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Why Don’t Republicans Support Our Troops?

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Anonymous

Guest
Why Don’t Republicans Support Our Troops?
Friday, May 16, 2008
The next time the Republican party accuses someone of not supporting the troops, remember this:

http://www.theseminal.com/2008/05/15/morning-topic-why-dont-republicans-support-our-troops/

John McCain (and most other republicans) are refusing to support a bill to restore veteran’s benefits to the levels they were at after WWII. Their reason? They claim that it will hurt “troop retention” and encourage soldiers to leave the service.

Filed in Hypocrisy

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.
 

fff

Well-known member
They don't support our troops because they're all a bunch of cow flop that should be scooped up and put in the compost pile. Hopefully, enough of them will be in November so Dems will have a veto proof margin in Congress, no matter who's in the White House.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Dems Turn Up Heat on McCain Over Military Commitment
by FOXNews.com
Friday, May 23, 2008


Democrats are turning up the heat on John McCain in the one area that’s been relatively sacred this campaign season — military commitment.

Even as newly released medical records highlight the ailments McCain continues to suffer, stemming from his days as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, the presumptive GOP nominee is catching more flak for sitting out the vote on the GI bill expansion Thursday.

The measure would guarantee full college scholarships for those who serve in the military for three years.

“If our veterans want to go to college, they should be able to do so the minute their boots hit the ground,” says John Boccieri, an Air Force Reserve major and Ohio state senator, in the Democrats’ weekly radio address — in which McCain is a frequent target.

The Democratic Party released an early version of their radio address Friday, timed as millions of Americans head into Memorial Day weekend.

“Sadly, President Bush has threatened to veto the (GI) bill. Senator John McCain, who hopes to take his place, not only opposed it, but when given the opportunity to support his fellow veterans on the eve of Memorial Day weekend, didn’t even show up to vote nor express his concerns,” Boccieri says. ” … vetoing this measure will send a clear message that politics has defeated patriotism.”
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The Democratic-led Senate on Thursday passed the GI bill, sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and supported by Obama, on a 75-22 vote as 25 Republicans abandoned President Bush, who opposed it.

Obama and his rival, Hillary Clinton, returned to Washington for the vote. McCain stayed in California to campaign and raise money.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/23/dems-turn-up-heat-on-mccain-over-military-commitment/
 

Steve

Well-known member
Why Don’t Republicans Support Our Troops?

While I have not read the bill, and we haven't seen the final version, nor all the "earmarks" that are inserted in it.. I feel the idea of an education for all service members is well over-due again.. especially for combat vets..

I was fortunate enough to fall in the gap between the old GI bill and the new montgomery bill... so I had no "education bill" or benefits.. .. thanks to carter.. but was able to take full advantage of the VA education benefits...

I feel that the difference of pre-education income tax revenue and post-education income tax revenue would more then cover the cost of the education .. and that seems to be case with most vets who benefit from the GI bill,.

to say that it would hurt retention is not always true... it might encourage recruitment, and some may decide to do an additional tour to set themselves up financially to be able to go back to school,.

and it is about time the democrats actually tried to do something for the vets.. hopefully they won't load this down with "earmarks" and other crap that it gets passed...
 

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