Something about this story sounds fishy... John McCain is collecting disability payments based on injuries he sustained when shot down, imprisoned, and tortured during the Vietnam War.
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.When McCain released his tax return for 2007 on Friday, he separately disclosed that he received a pension of $58,358 that was not listed as income on his return.
On Monday, McCain's staff identified the retirement benefit as a "disability pension" and said that McCain "was retired as disabled because of his limited body movements due to injuries as a POW."
McCain campaign strategist Mark Salter said Monday night that McCain was technically disabled. "Tortured for his country -- that is how he acquired his disability," Salter said.
There's no question that McCain served America heroically, but from what I've seen he doesn't appear to be disabled. In fact, he appears to be far more robust than many younger men. Maybe military disability payments don't work according to my intuition, but shouldn't they be used to compensate people who are unable to work because of their injuries? McCain has been drawing a Senatorial salary for decades, which would appear to undermine a claim that his injuries have hindered him professionally.
On the other hand, maybe military disability payments are intended as compensation for injuries, regardless of their effect on a person's productivity. Are they just ongoing payouts for transitory pain, suffering, and disability? Should McCain be getting paid because he is still unable to raise his arms above his shoulders? I don't know the answers to all these questions, but it seems odd to me that a man capable of serving as a US Senator is considered to be so disabled that he requires disability payments to sustain him.
(Note: If someone were to propose it, I could potentially support a system that gives monetary rewards to American troops who act with great heroism, but I don't think disability payments are an appropriate way to accomplish that goal in an unofficial manner.)
Military disability payments are based on suffering an injury during the course of duty that inflicts permanent disability. It is based on a percent system, i.e. someone judged 30% disabled would get 30% of their military pay for the rest of their life, adjusted for inflation, plus some benefits. In McCain's case, it is easy to see how a 25-35% disability (he has something like 50% range of motion in both arms), adjusted for inflation over 30 odd years could run into $60k/year.
Thankfully I've never had to delve into the details of disability payments of any sort, but I thought that they depended on showing that your injuries were a hindrance to earning a livelihood. For Social Security disability you have to demonstrate that you're incapable of working, which McCain obviously isn't. I guess military disability is different.
Michael,
There are several different types of disability a vet can receive. Which type depends on a variety of things, including degree of disability, time in service, etc. Permanent Disability Retirement, which is what I think Rob was referring to, is in effect when a service member has 20 years+ of active service, and or 7200 retirement point for Reserve Component troops. I don't know which type Sen. McCain receives.
The VA's schedule for rating disabilities, the standard by which the VA and each branch of service measures disabling service-connected injuries, aggravation of pre-existing conditions, and illnesses, have different foci depending on who's using the schedule and for what purpose. The military uses this rating schedule to determine how injuries/illnesses impact the service member's ability to perform his/her military job.
The VA focuses on the impact service connected injuries/illnesses have on employability or an ability to continue working in a particular career field, but also on how injuries/illnesses impact the service member/vet's quality of life.
In addition, I'm not sure how, given McCain's rank and military pay rates in the 70s, that he could get $60k/year regardless of parity/inflation increases. VA disability compensation, top of the world, is $2,500/month non-taxable assuming a 100% disability rating, with extra pay for loss of limbs or total loss of use of limbs, the number of dependents one has, etc. If McCain is in fact receiving $60k a year in disability benefits, that income must be coming from multiple sources. We broke d!cks don't rate so high as to receive $60k/year plus bennies.