Senators & Congress People Judged On Voting Records! John McCain, Enemy Of Labor Unions, Military & The Middleclass: His Votes On Critical Issues Prove This - My Source: U.S. Government Records - RI10

Senators & Congress

People Judged On

Voting Records!

John McCain, Enemy

Of Labor Unions,

Military & The

Middleclass: His

Votes On Critical

Issues Prove This

- My Source: U.S.

Government

Records - RI10

Tabacco: Sarah Palin does not have a Senate Voting Record. If she were the GOP presidential nominee, we would have to look elsewhere to determine her opinions, judgments and persona. In contrast, John McCain has a “Senate Rap Sheet” that is 21 years long. John has modified his stances somewhat over that period. Few would not have modified their stances. But in almost every instance, Martin Luther King’s Holiday being the one exception, his stances have gone from good to bad, not the other way around.

Incidentally, he voted consistently against the M L King Holiday whenever it was voted on. Now that it’s too late, he says he has changed his mind. Sorry, John, but it’s too late to make any constructive difference.

I shall not concern myself in this Post with the obvious. And in many cases, Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama voted with McCain. That being the case, there would be no distinction between McCain and Obama. So whom would you vote for if those were your Primary Considerations? See my Point!

So I focus on John McCain’s unconscionable, pro-Big Business and pro-Disaster Capitalist, anti-Working People and anti-Middleclass votes. No Democrat, with the possible exception of McCain’s good buddy, former Democrat Joe Lieberman, could possibly match McCain’s Voting Record. The problem is that few people, even those in McCain’s home State of Arizona, are aware of this Record. It is shameless, but typical of modern day Republican politicos.

The Republican Party attempts to throw Abe Lincoln and 1863 at Blacks, who vote Democratic today. As if that made any difference today! McCain continues to call himself a “Maverick” even though his “Maverick Days” are long past. What have you done for “Mavericks” lately, John? You have become an “Anti-Robin Hood”, who steals from the Poor and gives to the Rich. You have taken the Graft, you are part and parcel of the “Culture of Corruption”, and you support the Disaster Capitalists, Have-Mores at the expense and to the detriment of even the PRC (Poor Republicans’ Club). There is still no feasible way of discriminating just against Poor Democrats and not Poor Republicans. But that isn’t even a viable consideration since GOPers only value PRCers on Election Day. After that, they get thrown in with Democrats in the (PIP) Poor Irrelevant Pool.

Being Poor is no Sin and no Crime, but being STUPID is an Abomination! For Poor People to vote against their own Best Financial Interests and with their Oppressors (GOP) because of Bias & Prejudice is abominable. But that tact always works in America. Nowhere else on Earth are so many so Stupid so often!

Oct 27 2008, 03:03 PM
    
McCain Supports Raising the Medicare Eligibility Age

In June of 1997 Senator McCain voted a total of three times to raise the age to be eligible for Medicare from its current age level of 65 to the age of 67.

Phil Gramm, senior economic adviser to Senator McCain has been quoted as saying that the Medicare eligibility age needs to be raised. He said that to fix Medicare we might need to lift the eligibility age to 70.

Social Security

In 1999 Senator McCain voted against a budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 68) that would have used the budget surplus that existed at that time to extend the solvency of Social Security and Medicare.

Today he wants to divert social security funds into personal investment accounts on Wall Street that could jeopardize the future solvency of Social Security.

Replacing Striking Workers

In the 104th Congress Senator McCain voted wrong on H.R. 889, which was a bill to ban Federal Contractors from hiring permanent replacements for striking workers.

Senator McCain voted against imposing such a ban when he voted "NO" on Senate roll call vote #102 3/9/95.

Civil Rights

In the 101st Congress Senator McCain supported an effort to modify or reverse six Supreme Court decisions related to Civil Rights. (S. 2104).

The intent of his action was to narrow the effect of job discrimination laws and limit monetary damages in successful under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

When his attempt to weaken the bill failed he voted against allowing the full senate to vote on the bill by refusing to support a cloture motion on July 17, 1990. Despite his efforts the bill did go to the floor for a vote the next day and the bill passed 65-34. Senator McCain was one of the "NO" votes.

Union Shop

Senator McCain has repeatedly opposed allowing employees to set up a union shop in his home state of Arizona.

Recently in the Senate he supported S. 1788, a bill that if it became law would have prohibited unions from negotiating closed shop agreements. Currently twenty-nine states allow unions to negotiate agreements that require workers to either join a union or pay union fees for representation. Senator McCain sought to make these agreements illegal. They are illegal in his home state of Arizona.

Voted Against Minimum Wage Increase

Senator McCain does not support minimum wage increases for low-income workers.

McCain's website says that he will promote "increasing wages". However, he has voted against increasing the minimum wage three times in recent years and had also tried to exempt companies from having to comply with its minimum requirements.

In the 104th Congress McCain wanted companies to be allowed to pay a training wage of $4.25/hr when the current minimum wage was $5.15/hr. Also, in the 104th Congress McCain again voted against increasing the $4.25/hr minimum wage in two steps over time to bring the minimum wage up to $5.15/hr. Finally, in 1998 McCain again voted against increasing the minimum wage slowly over two years in two steps to bring the minimum wage to $6.15/hr by 2001.

Tabacco: McCain also voted with 27 other Senators (all Republicans) to scrap the Minimum Wage)
 

http://tabacco.blog-city.com/john_mccain_ariz_senator_republican_candidate_for_president_.htm


McCain on Medicaid

McCain voted to cut billions from Medicaid. McCain voted to cut $3.9 billion for Medicaid prescription drugs and voted for Bush's proposal to cut $14 billion from Medicaid over five years. Such large cuts would devastate state budgets and result in more uninsured and uncompensated care. (S. 1932, Vote 363, 12/21/05; Congressional Quarterly, 12/26/05; S.C.R. 18, Vote 58, 3/17/05).
http://www.mailtribuneforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14289


http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m000303/votes/
Tabacco: The above-listed URL is a graph of McCain’s votes, or rather non-votes since April 28, 2008. Since it is mostly “Not Voting”, I decline to publish it here, but you are welcome to go there and see it for yourself. It demonstrates why no GOPer mentions Obama’s lack of voting lately – they both committed the same faux pas. But you can’t be in Iowa or New Hampshire and on the Senate floor at the same time, can you!

Then there is the matter of the Wall Street Bailout. I mention it in spite of the fact that both McCain and Obama voted in the affirmative. The difference is McCain’s oft-mentioned position against Earmarks. We all know the bill was defeated the first time but passed the second time around once enough Earmarks had been added to convince some of the wary Republicans. How can McCain promise to VETO ALL EARMARKS AS PRESIDENT when he voted “Yea” on this Earmark-laden Abomination as Senator! Oh, that’s right – Presidential Candidates, particularly those trailing in the Polls, will promise anything to get elected.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m000303/votes/against-party/
Tabacco: This URL is more interesting. It lists votes in which “Maverick McCain” voted against the majority of GOPers. The problem with the chart is it is not self-explanatory. And explanation is necessary here whereas in the previous chart, non-votes only indicate he was not there. In that one the nature of the bills is of lesser relevance for our purposes. They had to go back to October 6, 2005, to fill in the subject and make McCain appear to be a “Maverick” of note.

Again, I invite you to view the list at the URL above. However, I did find one interesting fact about our “Maverick”. The following is a year-by-year recap of the number of Maverick votes by McCain – yes, I counted them.

Oct. 6, 2005 – Dec. 15, 2005    (20) 2 months+
Feb. 2, 2006 – Aug. 3, 2006    (52) 6 months – very impressive, even without explanations
Jan. 11, 2007 – Oct. 18, 2007 (23) 9 months+
(the Maverick is becoming more tame!)
Mar. 13, 2008 – Oct. 1, 2008 (4) 6 months+
(of course McCain campaigned heavily and didn’t cast many votes at all, but the Trend toward GOP ON BOARD STATUS became evident in 2007. McCain has lost his Maverick in Good Standing for some time now)

The following URL lists McCain’s votes, but here again more information is needed to assess both his intent and actual result.
http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53270

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-lYKrQPgZM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U5KZzgaB2k&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAwzpVbiBEE&feature=related
(McCain lies here, but I don’t blame him for NOT VOTING FOR BUSH IN 2000 after the Dirty Racial Trick Bush played on McCain with Robocalls)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajm5JTf7jZs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CazKanlYDg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj7HbqwZwRM&feature=related
(The last 2 clips show the Real John McCain losing his temper in public – that’s why he speaks so softly these days to give the impression he is in control of that famous temper)

Finally, who could resist a Post with the title, “101 Reasons To Vote Against John McCain”! Yes, some are trivial and humorous. But who am I to stand in your way of Voting Against John McCain because of Trivial or Humorous Reasons! And lots of them are relevant, terse and convincing.

And you will love this picture of McBUSH!
            
                            
#1: Voting against John McCain means you get to vote for Barack Obama. Visit his website for more information!

#2: John McCain won't release records of a possibly serious car crash. The senator is covering up for a possibly deadly car crash. We don't know any facts about it, because there are no released records. How honest is that?

#3: John McCain is a grumpy old man. He whines, complains and groans like an old man on a porch, just a little too much for us.

#4: John McCain has let his campaign spiral out of control. With Sarah Palin going rogue, and several Republicans preparing to meet on how to save the Republican party...do you want someone running the country who can't even run their own campaign?

#5: John McCain believes there is a vast 'left wing conspiracy.' He warns against an Obama/Reid/Pelosi agenda...when it is CLEAR AS DAY that America is hungry for Change!

#6: John McCain has flipped flopped 44 times. The old 'he was for it before he was against it' and vice versa...so much back and forth.

#7: John McCain is delusional when it comes to the latest polls. He is down in so many polls in different states, but he says the polls are not accurate. Is this a type of analyzer you'd want as President?

#8: John McCain wants it both ways. While he voted with George Bush 95% of the time, he then came out slamming Bush's policies as a campaign tactic - policies he used to agree with.

#9: John McCain allowed the RNC to spend $150,000 on Sarah Palin's wardrobe. Millions of Americans are in danger of losing their homes, and many spend less than that on a home...it shows they're elitists, and shows bad judgment.

#10: John McCain’s reputation is built on opposing torture, but he voted against a bill to ban waterboarding. He also applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban. Just another flip-flop!

#11: John McCain is distorting Barack Obama's tax plan. It's another smear: He's calling Obama a socialist. Obama's tax plan actually gives tax cuts to Americans earning less than $250,000 a year.

#12: John McCain is using robo-calls with lies to scare swing state voters - the same types of calls he condemned back in 2000. He said the calls in 2000 were 'dramatically different.'

#13: John McCain is not an advocate for children. The Children’s Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst Senator in Congress for children. He voted against the Children’s health care bill last year, and defended Bush’s veto of the bill.

#14: John McCain hired someone who lobbied for Saddam Hussein. Especially when he says he doesn't like lobbyists, AND accuses Obama of palling around with terrorists, he puts Bill Timmons so high up in his campaign, as his Transition Manager?

#15: John McCain is injecting a bogus issue into the campaign: ACORN. Barack Obama once worked with the Department of Justice and ACORN, but McCain's accusations of Barack Obama attempting to commit voter fraud are baseless.

#16: John McCain opposes having women register for Selective Service. Barack Obama believes in equality and thinks women should be afforded all the opportunities and responsibilities that men do.

#17: John McCain refuses to repudiate and condemn the Chairman of the Virginia Republican Party. Jeff Frederick compared Barack Obama to Osama Bin Laden. McCain said he 'didn't know the context' of the comments.

#18: John McCain has a bad temper that is not acceptable for a President. It's known around the Senate as the "McCain Rage."

#19: John McCain is trying to paint Barack Obama as a terrorist. He said nothing at a rally when his supporters called Obama a terrorist, and said, "Kill him!" In fact, in February, he said he would not allow these negative attacks to come from his surrogates, when Bill Cunningham viciously attacked Obama.

#20: John McCain called Barack Obama "that one." It was during the 2nd debate that he made this condescending remark.

#21: John McCain will raise your taxes for his health care plan. He will raise your income taxes on the $5000 health care tax credit he's offering, which in turn, will also cause your employer to stop offering coverage.

#22: John McCain accused Barack Obama of lying. That's just about as low as you can get in politics, especially when it's not true.

#23: John McCain wants to destroy health insurance for non-elderly Americans. He plans to eliminate tax breaks for employer-provided health insurance, which would cause 20 million Americans to lose their coverage.

#24: John McCain originally voted against supporting the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. It wasn't until he had presidential ambitions that he supported it.

#25: John McCain's tax plan helps the rich. He is only looking out for himself because he and wife Cindy would save $373,429 if his tax plan were enacted.

#26: John McCain has a gambling problem. He freely throws around chips at the table and has done it for years...he'll probably do some gambling in the government if he were to be elected!

#27: John McCain tried to blame Barack Obama for the financial crisis and the bailout failure. Actually, plenty of his own GOP friends voted to can the bill!

#28: John McCain showed a poor performance in the first one-on-one debate. He was mean and never looked Barack Obama in the eye, not to mention having poor answers to questions.

#29: John McCain grandstanded during the financial crisis. He played the card going into Washington like "Arizona Jones" to save everything...yet he's got nothing to do with the crisis, which may be a major part of the reason why the bailout fell apart.

#30: John McCain can't the handle the pressure. He suspended his own campaign when he fell behind in the polls and the going got tough - will he just suspend the presidency if he gets in a tough spot?

#31: John McCain is two-faced when it comes to lobbyists. He attacks Barack Obama for having ties to lobbyists. McCain's own campaign manager, Rick Davis, is a lobbyist - he was paid by Freddie Mac through August of this year!!!

#32: John McCain wants to deregulate the health insurance industry like they deregulated Wall Street. He is against universal health care, which would give health insurance companies much more power than they already have.

#33: John McCain thinks he has oversight over the SEC. He said he would fire the SEC Chair...but he can't constitutionally do that.

#34: John McCain Knows Nothing About Spain.  In an interview, McCain clearly didn't recognize the name of Zapatero, the Prime Minister of Spain. He also said Spain is in our hemisphere, and referred to "our friends in Central America."

#35: John McCain Flip Flopped on AIG.  John McCain was AGAINST the bailout of AIG BEFORE he was against it.  After publicly saying that he didn't think AIG should be bailed out, less than 24 hours later, he called it a good decision.

#36: John McCain helped create the economic mess we're in.  By backing de-regulation for so many years and fighting for big corporations, John McCain helped destroy the American economy.

#37: John McCain claims to be an agent of change.  Barack Obama has been running as the "Change" candidate for almost 2 years.  McCain has been in Washington politics for 26 years.  How can McCain claim to be a change agent??

#38: John McCain voted against raising the minimum wage 19 times. While this last time around he did vote yes, why did he make the mistake of not helping working families 19 times?

#39: John McCain is calling a remark offensive - a remark which he once used himself. McCain used the "Lipstick" line - which has been used for years, Obama said nothing new - against Hillary Clinton during the primary race.

#40: John McCain's running mate ripped off her taxpayers for personal gain. Sarah Palin billed the state of Alaska for 312 nights spent in her own home, for travel and meals.

#41: John McCain showed poor judgment in his running mate choice. Sarah Palin does not have the qualifications to be Vice President of the United States.

#42: John McCain doesn't know how many houses he owns. He is so out of it, he can't count how many houses he owns...does he belong in the White House?

#43: John McCain is an elitist with 10 homes. He is out of touch with the American people because of his wealth, yet he attacks Obama for being elitist?

#44: John McCain cheats in church! He KNEW the questions going into the Saddleback forum with Pastor Rick Warren - and was not in a cone of silence. If he cheats on that...would you want him as President?

#45: John McCain would gut Social Security as President. His plan includes a higher retirement age, and he would cut benefits to moderate and higher income earners, plus, he would like to privatize Social Security as well.

#46: John McCain is in bed with Ralph Reed. McCain is scheduled to attend a fundraiser with the Abramoff-scandal-involved man, and is ignoring calls to cancel his appearance.

#47: John McCain supported an extra tax on Tobacco before he opposed it. He is now against a $1.10 tax that is aimed at cutting down on smoking.

#48: John McCain continues to lie to slam Barack Obama. In a new ad out on August 8, he says Obama would raise taxes on anyone making over $42,000 a year - not true.

#49: John McCain is against giving proper health care to our nation's veterans. In 2006, he voted against a bill that would give $20 million to the VA for health care facilities. He also voted against a bill that would increase Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion.

#50: John McCain mocks energy conservation. Barack Obama worked hard highlighting little things like properly inflating tires to help conserve energy, and McCain made fun of it.

#51: John McCain thinks we are better off now than we were eight years ago. Yes, his latest ad contradicts that, but in the Republican debate in January 2008, he said we were better off now than we were eight years ago. Fact is, inflation and unemployment rates are up.

#52: John McCain is in the pocket of big oil. He has accepted over $2 million in contributions from big oil companies, and has offered tax breaks to them as well. Barack Obama highlights these bad ideas in a TV ad.

#53: John McCain opposes the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). This plan would make it easier for American workers to decide if they wanted to unionize at their workplace, and McCain doesn't support giving them that right.

#54: John McCain played the race card. His ad featuring Paris Hilton and Britney Spears injected race into the campaign.

#55: John McCain promised a clean campaign, based on the issues - but has not stayed that course. He has started running negative attack ads, after saying he had respect for Barack Obama.

#56: John McCain flip-flopped on taxes. He once said he'd never raise taxes. Now - he's open to raising Social Security taxes.

#57: John McCain flip-flopped on affirmative action. He used support it...now he changed into the wrong direction and supports a measure on the ballot in AZ to end the policy.

#58: John McCain is two-faced on lobbyists. He has constantly said he wants nothing to do with 'big-moneyed special interests'...but he has taken in $181,000 in donations from lobbyists.

#59: John McCain's priorities for health insurance companies are flawed. He is all for them covering Viagra, but not birth control.

#60: John McCain is still fixated on the 'surge.' He doesn't get that the surge is over - he believes it's still going on.

#61: John McCain isn't fit to be commander in chief. He lost five Navy aircraft during his flying career.

#62: John McCain needs a geography lesson. He brags he's been to Iraq so many times, but he said Iraq borders Pakistan. Look at a map, John....there's a little country called Iran in between.

#63: John McCain supports the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy in the military. He believes the anti-gay policy is working.

#64: John McCain has slammed Obama for only attending one Afghanistan hearing...but McCain's even more guilty! The Arizona Senator has not attended any committee hearings on Afghanistan.

#65: John McCain says the war in Iraq is not related to the war in Afghanistan. Barack Obama pointed out that the Senator from Arizona is dead wrong.

#66: John McCain's top economic advisor thinks the poor economy is just a 'mental recession.' Phil Gramm called America a 'nation of whiners.'

#67: John McCain's Gas Tax Holiday is a joke. Virtually every economist has shot down McCain's idea of a gas tax holiday. It just won't work!

#68: John McCain flip-flops on immigration. First he applauded a clear route to citizenship, now he's changed to a "fences-first" stance.

#69: John McCain gives us double-talk on Iraq. He says on the one hand, we gotta keep it going with no timetable. Then, more recently, he says we'll balance the budget by winning the war in Iraq and getting the troops home.

#70: John McCain represents the third term of Karl Rove. Steve Schmidt is the latest person to be at the top of the campaign - another name involved with McCain who worked closely with Karl Rove.

#71: John McCain is taking money from Swift Boat veterans. In 2004, he called them dishonest and dishonorable.

#72: John McCain flip-flopped on Swiftboat Veterans. In 2004, he condemned the Swiftboat Veterans, now he endorses them, with Bud Day back on the scene.

#73: John McCain is a tax cheater. Cindy McCain failed to pay property taxes on time - that is not the type of responsibility that we want in the White House.

#74: John McCain is an opponent of helping rail transit. When he chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, he opposed public financing of Amtrak - a service very important in this day of high fuel prices.

#75: John McCain's healthcare plan would not help Americans. It would tax your healthcare benefits and leave working families at the mercy of big insurance companies.

#76: John McCain is a fear monger. Adviser Charlie Black suggested another terrorist attack would help McCain and the Republicans win.

#77: John McCain is more of a game show host than a candidate, offering up gimmick after gimmick. First it was the gas tax holiday, but now - he wants taxpayers to give $300 million to whoever develops the next new electric battery. Too bad the Japanese are already five years ahead of the US in developing the next generation battery.

#78: John McCain does not have a good environmental record. The League of Conservation Voters gave him a zero rating when it comes to pro-environment votes.

#79: Cindy McCain criticizes Michelle Obama for not "always" being proud of her country. Guess what - John McCain said the same thing.

#80: John McCain graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy. Out of 899 graduates, he was ranked 894.

#81: John McCain uses scare tactics. John McCain accuses Barack Obama of having a "September 10" mentality. We've heard this before from George W. Bush. Republicans have NO problem using September 11 for political gain.

#82: John McCain is in favor of offshore drilling for oil. Of course, this is AFTER he was opposed to it. Drilling for oil off the shores of the United States WON'T ease the gas burden.

#83: John McCain was part of the Keating Five. John McCain was part of the five Senators who were tied to dirty deal with Charles Keating.

#84: John McCain doesn't support prisoner's rights. The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Gitmo detainees. John McCain says that the ruling "concerns" him.

#85: John McCain doesn't care about women's interests. He wants to overturn Roe v. Wade (among other things) - Planned Parenthood gives him a zero lifetime voting record on women's issues.

#86: John McCain won't repeal George Bush's tax cuts. This is another issue that he has flip-flopped on, and his plan will continue to put this country into a deeper budget deficit.

#87: John McCain agrees with Bush's illegal wiretapping policy outside of FISA. At one point he did disagree with Bush on the subject, but he flip-flopped and now supports the President.

#88: John McCain doesn't know anything about the economy. He himself said he doesn't know as much about it as he should.

#89: John McCain voted with George Bush 89% of the time through his administration. Just more proof that if he's elected, it's more of the same.

#90: John McCain is a fake campaign finance reformer. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) presented this reason during his in-studio visit, and believes McCain’s back-room dealings need to be exposed.

#91: The Supreme Court. John McCain himself has said he wants to appoint clones of Alito and Roberts to the high court. With that, Roe v. Wade and other important decisions will go right out the window.

#92: His bad "comb-over," that he won't admit to. He won't just be honest and admit he's balding - what else won't he be honest about?

#93: John McCain supports the war in Iraq. He stated he would stay in Iraq for 100 years.

#94: John McCain will be nothing but a third term of George Bush. He wants to continue the same policies that have failed for the last eight years, as Barack Obama pointed out.

#95: John McCain is too old to run the country. He'll be 72 this year. Back in 2000, he admitted to PBS's Jim Lehrer he's too old to be President!

#96: John McCain does not support the GI Bill. He's against giving our veterans full scholarships to college upon returning from service.

#97: John McCain has bad judgment related to the people he cozies up to. He was endorsed by, and was good friends with John Haggee - it took him three months to reject the endorsement! What other type of people might he get close to when he's president?

#98: John McCain doesn't know Shiite from Shinola. Even Joe Lieberman corrected him when he mixed up Shiites and Sunnis.

#99: John McCain doesn't want to change anything about our relationship with Cuba. He is attacking Barack Obama's willingness to meet with Raul Castro.

#100: John McCain will try to stir up war with Iran. We've seen this with his recent exchange with Barack Obama, saying we shouldn't talk - we should just bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.

#101: John McCain's connection with Lobbyists. Special Interests, Special Interests. Ouch. The prime connection is Thomas Loeffler - who resigned from McCain's campaign because of his lobbyist connections.



Tabacco: John McCain is a Hypocrite in Good Standing, but his worst Hypocrisy is that he flaunts his military record, such as it is, and claims to “Support the Troops”. More importantly, he claims that the “Troops Support McCain”. That is an OUTRIGHT LIE!

I have seen soldiers in military support organizations state on LinkTV they do NOT support McCain because of his horrendous voting record on bills concerning them.

I want to publish this Post and then go vote so I am not going to do the Research required to prove that last paragraph except for the following. You will either have to trust my statement or do the Research yourself. I’m sure it won’t be hard.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9966.html

POLITICO

GI bill sparks Senate war

By: David Rogers
April 30, 2008 06:48 AM EST

From Annapolis to Vietnam and back to the Pentagon, John McCain and Jim Webb trod the same paths before coming to the Senate. Iraq divides them today, but there’s also the new kinship of being anxious fathers watching their sons come and go with Marine units in the war.

So what does it say about Washington that two such men, with so much in common, are locked in an increasingly intense debate over a shared value: education benefits for veterans?

“It’s very odd,” said former Nebraska Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey, a mutual friend. And that oddness gets greater by the day as the two headstrong senators barrel down colliding tracks.

An Arizona Republican, McCain has all but locked up the Republican presidential nomination and is preparing for a fall campaign in which his support of the Iraq war is sure to be a major issue. Yet the former Navy pilot and Vietnam POW makes himself a target by refusing to endorse Webb’s new GI education bill and instead signing on to a Republican alternative that focuses more on career soldiers than on the great majority who leave after their first four years.

Undaunted, Webb, who was a Marine infantry officer in Vietnam, is closing in on the bipartisan support needed to overcome procedural hurdles in the Senate, where the cost of his package — estimated now at about $52 billion over 10 years — is sure to be an issue. But McCain’s support would seal the deal like nothing else, and the new Republican bill, together with a letter of opposition Tuesday from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, threatens to peel off support before the Democrat gets to the crucial threshold of 60 votes.

“There are fundamental differences”, McCain told Politico. “He creates a new bureaucracy and new rules. His bill offers the same benefits whether you stay three years or longer. We want to have a sliding scale to increase retention. I haven’t been in Washington, but my staff there said that his has not been eager to negotiate.”

Tabacco: This is an Old Political Ploy: McCain justifies NON-SUPPORT by plucking at Technicalities. There are always Technicalities with every Bill ever presented to Congress, so it isn’t hard to find a Flaw, no matter how inconsequential. Please note McCain voted AFFIRMATIVE for the WALL STREET BAILOUT, despite all the Earmarks added to secure its passage. Then he goes on TV saying, “As President I will veto ALL EARMARKS!”

Do you see why I call John McCain a Hypocrite in Good Standing!

 “He’s so full of it”, Webb said in response. “I have personally talked to John three times. I made a personal call to [McCain aide] Mark Salter months ago asking that they look at this.”

“Hell, no,” Webb bristled when asked if there had been an implicit message that he would attack McCain if he didn’t come on board.

"John McCain has been a longtime friend of mine, and I think if John sat down and examined what was in this bill, he would co-sponsor it,” Webb said. “I don’t want this to become a political issue. I want to get a bill done.”

The debate will soon come to a head when Congress takes up the administration’s request for new emergency funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The current plan is for the House to take up a 2008 military construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations measure, strike its content and then layer in a series of three amendments that would include not only war funding but also very likely the Webb bill.

Mindful of this, the Gates letter represents a first shot by the Bush administration. Even as it went out Tuesday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) attended a noon rally on the Capitol steps to support the Webb package.

McCain’s name never came up directly, but his old pal Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and former Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Va.) joined with Webb. McCain’s absence fed into ongoing efforts by the Democratic National Committee to drive a wedge between the Republican and his supporters among veterans. “It’s two birds with one stone,” said a Democratic aide.

“We have a lot of issues to debate in the campaign this year, but this really should not be one of them,” Webb told the Senate last week, in a warning to McCain.

“I don’t think Jim Webb is seeking political advantage,” McCain said. “He’s sincerely dedicated to improving education benefits.”


But McCain’s camp has its back up and complains of being bullied by what it says are Webb’s demands to “sign on” to the bill without being given the needed time — and, some would say, due deference — to make changes. The Gates letter, sent to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), echoes many of McCain’s arguments, and beyond politics, the fight underscores a real policy divide over how the nation views its professional military.

Iraq has been the most prolonged conflict for that military since the all-volunteer force was created after Vietnam. And while Gates, like McCain, focuses first on those willing to re-enlist for longer service, Webb believes the nation owes a debt to those who rotate out after one enlistment, which can often include multiple tours in Iraq.

“I’ve been doing veterans law for 30 years. The GI bill is designed as a readjustment benefit for people who leave the military,” Webb said. For the Marines and the Army — which account for the brunt of the fighting — he estimates as many as 70 percent to 75 percent rotate out after a single four-year enlistment.

Webb’s new GI education benefits would apply, then, to anyone who has served up to 36 months of qualified active duty beginning at the same time as or after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “These are the people who answered the call,” Webb said at the rally Tuesday. “These are the people who moved willingly forward toward the sound of the guns.”

In private life, Webb is known as an officer who kept in touch with the enlisted Marines who served under him in Vietnam. And his rhetoric is a throwback to another era, when military service was seen less as an ongoing career than something undertaken for a shorter period, whether defined by the draft or enlistment during a war.

By contrast, Gates wrote in his letter that “our first objective is to strengthen the All-Volunteer Force” and “re-enlistments (and longer service) are critical to the success of the All-Volunteer Force.” From this vantage point, a too-generous GI Bill is counterproductive, and the defense secretary warns that “serious retention issues could arise” if the benefit were extended above the average costs for a public four-year college.

The Webb bill shoots higher, promising payments up to the cost of more expensive state schools plus a monthly housing stipend equivalent to costs in the same area. The government could even match, dollar for dollar, any contribution a private college might make, if its tuition is more than that of the state schools.

This creates a new, more complex, multi-tiered system, which critics contend would be an administrative nightmare. By contrast, the Republican alternative backed by McCain seeks to build on the current benefits system dating back to 1985. All levels would be increased but not to the degree of Webb’s bill; the greatest benefits — including the ability of career noncommissioned officers to transfer their benefits to their children — would be extended to those who remained at least six years.

Warner, for one, is skeptical of the retention argument against the Webb bill. “I think this argument that it’s going to hurt retention is very thin and tenuous, very thin and tenuous,” said the former chairman. “The flip side of that is, putting a big piece of cheese out there will induce more qualified people to join just to get this. It should be a tremendous incentive for recruitment.”

“This happens in Washington. You have competing proposals side by side,” said McCain. “We need to increase benefits. We share that same goal completely.”

Tabacco: I consider myself both a funnel and a filter. I funnel information, not readily available on the Mass Media, which is ignored and/or suppressed. I filter out the irrelevancies and trivialities to save both the time and effort of my Readers and bring consternation to the enemies of Truth & Fairness! When you read Tabacco, if you don’t learn something NEW, I’ve wasted your time.


In 1981's 'Body Heat', Kathleen Turner said, "Knowledge is power".

 

T.A.B.A.C.C.O.  (Truth About Business And Congressional Crimes Organization) – Think Tank For Other 95% Of World

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