6/30/2008 - McCain and the New G.I. Bill |
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I've been wanting to blog about this travesty from John McCain but never felt I had the time to do it justice. I suggest having a look at THIS PIECE to read some particularly astute commentary on the situation with some good links.
Senator Jim Webb's "New G.I. Bill" has been one of the most successful, bipartisan pieces of legislation to come along. It gives educational benefits to vets that most of probably presumed they already had. But, of course, John McCain and his buddy George W. Bush were against it. [Quick note to say that Paul Reichoff from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has been a tireless advocate for this legislation and one hopes that he has a nice long vacation somewhere nice once this bad boy is in the basket. Also, kudos to Air America for giving this issue LOTS of attention including weekly interviews with and updates from Paul Reichoff.] McCain was against it because he said it would make it too attractive for vets to leave the service. However, independent government studies showed that the rise in the numbers of people not re-upping their military service commitment would be matched and then some by the increase in recruitment that would result. McCain went so far as to offer his own bill, one that forced our military personnel to wait much longer to accrue the benefits. It went down in flames. Why on earth Bush and McCain thought this was a good battle to fight, I have no idea. This bill has the backing of more veterans groups than the original GI Bill did. It has almost unanimous support. In fact, on the last vote, it was 92-6. Only two senators didn't show up to vote. One was Ted Kennedy who is recovering from a malignant brain tumor. The other was McCain who was too busy campaigning. Senator Obama made time to vote however. Anyway, now that the Bush administration has backed down from the veto threat, McCain is jumping on the bandwagon and claiming a piece of this delicious pie that he's been fighting against all along. Read the piece and have a look a the video of him taking credit. Unreal. Truly unreal. This pathetic excuse for a presidential candidate is so not going to win in November. I'm just sayin'... |
6/30/2008 - birdsnest Said... |
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but according to mccain we cant trust obamas word.
he's a liar. hey pot? yeah kettle? you're black. |
6/30/2008 - Aielman Said... |
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I'm going to paraphrase something a buddy of mine, who's currently active duty, had to say about this when we discussed it on one of the boards I'm a member of.
Before we talk about the new one, it might help to know a bit about what is already offered. Currently, anyone in the military can apply for tuition assistance, including reserve forces. Back when I was active duty, the amount you got was based upon your rank. Anyone E-1 through E-4 could get 75% of the costs of courses/books and anyone E-5 and higher (including officers) got 90% of the cost. They have since changed that so that everyone gets the same and upped the percentage 100%. They use this as a recruitment tool, but don't cover the fine print. In order to attend college classes, you must have the time to do so. If your duty schedule keeps you from attending classes and your command can not or will not accommodate your schedule, you're basically screwed out of any tuition assistance. This is proportionally harder on the lower ranks, E-1 through E-4, as they are more likely to have weekend or night duty than those E-5 and higher. Just to clarify, this money is not coming from the G.I. Bill. The money used for this tuition assistance comes from the respective services budget. The G.I. Bill was a way to address this disparity, but only kicks in after your enlistment is completed. The Bill has undergone many changes over the years and has very little to do with what it was when I served. There have been at least four different programs that cover the broad topic of G.I.Bill. Some of these required that the service person pay into an account that would then be doubled and avaiable only for certain accredited courses upon discharge. The newer ones do not require the service person to pay in and have steadily increased the breadth of courses available for compensation (includes a lot more trade schools/technical colleges). Everybody who qualifies upon discharge is eligible for the most recent GI Bill, even those who were previously covered under the old GI Bill. The newest proposal to the Gi Bill would essentially pay the full price, including lodging, for a four year college/university education for anyone who completes a minimum amount of active duty service. I don't really see how this will necessarily boost enlistment nubers as it is not adding anything that current active duty members aren't already receiving. It would certainly relieve the financial burden on those who are not afforded the opportunity to pursue higher education while on active duty by paying for lodging. Quite a few people disagree with Bush and McCain's position that it would hurt retention. But here is something to think about before you make that decision. The Army and Marine Corps have exceeded their retention goals for the past five years. The Navy has met it's goals barely, but the Air Force has not. As was said earlier, junior enlisted members are usually unable to avail themselves of the educational benefits offered during active duty enlistments due to their duty requirements, and it's that group, the junior enlisted, that are normally the hardest to retain. If we give them an incentive for getting out, as the new G.I. Bill does, I can see the retention of first termers possibly going down. It has also been proposed that maybe they could implement it on a sliding scale based upon years of service. I could agree with that, and it would more than likely blunt the possibility of numbers going down as a result of the new bill. Overall, I'm happy that Congress is finally addressing the full educational costs for veterans. I would love to see people be able to finish up their 20 years active service and know that not only would would they have a paycheck coming in for the rest of their life, but be able to attend college/university/vocational school and know that their bills could/would be paid without me having to find a part time job. As I said, there are pros and cons. The pros is that it MIGHT induce more to enlist. The cons are that it MIGHT indeed hurt retention for that portion of those eligible to reenlist who have historically been the hardest to retain. The subject can be argued equally from both sides, which is what I have attempted to do. Your mileage may vary. |
6/30/2008 - texican Said... |
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All I remember about my GI Bill was that I got about 11k after putting in $1200. Not a bad deal.
Actually, McCain's statement in that video was brilliantly worded. He said, "...we..." Yeah, that will make some people believe that he supported the bill when he really didn't and, when and if he's pressed on the issue, he can always claim that it was taken out of context and that he meant the Senate as a group. Still a slimy bastard, regardless. |
6/30/2008 - jeeps Said... |
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Fair treatment for vets!
No more empty promises!! |
6/30/2008 - Aielman Said... |
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Fix the VA. The GI bill really was only missing a housing/expenses allowance, and that really is less of an issue than many other more important problems, And as long as you didn't go to an expensive university, you could swing that because they give you a lump sum, not the exact amount of tuition. Other than that it was pretty much fine.
The VA needs some serious work though. |
6/30/2008 - DeeJay Said... |
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I see a number of my students opting to go into the military because they believe it the only way they will be able to pay for college. These young men and women are willing to take the risks involved by possibly being sent to war so they can have a chance to get to college. I find it very sad, and most definitely support any government action necessary to ensure they can ultimately get to college via this avenue. |
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Name: Mr. E (get it?) Location: Ann Arbor-ish, Michigan, USA, Earth EFx2Blogger since: September 19, 2007 |
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Some folks sleep on a problem, but you can camp on one as well. Camping is for the mind what a high-speed run on the highway is for a car. It tends to blow out all the sludge that accumulates in the type of urban driving most of us are forced to do in order to earn a living.-- Tim Cahill
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