Organizing for America | PA Veterans for Obama: Looking for Real Leadership ... AGAIN!!

Looking for Real Leadership ... AGAIN!!

By Veterans For Obama - Volunteer Outreach Director - Oct 1st, 2008 at 3:55 pm EDT

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After serving in Iraq, one of the reasons I left Active Duty was because of the lack of accountability, and dearth of leadership willing to make the right choice. People willing to speak truth to power, and not tow the party line at the expense of so many of our best and brightest ... as a Veteran, today, I am here again.I just read that a handfull of former commanders of the VFW and American Legion endorsed Senator McCain, it could not possibly be for his voting record on Veterans issues. I have a question for these men - are they wiling to set aside their adoration of John McCain as one of them, in order to do the right thing for the next generation of Veterans? Are they willing to ignore the record of the man, and risk supporting a Candidate who so woefully supported their own Veterans Organizations legislative initiatives, and thus the health and welfare of those whom they once represented? These former leaders owe the next generation of Veterans the BEST, not a person who is promising to do better, but has no record to support it. Flag waving and War stories aside, these leaders have a sacred trust to ensure the next President of the United States will NOT vote like John McCain did for the past 20 years - Barack Obama is that man hands down. Are these gentlemen selling us out for a person who can swap War stories, and then strafe Veterans legislation on the floor of the Senate in favor of big buisness?If you are still asking why Senator McCain struggles with his abysmal voting record on Pro-Veterans legislation, let me suggest an answer – Senator McCain is no different than any other George Bush economic policy protégé in the past eight years, he proudly proclaims that “I voted with the president over 90 percent of the time, higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues.” So Senator McCain confidently gets a legislative “A” from George Bush, an “F” from the Disabled American Veterans and a “D” from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Senator Obama has been a Veterans advocate since before he came to the U.S Senate, has a consistent, and strong voting record in favor of Veterans, and has volunteered to serve on the US Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Why are not having this debate?Hopefully, by now, Americans have learned that largest increase in Veterans educational benefits was introduced by Senator Webb of Virginia was immediately supported by Senator Obama, and that Senator McCain and President Bush opposed the New GI Bill because they felt it was too generous and would hurt retention in spite of the fact that the Congressional Budget Office found that it would also help retention. When Senator McCain then inexplicably reverses position when he sees that the bill will pass even with his opposition, you begin to question the man’s heart. When Senator McCain fails to show on the Senate floor for the vote to pass the new GI Bill and attends a fundraiser instead, Veterans should begin to see the true picture of the man – laurels and all. When questioned on his non-support and absence from this historic vote, John McCain did not explain his opposition, he simply lashed out that he would not be lectured by a man that never served. I don't know any Veteran that would so readily wield their military service as a weapon to simultaneously deflect and then attack a legitimate question. Perhaps Senator McCain would have accepted lectures from the other 92 Senators who did show up to support the bill, or perhaps he would have accepted lectures from the Veterans of Foreign Wars who demanded the passage before McCain's attempt to back into supporting the bill.Senator McCain places his vote where the money is, and shamefully (or unabashedly as the case appears) leaves his fellow Veterans in the lurch. If Senator McCain truly puts his County First, then why has he Voted at least fifteen times to prioritize tax cuts and tax loopholes for Americas wealthiest over funding for Veterans? Since his election to the Senate in 1987, McCain has voted at least 15 times in favor of keeping tax cuts and various tax loopholes for America's top earners, instead of providing valuable funding for United States veterans. [2006 Senate Votes #7, 15, 41, 63, 67; 2005 Senate Vote #343; 2004 Senate Votes #40, 48; 2003 Senate Votes #74, 81, 83; 1996 Senate Vote #115; 1995 Senate Votes #226, 465, 466]. Why has this decorated combat Veteran not placed us first? The answer is simple, John McCain puts “Country First” when waving the flag suits his political interest to do so, but he puts the interest of wealthy Corporations, Wall Street, and the richest Americans first whenever possible. Perhaps John McCain knows that all he needs to do is stand on a stage behind photographs of his heroic return home from unimaginable imprisonment in the Hanoi Hilton, and Veterans will forget what he has failed to do for us since he was given a great trust in serving in the United States Senate. Perhaps it is those Countrymen making up to five million dollars a year that McCain is talking about putting first, I don’t know about you, but not too many Veterans I know fit that category, and I don’t know any that can’t count how many houses they own. I don’t know why John McCain has abandoned Veterans budget needs on the legislative floor, perhaps it is that Senator McCain just doesn’t understand the economics of the country, or his inexplicable position of allowing Iraqis to retain a $79 billion Oil surplus, while my fellow men and women in arms not only fight for their freedom on foreign soil, but then pay for it as well here at home. What I do know is that enough is enough. How about we start telling the truth about the candidates' Veterans voting record, and how about we start putting this Country’s Veterans First, not multimillionaires or Wall Street tycoons that leave the economy in shambles and our Nations Finest wondering who really has their back.

- Koby J. Langley

Fmr CPT, 82d Airborne Division

Operation Iraqi Freedom I

Veteran

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