Cross-posted from Bloviations.
Today, the U.S. Senate blocked the McCain-backed military education program.
The McCain/Graham plan calls for would give only $2,000 a month for service members that have more than 12 years of military service and was offered as an alternative to the much more effective Webb plan which would give service members 36 months of tuition, book costs, and a stipend.
McCain and Graham claim that Webb’s plan is too extensive and provides too much of an educational benefit for enlisted service members. Their fear is that with such an education plan, young enlisted men and women would be less likely to commit to lifelong military service and would serve their enlistments, take their education, and leave military service. McCain and Graham prefer to keep the education opportunities limited for enlisted service members. McCain and Graham, long hailed as strong supporters of the military, want to keep military members low on socio-economic scale in the U.S. McCain and Graham feel that it is possible to provide too much education to those few who choose to defend Americans and our Constitution.
NC Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr both voted for the McCain/Graham plan. Dole and Burr prefer to keep American service members uneducated and without a progressive and extensive education plan.
Is that supporting the troops? Or is that the first steps in establishing a caste system in America?
Comments
Education is the key to success for the military
I don't beleive that our NC Senators or the GOP understand that college education is the only way most enlisted soldiers can get promoted. Also, once a soldier decides to leave the military is not only because the lure of a better job it is beacuse they are ready to be home with their families.
Unlike these Senators, we ask our soldiers to leave their lives behind for years and then give them and their families little support. The least we can do is ensure that they get to go to college like their counterparts of WWII.
I beleive that if a soldier has their college degree and they want to give their remaining GI Bill to their spouse and kids, they should be able to. When most of these courageous soldiers raised their right hand to pledge to protect their nation, the GI Bill was part of their benefits. However, if a soldier does not use this benefit within 10 years it disappears. As an Army wife, I find this dishonorable. How is that we ask them to risk their lives daily but we can't honor their basic benefits?
Oh, I forgot, President Bush likes to send soldiers off to war but not allow them the right to advance their lives and that of their children. Shame on you President Bush and the GOP! This is one wife that will not let you wave your flags without their being consequences.
The best thing we can do for our soldiers is send Larry Kissell, Kay Hagan and other good Democrats to Washington to take care of our soldiers, veterans and their families!
I got in a lot of trouble
back in 72 for working for McGovern as a junior officer. These days, I'm guessing most junior officers are so fed up they can't even see straight.
This actually happened to me
While I was active duty, I attended Campbell University at their Ft. Bragg campus. Because we got deployed so much, they operated on a two month "term" basis, usually cramming a whole semester's workload into eight weeks. It was not easy, but I managed to earn some 90 semester hours in a little over 1 1/2 years by going to class 4-5 hours every night. It also greatly contributed to my marriage falling apart, but that's another story.
After ETS-ing from the Army, I planned to go back and finish my degree, but something always seemed to come up to block this. I had to work two jobs for a few years to get back on my feet, I was transferred from shift to shift for a few years, etc. I finally got around to pre-registering at UNCG, then I had a car accident (no collision ins.). The following year, determined to get back in school whatever happened, I went through the process again, only to find out that my ten-year time limit had expired a few months earlier, and some $16,000 I had left in my VEAP was gone for good.
I'll probably finally graduate when I'm like eighty three years old, and then just fall off the stage and expire. ;/
God that just sucks.
You should have gotten an extra year for every airplane you jumped out of, or something.
Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
Pointing at Naked Emperors
That would have been sweet
69 years would have given me a little more breathing room, for sure. :)
Seriously, that ten year thing is a crock. It might seem like a long time to someone who didn't have to work full-time while attending college. Most folks can only grab a few semester hours here and there, especially if there are children in the picture.
That's for sure!
One of the things I do in my real job is help adults get back into school, or into school for the first time. Working a full time job, taking care of a family, there is virtually no way to carry a full load, or even a half load.
I can't even imagine what it's like if you're on "re-entry" from military life to civilian. Especially now, when the country is at war.
It's really got to be changed.
Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
Pointing at Naked Emperors
It's truly shameful
Especially because the armed forces is the only option for many young people coming out of poverty. The recruiters target high school juniors and seniors who are not from wealthy families. Many of the young people who enlist do so not only because they want a chance to serve their country, but a chance to make a better life for themselves. One of my son's best friends figured it was her only way to get an education. She'll graduate in June, and will be on active duty by July. She seems so young - it's really scary to think about her facing the kind of danger she'll have to face, and then possibly not getting what she was promised.
Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
Pointing at Naked Emperors
"Too much education"
Stop right there. We can complete this sentence very easily.
--
relocating from Indianapolis, IN to RTP, NC soon; got any advice for me?
I wouldn't recommend drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me. -- Hunter S. Thompson
--
Garner, NC
I wouldn't recommend drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me. -- Hunter S. Thompson