About 'us senator mccain'|Thank You Senator McCain for Listening to Us!
The Webb-Hagel GI Bill has passed both chambers of Congress and is awaiting the president's signature or veto. Bush has publicly stated many times that he will veto the legislation, calling it a "partisan trick," although a large number of Republicans support it as well. The president maintains that it will cause many returning veterans not to re-enlist, referring to a Government Budget Office report that estimates that 16% of returning troops will opt to go to school other than re-up for duty. What Bush doesn't tell anybody is that the GBO report also stated that there would be an estimated 16% in new enlistments due to an updating of the GI Bill. Republican presidential candidate John McCain has also maintained that he is opposed to the bill, stating that it is a bad idea and that he supports the president in this matter. Further than that, Senator McCain does not seem to want to go. But he should. A veteran himself, Senator McCain no doubt understands the importance of the recruiting draw of the GI Bill of Rights. He also must understand that a better educated veteran stands to do better in the job market as well. So why the refusal to support the bill? One could surmise that McCain is against the legislation because of other measures that it is tied to, like the 13-week extension of unemployment benefits for those whose unemployment benefits have expired (perhaps to be contingent upon -- they aren't finished with the details -- whether the unemployment rate in an individual's state is 6% or higher). Or perhaps he opposes it because it is tied to the next military appropriations bill. No, he wants the military to be able to conduct its business as usual, so that can't be it. Regardless, the legislation has passed by an overwhelming majority in both the House and the Senate. Could it be that there is something specific in the expanded Webb-Hagel GI Bill that bothers him? If so, he isn't saying what it is. In fact, when Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) first introduced the bill his first day as a senator in January, 2007, it began to gain bipartisan support. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NB) signed on as co-sponsor. Together they forged a bipartisan support for the legislation that has swept the bill to its present stage. Senator Webb -- who, like Senators Hagel and McCain, served in Vietnam -- has called for John McCain's endorsement from the start, hoping to get the support of the Senate's most storied veteran, knowing that with McCain's support even more senators and representatives would likely support the bill. But all to no avail. Needless to say, Senator McCain's stance on the Webb-Hagel GI Bill is unpopular. Many veterans groups across the country question his judgment. VoteVets.org took the senator from Arizona to task for not bothering to show up to vote for the bill, instead choosing to attend a fundraiser in California for his presidency hosted by San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos. Jon Soltz, an Iraq War veteran and the Chairman of VoteVets.org issued the statement: "Senator McCain knows how tough things are for those fighting in Iraq, and when they get home. All of us would love to spend time getting money and talking football. But, sometimes there are more important things to do in life. This is one of those times when Senator McCain could have showed some leadership by canceling his events and heading back to DC for this debate." And this isn't the first time Senator McCain has been seen as neglectful of his military brethren. According to ThinkProgress.org, back in September, McCain told Congress that he hoped it would reject another of Senator Webb's bill that called for extending time between deployments for troops. McCain said that extended leaves between deployments "would create chaos." Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama has also chastised McCain for his refusal to support the Webb-Hagel GI Bill. He has asked his audiences how a man running for president ask troops to stay in Iraq indefinitely when he won't even support a bill that simply gives the troops what they have been promised and what they deserve upon completion of their duties. This refusal also gives Obama the added ammunition of maintaining that Senator John McCain will simply continue the failed policies of outgoing president Bush. So what does the Webb-Hagel GI Bill actually entail? What the legislation is set up to do is to update the financial parameters of the original GI Bill of Rights passed in 1944 and signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. That GI Bill would be updated and expanded to account for the costs of college (including living expenses) for four years by today's standards at any in-state institution of the veteran's choice after serving three years. Since the most any GI (or any other military personnel) can hope to receive under the old bill is $9600 every year for four years, an amount that does not even begin to touch the tuition of some in-state colleges, the Webb-Hagel GI Bill would be a financial boon to those having to make up any differences with savings and working while attending college. The expanded bill is projected to cost $52 billion in the next ten years, less per year than what is being spent each week in Iraq, money and votes Senator McCain has had no trouble supporting over the past five years. The 1944 GI Bill was considered one of the most important and generous pieces of legislation ever passed by Congress. Millions of young men and women were able to use it to further their education and help drive and advance a period of economic prosperity the likes of which the world had never seen. It helped push the United States to the forefront economically, socially, diplomatically, and militarily. A relatively small investment in the futures of our military personnel now sacrificing themselves in what seems to be neverending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be too much to ask of a president so willing to expend trillions in a failed attempt at what the New York Times dubs as "Mr. Bush's Iraq misadventure." President Bush has also made the outrageous claim that he could not support the expanded GI Bill because too many veterans might take advantage of it. Perhaps that is what Senator McCain's fears as well -- veterans taking advantage of what they were promised. But you can expect a man who has never really served in the military and who had all the benefits of a Yale education, one he seems to have not taken overly seriously, at his father's expense. You truly have to wonder at a veteran who, according to his website, fought for Vietnam war veterans expanded educational benefits but is increasingly silent about those same benefits being accorded subsequent war veterans. Of course, Senator McCain can stand back during a debate in the future and truthfully tell his audience that he did not vote against the Webb-Hagel GI Bill. No doubt he will maintain that mantra no matter what questions or accusations follow. He's quite stubborn that way. But it still does not answer why he has not supported the bill from the start. Sources: "John McCain sacked for choosing football money over veterans' education," VoteVets.org Charles M. Senott, "GI Bill Falling Short of College Tuition Costs," BostonGlobe.com Andrew Taylor, Associated Press, "Democrats to keep jobless benefits in Iraq bill," CourierPress.com "Webb: McCain Refuses to Co-Sponsor GI Bill For Post-9/11 Veterans," ThinkProgress.org "Mr. Bush and the GI Bill," NYTimes.com www.gibill2008.org JohnMcCain.com |
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