The news stations need to report on McCain's record against veterans

In 2005, with two occupations producing more wounded veterans in need of care from the VA, it was a Democrat, Senator Akaka who tried to do something about it and was joined by Democrats at the same time the Republicans voted against veterans. Have a look for yourself and see why there have been so many who died after they came home than died during combat. Only one Republican voted for the veterans. It was not John McCain.

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate


Vote Summary

Question: On the Amendment (Akaka Amdt. No. 149 )
Vote Number: 55 Vote Date: March 16, 2005, 04:38 PM
Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Amendment Rejected
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 149 to S.Con.Res. 18
Statement of Purpose: To increase veterans medical care by $2.8 billion in 2006.
Vote Counts: YEAs 47
NAYs 53


Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---47
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coleman (R-MN)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Wyden (D-OR)




NAYs ---53
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00055

How can the people who voted against this ever look another veteran in the face and tell them they support them? There is more about how McCain has turned his back on veterans and it's about time the national broadcast media like FOX, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC and ABC let the voters know about this. Up until now, the only voters McCain's betrayal of veterans mattered to were the voters in Arizona. Now he's on the national stage and his record against veterans matters to all veterans. So does the Republican party who keep claiming they are the ones who support the veterans when they vote against them the way they did in this bill.

This is from TIME regarding McCain's attempt to kill the new GI Bill on education.

This is not the first time McCain, who has a proud history of opposing what he views as excessive government spending, has found himself at odds with his fellow veterans on legislation. He's voted for veterans funding bills only 30% of the time, according to a scorecard of roll-call votes put out by the nonpartisan Disabled Americans for America. Under the same system Obama has a 90% rating — though, of course, he has spent a much shorter time in Washington. "Senator McCain clearly needs to be recognized for his military service and in some respects that will play to his advantage, but when it actually comes to delivering health care and benefits during war, Senator McCain's going to have some explaining to do," said Paul Sullivan, director of the nonpartisan Veterans for Common Sense.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1808161,00.html

And we have this from FOX on how McCain tried to defend himself.

McCain Defends Oppositon to Senate-Approved Veterans' Package
Speaking in observance of Memorial Day Monday, Sen. John McCain praised the “brave and selfless patriots” serving in the armed forces, and defended his opposition to Senate-passed legislation that would provide additional college financial aid to veterans.

In his speech Monday, McCain said Webb’s bill, which offers the same benefits to all servicemen regardless of the term of their service, would “encourage more people to leave the military after they have completed one enlistment.”

McCain touted his own bill, already blocked in the Senate, which he said offered a “sliding scale” that increased benefits “according to the veteran’s length of service.”


"It would be easier, much easier politically for me to have joined Senator Webb in offering his legislation," McCain said, noting that assuming the presidency would require taking "politically unpopular positions at times and [disagreeing] with people for whom I have the highest respect and affection."


"I take a back seat to no one in my affection, respect and devotion to veterans," he said.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/26/mccain-defends-
oppositon-to-senate-approved-veterans-package/

But there are more veterans speaking out against McCain.

Swift Boat Veteran Takes on McCain's Senate Record
July 12, 2008
In 2004, Joliet, Ill., Local 176 member Jim Wasser, a U.S. Navy veteran who served with Sen. John Kerry in Vietnam, watched in horror as his service on a Swift Boat morphed into a term synonymous with campaign smear tactics.

Four years later, he’s taking on Sen. John McCain’s record as a long-serving member of the Senate to make the case to union members that he should not be elected our next president.

“Every vet respects John McCain’s war record,” Wasser says in a new ad launched July 10 by the AFL-CIO in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. “It’s his record in the Senate I have a problem with.”

Wasser, a journeyman wireman retiring this fall after 39 years as an active IBEW member, said thanks to the anti-labor policies of George W. Bush, “our kids are going to be the only generation never to do better than their parents.

“I can’t fathom why people are voting against their interests,” Wasser said. “Union men and women have to look at these issues. It’s basic economics: if you don’t have a job, you can’t buy a gun or support your family properly.”

Wasser ticked off a list of anti-union, anti-veteran votes by McCain: he voted against the right to organize under the Employee Free Choice Act, voted against an increase in health care benefits to veterans, voted against an extension of unemployment benefits and voted against the new GI Bill, which expands the educational benefit for veterans. McCain voted for NAFTA, even bemoaning recently the requirement that the motorcycles used by the U.S. Secret Service be made in the United States.

He named as blessings his upbringing, his service in the Navy, and his membership in the IBEW. “Everything I have today I have because of three things: the values my parents taught me, my service during the Vietnam war and my affiliation with the IBEW.”

Wasser is part of the labor federation’s effort to reach the 2.1 military veterans who are union members. The Union Veterans Council, just launched by the AFL-CIO, seeks to bring to light the records of candidates on issues that affect former military personnel.

“Our nation’s veterans deserve much better than the failed Bush economy has given them,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “With the Union Veterans Council, veterans will be front and center in the effort to put our country back on track.”
go here for video

http://www.ibew.org/articles/08daily/0807/080711_Wasser.htm