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Morning Topic: Why Don't Republicans Support Our Troops? |
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John McCain and a host of other Republicans have refused to support the Jim Webb G.I. bill (s.22) that would grant members of the military, once they left the armed forces, the same benefits that were received by those who served during and after World War II. While Webb will try to add the bill to the Iraq-Afghanistan supplemental appropriations bill, the Republicans tried a sneak attack by trying to get a weak version of the bill added to an unrelated bill about collective bargaining. The differences between Webb's bill and the weaker GOP bill as introduced by McCain's Senate lapdog, Lindsey Graham? Webb's bill allows full educational benefits after 36 months of service, while in the watered-down Graham bill it takes 12 years of service to get them. Webb's bill ties the value of the benefit to actual public institution tuition, while the Graham bill's benefit is maxed at $2000 and then indexed to inflation rather than actual educational costs. So the Democrats got 6 Republicans to join them to defeat the "save political face while pretending to offer a real alternative" amendment.
So what do veterans think? Well the Air Force Times has two veterans' groups supporting the Webb bill.
The GI Bill is a cost of war as much as any other expenditure,” said Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans, founded in 2004. “Any member of Congress who votes for a $170 billion war bill and then votes against the GI Bill is nickel-and-diming our troops. Veterans of all generations will be outraged by that decision.”
Marty Conatser, national commander of the American Legion, said that when the Legion fought in 1944 for the original World War II GI Bill, “even some veterans’ groups complained that it would break the treasury.”
“Instead, the GI Bill transformed the economy and has been widely hailed as the greatest domestic legislation Congress has ever passed,” said Conatser, whose organization has 2.7 million members.
Stars and Stripes points out just how much "heftier" the Webb bill is for veterans:
Retired Army Col. Bob Norton, an education benefits expert with the Military Officers Association of America, said Graham’s bill does have some terrific features. But Norton said only the Webb bill delivers on both goals set for GI Bill reform by The Military Coalition, a consortium of service associations and veterans groups. First, it would raise benefits enough to cover at least the average cost of a public college education and has an effective mechanism to keep them there.
Second, it would allow Reserve and Guard members to earn the same GI Bill entitlement as active duty troops, depending on length of active duty service. The Graham/Burr/McCain bill has no such provision, Norton said.
So the military press tells us that the veterans need the benefits and see that the Webb bill is much preferable to the Republican alternative, yet McCain, Ted Stevens and most other Republicans are worried that the Webb bill is so generous that it will hurt "troop retention" and encourage them to leave.
Funny, but I thought the tragedy that is known as the War in Iraq was doing a fine job of that all by itself.
Thank you!!!!
It seems like I was the only one who noticed. Ever since the start of the war, I have been saying that the Bush Administration has been cutting benefits for veterans, (which were inadequate before,) even as they are creating ever more veterans of war. And many of those Veterans have life altering injuries and will require, and deserve, life long services. I do not hear my Democratic party shouting about it either. Why not? It is (another) national disgrace.
This week Pres. Bush said something to the effect that he gave up golf as a sign of support for our troops. It didn't seem right to him to be playing golf while our troops were at war. (That is one of those things you are expected to do. You don't get to brag about it.) As if that wasn't insulting enough in itself, he didn't even do that. I saw a post on the internet today showing him playing golf about 2 months after he claimed to have stopped playing.
If Pres. Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about an extra-marital affair, then George Bush should be tried for treason for all he has done and lied about. Where is Ken Star now?
Of all the shameful mistakes of our government, past and present, not caring for our Veterans is one of our most disgraceful. We recruit children not old enough to drink beer, have them put their lives on the line, and if they live through the experience, we cannot even keep our promise to care for them after they come home. A disabled veteran has to "prove" he is disabled, and prove the extent of his disability, before being eligible for any benefits. This is totally unacceptable and is an embarrassment to all patriotic citizens. Why are the Republicans doing this, and why am I not hearing the Democrats doing anything about it?
Holding up a tiny United States Flag on Veteran's day or wearing a flag lapel pin to work does not count as supporting our troops or the Veterans they will become when discharged.
Michael Lashinsky
Excellent post. This is definitely something the Obama campaign should bring up this fall. Everyone needs to know about this. Another reason to select Webb as VP. I'm leaning more and more towards him even though he's a bit conservative for my tastes.
I really don't know anything about Webb. I need to do some homework. Thanks
Official Urged Fewer Diagnoses of PTSD
A psychologist who helps lead the post-traumatic stress disorder program at a medical facility for veterans in Texas told staff members to refrain from diagnosing PTSD because so many veterans were seeking government disability payments for the condition.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008 051503533.html