John McCain on Veterans
August 11th, 2008 at 05:29am Mark Noonan
We can trust that a veteran who suffers from war wounds will do what is right for our veterans:
John McCain Believes We Must Provide Our Veterans With World-Class Health Care. We must fully fund the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care budget in a timely and predictable manner. Those who have risked their lives in service to their fellow citizens deserve nothing less than the best medical care in the world.
When The VA Cannot Meet Our Veterans’ Needs, Our Veterans Must Be Given Alternative Means Of Access To Health Care And Freedom Of Choice. Too many veterans are unable to obtain health care through the VA because of geographical constraints, unreasonably long waiting lists, or the lack of specialized facilities at local VA hospitals. John McCain will develop and enforce demanding new standards for veterans’ access to health care for injuries or illness related to military service: no more than an hour’s drive for care, routine care within a week, urgent care within 24 hours, and specialty care within a month.
Veterans’ Care Access Card: John McCain has proposed a Veterans’ Care Access Card, which would expand access and choice for those veterans with illness or injury incurred during military service, as well as low-income veterans. This supplement to ordinary VA care — which would not replace or privatize existing programs — would permit those veterans unable to obtain timely and appropriate VA care under the standards set out above, to receive care at a private facility.
That last one is a good idea - its not always possible to get to the VA clinic and I can tell you from personal experience with my father, there are some things the private insurance either doesn’t cover or doesn’t cover as well as the VA, but the VA can be at times an onerous bureaucracy in getting things done. The more flexibility and choice in VA benefits, the better for the veterans and their families.
Outside of that, I also have a proposal of my own, in line with this:
As our veterans get really up in years (75 or older) the amount of care they need expands quite a bit, what I think we should do for our veterans as they enter their final years is ensure that they really do have everything they need. Right now, the old man gets some VA benefits because he was injured during war service, but the father-in-law doesn’t get them because his injury in service wasn’t directly war-related - that plus the records from that time are sketchy and he’s having a hard time convincing the VA that his hearing loss is service-related. Both were once upon a time very young men who joined, and both are now 81 with various service-related injuries made worse by the ravages of age.
What I think we should do is just work out an amount that veterans might need for the time 75 until death and just give it to them. In a three trillion dollar Federal budget, it won’t be that much extra a burden and a lot of the cost might be offset by other VA benefits going unused as the veterans and their families use the stipends to work out their own care arrangements. I understand that after a certain time our World War One veterans were given such a benefit, pretty much no questions asked - and this benefit came in handy for my grandfather in his last few years of life. Anyways, we can never fully repay those who fought for us, and I think this is one of those “least we can do” sort of things.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Patriotism, Republicans
8 Comments
1. James Elliot | August 11th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Veteran’s Care Access Card is just more Republican privatization. Fortunately the vets see right though this ploy.
Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois former congressional candidate who lost both legs in Iraq, criticized McCain for not supporting the “New G.I. Bill,” an expansion of veterans’ education benefits that became law earlier this year. Obama supported the legislation, while McCain, who had opposed it, was not present for the vote in the Senate.
“When the time came to cast a vote on the most important piece of legislation to improve benefits for veterans, Senator Obama was there for us,” Duckworth said. “Senator McCain did not show up.”
Duckworth, now director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, was honored as the Disabled Veteran of the Year at the convention.
McCain has gotten low marks from the disabled veterans group in the past, earning the lowest grade in the Senate in the group’s 2006 rankings, a 20 percent score.
The grade was largely because of McCain’s votes against bills that included VA funding because of his opposition to wasteful spending. Obama got an 80 percent score.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-veterans10-2008aug10,0,6583664.story
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/aug/10/mccains-attacks-rival-fall-flat-vets-group/
2. James Elliot | August 11th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Sorry, I should have added this link.
It shows why the card will not work.
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfAUG08/nf081008-1.htm
3. '08ama | August 11th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
You’re kidding right ?
John McCain couldn’t care any LESS for disabled veterans than he does now. I dont think you want to get into this discussion if McCain’s your man.
4. phnx | August 11th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
The democrat sponsored GI Bill was just a hyprocritical pandering handout, which included pork that had nothing to do with Vetrans or the military.
McCain supported another proposal to increase veterans benefits, and increase bonses from militarey retention.
5. Sunny | August 11th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Mark, the GOP (and John McCain) will NEVER go for your plan. Never. The GOP does not support the veterans even though you would like to try to convince everyone it does. Now, big oil - that is a different story. You can get rich supporting big oil, but you will not make a penny supporting vets.
6. HeyHey | August 11th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
phnx,
You are full of it….Almost all bills have earmarks and pork but I’d like to know what pork you are so upset about regarding Webb’s GI Bill. I challenge you to cite it - and don’t confuse it with the war funding authorization that is laden with pork added by BOTH parties. Republican’s are simply upset they didn’t propose a new bill before the Dems did.
But of course, the Bush Administration and McCain have not actually done anything to help members of the military or veterans in 7 years - it wouldn’t make any sense for them to start doing so now. It’s easier to just extend their stay in the desert and keep handing out stop-loss orders.
Thelma Drake, a GOP congressperson completely aligned with the White House (and who is probably going to lose her seat this year because of it - and she’s in Military Heaven in Hampton Roads) voted against it and mentioned nothing about pork - not one word. She voted against it, saying she “would not support legislation that President Bush has promised to veto.” What a spineless excuse for a Congressperson - even a Republican!
7. Faceplant | August 13th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
“We can trust that a veteran who suffers from war wounds will do what is right for our veterans”
Really? That must explain this then…
“Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave McCain a grade of D for his record of voting against veterans (Obama got a B+), while the Disabled Veterans of America gave McCain a 20% vote rating. The Vietnam Veterans of America compiled a list of key votes, and found McCain voted against the group’s position 15 times and with the group eight times. (Obama, in contrast, voted with the VVA 12 times, and against it only once.)”
Of course, in reality you don’t know much about John McCain. The POW groups hate his guts for what they perceived as him turning his back on them and seeking to normalize trade relations with Vietnam, effectively ending the search for missing POW’s.
The idea that John McCains former military experiences make him pro veterans is nothing more than a myth.
8. HeyHey | August 14th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
That’s what I thought phnx…You’re full of it.