Veterans organizations have refused to concede the veterans vote to John McCain, especially given his poor record on veterans' issues. In a new video released this week by the AFL-CIO's Veterans' Council, Mark Ayers, a Vietnam War vet and the president of the labor federation's Building and Construction Trades Department, charged John McCain with leaving veterans behind.
"Time and time again, Sen. McCain’s actions as a United States Senator have been to cut government spending at the expense of our veterans and only to support the profits and aspirations of one segment of our society, corporations and big business," said Ayers.
Also in the video, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka remarked on common misperceptions that McCain would be better for veterans. "There's no question about the man's valor, but somewhere along the line, John McCain, who says he believes in putting country first, decided to put veterans last."
"The record is clear," added J. David Cox, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), whose members include some workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs and its facilities around the country. "In 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, John McCain voted 'no' on the VA."
"Over and over, he voted 'no,'" said Cox. "For the last four years, Barack Obama has voted 'yes' every time for veterans."
Several other veterans' service organizations have sharply criticized McCain on some of the key votes referred to in the Union Veterans' Council video, as well as other proposals McCain has put forward on veterans' issues.
Disabled American Veterans (DAV) has provided a list showing John McCain has voted against issues they have supported at least 16 times in his nearly 30 years in Washington. By contrast, DAV's voter guide identified 17 occasion where Barack Obama voted in favor of DAV issues in his four years in the US Senate.
On the expansion of education benefits, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) sharply disagreed with John McCain's opposition to the 21st Century GI Bill, authored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA). VFW endorsed the new GI Bill, which provides a boost in benefits for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. VFW also criticized McCain's alternative proposal as "very partisan." The American Legion also backed the 21st Century GI Bill and rejected McCain's criticism of the bill as being "too generous."
More recently, Veterans for America (VFA) expressed serious reservations about John McCain's plan to end guaranteed health care benefits for many veterans by privatizing some VA services.
