Barack Obama visited Montana again. This time he visited Billings to speak about veterans to an “invited” audience.

“Invited” audiences mean that you really don’t want to have people in attendance who disagree with you. Obama would not do any town hall meetings with John McCain because he could not control who attended.

It was reported that the invitees did not know how they got invited; they just received a call from Obama’s campaign staff. So they must have been on the campaign list – friendlies to say the least.

Montana’s junior senator, Jon Tester, reportedly showed up from his vacation to introduce Obama. Tester wore a tie and jacket. Wow! I have not heard if Tester asked for a free plane ride to Denver with Obama. That would be cool riding in a big airplane with a rock star!

Since I am a veteran, I think it’s appropriate to comment about veterans issues, which is more than I can say about Tester and Obama.

Both of these “non-veterans” serve on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and that is the major problem with veterans getting the benefits they deserve. Of course, Obama has made few meetings for that committee because he’s been campaigning for the last 19 months. Back in January, I reported that only six members of the 15 member Senate Veterans Affairs Committee actually served in the military. On the House side, the Veterans Affairs Committee has 29 members and only six are veterans.

We’ve seen the amount of money funneled into the VA system increase significantly (historical amounts) in the last seven years. Nobody can refute those numbers. So money is not the only answer to veteran’s problems.

The best answer is to give honorably discharged veterans healthcare from their local hospitals and clinics at a reduced cost. No travel needed. If you are honorably discharged, you get the healthcare with no priority levels. Those who have service-connected injuries would get those injuries cared for free of charge. Military retirees would get the same service and for their families. Much of the money used by the VA is used for building new clinics and hospitals or leasing them. That money could better be used for actual healthcare and by hiring more rating officials to reduce the time that it takes to get a claim rated.

Many veterans will remember that Tester proclaimed that since his brother served in the National Guard, this made him hunky-dorrie on military and veterans issues. Obama uses a grandfather as his basis for his expertise on veterans’ issues. It seems this is the Democrats’ angle with veterans. The brother and grandfather’s service is patriotic, but that does not mean Obama and Tester have exceptional insight on veterans issues.

Both lack the basic understanding of what it actually means to be a veteran. Both never signed their names on the line that gave the Government the right to send them any where in the world at a moment’s notice.

It was reported that, “Obama said that he understands the plight of U.S. veterans better than does his opponent, Sen. John McCain, who served in the U.S. Navy.”

Good grief. Obama needs to get a grip. McCain’s family has a proud history of service to our country in the military. Obama – not at all. McCain went to the Naval Academy, served in the Navy, was a POW for five years, and has two sons currently serving in the military. Veterans should have walked out after those remarks from Obama about their fellow veteran.

Many promises are made during a campaign and most never come to fruition. A classic example is the Tester campaign of 2006. Obama is making promises about more funding for veterans and better access to care. He knows little about the issue. A few veterans may take the bait, but most will vote for the man who has worn the uniform and sacrificed much for our country – a man who actually served in the military.