John McCain gets tax-free disability pension (may raise fitness questions)

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-pension22apr22,0,485555.story?track=mostviewed-storylevel

John McCain gets tax-free disability pension

The disclosure of the Navy benefit for injuries incurred as a Vietnam POW may raise fitness questions.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 22, 2008

Sen. John McCain has long said he is in robust health and is strong enough to hike the Grand Canyon, but he also is receiving what his staff Monday termed a "disability pension" from the Navy.

[DJ13]

1. $58,000 per year for a disability from way back in Vietnam?

He must get better COLA's than I get.........

[VP505]

2. Want to bet how

fast any ordinary, less connected person would have to in the very least have to justify getting that disability payment or in the worst case have it taken away if they were in his situation?

[Ezlivin]

12. Not very...

I'm a 100% disabled veteran. I'm an ordinary guy. No connections at all. I got a disability pension.

When I went to rehab in Memphis I met another guy who broke his neck during basic training. He got a disability pension.

While I won't dispute the fact that some veterans get special care because of connections, most veterans only needed a doctor's recommendation to gain disability benefits when I was in the service. I've heard the requirements have tightened during the past few years, however.

[zanne]

3. Does anybody remember how, in 2000...

Bush Republicans were accusing McCain of being mentally unstable because of the years he spent as a POW and therefore unfit to become president? What happened to that?

[elehhhhna]

5. Duh! He finally became unstable enough to be their top candidate.

lmao

[zanne]

6. Dems need to make an ad

If we took the last ten years and pointed out the inconsistencies and hypocrisy of the Republican Party, in kind of a "speed slideshow", it'd get us more votes in November than any well-crafted speech.

[indepat]

8. Sadly, if McCain provided the Viet Cong with impermissible information, only two possible

conclusions could be drawn: (1) he was tortured past the breaking point and quite possibly would be physically and mentally unfit to be president and commander-in-chief of the armed services, or (2) he wimped, breaking his sacred duty to resist and therefore might well wimp again at some crucial juncture. Either way, he should not be the Republican nominee and should he be the Republican nominee, he should be soundly defeated. After all, Bush-lite (Hillary) will possibly be standing in line. In any event, we has met the enemy and it is we. In conclusion we, as a nation and a people, are fucked big-time and all the king's horses and all the king's men might not be able to put this broken society, nation, treasury, and economy back together again. :cry:

Edited to add an a.

[zanne]

9. I'm not saying it should be an issue.

It most certainly shouldn't be. I'm just in awe of the amount of hypocrisy the Republican Party can process without acknowledging it.

[indepat]

10. 'puke hypocrisy, mendacity, reichousness, duplicity, and disingenuousness know no bounds

:D

[kath]

4. uhh, doesn't a govt disability payment mean that you're considered to be incapable of ANY

meaningful employment?

[AZ Criminal JD]

11. No. He is not getting a civilian disability payment.

He is getting a military disability payment which uses far different standards.

[elizfeelinggreat]

7. TALK ABOUT WELFARE

Come on!

He's getting TWO government paychecks?

HELLO?


(sneaking in a sarcasm! just in case I wasn't understood)

[enough]

13. It seems to me bad form for a person as mega-wealthy as McCain to accept a veteran's pension.

There are so many who need it, and he cderainly does not. He should receive whatever honors and gratitude are due for his service, but should decline to take the money.

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. Bet poppy and babs collect SS payments, doncha think? Disgusting I know.

:puke:

[PsN2Wind]

14. Bob Dole

has been receiving disability for over 60 years for injuries in WWII.

[elias7]

15. OK, why would a gainfully employed and wealthy man be getting disability?

Disability payments are meant to provide income when one is unable to provide for one's own income due to that disability. Once he found gainful employment, his disability (whatever that was) is no longer relevant to his ability to earn an income, and so, payments should not be continued.

[dflprincess]

18. In theory I agree

but, given the government's inability to keep in touch with reality when it attaches a means test for benefits, more people are probably better off if this one stays as is. If the VA starts attaching an earned income cap to disability they'll decide that someone who can work as a Walmart greeter earns too much money to get benefits.

Better a few creeps like McCain get the benefits than we risk people who actually need the help losing it.

[KharmaTrain]

16. He Has To Be Attacked On His Lack Of Support For Veterans

This is tricky. While I believe his military record prior to his capture (poor grades, Forestal explosion) are fair game for examination...getting into his POW or his status is asking for a lot of corporate media backlash. There's many other ways to go after Gramps...go after his military record as a "legislator"...there's a ton to dig in there and far more current and relevent.

Any person who served the military...especially in a war...and fulfilled their service, should get the best care possible...even if they can afford it. It's Gramps who is huring his fellow veterans with his votes against benefits assistance or the Walter Reed fiasco. His votes against veterans should be front and center...not his pension.