McCain defends vets card, raps Obama
Posted: Monday, August 18, 2008 1:24 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ’s Adam Aigner-Treworgy and NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
ORLANDO, Fla. -- McCain defended his call for a Veterans’ Care Access Card in his speech at the VFW Convention here today by saying that it was an “expansion” of the VA not a “privatization” as some have claimed.
“Let me make it clear,” McCain said. “This card is not intended to either replace the VA or privatize veterans' health care, as some have wrongly charged. I believe the VA should always be there to provide top-quality care for our veterans. And I believe the VA should continue to provide broad-spectrum health care to eligible veterans, in addition to specialized care.”
VIDEO: Speaking at the VFW Convention in Orlando, Fl., Presidential candidate John McCain throws his support behind Georgia, and other emerging democracies around the world.
McCain predicted that his opponent would probably try attack him by politicizing this issue and “misrepresenting” his proposals as a form of privatization.
“I suppose from my opponent's vantage point, veterans concerns are just one more issue to be spun or worked to advantage,” McCain said. “This would explain why he has also taken liberties with my position on the GI Bill.”
McCain, however, has been a bit unclear on his veterans’ health-care plan. For months, McCain has said that the VA is unprepared to handle the large numbers of wounded troops coming home from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Our Veterans’ Administration is not equipped to care for the wounded as a result of this long war,” McCain said February in Seattle. “I’m going to give every veteran a plastic card that needs a routine healthcare need and, say, take this plastic card to a health-care provider or a doctor of your choice.”
Today, McCain said that his plastic card is intended for any veteran with an “illness or injury incurred during their military service, and by those with low incomes.” This is different from claiming that any veteran with a “routine health-care need” could use his card to visit the health-care provider of their choice.
As late as last month, McCain spoke via satellite to the National Forum on Disability Issues, and told the group that the government needed to “relieve the burden on the VA from routine health care.”
“There’s gonna be large numbers of people who are afflicted, unfortunately with PTSD, and I believe we need to relieve the burden on the VA from routine healthcare,” McCain said. “Put more of our assets in treating -- the unique capabilities of the VA for the treatment of combat wounds, as you described them both seen and unseen. That means a veteran with a routine healthcare need, rather than go down to the VA and stand in line to stand in line to get an appointment to get an appointment, should be given a plastic card and say, if you have a routine healthcare need, take it wherever you want, to whatever doctor or healthcare provider and get the treatment you need. While we at the VA focus our attention, our care, and our love on these grievous wounds of war, both seen and unseen.”
Encouraging veterans to go outside the VA for “routine health-care needs” is not technically privatization, but encouraging the VA to “focus” their attention on “grievous wounds of war” might easily be interpreted as an effort to scale down the scope of care. And this is different than saying that his veterans’ card is for healthcare concerns “incurred in war.”
A spokesman for the campaign said that McCain has always considered his plan an “expansion of services” and that today’s speech was an attempt to alleviate any confusion.
McCain also went right after Obama, accusing him of shifting positions on the war, rationalizing that it is because of his "ambition to be president."
"I would rather lose an election than lose a war," McCain said, alluding to his line earlier this month, accusing Obama of being willing to lose a war in order to win an election.
McCain also tried to tear down Obama's judgment argument, saying the Illinois senator can't admit that the surge worked and reiterated that his opponent wants to "legislate failure" when it comes to Iraq.
McCain even added that both candidates want to end the war in Iraq and bring troops home, but only one wants to win it.
On Russia-Georgia, McCain called for isolation of the Russia by ousting it from the G8 and World Trade Organization. And he again took this hard line on Russia-Georgia, which echoes what he said in his weekly radio address this weekend: "When young democracies are threatened or attacked, and innocent civilians are targeted, they should be able to count on the free world for support and solidarity. If I am elected president, they will have that support. And in cooperation with our friends and allies in Europe, we will make it clear to Russia's rulers that acts of violence and intimidation come at a heavy cost. There will be no place among G-8 nations, or in the WTO, for a modern Russia that acts at times like the old Soviet Union."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also had tough talk for Russia on NBC's Meet the Press, saying she'd weigh the consequences with allies.
On energy, McCain claimed that "For some time now, I have been making the case for a dramatic acceleration of domestic energy production." But he only recently -- June -- reversed positions to move in favor of off-shore drilling.
Democrats, including Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have signaled their own willingness to move to inclusion of drilling provisions in a larger energy bill that calls for a stricter focus on alternative energy.
The Obama campaign responded this way: “All his bluster, distortions and negative attacks notwithstanding, it is hard to understand how Senator McCain can at once proclaim his support for the sovereign government of Iraq, and then stubbornly defy their expressed support for a timeline to remove our combat brigades from their country,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “The difference in this race is that John McCain is intent on spending $10 billion a month on an open-ended war, while Barack Obama thinks we should bring this war to a responsible end and invest in our pressing needs here at home.”
