Sen. Tom Coburn Doesn't Support Our Troops

Sen. Tom Coburn, (R-Okla.) is blocking passage of a health bill that will give help to our veterans and their families:

Tom Coburn Continues To Oppose Funding For Wounded Veterans And Their Families

Because while Coburn may wave a flag and have a properly pinned lapel when it suits him, he's not interested in the pleas from:

The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, AmVets, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Blinded Veterans Association, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Vietnam Veterans of America, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Jewish War Veterans, plus the Military Officers Association of America, National Military Family Association and Wounded Warrior Project.

... to get this bill passed, even though:

Thousands of disabled veterans with serious medical conditions and the family members who care for them are counting on this additional support.

Veterans Urge Coburn to Lift Hold on Vets Health Bill

We the undersigned call on you to stop this disgraceful move of holding up some very important veteran legislation, S. 1963, "The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009." While this is a legal move, we think it is morally wrong for you to hold up any veterans benefits during a time when our men and women in uniform are giving so much to our country.

You are denying veterans a myriad of benefits and services. One of these benefits is caregiver assistance to our most wounded veterans. Severely injured veterans often need assistance to do some of the smallest tasks, and generally family members often putting quite the strain on those family members do that assistance. This bill will provide much needed relief for those caregivers by allowing for family caregiver assistance and lodging and food assistance for attending caregivers.

You are blocking some benefits specifically for women veterans. Title 2 of this bill deals with issues like Military Sexual Trauma, women-specific health care matters, and newborn health issues.

Other aid in the bill concerns rural veteran health care issues, mental health care matters and programs to help ease the burden of veteran homelessness. You are blocking that too.

Now is not the time to play petty political games with our veterans. What you are doing is shameful, and those of us who are veterans and support veterans will not stand for it.

S. 1963, The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009

Memorial Day Tribute

Two Promises To Vets Fulfilled

Obama announces new record system for vets

Kimberly Hefling, TPM:

Recounting the hundreds of stories he said he heard from frustrated veterans unable to receive needed treatment, Obama said: "It's time to change all that, it's time to give our veterans a 21st century VA."

He said his new military and veterans affairs budget focuses heavily on more spending for diagnosing brain injuries and psychological disabilities that have gone untreated.

"We have a sacred trust with those who wear the uniform of the United States of America, a commitment that begins with enlistment and must never end. But we know that for too long we've fallen short of meeting that commitment. Too many wounded warriors go without the care that they need," Obama said.

President Obama Fulfills Two Critical Campaign Promises to Vets

Paul Rieckhoff, TPMCafe:

President Obama has announced an overhaul of military and VA recordkeeping that will help ease the transition home for our veterans. IAVA was there at the White House for this historic announcement along with every major veterans' group.

This announcement marks the beginning of a new era of collaboration and cooperation between the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. [...]

President Obama has taken action on two key campaign promises to America's veterans--and two of IAVA's top legislative priorities for 2009. Advance funding VA healthcare and an overhaul of military and VA recordkeeping will eliminate two of the most significant bureaucratic hurdles that keep veterans from the healthcare and benefits they have earned. Veterans nationwide applaud the Administration for making veterans and their families a priority. And we look forward to continuing to work together on the many other issues facing today's veterans, including psychological injuries, unemployment and homelessness.

Vets make a deal

The Rachel Maddow Show:

April 9: President Obama announced a new plan to digitize veteran health records, which should help veterans waiting for medical benefits. What else did he say about veterans affairs? Rachel Maddow is joined by Paul Reickhoff, executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

8:21

Toxic Burn Pits Make Troops Sick

New Public Database Reveals First-Hand Accounts of How Toxic Burn Pits Are Making U.S. Troops Sick

Nora Eisenberg, AlterNet:

"Two months in, everyone was coughing up black stuff. Three months, in my black stuff started to include blood."

Cancer, pulmonary disease, multiple sclerosis, sleep apnea, heart disease: Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans have suffered all these and more from toxic fumes spewing from burn pits on American bases. The Disabled American Veterans now has information on 182 sick veterans in a database developed by Assistant National Legislative director, Kerry Baker. Forty-eight have developed lymphoma, leukemia or other cancers; and 16 veterans in the database have died. And on March 30th, a group of seven lawmakers asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to attend to these findings as well the findings from an independent scientific consultant, which found a serious danger that veterans may become ill from burn pit fumes.

As early as 2006, the DoD had been informed by Air Force Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight Commander Darrin Curtis that the pit was an acute health hazard. Though the Department of Defense has admitted that samples at the large burn pit at Balad contain Acetaldehyde, Acrolien, Arsenic, Benzene, Carbon Monoxide, Ethylbenzene, Formaldehyde, Hydrogen Cyanide, Hydrogen Fluoride, Phosgene, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfuric Acid, Toluene, Trichloroethane, Xylene, and other chemicals, to date, it has insisted the pit presents no known dangers. The letter to Gates -- signed by Senators Russ Feingold, D-Wis.; Evan Bayh, D-Ind; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and Representatives Tim Bishop, D-N.Y.; Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.; John Hall, D-N.Y.; Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y.; and Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H. -- urged vigilance, citing the protracted and painful lessons from Agent Orange.

Rep. Bishop's office has developed a website in which veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan can tell their stories. In just a few days, many stories of negligence and suffering have emerged, adding to a tragic saga. [snip]

***

More first-hand reports from veterans can be found on the online Military Times.

Veterans who are suffering health problems they believe are connected to burn pit fumes should report their condition to Kerry Baker at 202-314-5229, to add to the database.

Duckworth For Assistant VA Secretary

Excellent!

Barack Obama and Tammy Duckworth place a wreath at
the Chicago Soldiers Memorial, November 11, 2008
Tammy Duckworth tapped for Assistant VA Secretary

Think Progress:

Today, the Obama administration announced that the President intends to nominate veteran Tammy Duckworth to be Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth, who lost both her legs serving in the Iraq war, is currently director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and ran for the the House in the 2006 elections. From the Obama team’s press release:

As assistant secretary, Duckworth will direct VA’s public affairs, internal communications and intergovernmental relations. She also will oversee programs for homeless Veterans, consumer affairs and special rehabilitative events.

Tribute To Our Veterans

Lord, bid war's trumpet cease;
Fold the whole earth in peace.

~Oliver Wendell Holmes


2:25

Around the Blogosphere

I Don't Remember:

Boehner forgets his golfing vacation, says he was at GOP drilling protest ‘each and every day.’

Last month, House conservatives engaged in a political stunt in the Capitol, demanding a vote on oil drilling while Congress was adjourned for recess. Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), however, was absent for part of the protest, squeezing in a couple of rounds of golf in Ohio while his colleagues were in Washington. Speaking today on the floor, Boehner claimed he was there “each and every day”:

Watch it: [ 4:01 ]

Spigot Hissy Spit:

House GOP Threatens Shutdown Over Drilling

Drill Now BS: Actual Domestic Oil Facts

Drill here, drill now is ridiculous and should be called out for what it is - a moronic, dangerous policy idea with absolutely no logical foundation.

More Bush Government Incompetence:

Veterans Groups Attack Bush Administration Plan To Outsource GI Bill Benefits

In June — after months of finally signed a war supplemental spending bill that included a doubling of GI Bill college benefits for veterans.

Bush’s Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), however, doesn’t seem too happy about the increased work these new benefits will create and plans to outsource it all.

Braindead Media:

Hannity: No One At Fox News Has Ever Accused Obama Of Being A Muslim [Fake Spews BS]

Media Embrace McCain’s ‘Maverick’ Re-Branding Effort [With Video]

On Fox News yesterday, the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes observed that this re-branding effort is something that “the media has bought.” Barnes is right. Since the convention last week, the media appear to be more than happy to comply with McCain’s effort to put the “maverick” brand back into his campaign — hook, line and sinker...

In fact, there is nothing about any of McCain’s policy proposals that could in any way justify calling him a “maverick.” His economic, energy, health care and national security policies are all either in line with President Bush’s or in some cases further to the right.

Paul Begala rips MSM, Republican operative for flat-out lying about Palin’s record [With video and transcript]

Paul Begala goes to town on GOP media consultant Alex Castellanos for peddling blatant falsehoods about Sarah Palin’s “reformer” record, specifically her phantom opposition to the “Bridge to Nowhere,” which she not only supported, but for which hired a Abramoff crony to secure the earmark.

Alternate Realities:

Meghan McCain: ‘No one knows what war is like other than my family. Period.’


Also Needing A Reality Check:

McCain Campaign Piles Up New Falsehoods On Bridge To Nowhere

McCain and his advisers are now conceding that, yes, Sarah Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it -- but they're casting this as more proof of her reform credentials.

In so doing, the McCain camp is piling new falsehoods atop the old ones.

Surveillance And Secrecy:

Government secrecy on the rise.

A new “secrecy report card” by OpenTheGovernment.org finds that by almost every measure, government secrecy is rising. Some of the report’s indicators: PDF

* The government spent $195 maintaining the secrets already on the books for every one dollar the government spent declassifying documents

* 18 percent of the requested Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition funding is for classified, or ‘black,’ programs...

* “Federal surveillance activity under the jurisdiction of the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has risen for the 9th consecutive year...”

Screwing The People For Fun And More Profit:

Freddie & Fannie execs to walk away with millions

Under the terms of his employment contract, Daniel H. Mudd, the departing head of Fannie Mae, stands to collect $9.3 million in severance pay, retirement benefits and deferred compensation, provided his dismissal is deemed to be “without cause,” according to an analysis by the consulting firm James F. Reda & Associates. Mr. Mudd has already taken home $12.4 million in cash compensation and stock option gains since becoming chief executive in 2004, according to an analysis by Equilar, an executive pay research firm.

Richard F. Syron, the departing chief executive of Freddie Mac, could receive an exit package of at least $14.1 million, largely because of a clause added to his employment contract in mid-July as his company’s troubles deepened. He has taken home $17.1 million in pay and stock option gains since becoming chief executive in 2003.

More Bushenomics: Why McCain's Plans Would Only Add to Americans' Economic Pain

Somewhere between box-office hit and policy wonk mentality is the real world. Here, "Country First" should represent more than military prowess; it should mean economic stability. A country can't be strong if the personal economies of its citizens are weak. Yet, under McCain's economic strategy, individual financial security is under attack.

Grandiose notions of combat don't pay for adjustable mortgages, sneaky credit card fees and rate hikes, health care premiums, tuition, gas or food. They don't regulate a banking system gone mad that has already commandeered billions of dollars of bailouts (from Bear Stearns to the cost of "effectively privatizing" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).

McCain's main economic promises are cutting taxes, creating jobs and balancing the budget (aka removing pork). All commendable, except when you consider the details. His policies would result in a higher deficit, a lower dollar, more jobs leaving the country, and a reduction in Social Security, Medicare, education and other entitlement programs.

Calling Them On It:

Obama on Countdown: McCain/Palin “stretching the bounds of spin” [Video and transcript]

Fixing Elections:

Ten ways the McCain/Palin GOP is now stealing the Ohio vote

Nearly 600,000 Subject to Possible Caging in Ohio ... Updated

Virginia county issues “chilling” voter registration report

Officials in charge of voter registration in Virginia seem to be asking for Federal investigation… According to this press release from this extremely important battleground state, students are being told that they risk losing their scholarship and tax dependency status if they register to vote in their college, as opposed to home, state. And surprise, it appears all these warnings are bogus and have one impact and one impact only: to suppress voter turnout among college-aged people, who are overwhelmingly supporting Obama this year. Memo to Virginia: that’s illegal.

TPMTV Video:

Palin a Reformer? Simply Laughable

Clueville:

Pointing out the obvious: Self Correcting Conservatives

I’ve been saying that this is the time America was finally ready to turn away from the phony notion that being a conservative is a good thing—go left and reject conservatism completely. I mean, it’s been an utter failure and John McCain has been a big part of that failure. I’ve been calling on the Obama campaign to attack the ideals that conservatism apply. Not to be used like a wedge issue since he has been running on a platform of bipartisanship, (I disapprove of that also) but to point out the obvious. If a party hates government then they will prove how bad government is. And what we get are people left stranded in NOLA with no water for a week as an example of how dangerous it is.

Well, all summer we had a chance to point that out to America, but unfortunately that did not happen and now we’re left watching John McCain try to remake the image of his party while he gets sucked into the conservative Borg organism in the process. And the media rejoices. He’s a Maverick they say! What a guy. And if you believe the polls, the public is buying it to so far.

I’ve also thought that this would come down to the debates because Americans just don’t know Obama all that well and when he’s side by side with McSame, America will truly see the difference. It’s tough to wait it out till then, but that’s going to be the defining moments I think in this election unless some really bad news or crazy gaffes take place.

Digby has a great post up called: Self Correcting Conservatives.

WWJD?

William K. Wolfrum Chronicles: Jesus quits Christianity after viewing the GOP platform

“There’s a new breed of Christian out there that seems to think I represent free-for-all capitalism and slaying my enemies,” said Christ, munching on an arugula quiche. “I mean, they made Isaiah into a Cold War-era strategist, for Dad’s sake. Did they even read the New Testament?”

- - - - -

A thoughtful Christ said he had yet to decide what would be next for him, but expressed pride in his philosophy and accomplishments.

“We had a good run,” said Christ. “It really far exceeded anything I had hoped for, but humanity was supposed to become more evolved over time, not less.

“It’s just time to pull the plug.”

- - - - -

But Christ did allow for one tidbit to be released - what the “H” stood for in “Jesus H. Christ.”

“Hector,” said Christ, walking out the door.

VA Disenfranchising Veteran Votes

Top Senator And 10 States Attack VA for Banning Voter Registration Drives

Officials overseeing the VA and state elections say the VA's policy is unnecessary and insulting to veterans who sacrificed for our country.

Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet:

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), has called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to reverse its new policy barring voting rights groups, "partisan or otherwise," from holding voter registration drives on campuses where injured veterans are living or receiving medical care.

"Veterans receiving care at VA facilities risked life and limb to defend the freedoms we enjoy, including the right to vote," Akaka said in a July 10 letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake. "Current VA policy makes it unnecessarily difficult for some veterans to participate in the electoral process." Akaka said the VA's most recent explanation for barring registration drives -- that they would violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from engaging in political activities on official time or federal property -- made no sense.

- - - - -

"There is no reason why the Department of Veterans Affairs should not proactively assist veterans in exercising their right to vote. To do otherwise is an insult to the sacrifices these men and women have made for our country," the joint letter said.

- - - - -

So far, 10 secretaries of state have joined the effort, including officials from Ohio, Minnesota, Vermont, Montana, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Kansas.

Despite the new political pressure, it is not clear if the VA will change its policy long enough before the close of registration in early fall for the 2008 presidential election.

- - - - -

"We recognize and respect the need for VA to guard against any activities that might interfere with carrying out the Department's mission to furnish quality health care services to veterans," the senators wrote. "However, we are confident that voter registration activity can be permitted that would not impinge on fulfilling that responsibility."

[Steven Rosenfeld is a senior fellow at Alternet.org and co-author of "What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election" with Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman (The New Press, 2006).]

Pass This One Around!

Kudos to the author.

And a tip o' the hat to KA {{Cate}}, for recommending this.

The Right to Remain Silent

By Saje Williams:

When your President declares war on a oil-rich nation that poses no threat to the United States, you have the Right to Remain Silent. If you choose to give up that right, you will be harassed, insulted, threatened, and otherwise treated as if you are no longer an American.

When you watch America's name being dragged through the mud by power hungry fools in incidents of torture and kidnapping--you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you hear your President comment that he thinks the Constitution is just a "damned piece of paper," you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you learn that the plans for war were already on the table before 9/11, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When a CIA operative has her cover blown because her husband is considered an enemy of the administration, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When that same Administration, and its corrupt partners in Congress pass laws that strip away the safety nets for vulnerable American citizens, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When a powerful hurricane levels a great American City and you watch people suffering on television for days, while aid is turned away by the authorities, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

While this administration continues to subsidize the oil companies during times of RECORD profits, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When viciously obnoxious pundits are welcomed onto American news programs and treated as if they're decent, hard-working folks, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

While thousands of our soldiers are sent to a dry and dusty land to kill or be killed, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you finally begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, having elected a majority of allegedly like-minded citizens to Congress to fight against the abuses of this administration only to find that they don't have the spine to pull it off, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you realize that the Iraqi people are NOT, in fact, better off than they were under a brutal dictator, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you discover that there's no easy way out of the war and our troops will continue to die while Iraq staggers its way through a horrific civil war, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you find that this administration, after nearly breaking our military with its incompetence and corruption, is trying to come up with a way to go to war with even MORE Middle Eastern countries, despite the fact that it hasn't managed even the ghost of a victory in either front it's currently fighting, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

While a sizeable portion of the population of your fellow Americans think you should be killed or thrown in prison for daring to have a different opinion about the way all this is going, and an unfavorable view of THEIR chosen leader, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

While this administration is busy carving a canyon of debt for you and your children to carry forward into perpetuity, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

While this government's economic policies are driving more and more people into poverty and a lifetime of debt, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

If you choose not to exercise this right, rest assured, the Corporate Media will exercise it for you.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

What The Hell??

Bush praises McCain for the GI Bill? The bill that McCain opposed? The same bill that McCain didn't even show up to vote for?

This is rank dishonesty by Bush and maybe the straight talker will correct the record for Bush. You know, since he’s such a straight talker.

[ 6:36 ]

On Passage Of The 21st Century GI Bill

Sen. Jim Webb on White House's Embrace of his 21st Century GI Bill:

"For the past 17 months, I and my staff have been working every day to provide first-class educational benefits to those who have served since 9/11. I am delighted that after having opposed this legislation, the President has now pledged that he will not veto it when it comes before him as part of this year's supplemental appropriations package.

"The bill being sent to the President contains every provision in S. 22, which has received meticulous scrutiny and the full support of every major veterans' organization. It will pay for a veteran's tuition, books, and a monthly stipend, along the lines of the benefits given to those who returned from World War II. As such, it fulfills the pledge I made on my first day of office to provide today's veterans with the opportunity to move forward into an absolutely first-class future.

"I would like to again express my appreciation to the veterans' service organizations, many of whom communicated their support of this bill directly to a skeptical White House, and to the 58 Senate and 302 House cosponsors of this landmark legislation. This bipartisan coalition consistently rejected the allegations of this Administration, and of Senators McCain, Burr and Graham, among others, who claimed that the bill was too generous to our veterans, too difficult to administer and would hurt retention.

"It has now been nearly seven years since 9/11 -- seven years since those who have been serving in our military began earning the right for a proper wartime GI Bill. I am looking forward to the President living up to his word, and signing this legislation at his earliest opportunity."

Sen. Jim Webb on the passage of 21st Century GI Bill:

“Today, the Senate took a final historic step toward a modern and fair educational benefit for the men and women who have served honorably since 9/11. This bill properly responds to the needs of those who answered the call of duty to our country—those who moved toward the sound of the guns—often at great sacrifice.

“Eighteen months ago, we began with the simple concept that those who have been serving since 9/11 should have the same opportunity for a first class educational future as those who served during World War II. Today, we have accomplished that goal.

McSame No Show:

As if trying to steal credit for Webb’s GI Bill wasn’t bad enough, McCain yesterday skipped the Senate vote on the legislation, which passed 92-6. The only other senator not present for the vote was Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who is battling a brain tumor. [snip]

McCain has not voted in the Senate since April 8 and has missed 367 votes (61.4 percent) during the current Congress.

McSame Flip Flop Pandering

McCain's Straight Talk & Support For the Military

BarbinMD, KOS:

...Throughout the course of this presidential campaign season, we’ve watched McCain pander for the evangelical vote, contradict himself on issues ranging from tax cuts to immigration, call himself the anti-lobbyist candidate while surrounding himself with lobbyists, vilify special interests despite his history of brokering deals for big-money contributors, denouncing 527 groups as he parrots their message, all while running as fast as he can from George Bush even as he embraces a stay the course X 100 Iraq policy.

The bottom line is, associating the words "straight talker" with John McCain is nothing short of laughable. Volumes could be written on the issues that he has flip flopped on, or the positions he has embraced in an effort to pander to a particular voting bloc, but today let’s focus on the John McCain whose devotion to the men and women of the military is unquestionable. [snip]

Time and again we are told that his support for the men and women serving in our military is unwavering and unquestionable, and that as someone who has sacrificed for his country, to question him somehow dishonors his own service. But as the saying goes, "facts are pesky things," so instead of relying on McCain's rhetoric, let's look at some of those facts:

• McCain has repeatedly voted against amendments in the Senate that would have...covered such important services as improving care at veterans’ hospitals, providing mental health services to soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse problems. [2006 Senate Vote #7, 2/2/2006]
  
  
• In 2006, McCain voted against the Kerry amendment that would eliminate increased fees and co-payments for veterans in the TRICARE health care program by raising the discretionary spending limit by approximately $10 billion. The provisions would have been fully offset by eliminating creating corporate tax breaks. [2006 Senate Vote #67, 3/16/2006]
  
  
• McCain was one of only 13 Republicans to vote against an amendment that added over $400 million for inpatient and outpatient care for veterans. [2006 Senate Vote #98, 4/26/2006]
  
  
• McCain voted against increasing funding for veterans health care by $2.8 billion in 2006. [2005 Senate Vote #55, 3/16/2005]
  
  
• McCain joined his Republican Senate cohorts in opposing exempting all military personnel and veterans from means testing in bankruptcy cases. [2005 Senate Vote #13, 3/1/2005]
  
  
• McCain opposed an amendment that would reduce from 60 to 55 the age at which certain members of the National Guard and Army reserves could receive retirement benefits. [2004 Senate Vote #136, 6/23/2004]
  
  
• Senator McCain opposed $322 million in funding for "battlefield clearance and safety equipment for U.S. troops in Iraq." A reduction in Iraqi reconstruction funds would have funded the additional protection for troops in the battlefield. [2003 Senate Vote #376, 10/2/2003]
  
  
• McCain voted against an amendment that would increase spending on the veterans health care program TRICARE by $20.3 billion over 10 years to members of the National Guard and Reserves. The increase would be offset by a reduction in tax cuts. [2003 Senate Vote #81, 3/25/2003]
  
  

• McCain opposed an amendment that would have increased veterans spending by $13 billion from 1997-2002 to be offset by closing corporate tax preferences and reinstating expired taxes. [1996 Senate Vote #115, 5/16/1996]
  

The reality and the rhetoric of John McCain are at complete odds, yet the fact that McCain is a champion of the military is the unchallenged, conventional wisdom in the traditional media. Which brings us to McCain’s more recent opposition to Senator Jim Webb’s G.I. Bill of Rights (pdf), a bill that provides real educational benefits for veterans and that enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support. McCain’s objection? That providing the men and women who have risked their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq with the means to attend college when their service is complete might hurt retention rates in the military. All of this cuts right to the heart the problem with the media’s unwillingness to meaningfully challenge McCain on his issue...Iraq and his alleged support for the troops.

Air Force Association Endorses GI Bill

But McSame Still Does Not Support The Troops

Think Progress:

Air Force Association Endorses Webb’s GI Bill

...McCain’s record on veterans issues may have given the AFA pause. McCain has been a vocal opponent of the Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) 21st Century GI Bill. He offered his own watered-down version of the bill but shut out most veterans groups from the crafting of the legislation. Now the AFA and McCain have officially parted ways, with the AFA endorsing Webb’s bill, S.22:

Updating the bill to tie it to the current costs as proposed in S. 22 will help Airmen achieve a complete four-year education and thus a better quality of life after serving, while bolstering recruitment efforts throughout the military and helping lower post-military unemployment rates of veterans.

The AFA specifically urged providing “the full benefit to anyone who has served three years active duty,” a component of Webb’s bill McCain has rejected and the Pentagon has mocked.

McCain has claimed he has the support of “literally every veterans organization in America.” Yet the AFA is just one of many groups who object to McCain’s opposition to the GI Bill — a bill he found so unimportant he skipped the vote on it:

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

American Legion

Military Officers Association of America

Student Veterans of America

Veterans of Foreign Wars

This is only a partial list of the 15 veterans groups — not to mention the 30 governors — who have endorsed Webb’s bill.

MOAA Endorses GI Bill

Military Officers Association of America endorses Webb’s GI Bill

Think Progress:

The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) has announced that it “strongly supports” Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) 21st Century GI Bill. MOAA said they “understand the concerns of those who would prefer to see enhanced GI Bill benefits tied to extended military service” but “the GI Bill has always been a veterans’ benefit, not a military retention benefit“:

MOAA is, indeed, concerned about the serious potential for a retention downturn among today’s forces, but believes strongly that any such downturn will be due to too-frequent extended combat tours and family separations that have been imposed on a too-small force.

Defending The G. I. Bill

Putting the Republicans on Defense Over G.I. Bill

Carl Hulse, NYT:

As John Adler, a promising Democratic congressional candidate in New Jersey, ended an appearance at a fund-raiser on Thursday with Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, one guest posed a question: Would Congress override any presidential veto of a new plan to pay the college costs of post-Sept. 11 veterans?

* * * * *

The measure not only reminds voters of the human costs of the war in Iraq, they say, but it gets them thinking about the nation’s colossal investment there during difficult economic times here. And it can reinforce the sense that the Bush administration has sometimes dropped the ball when it comes to caring for returning members of the armed forces, i.e. Walter Reed.

* * * * *

Mr. Webb, a veteran and former Navy secretary, made the bill his calling card after arriving in the Senate in 2007. At times, he seems uncomfortable with the way it is being used to draw a political dividing line, with him on one side and Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate and fellow Vietnam veteran, on the other. And some Democrats were initially skeptical. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi seized on the idea and Democrats moved ahead.

Under the Webb plan, anyone who has served at least three years on active duty would be eligible for what amounts to four years at a state college along with help with housing and books. The overall cost is estimated at $52 billion over 10 years.

Republicans recognize the political dangers posed by the bill. Before leaving for Memorial Day, 25 Republican senators broke with the White House and their leadership to back the proposal as part of a larger spending package. Thirty-two House Republicans supported it as well, even though the House version was paid for by a new income tax on very affluent Americans.

In addition, Congressional Republicans have come up with an alternative to the Webb measure that has the blessing of President Bush, the Pentagon and Mr. McCain. It is less expansive than the Webb plan, would be more generous to those who stay in the military longer and would allow those who do their duty to share the education rewards with spouses and children – a concept known as transferability. Supporters of the alternative fear the Webb plan is so enticing it will hurt their efforts to retain experienced military personnel they have invested in through training.

* * * * *

Yet many Republicans concede they feel boxed in by the veterans proposal. They say it is hard to explain why they are not willing to invest $50 billion in college aid for returning combat troops when the nation is spending at least that much rebuilding Iraq. House Republicans also feel their brethren in the Senate hung them out to dry by embracing the measure after so many in the House rejected it, leaving them open to charges that they are standing in the way of new help for veterans.

Democrats jumped at the opportunity.

* * * * *Republican groups are pushing back.

* * * * *

But Democrats have managed to confound the opposition on what is typically a signature Republican issue. In what already looms as a tough year, it should be doubly troubling for Republicans to find themselves on defense over defense.

Article cross-posted* at HuffPo.

Read/download No Where to Go But Back
and other songs *by Max And The Marginalized:

There’s an upward trajectory that they promised
But to be frankly honest, I must’ve misunderstood
‘Cause they’re taking double the years that they’re giving
Waving around yellow ribbons, but they’re not making good
So, can you help me figure it out?
I can’t tell which side they’re on
when they talk out of either side of their mouths

So pay no attention to the signals they send
It’s not what you do, it’s what you spend
If you intend to hold up your end of the pact
And I know there’s a carrot stuck on a stick
It keeps getting longer they keep getting sick
A hundred or so world’s away from the inside track
Because there’s nowhere to go but back

Stabilize America first

Billings Outpost News:

Let’s see if I have it right.

Middle class families can’t send their kids to college because federal loans are cut. Our bridges are collapsing, roads and schools are crumbling, 50 million Americans are without healthcare. Horrendous numbers of home mortgages are in foreclosure, our three very biggest banks failed but for taxpayer bailouts. More to go! Bush administration told us “deficits don’t matter. President Reagan proved that!” Try that on your budget!

Republicans cut our Veterans Administration budget so up to 15,000 permanently maimed vets have been discharged with no benefits or medical care Our surging military is paying $24 million weekly to Iraqi insurgents if they point out other insurgents.

The Bush administration said oil revenues would pay for Iraqi reconstruction but so far it’s Uncle Sam. Seventy-seven percent of Americans disapprove of Bush’s war, but the $3 billion a week war just goes on and on. Are we nuts?

Sen. John McCain, who wants to be president, says we may need to be there 100 years to stabilize Iraq. I say, stabilize America first.

We are edging into the very black abyss of Depression. Get out of personal debt quickly if you can. You may have less than a year. Hurry!

McMore Of McSame Old McSame

McSame: John McCain Offers a Third Term of Bush

Progressive Media USA Research, McCain Source:

Fact Check Highlights

Bush Endorsed McCain For 2008

* Bush Said McCain Was Best to "Carry Forth His Agenda."

* President Bush: McCain Is "Not Going To Change When It Comes To Taking On The Enemy."

* McCain Said He Calls Bush Every Day To Remind Bush of His "Extreme Loyalty."

* Bush Said He Will Do Whatever It Takes For McCain To Win.

* Bush Said He "Looks Forward To Vigorously Campaigning" For McCain.

* McCain Is a "Foot Soldier Following Bush."

* Cheney Set To Headline Closed-Door Fundraiser For McCain's Victory Fund.

* McCain's Campaign Hired Bush-Cheney 2004 Communications Director.

McCain Supported Bush 100 Percent in 2008, 95 Percent in 2007

According to Congressional Quarterly, McCain supported President Bush a majority of the time--supporting Bush as much as 100 percent in 2008 and 95 percent in 2007. According to CQ, "CQ tries to determine what the president personally, as distinct from other administration officials, does and does not want in the way of legislative action. This is done by analyzing his messages to Congress, news conference remarks and other public statements and documents."

(CQ’s Presidential Support studies try to determine how often a legislator votes in line with the President’s position:

So, these studies only track votes when the President has an explicit, stated opinion on a bill.)

McCain/Bush Friendship Based on Issues

McCain Said Relationship With Bush Based On Shared Views On The Agenda.

Republicans Agree: McSame As Bush

* McCain's National Security Adviser Said McCain Would Continue Bush's Policies In Iraq.

* Lindsey Graham Couldn't Describe How McCain's Worldview Differed From Bush's.

* Chuck Hagel Refused To Endorse McCain Because He Represents a Continuation of Bush's Iraq Policies.

* President Bush: McCain Is "Not Going To Change When It Comes To Taking On The Enemy."

McSame On Economic Plan

* Like Bush, McCain's Economic Plan Is Centered On Tax Cuts.

* McCain Said The Bush Tax Cuts "Have To Be Made Permanent."

* McCain Proposed Corporate Tax Rate Cut.

* McCain Proposed A Freeze Of Discretionary Spending.

* McCain Advocated Free Trade, Criticized "Hid[ing] Behind Walls."

McSame On Health Care

* McCain's Plan "Would Seek To Lure Workers Away From Their Company Health Plans."

* McCain's "Move Away From Employer-Based Coverage" Resembles Bush's Failed Plan.

* McCain's Plan Would Force Patients To "Buy Health Insurance On Their Own."

* McCain Voted Against Providing Insurance For Millions Of Uninsured Children.

* McCain Supports Excluding Seniors From Prescription Drug Coverage.

McSame On Privatizing Social Security

* McCain Supports Privatization.

* McCain Was A "Big Booster" Of Bush's Social Security Privatization Plan.

* McCain Said, "Private Savings Accounts Work."

* McCain Defended Bush Plan, Said "Personal Savings Accounts Are Workable And Have Worked In Other Countries."

McSame On Eliminating The Right To Choose And Promising to Appoint Extreme Judges

* "Roe v. Wade Is A Flawed Decision That Must Be Overturned."

* McCain Promised to Appoint "Clones" Of Bush Nominees Alito And Roberts.

McSame On Siding With Big Oil

* McCain's Plan Gives Tax Breaks To Big Oil.

McSame On Education

* No Child Left Behind Is A "Major Milestone" And "An Accountability Act."

* McCain Repeatedly Voted Against Fully Funding No Child Left Behind.

__________

McSame refuses to respect, support and honor our troops:

C&L and many other sites fight everyday for the rights of our troops, their health care, benefits and the conditions of Walter Reed. And the best way I know how to fight for them is to never send them to war without a true cause and bring them home now so their families can see them alive and healthy. You are against Sen Webb’s GI Bill not because it doesn’t give them adequate compensation for their service, but as you say, it will lead to many more troops leaving the armed forces sooner...

Is that an honorable argument?

"And yet there are still those in the media that call McSame a Maverick. That horse was put out to pasture long ago. Oh, and since we know how much the aging Senator loves him some lobbyists", let's also mention McCain's ongoing lobbyist problems, and add more about the Great Company He Keeps, from the Can't Make This Stuff Up department.

Breaking news on Tuesday’s Countdown, as Keith Olbermann reveals that former Senator Phil Gramm, a general co-chair of Senator John McCain’s campaign, actually lobbied Congress on behalf of financial giant UBS to try and stop legislation aimed at installing industry regulations that could have prevented the current mortgage foreclosure crisis.

* * * * *

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s national campaign general co-chair was being paid by a Swiss bank to lobby Congress about the U.S. mortgage crisis at the same time he was advising McCain about his economic policy, federal records show."

* * * * *

"So while Gramm was advising McCain to let people lose their homes rather than get more favorable terms on their loans, he was active as a lobbyist for UBS, which had a LOT to gain.

* * * * *

"...to add more to the growing UBS/John McCain story, MarketPlace reports this morning that the bank that caters to the very wealthy has warned some of its employees not to travel to the U.S., for fear that they might be arrested.

A couple of weeks back, a UBS banker was indicted on tax evasion charges, after it was alleged that he helped an American real estate developer to avoid taxes. Apparently, this was no rogue employee."

More on McSame's Lobbyist problems...

Chris in Paris:
McCain's lobbyist problems continue - will Phil Gramm now resign?

Christy Hardin Smith:
McCain’s Cronies: Phil Gramm (R-Enron) And His UBS Lobbying Problem

This sounds like a whole lot of Big Trouble. America sure doesn't need McMore of McSame old McFailures.

Remembering Our Veterans

With Amazing Grace:

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo;
No more on Life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On Fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead.

~ Theodore O'Hara

Senate Passes GI Bill

Via Think Progress:

By a veto-proof 75-22 vote, the Senate has approved Sen. Jim Webb's 21st Century GI Bill.

Sen. John McCain, fundraising instead in California, didn't bother to show his support for the troops.

President Bush says he will veto the bill.

Senators Should Work For The People

As we keep Senator Ted Kennedy in our thoughts and prayers, and are grateful for the long history of all the good things he has done to better America and help its people, we hope that other Senators will follow with these ideals by also showing support for our troops:

Brandon Friedman, May 20, 2008:

We're launching an ad blitz today aimed at Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and John Cornyn (R-TX). If you've kept up with the news, you know that this has been a long time coming. We've listened to the debate go back and forth for months now, but the refusal of certain Senators to support the Webb-Hagel GI Bill can no longer be tolerated by veterans.

Senator John McCain, support the 21st Century GI Bill [:30]

Senator John Cornyn, support the 21st Century GI Bill [:30]

VoteVets.org:

This bill would update educational benefits for our troops to cover the cost of college – a benefit they’ve earned. Unfortunately, Senators John McCain and John Cornyn oppose this legislation, which could split the Senate.

Senators McCain and Cornyn, show respect and support the troops and sign on to The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act (S.22 & H.R.2702).

Support the troops, and support the 21st Century GI Bill.

Undermining America's Heroes

Life Will Never Return to Normal for an Injured Vet Like Tomas Young

AlterNet:

Phil Donahue's documentary Body of War offers a chilling view of how the lies that led us to war changed the life of one Iraq veteran.

In the opening minutes of Body of War, we find a 25-year-old man struggling to put on his pants. He is wiry and tattooed, sitting shirtless on his bed, his thick eyebrows furrowed in concentration. His face is weathered beyond its years. He works to get one leg into his jeans, then the other, moves on to his sneakers and finally, his wheelchair.

Three years after this scene was filmed, paralyzed Iraq war veteran Tomas Young admits that dealing with his personal day-to-day challenges on camera took some getting used to. But "eventually it dawned on me that the more graphic and in-depth [the documentary] got into my life, the more people would see the consequences and ramifications of making an impetuous decision." The decision he refers to is the U.S. government's rush to invade Iraq in 2003; from the opening moments to the end, Body of War interweaves scenes from Tomas' life as he learns to live with his paralysis with C-SPAN footage of the October 2002 congressional vote that is responsible for it. As senator after senator parrots the lies of George W. Bush in a drumbeat for war, a sick sense of dramatic irony sets in. We all know how the vote will play out. But few could imagine what it means to be Tomas Young, one of the tens of thousands of veterans who have returned from Iraq with life-altering injuries after being betrayed by the government they enlisted to serve. Tomas Young feels that betrayal acutely. He lives with the consequences every day. [snip]

Still, like many members of IVAW, Tomas wants to make it clear that his opposition to the war is not proof that he doesn't support the troops. "I think military service is very honorable and noble," he tells me. Indeed, his younger brother Nathan -- whose own deployment to Iraq is one of the more heart-rending moments in the film -- is currently on a second tour in Iraq. Tomas considers himself a patriot, and he paraphrases a Frederick Douglass quote to explain: "A patriot is 'someone who loves their country but rebukes and does not forgive its sins,'" he says. And he cannot forgive the way the Bush administration has misused and abused the troops in this war.

John McCain Adores the War and Ignores the Warriors

AlterNet:

He doesn't care if we're in Iraq for a hundred years, but when it comes to the veterans who've served over there, the senator is AWOL.

Do you know that he voted with the interests of Disabled American Veterans (DAV) only 20 percent of the time? [snip]

"It's time for Sen. McCain to stand up for veterans and be a leader," the chairman of VoteVets, Iraq war veteran Jon Soltz, said in a statement. "The success or failure of this bill largely rests on his shoulders. He is the de facto leader of the Republican Party. If he signs onto the bill, it will pass and become law. If he doesn't support it, he needs to explain why he doesn't." [snip]

McCain's response has been to propose his own, less expansive version of the GI Bill. Last week, he introduced a bill entitled the Enhancement of Recruitment, Retention, and Readjustment through Education Act, which is co-sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Richard Burr, R-N.C. [snip]

Veterans groups were unimpressed.

"Sens. McCain, Graham and Burr are shortchanging our veterans and undermining America's heroes as they reach for the American dream," said VoteVets's Soltz. "Frankly, it hurts to have two veterans, like Sens. McCain and Graham treat us like this. We would expect that they would have more honor than that."

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Strongly Reject McCain’s Watered-Down Education Bill

"Stop undermining America's heroes," say war veterans…