George Bush has been accused of standing in the way of an increase in the GI Bill proposed by Sen. Jim Webb and Sen. Chuck Hagel. It is being banded about that Bush and the military are against any increase in this benefit because it will reduce the retention rate of current personnel.

There are some very good thoughts on this subject in the left-wing rag in Nashville this morning. But as usual what they print is so full of anti-Bush hatred that it is hard to tell truth from lies.

Anybody know anything about this?

Semper Fi

Roy

It's obviously GW's fault!

 If GW was responsible for one tenth of the things that he's been blamed for, he would either be the anti-christ or the second coming -- in either case, I wouldn't test his patience :-)

I doubt very much that retention would be seriously hurt by better GI Bill benefits.

More schools are going online with their degree programs and often have discounts or scholarships for Active Duty servicemembers. A school I work with (not for) has a 10% discount for AD personnel; 5% for vets. They've got an entire department nearly 100 strong dedicated to serving Active Duty military students. (They also recently awarded 25 full scholarships--tuition, course materials, and Apple laptops--to wounded warriors at Walter Reed; but that's beside the point.) Schools are going after AD troopers, not just veterans.

The GI Bill benefits can be used by many of the AD personnel. Sure, a good portion aren't going to want to do school while they're fighting a war; but many do. There is a lot of incentive in the Corps to get a degree while still on Active Duty. It looks good on your reviews, and you can't get a commission without it.

Besides that, tuition assitance for Active Duty Marines is more than just the GI Bill. If you can take the time to go to school while you're in the Corps, it's much cheaper to do that than to get out and go to school; and you might see some additional coin later on down the road after you've got your degree. I got my degree after the Corps, and my employer didn't bat an eye. There was no raise. I wasn't given higher scores on my review or considered for a promotion.

I'm not saying that there wouldn't be a few more people who get out if they had better education benefits; but in my experience, people who were in the Corps didn't sign up for a college education. That may be different in other services, but I don't think that its as big a problem as they're letting on. (Where the money is going to come from is more of a concern for me.)

Bush Supports Increased GI Bill Benefits

Week of April 21, 2008

Guy's Marines we don't join to college.  When I joined I got 8200 after 4 years of service and 2700  that we put in.  Iy was the veap program/Veterans Educational Assist Program) 

From today's bastion of New England liberalism, the Boston Globe (this is the complete article they published so not many details):

The Senate approved legislation yesterday that would increase veteran's benefits and establish pensions for Filipinos who served alongside Americans in World War II.  The 96-1 vote sends the bill to the House, despite objections from some Republicans and President Bush.  Bush has not said he would veto the bill, but the White House and some Republicans wanted to strip out the pension for Filipino veterans because they said money was better spent on soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Danny 

Over the years from, numerous, reliable sources (mostly tv and newspapers), I have learned that President George W. Bush is responsible for everything bad that has happened in America. First he took us to war with the peacefull Islamic nations of Afghanistan and Iraq.  Then he caused gas prices to skyrocket.  He caused the housing market to collapse and industry to move overseas.   He is  responsible for the current global shortage of rice and subsequent food riots in a number of developing countries.  He has given tax breaks only to the rich and is always overtaxing the middle class to give to the poor.  Yes sir, it does not surprise me in the least that President George W. Bush is against an increase in the GI Bill.. Damn, wonder what other problems the Bush - Republican administration will cause before the American people take to the streets in protest. 

Note: The above is satirical, and does not really represent the views of the author (who by the way is not a great Bush fan).