Someone asked what do military Veterans think!
Here you go!


The AFL-CIO is mobilizing union members who are military veterans to work against Republican presidential candidate John McCain and other office seekers it opposes, officials said Thursday.

John Sweeney, the president of the labor federation, planned to announce the creation of a Union Veterans Council in a teleconference Thursday. The union, which endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president last month, plans to form state councils of union veterans in key election battlegrounds, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Ohio and West Virginia. Later, it plans to organize in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Virginia.

``We're forming this Union Veterans Council to bring together union members who are veterans to speak out on the issues that matter the most to them - in this year's election and beyond,'' Sweeney said in a statement. ``With the formation of the Union Veterans Council, veterans will be front and center in the effort to put our country back on track.''

Sweeney said key issues will include money for the Veterans Affairs Department, health and education benefits for veterans, and job growth.

The union also launched an ad that will air Thursday that features a Vietnam combat veteran criticizing McCain's stance on the war in Iraq and on veterans issues. The ad will air for three weeks on national cable and in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, union officials said.

The outreach effort will include door-to-door canvassing and visits to worksites by veterans to talk to union members about issues in the election. The union also plans to identify and track union veterans.

The AFL-CIO estimates it has 2.1 million members who are either veterans or are serving in active duty in the military.

Sweeney was expected to make the announcement with Mark Ayers, the president of the Building & Construction Trades Council and a former Navy pilot.

``Not only has McCain voted the wrong way on veterans issues - such as opposing increased funding for veterans' health care the last four years in a row - but he also doesn't support middle-class people's issues,'' Ayers said in a statement. ``He wants to tax people's health care benefits and supports unfair trade deals, including NAFTA.''
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7642850

Did anyone else see the video yesterday of the veteran who called John McCain out on some of his lies ?

No! I would like to though.
Do you have a link?

I seen it on tv. Im looking for it online. I'll get back to ya if I find it. I seen it on MSNBC yesterday evening. Basically, a veteran at a McCain event was handed the mike by John McCain and he began asking McCain some tough questions about his support of veterans benefits. McCain tried to answer him and the veteran called McCains bluff. I'll keep looking for it.

Thanks!

Found a link






http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/08/mccain-veterans-award-redux/

Posing the first question in a Denver town hall meeting yesterday, a Vietnam veteran challenged Sen. John McCain on his Senate voting record regarding veterans issues, remarking he had voted against increasing vets health funding four years in a row. Ignoring the veteran’s point, McCain testily — and repeatedly — insisted that he had “received every award from every major veteran’s organization in America”:

MCCAIN: I’ve received every award from every major veteran’s organization in America. I received every organization in America their awards. … The reason why I have a perfect voting record from organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and all the other veterans service organizations is because of my support of them. […]

VETERAN: You do not have a perfect voting record by the DAV and the VFW. That’s where these votes were recorded. These votes were proposals by your colleagues in the Senate to increase health care of the VA in 2003, 4, 5, and 6 for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. And you voted against those proposals. […]

MCCAIN: I’ve been endorsed in every election by every veterans organization that do that, I’ve been supported by them, and I’ve received their highest awards from all of those organizations. So I guess they don’t know something you know.

McCain has made the exact same claim before — and it is just a false today as it was then. As ThinkProgress documented, McCain’s so-called “perfect” record has been roundly criticized by prominent veterans groups: He received a grade of D from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a 20 percent vote rating from the Disabled Veterans of America; Vietnam Veterans of America noted McCain had “voted against us” in 15 “key votes.”

As for the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars — with whom McCain claims to have a “perfect voting record” — both groups vigorously supported Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) GI Bill that McCain tirelessly opposed.

Later in the town hall, McCain admitted he does “not have a perfect voting record,” but then declared that questions about veterans issues were off limits: “I will be glad to debate a lot of things, but not that one,” McCain said.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/08/mccain-veterans-award-redux/

What a great example of McConfused confusion!
Great video mirror!
Thanks again!

And that's why vets are against McConfused. We arent stupid!
Where does he get off taking credit for The Webb Bill!
That DA voted nay!

Confused again I guess!!

Yay Vets!!!

"remarking he had voted against increasing vets health funding four years in a row."

Wow! That is awful. The monies are especially needed now with people coming back from Iraq. There are severe waiting lists right now for counseling services because of previous cuts made during Bush's reign. People are waiting months for a psych. appt. and then they can only see the psych. every other month for a meds check.

Im a Vet and I feel he has forgotten his brothers.
To me that is inexcusable and warrants banishing from the brotherhood. I cant see how any veteran could support him, and I know Im not alone!

I have two friends that are vets. They are not voting for him either.

I dont know a one who is!
Maybe a few of the younger ones. The ones who are still unwilling to admit they were used,
but really not very many of those!

Bump,
Worth the read!

Bump.