Ignoring McCain's own votes against troop funding

Ignoring McCain's own votes against troop funding

Summary: The AP and the Los Angeles Times quoted Sen. John McCain's assertion that Sen. Barack Obama voted "to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job" in Iraq, without noting that McCain himself voted against bills that would have provided "funds to the soldiers" serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.


Reporting on Sen. Barack Obama clinching the Democratic presidential nomination on June 3, two separate AP articles and a Los Angeles Times report uncritically quoted Sen. John McCain's assertion that day that Obama voted "to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job" in Iraq. Yet, in these articles, neither the AP nor the Times pointed out that McCain himself voted against legislation that would have provided "funds to the soldiers" serving in Afghanistan and Iraq and directed more than $1 billion to the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as other legislation funding care for veterans.

A June 3 AP article by staff writer Libby Quaid stated, "Republican John McCain welcomed Democrat Barack Obama to the fall campaign for the White House on Tuesday with a blistering attack on his judgment and a charge that he 'voted to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job' in Iraq." Quaid later wrote:

"Senator Obama opposed the new strategy, and, after promising not to, voted to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job of carrying it out," McCain said.

A year ago, Obama voted against a funding bill for the Iraq war because it lacked a timetable for withdrawing troops. At the time, Obama said the bill would give Bush "a blank check to continue down this same, disastrous path."

On June 4, AP staff writers Tom Raum and Nedra Pickler reported:

McCain spoke first, in New Orleans, and he accused his younger rival of voting "to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job" in Iraq. It was a reference to 2007 legislation to pay for the Iraq war, a measure Obama opposed citing the lack of a timetable for withdrawing troops.

Similarly, in the June 4 Los Angeles Times article, writers Mark Z. Barabak and Michael Finnegan reported:

McCain brought up the war in a prime-time speech he delivered outside New Orleans, just before Clinton and Obama spoke. He accused Obama of voting "to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job" in Iraq -- referring to a 2007 war-funding bill that Obama opposed because it lacked a timetable for troop withdrawal.

None pointed out that on March 29, 2007, McCain himself voted against H.R. 1591, an emergency spending bill that would have funded the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and would have provided more than $1 billion in additional funds to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Senate passed H.R. 1591 by a margin of 51-47. Once the bill's conference report was agreed to by the House, the Senate again passed the measure on April 26, 2007, by a vote of 51-46. McCain did not vote on that version of the bill. By contrast, Obama voted for it on both occasions. President Bush vetoed the bill, citing its provision for a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Moreover, McCain has voted against other legislation funding care for veterans. On April 26, 2006, McCain voted against an amendment by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) that would have "provide[d] an additional $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans." In addition, on March 14, 2006, McCain voted against "increas[ing] Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes." On March 10, 2004, McCain also voted against "creat[ing] a reserve fund to allow for an increase in Veterans' medical care by $1.8 billion by eliminating tax loopholes." Obama voted for the first two measures; he had not yet entered the Senate when the third vote was cast.

The AP and Los Angeles Times articles continue a pattern, documented by Media Matters for America, in which the media uncritically report McCain's attacks on Democrats for voting against funding the troops, without noting that McCain has done so himself.

—K.H.

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