Government Dirt

I really admire McCain as a genuine war hero, which is why it's so hard to understand why it's so hard to understand why he's letting down the current generation of heroes.

With Obama's encouragement, I've helped push the new GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Fund, even though I'm a microscopic part of the effort. I feel very strongly, and personally, that we all need to support returning veterans. I'm also looking at supporting two groups that directly support soldiers and their families.

To that end, I asked McCain, face to face in early May in NYC, about supporting the new GI Bill. He said that it would undermine recruitment and retention; doing the right thing for veterans is not relevant. (His claims turns out to be false, according to the Congressional Budget Office.)

I heard him talking, at a recent VFW event, the same way; McCain says that veterans' needs are not important, the priority is to serve the White House. As his team's admitted, they intend to continue the Bush/Cheney policy.

I talk to returning veterans and Veterans Administration rank and file, and they tell me currently policy to avoid giving veterans adequate medical support. (There's a huge backlog of claims, hundreds of thousands.)

If you want to support the troops, you need to do more than talk."