and supporting the truth. Come on November 4th and let America show the world what we’re made of.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:00 pmImpeach Pelosi, Cheney and Bush and Save the Constitution!
Oops, you beat me too it Buckie although I’m not nearly as poetic as you are.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:01 pmFred Says:
——————————————————————————–
Vets give mccain a D….check out how the dems fare. All A’s B’s and a few C’s Why isn’t this out in the open?
Because it would put to reest the BS that Vets overwhelmingly support Repuppetcans, as if we’re all some monolithic dummies. Even though there are a lot of dumb-assed vets (and active duty) who believe that the Repuppetcans care about us, those of us who are, hold on, INFORMED know better.
McCain is a dishonorable man who once wore an honorable uniform, and served with distinction. He is no longer someone who vets look up too, much like that criminal Ollie North, Gen. Myers, Gen. Franks, and if he doesn’t get his ish together soon Gen. Petraeus.
Give me Max Cleland, Tammy Duckworth anyday.
RIP
August 27th, 2008 at 4:02 pmSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
Huh, weird how the trolls don’t want to touch this one.
Obama and Biden have to come out swinging on issues like this. Hammer away at the economy and healthcare ESPECIALLY how they relate to Vets, and McCain will have no counter punches.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:02 pmcitizen_pain Says:
Privatizing veteran’s health care. Goddamnit what is next? If republicans hate government so damn much, why don’t they just pool all their resources, go buy a small third world country and move? There, they can have corporations running everything.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
_______
Isn’t that why we invaded Iraq?
August 27th, 2008 at 4:04 pmMcCain has as much empathy for veterans as he does for senior citizens, which is ironic since he uses both as crutches to excuse his insanity.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:12 pm“Though he insisted the “card is not intended to either replace the VA or privatize veterans’ health care,”
Yeah, and Walmart isn’t about making money. They’d be happy to lose money if they could have fun doing it (apologies to using Walmart as an example, but they’re well known).
Why would McSame make such an outrageous statement and expect the Vets to believe him ?
August 27th, 2008 at 4:16 pmif we don’t ask for real change in this election we’ll be asking for spare change in the next.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:20 pmbk Says:
if we don’t ask for real change in this election we’ll be asking for spare change in the next.
So sad, and so true.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:25 pmLooks like a case of very bad timing by the RNC, and/or God’s wrath against that decadent party. If it happens, and no one would want it to for NO’s sake, the RNC should drag Brown out of the dungeon and publicly flog him, just to distract the masses from the unfolding disaster.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:44 pmHey, wrong page. How did that happen? Sorry.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:46 pmOT But Interesting.
Newsweek has interviewed Gen. Petraeus, as he headed off to take over Centcom.
On the Newsweek website ( and alluded to by a previous TP Posting) is the following explosive commentary…
Petraeus is careful not to credit all the progress to the surge of U.S. troops in 2007. The sea change came last year from a series of movements now known as the Awakening, when Sunnis, organizing around traditional tribal leaders, decided to turn on Al Qaeda.
…would the Sunni Awakening have succeeded without the surge? Possibly, he concedes, but the surge came at that time and helped empower Sunni leaders, paying their fighters and backing them up on the streets. This is where Seneca the Younger comes in: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
These Nuanced comments are not a good fit for Sen. McCain’s black and white reading of the recent events in Iraq.
WHAT IS INTERESTING is, as I am looking at the latest issue of Newsweek…these comments are DELETED from the Print version.
The article by Rod Nordland is there, but without these passages.
Wassup Newsweek, not enough Space, or a call from the McCain Campaign???
“
August 27th, 2008 at 4:58 pmHow about we get rid of government sponsored health care for all elected officials who oppose this benefit being extended to others? Same for Social Security. If you are a Congressperson, Senator, President or Vice President, and you vote against these programs, you are required to foreswear your own right to those benefits. Maybe we could even extend that principle to people’s right to a living wage. (Sauce, goose & gander type thing.)
August 27th, 2008 at 5:29 pmTired Of Fighting Says:
Uncle Ho Says:
——————————————————————————–
My friends,(and foes), I am a veteran, I have friends who are also veterans, and friends who are not veterans, I can tell you all, McCain is NO friend to veterans.
Definitely not this veteran.
McCain is not this veteran’s friend either.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:29 pmTweedster Says:
Huh, weird how the trolls don’t want to touch this one.
They usually avoid veteran threads like the plague, the cowards.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:33 pmOnce again, little discussion of the real issue. How and when will the Democrats use this issue. McCain brags about his being a POW and aligned with vets. We say nothing. McCain takes credit for the GI Bill. WE SAY NOTHING. McCain attacks funding for veterans health. WE SAY NOTHING.
The Democrat party and this candidate lack guts. They will not win and frankly, do not deserve to win.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:42 pmWhy do the Repubs not support the troops?
August 27th, 2008 at 5:52 pmIt’s sad that so many veterans believe the opposite of the facts. Many veterans vote Republican because theythink the Democrats vote the way the Republicans actually do. The GOP has done a wonderful sales job of convincing people that they support veterans when, in reality, they only support defense contractors while trying to screw the troops.
I think every ad the Democrats run should focus on the GOP’s lack of actual support for the troops. I read recently about an ad that focuses on the members of the GOP that voted against body armor for the troops; they voted against it because it would have been funded by closing corporate loopholes. The ad had been used against 3 GOP incumbents and all 3 lost. There are a couple dozen more that voted against funding the body armor. I don’t know if McCain voted against it but I’d guarantee he didn’t vote for it…it’s the kind of vote he’d normally bravely skip.
August 28th, 2008 at 4:03 pm