Time to Look in the Proverbial Mirror

At a campaign rally last week in Bethlehem, PA, Cindy McCain, the wife of presidential candidate John McCain, spoke about her two sons and Sen. Barack Obama: "I'm proud of my sons, but let me tell you, the day that Senator Obama decided to cast a vote to not fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body. Let me tell you, I would suggest that Sen. Obama change shoes with me for just one day and see what it means, and see what it means to have a loved one serving in the armed forces and, more importantly, serving in harm's way."

Ms. McCain was referring to a single vote in the United States Senate in 2007. Obama supported a war funding bill which included language calling for withdrawing our troops from Iraq but he later voted against a version of the same bill because the withdrawal language was no longer present. With that being said, Obama had previously voted for more than ten other war funding bills during his 3+ years in office. However, McCain's long history of not supporting our troops and veterans is absolutely pathetic:

• As I pointed out in a recent posting, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) provided McCain with a grade of D for his voting record when it came to veterans' issues.
• Earlier this year, McCain was absent for three votes on the widely popular Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act.
• Although he stated at a campaign rally that improving veterans' health care was his top domestic priority, McCain voted against increasing funding for veterans' health care in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
• McCain opposed a 2007 amendment which would have prevented the Department of Veterans Affairs from outsourcing jobs primarily held by blue collar veterans. It is important to note that the outsourcing of federal employee jobs contributed to the horrible conditions uncovered in 2007 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
• Since arriving in the U.S. Senate in 1987, McCain has voted at least twenty-eight times against ensuring important benefits for the country's veterans, including providing adequate health care.
• McCain was one of thirteen Republicans in 2006 to vote against providing an additional $430 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs for outpatient care and treatment for veterans. Aside from opposing an assured funding stream for veterans' health care in that same year, McCain also voted against establishing a $1 billion trust fund to improve military health facilities by refusing to repeal tax cuts for individuals earning more than $1 million a year.
• McCain opposed a 2005 amendment to appropriate $500 million annually from 2006-2010 for counseling, mental health and rehabilitation services for veterans diagnosed with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder or substance abuse.
• In 2003, McCain voted against increasing spending on the TRICARE program by $20.3 billion over ten years to order to provide members of the United States National Guard and Reserves and their families with greater access to the health care program. I would imagine that the fact this increase would be offset by a reduction in tax cuts for the wealthy was the primary reason for McCain's opposition to this legislation.
• McCain was one of five Senators in 2001 to vote against the bill and seven to vote against the conference report which provided $51.1 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs; the federal housing, environmental and emergency management agencies and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
• McCain was one of eight Senators in 2000 to vote against a bill which provided $47 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• McCain was one of five Senators in 1999 to vote against a bill which provided $44.3 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies.
• McCain opposed a 1996 amendment to increase spending on veterans programs by $13 billion.
• In 1991, McCain voted against providing automatic annual cost-of-living adjustments for certain veterans' benefits.