McCain on the StumpSpeech Deceiving Vets.....

August15, 2008
Susan Golden

Earlier this week, John McCain was out stumping and blatantly lying that he was the one to legislate for the increase in death benefits for our troops at war in Iraq& Afghanistan.

This is not true. As a matter of fact, the truth is that it wasn’t until the Don Imus, 'Imus in the Morning' Show, on MSNBC, which McCain was a frequent guest, brought to the embarrassment and the DISGRACE to the Senator regarding the $6,000.00, yes SIX THOUSAND dollar death benefit in 2003,2004,2005 for our troops. All one has to do is get the transcripts and Imus gave credit after legislation was passed to Rick Santorum of PA not John McCain!

Maybe McCain was referencing the first increase to $12, 400, but was still scolded by IMUS! Imagine that! And Imus is and always was a big supporter of John McCain

As a matter of fact, it was CHUCK HAGEL, NOT MCCAIN!

Jan. 26: Is the troops' death benefit enough? Families of fallen service members and one senator are hoping to change the amount paid out. NBC's Bob Faw reports.

Three years later,
NBC Correspondent
TODAY
Updated 2:09 p.m. CT,
Wed., Jan. 26, 2005
Ben was the love of Stacey’s life. In 2003, when Marine Captain Benjamin Sammis, a helicopter pilot, was killed in Iraq, Stacey was devastated — emotionally, and financially.
Since Ben, 29, had not bought the $250,000 life insurance policy the military makes available, the death benefit the government paid his widow was just $6,000.
“I guess it did seem kind of low,” said Sammis. “I mean, I'm not getting my husband back, and here's a $6,000 check. I guess, at that time, it seemed a little absurd.”
That figure has now been raised to just over $12,400, but Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., says it's still too low. He's campaigning for the benefit to be raised to $100,000.
“We spend billions and billions of dollars on things that never work,” said Hagel. “Certainly to invest in our people, in our warrior's families, seems to me the least we can do.”
The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, headquartered on the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, tries to add on to the government’s benefit and provide grieving military families with extra assistance. Relying solely on private contributions, it gives $11,000 to each surviving spouse and $5,000 for each dependent child.
For spouses like Sammis, who moved from California to be near her husband's grave at Arlington National Cemetery, it is impossible to assign a dollar figure to any life.
“Every day I wake up, I deal with it,” said Sammis. “Every second of every day, I think about what's missing in my life.”
But she believes that raising the $12,400 figure would be appropriate.
“I'm proud of him. And he went willingly,” she said. “However, he needs to be paid for the sacrifice.”
A life lost, a marriage destroyed, and a crying need, many argue, for a government to do more.