McCain spends Memorial Day trying to explain opposition to GI bill
… While the President pays tribute to those troops he sent to be killed.
75 Senators showed up to vote for the new GI bill - expanding educational benefits for vets. 25 Senate Republicans broke ranks with Bush/McCain to support the measure, giving the bill a veto-proof majority. McCain couldn’t be bothered to even show up, he was too busy raising money for himself.
Reacting to the President’s Memorial Day tribute, Vet Bob Geiger wrote:
The Chickenhawk-in Chief says a lot of things that make this Vet’s blood boil but stuff like saying that he prays “…that our country may always prove worthy of the sacrifices they have made” is almost vomit inducing.
This statement comes from the same man who himself began dishonoring the sacrifices of all Veterans in such huge ways in March of 2003, when he invaded Iraq behind a veil of lies and deceit and started spilling barrels of military and civilian blood to start a war with a country that posed no threat whatsoever to our national security.
“These courageous and selfless warriors have stepped forward to protect the Nation they love, fight for America’s highest ideals, and show millions that a future of liberty is possible,” continues Bush’s proclamation. “Americans are grateful to all those who have put on our Nation’s uniform and to their families, and we will always remember their service and sacrifice for our freedoms.”The words Bush puts forth are true — it’s him being the one to say them that I find so sickening and personally offensive.
It is positively nauseating to have George W. Bush ever talk to us about “America’s highest ideals” when his administration has started a bloody war for no reason, imprisoned those suspected of being “terrorists” without trial or benefit of legal counsel, tortured prisoners in America’s name and done everything but grab the original U.S. Constitution from the National Archives and run it through a paper shredder.
I also don’t believe for one minute that the majority of the planet now holds our country in such extreme contempt because we’re right and they don’t understand our “highest ideals.” This Veteran will go to his grave believing that the years 2000 through 2008 were a dark time in our history when much of what I believed when I served in uniform was made invalid and debased.
Vet Voice has more on Vet reaction to the GI Bill and the disrespect that conservative Republicans show the troops:
Speaking at the Disabled American Veterans’ 19th Annual Department Convention, Senator Stevens told the majority of America’s most recent war veterans that they had not yet sacrificed enough to have earned a GI Bill that would cover the full cost of their educations.
Sen. Ted Stevens warned of a “mass exodus” from the military Saturday if the so-called 21st Century GI Bill goes into law without major changes.
“There are worries that people who are already in for two years will serve one more and leave, and there’s really no incentive to stay,” Stevens said.
What Stevens is really saying is that today’s troops are unpatriotic–that they’re only in it for the money and the college. And while Stevens’ “mass exodus” theory has been thoroughly discredited by the Congressional Budget Office, the true irony of the situation lies in the fact that Stevens earned his own college degree after World War Two by using the same GI Bill he’s aiming to prevent today’s veterans from receiving.
Yes, yes. President Bush sucks. The war sucks. We know, and most of us agree. You support Sen. Obama, so the McCain addition is not surprising.
Anything else? Anything new to report or discuss? Anything original as opposed to telling us what someone else had to say on the subject?
Good grief. We got it the first 5,000 times. Can you be any more redundant?
One trick pony.
McCain and Bush sure have an interesting way of showing their support for the troops. Although you can sort of see where they’re coming from — the GI bill expansion assumes that the troops are going to come home some day, an assumption that Bush and McCain don’t share. So from that point of view, it’s wasteful.
Is there a reason why anyone would legitimately oppose the bill? Is it a good idea to oppose the bill? Not in an election year.
for the democrats:
“Although it would probably gain majority support in the House if Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., put it to a vote, it has serious problems in her fractious Democratic caucus.
Antiwar liberals oppose any funds for the war, especially if they are not accompanied by binding language to bring combat forces home. And conservative “blue dog” Democrats insist that a new entitlement, such as the G.I. Bill, be fully funded with spending cuts or tax increases.”- CNN.com
for the Republicans:
“They are very hard to replace. Encouraging people to choose to not become noncommissioned officers would hurt the military and our country very badly.”- John McCain
“McCain, along with Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Richard Burr of North Carolina, has introduced an alternative bill that would increase education benefits on a sliding scale based on an individual’s years of service. McCain argues his bill would have a smaller impact on retention rates than the legislation that the Senate passed.”- CNN.com
There is another side to the story that William is choosing to leave out, or didn’t bother to look past the headlines.
Why will the bill pass so easily and with a veto-proof majority? It’s an election year, and the bill contains $165 Billion for war spending.
My opinion: I’m a deficit and budget hawk, and without a plan to pay for it, or any spending bill, I would vote against it too.
[…] any bill, having to do with helping veterans, and they do so on Memorial Day Weekend. As expected, Dummies like this fall for it and scream “See George Bush and John McCain hate the […]