DAV Rankings Of Congresspersons on Veterans Issues

[Rogue]

I'm increasingly of the opinion that the reason D's favor VA funding more than R's is because the Veteran's Administration has become so efficient and competitive that it presents a viable argument for gubmint run healthcare. Otherwise, why the difference on party lines?
Maybe there's other reasons?

Of course I'm blatantly stirring the pot here; I'm also legitimately interested in hearing opinions about why this is the case.

Based on 2006 voting records. It may surprise you. (http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_detail.php?r_id=3483)


Disabled American Veterans


Year: 2006
Issue: Veterans Issues
Website: http://www.dav.org
Email:

Address:
807 Maine Avenue, Southwest
Washington, DC 20024
"Formed in 1920 and chartered by Congress in 1932, the million-member DAV is the official voice of America's service-connected disabled veterans -- a strong, insistent voice that represents all of America's 2.1 million disabled veterans, their families and survivors.

The votes listed under the Key Votes section of the DAV web site are recorded roll call votes. They are related to important issues, such as:

* Budget
* Appropriations
* Amendments to increase funding
* Emergency supplemental funding for VA

In most cases, with recorded votes, we have notified members of Congress of what our position is, how we wanted them to vote, and why.

It is possible that elected officials supported other veteran-related issues that have not been recorded on our site. Our site is not a comprehensive voting record.

DAV is a non-partisan organization. It is not our intent to be political or to endorse or oppose any candidate for public office by posting these votes; simply to report the facts—how they voted on issues important to us and our members, and that, in most cases, we have made our interest known."


State Office District Name Party Rating
AZ U.S. Senate Sr John McCain Republican 20
ID U.S. Senate Sr Larry Craig Republican 20
IL U.S. Senate Jr Barack Obama Democratic 80
OK U.S. House 1 John Sullivan Republican 66
OK U.S. House 2 David Daniel Boren Democratic 100
OK U.S. House 3 Frank Lucas Republican 66
OK U.S. House 4 Tom Cole Republican 66
OK U.S. Senate Sr James Inhofe Republican 40
OK U.S. Senate Jr Thomas Allen Coburn Republican 40
TN U.S. Senate Sr Lamar Alexander Republican 40
TN U.S. House 2 John Duncan Republican 66



Yeah, I threw Larry Craig in there. He's from my home state and was vocally a proponent of veterans issues, even chaired the veterans affairs committee for awhile if memory serves. Texas looks pretty much like Oklahoma, just a longer list. And Lamar Alexander and John Duncan are from my district.

[soonersn20xx]

Wow, Obama has a 80% approval rating from a non-partisan Vets organization on voting issues and McCain is 20%. How dare you sir post something that is blatantly a moveon.org lie. :rolleyes:

[Rogue]

I know better'n to think this'll be the first and only civil-toned political thread on the SO. But I can hope.

So, is the DAV really that non-partisan after all?

Oh, one caveat that McCain's folk have made a point of highlighting...bills with veterans funding in recent years have had more pork attached to them and this is why JM says he didn't approve of many of them. That's consistent with his anti-pork history.

[olevetonahill]

If and when Congress gives the Pres. a Line item Veto .
Then we can accurately Judge the Potus
I usually Judge who Im voting for On the DAV ( of which Im a Paid up Life member )
and the NRA ( of which Im a Paid up Life member) :D

[Rogue]

If and when Congress gives the Pres. a Line item Veto .
Then we can accurately Judge the Potus
I usually Judge who Im voting for On the DAV ( of which Im a Paid up Life member )
and the NRA ( of which Im a Paid up Life member) :D

Good point about the line-item veto.
I've said all along that neither of these guys (both of which I like otherwise) is good for us gun-enthusiasts.
In the end, I expect the NRA will declare JM the "lesser of 2 evils" for NRA purposes. But they don't like the records of either JM or BO on guns.


http://voluntarilyconservative.blogspot.com/2008/02/goa-mccain-no-better-than-cinton-or.html


Friday, February 22, 2008

GOA: McCain No Better than Cinton or Obama on Guns
I read this column by Pastor Chuck Baldwin that made some serious allegations against Republican Nominee-in-waiting John McCain and his record on the Second Amendment and firearms rights.

So I decided to look into McCain's record. Here are the ratings by Gun Owners of America for John McCain over the past several election years:

2006 - F-
2004 - F-
2002 - C-
2000 - C-
This is no better than Obama (F) or Clinton (F-) received.

From what I can tell, McCain's last ranking of significance from the NRA was a C+.


NRA objects to McCain-Feingold...no surprise there. (http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=203)

A NRA site search for "mccain" - interesting stuff. (http://www.nraila.org/Search/?keyword=mccain)

[olevetonahill]

Ive said it befor But I will say it again .
I always thot I was a Conservative till I took a Poli quiz a few years back .
Seems according to My Answers I'm a Libertarian Border Line Anarchist
:D

[Rogue]

Ive said it befor But I will say it again .
I always thot I was a Conservative till I took a Poli quiz a few years back .
Seems according to My Answers I'm a Libertarian Border Line Anarchist
:D

:eek: That was a few years before the establishment of OVJ too, right?

[olevetonahill]

:eek: That was a few years before the establishment of OVJ too, right?

Prolly
I might need to find another one
I may be All the way Anarchist Now :D :D :D

[Frozen Sooner]

I'm increasingly of the opinion that the reason D's favor VA funding more than R's is because the Veteran's Administration has become so efficient and competitive that it presents a viable argument for gubmint run healthcare. Otherwise, why the difference on party lines?
Maybe there's other reasons?

Of course I'm blatantly stirring the pot here; I'm also legitimately interested in hearing opinions about why this is the case.

Based on 2006 voting records. It may surprise you. (http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_detail.php?r_id=3483)



Yeah, I threw Larry Craig in there. He's from my home state and was vocally a proponent of veterans issues, even chaired the veterans affairs committee for awhile if memory serves. Texas looks pretty much like Oklahoma, just a longer list. And Lamar Alexander and John Duncan are from my district.


That's odd, as McCain has claimed to have a perfect voting recond with the DAV. The DAV must be mistaken.

[olevetonahill]

:eek: That was a few years before the establishment of OVJ too, right?

Response to your Spek ? sent In a return spek :cool:

[Whet]

Let's hear Barry's stance from GOA:

Obama to Get the Dems 'Barack' into the Business of Gun Control
by Erich Pratt
Director of Communications
It sounded like a report from the National Enquirer. Dick Cheney and Barack Obama... cousins?
Say it ain't so, Mrs. Cheney.
But in fact, the Vice-President's wife revealed this bombshell in her recent book, Blue Skies, No Fences. According to Lynne Cheney, the current veep and the Illinois Democrat Senator, who wants to be the next president, are distant cousins -- eighth cousins, to be exact.1
When hit with this revelation, the Obama campaign took the news in stride, saying that, "Every family has a black sheep."2
All kidding aside, it's too bad that Dick Cheney and Barack Obama didn't do more shooting and target practice together in their youth, because today, they couldn't be more polar opposites when it comes to the Second Amendment.
Whereas one would be hard-pressed to find an anti-gun vote on Cheney's House record -- as he served the state of Wyoming for many years -- Obama's gun record is just simply atrocious.
Oh sure, Obama told Iowa radio listeners last year that he is a "strong believer" in the rights of hunters and sportsmen, and that homeowners should have a firearm "to protect their home and their family." But then in the next breath, he says, "It's hard for me to find a rationale for having a 17-clip semiautomatic [sic]."3
Good thing the ban on magazines that Obama supports was not in effect during the Los Angeles riots of 1992. That's when Korean merchants successfully used their semi-autos -- with large magazines containing multiple rounds -- to keep looters away from their stores. Their businesses remained standing, even while many others (which were left unprotected) burned to the ground.
Obama supports the existing gun control laws on the books. Nowhere in his literature or in his campaign speeches does he stake out a position in favor of repealing any gun control measure that has passed into law.
Not surprisingly, Obama supports the gun ban in the nation's capital, saying the "DC handgun law is constitutional."4 And he is opposed to people using guns for self-defense, when those guns are owned in localities like Washington, DC and Chicago where firearms are banned.
Illinois resident Hale DeMar was prosecuted by the town of Wilmette for using a handgun in his home to defend his family in 2003. Because Wilmette had imposed a ban on the possession of handguns, several Illinois state legislators introduced SB 2165 to protect the right of self-defense for residents like DeMar.
True to form, Obama voted against the pro-gun legislation.5
It is very telling that Obama moved further to the left than most of the liberal legislators in his state. The self-defense bill protecting gun owners like DeMar passed the state senate 41-16 and was later enacted into law over the governor's veto (and over Obama's opposition).
The concealed carry of firearms is another important issue for gun owners, and yet Obama is not only opposed to citizens carrying guns, he supports using federal laws to override those states which currently allow the practice.
In 2004, Obama said he supports a national ban on concealed carry because the states that allow it are "threatening the safety of Illinois residents."6 Never mind the fact that concealed carry laws have improved the safety of citizens in the states that have enacted such laws.7
Obama has also taken a strong position in favor of the Clinton semi-auto ban which sunset in 2004. "I believe we need to renew -- not roll back -- this common sense gun law," Obama said.8
Well, there's nothing that's "common sense" about the Clinton ban. Not only did it outlaw almost 200 types of firearms, legislators like Senator Chuck Schumer of New York tried to amend the law (before it sunset) to include additional types of semi-autos -- even banning classic (wood-stock) long guns such as the Remington shotgun which Senator John Kerry received as a gift during his 2004 presidential bid.9
Bottom line: Senator Obama may not be as gun ban-crazed as the infamous Chuck Schumer. He may not lay awake at night dreaming of ways to disarm honest gun owners. But sure enough, Obama is a committed anti-gunner.
The chart below lays out the key votes and positions that Sen. Obama has taken over the past few years.

[Rogue]

Whet, Pratt has nothing good to say about McCain either...for many years he hasn't.

GOA's Erich Pratt on McCain: (http://www.gunowners.org/mcad.htm)


www.gunowners.org
May 2001
Two Thumbs Down for McCain's Gun Control Ad
by
Erich Pratt
(May 2001)

Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona has appeared onscreen in many theaters, peddling a dangerous and very explosive propaganda -- thanks to an anti-gun group based out of Washington, D.C., which is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to run the political ad as a trailer in theaters this spring.

Urging parents to lock up their guns at home, Sen. McCain says "we owe it to our children to be responsible by keeping our guns locked up."

This might sound "responsible" at first blush, until one realizes this one-size-fits-all approach can be deadly.

The reason? People don't know exactly when they will wake up and find themselves under attack. Like the Japanese zeros, criminals do not phone ahead and tell their victims to prepare for an assault.

Locking up one's guns might sound to some like the "responsible" thing to do. But if, God forbid, you should have to use your gun in an emergency, you can be sure of one thing: the thug in your home will not have a trigger lock on his gun.

And neither should you, for locking up your safety can have serious consequences.

....
Some parents might think so, and if they choose to lock away their safety that should be their own decision. Politicians like John McCain should not make that choice for them.

...Why then do some people have such a tremendous fear of guns?

Quite frankly, they do so because there are politicians like John McCain who are scaring people to death, frightening them into locking up their best means of self-defense.




http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/leading-gopcandidates-causing-angst-among-2nd-amendment-organizations-2007-04-16.html

It goes on and on. Google "Erich Pratt and John McCain" and you'll get the drift. The NRA is no fan of either of the frontrunners.

[olevetonahill]

Whet, Pratt has nothing good to say about McCain either...for many years he hasn't.

GOA's Erich Pratt on McCain: (http://www.gunowners.org/mcad.htm)



http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/leading-gopcandidates-causing-angst-among-2nd-amendment-organizations-2007-04-16.html

It goes on and on. Google "Erich Pratt and John McCain" and you'll get the drift. The NRA is no fan of either of the frontrunners.

But of the 2 Isnt JSM gettin the NRA Nod ?

[Rogue]

Mebbe. Mebbe Not. (http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/leading-gopcandidates-causing-angst-among-2nd-amendment-organizations-2007-04-16.html)


Pratt said his group is stingy with its endorsements. The last presidential candidate they backed was Ronald Reagan, and given the current leaders of the field, they might not endorse this time, either.

[Frozen Sooner]

I know better'n to think this'll be the first and only civil-toned political thread on the SO. But I can hope.

So, is the DAV really that non-partisan after all?

Oh, one caveat that McCain's folk have made a point of highlighting...bills with veterans funding in recent years have had more pork attached to them and this is why JM says he didn't approve of many of them. That's consistent with his anti-pork history.

I don't know, from his history with the ladies it seems he's rather pro-pork. :D

[Tulsa_Fireman]

http://www.cactusjuice.com/blog/2006ASU/St-Pauli-Girl-Brittany-Evans.jpg

I'd insert some pork myself.