15 May 2008
There seems to be no restraint on the amount of money that we spend on the two wars being waged now but when it comes to taking care of the needs of veterans Bush is drawing a line in the sand and plans to veto a supplemental bill to fund the wars, as it includes veterans benefits, because he says that it costs too much. $51 billion over 10 years is a drop in the bucket compared to the war budget. The measure is a bipartisan expansion of the GI Bill of Rights and other veterans benefits. The bill would nearly double current benefits for college, tying them to cost of living and in-state tuition rates. Don’t our brave soldiers deserve being taken care of after they return?
McCain has joined Bush in opposing the bill. Another feature of the bill that is facing opposition is time. The bill would grant full benefits after three years in service while the Pentagon wants to up it, to being given after six years in service. A large number of returning vets will have given up three or four years of their lives, years that would have allowed them to further their education while still young and enter the work force.
It is said that the original GI Bill was possibly the best-spent of money in America’s history. The benefits produced many college graduates who populated the “greatest generation.” A new GI Bill is not seen as an expense but rather an investment for our nation. Benefits are just a small cost of war. We spend more in a week for the war than the New GI Bill would cost us in a year. In reality, it’s the men and women in uniform, and the Iraqis, who have borne the cost of this war.
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