Tuesday, June 10, 2008

624787

Posted by BostonMaggie at 5:13:00 PM

2 comments:

Stella by Starlight said...

John McCain voted no or was not present for all veterans' bills. Here's one.

HR 2620: Making appropriations for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and offices for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, and for other purposes.

Here is McCain's Committee Record, and his voting records.

Project Vote Smart is a non-partisan site: they just post the facts and let the reader decide what position s/he chooses.

We can't do enough for our veterans. Accordingly, McCain's voting record concerns me. NV means he didn't bother to vote. There are, of course, other topics which you can review. I'll be interested in your response.

* 05/22/2008 GI Bill and Other Domestic Provisions—S Amdt 4803 (NV)
* 01/22/2008 Defense Authorizations Bill—HR.4986 (NV)
* 10/01/2007 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008—HR.1585 (NV)
* 02/02/2006 Tax Rate Extension Amendment—HR.4297 (N)
* 11/17/2005 Additional Funding For Veterans Amendment—S.2020 (N)
* 10/05/2005 Health Care for Veterans Amendment—HR 2863 (N)

11 June, 2008 20:20
BostonMaggie said...

* 05/22/2008 GI Bill and Other Domestic Provisions—S Amdt 4803 (NV)
* 01/22/2008 Defense Authorizations Bill—HR.4986 (NV)
* 10/01/2007 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008—HR.1585 (NV)
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OK, these first three votes where McCain wasn't present were bills that were going to pass overwhelmingly. He knew he didn't need to be there. The important thing is to pass the legislation, but there are also other duties. Clearly McCain saw that none of these bills would be in any danger of failing if he kept on campaigning. All Presidential candidates do this.
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* 02/02/2006 Tax Rate Extension Amendment—HR.4297 (N)
OK, this was an amendment to the tax relief bill that Chriss Dodd tacked on. This "No" vote was not against veterans, nor does it reflect any indifference to their needs. This was "No" to Chris Dodd sneaking in some changes to capital gains tax rates. I agree that everything possible should be done for veterans, but you have to do in a way that is responsible. You can't pull it out of your ass, which is Chris Dodd's specialty. Voting "No" was the GOP position because it was felt that the amendment was fiscally irresponsible.
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* 11/17/2005 Additional Funding For Veterans Amendment—S.2020 (N)
Again we have an amendment to a tax relief bill and now it's Boxer and Grassley attaching this phantom funding and they don't even propose a funding mechanism. Nice.. Again, McCain voted with the Republican position which was based on their sense that this amendment was fiscally irresponsible.
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* 10/05/2005 Health Care for Veterans Amendment—HR 2863 (N)
Same answer here. Debbie Stabanow was trying to change funding for things and get waivers from the 1974 Budget Act.
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These amendments were deemed not fiscally responsible by the GOP. McCain voted with the party. This doesn't mean that veteran's didn't get funding for many of these things. It simply means that McCain, being fiscally conservative agreed that they should be accomplished within the normal channels.

Just because something is a good cause that you believe in doesn't mean that you say "Yea" to every bill and amendment that comes down the pike. We don't even know if these were good ideas. There is a way to fund veteran's benefits within the budget.

12 June, 2008 01:00

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