McSame Rolls Out Own GI Bill

[bdamomma]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/22/mccain-rolls-out-his-own-gi-bill/

snip of article here: what a slimy snake this guy is.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his allies have released their own GI Bill to compete with the proposal laid out by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), which is supported by 56 co-sponsors. McCain’s bill would modestly enhance the existing GI Bill. But according to The Hill, Webb’s spokeswoman said that “McCain’s bill is more focused on career officers, not the entire volunteer military force,” giving the most benefits to those who serve 12 years or more in active duty (rather than those who signed up and have served since 9/11). McCain has stated that he opposes Webb’s more generous bill because of concerns it does not have “incentives for people to remain in the military.”

[DrDan]

1. considering the overuse of stop-loss, I can't believe they continue

to use the term "volunteer"

[zbdent]

2. the gist: Divorce the woman who waited for you all those years and marry an heiress

In 2004, Repukes said that Kerry was out of touch because he married a wealthy heiress in the 90s (when prenups were the norm) ... McCain married his wealthy heiress when pre-nups were the exception ...

[KSinTX]

3. I like the transfer of benefits to family members

In the Graham-Burr-McCain package and the career incentives aren't bad either. It does reward those who spend the most time in harm's way. The cadets and career officer portions are a bit much since we already paid most of that education already. The downside of the GBM bill is that it is touted as able to work within the existing VA framework. Translation: we tinkered with it a bit as opposed to trying to do something new for the kids who put their lives on the line. There may be room for morphing parts of these together but staying with the Webb proposal in the main.