9-04-08, 11:17 am

John McCain is pushing the idea of privatizing veterans' health care. He advanced the idea in recent stump speeches, even after media and congressional investigations in 2007 uncovered how underfunding and privatization of services at some of the country's top military hospitals caused poor care, neglect, and other dangerous conditions for wounded veterans.

A Washington Post story in February of that year focused specifically on the dangerous conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital. A congressional committee subsequently uncovered a September 2006 memo from Garrison Commander Peter Garibaldi to hospital commander Maj. Gen. George Weightman which stated that the privatization of services, ordered by the Bush administration, had caused a 'precipitous drop' in qualified staff at the hospital, contributing to the conditions revealed by the Washington Post.

Though Weightman was fired as a result of the exposure of the problems at that hospital, the Bush administration's policy of privatization and underfunding hasn't gone away.

From his position on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Barack Obama and other congressional Democrats, over objections by John McCain, George W. Bush and many other Republican Party hardliners, forced through increased funding for veterans' medical care and benefits.

John McCain opposed many of these measures, even going so far as to refuse to show up in the Senate for a vote on the 21st Century GI Bill in May. He described new benefits as 'too generous.'

McCain told FOX News' Bill O'Reilly that better support services and benefits packages for veterans would cause many to leave the military after their term of service, reducing the number of troops available for the occupation of Iraq, which, despite some confusion on his part about his views on the subject, he seems to believe should continue for decades.

In both 2005 and 2006, McCain voted against funding for better medical care for wounded veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. So far the corporate media has refused to seriously investigate the direct link between McCain's efforts in the Senate to block new funding for veterans' care along with his push for privatization to the poor treatment experienced at Walter Reed.

McCain won't give up on the idea of privatization, even as new funding for veterans' care has been made available. According to a report last month by Inter Press Service, McCain called for privatizing veterans' medical care and for ending universal health care for veterans.

Describing these guaranteed services as a 'burden,' McCain stated that privatized care would be more efficient.

Unfortunately, the facts on the ground about the care veterans receive from the VA compared to the private health care industry have shown the opposite to be true. Studies have revealed that turning veterans out into the private health care industry would mean they are more likely to receive less care without reduced costs.

IPS cited a RAND Corporation study, for example, which found that 'VA patients were more likely to receive recommended care ... [and] consistently better care across the board, including screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow up' as compared to those veterans patients who sought care in the private market.

McCain appears to be driven by the ideology of the private market above all else, and not a concern for the well-being of veterans, veterans advocacy groups are saying. Despite a courageous military record, John McCain's political record and ideologically motivated policies are harmful to veterans. It is this political record that disqualifies John McCain from leadership. So far the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the Disabled Americans Veterans have given McCain extremely poor marks for his voting record on veterans' issues.

By contrast, both groups say Barack Obama has a nearly perfect voting record on issues important to them.

McCain's views on privatizing veterans care and his objections to generous benefits mirror exactly the policies of the Bush administration. In 2005, a Pentagon spokesperson, in announcing new Bush-mandated veterans' benefits policies, described the cost of quality benefits for veterans as 'hurtful' to national security. The administration subsequently ordered privatization of services, limits on the distribution of benefits, along with higher direct costs for veterans at VA medical facilities.

--Reach Joel Wendland at