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- DSPoh, on 05/12/2008, -2/+4For more information on the New GI Bill, please see here: http://www.iava.org/component/option,com_/Itemid,6 ...
Also, for a list of Senators and Representatives that have already signed off on the bill, please see here: http://www.iava.org/component/option,com_/Itemid,1 ...
Note both Democratic Presidential candidates have signed off on it, but the wonderful Senator John McCain has not. Yes, the only Presidential candidate who is a veteran has not signed off on the New GI Bill; something that will tremendously help out Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
Please Digg, please, if your Representative has not signed off on the New GI Bill yet, take a moment to call your representative. Talking points and representative phone numbers are provided in the link.
Here's what Patrick Campbell, IAVA Director, had to say in a recent e-mail:
Last week, despite enormous momentum, a vote on the GI Bill was delayed by a small group of Democrats in the House. Believe it or not, they're concerned about the cost of the bill, which amounts to less than 0.5% of war funding for the year. This is Washington ineffectiveness at its worst.
We've been pounding the pavement here in DC every day, meeting with all the key players in the fight for a new GI Bill, and today we need your support.
Please take a minute now to call your Representative, and urge them to show their support for a new GI Bill by voting to fund it this week. We've included some talking points at the bottom of this email that you can use during your call.
Despite deep bi-partisan support, the endorsement of every major veterans' organization, and studies showing that a new GI Bill is a fiscally sound investment in our nation's future, a few members of the House are standing in its way at this late, critical stage.
If you haven't already, please take a minute now to call your Representative and tell them that you support education benefits for the men and women coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new GI Bill (HR 5740) has broad bi-partisan support, and leading Democrats and Republicans have been fighting for it since day one. But thanks to this small group that is mounting an ill-advised opposition, the vote is going to be close, and we need your help to make sure Congress does the right thing.
In our view, the GI Bill is a cost of war, and a smart investment in one of the most motivated, deserving groups of people our country has to offer.
So please take a minute now to tell your Representative to show real support for our troops and veterans by supporting the new GI Bill.
After your call, please take a minute to tell us about it here (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/436/t/4262/qu ... - EnviroChem, on 05/22/2009, -0/+1I am not nor ever have been in the military, but I fully support the idea of having a generous GI bill that helps put our service men and women through college after they have served for a specific number of years. I will agree that three years sounds like too short of a period of service and that six years seems more reasonable given the cost of a college education. A compromise might be to have a sliding scale as to how much college the GI bill will pay for depending on the years of service. For instance someone who only served for three years might only get 50% of what someone who served six years would get. An exception should be made for those GIs that are discharged from the military because of debilitating injuries they received in the line of duty. In such cases the GI should be given full GI benefits regardless of how long they served. Each tour of duty in a war zone could also count double towards the time needed to get full GI bill benefits (e.g. 18 months in Iraq would equal 3 years for GI bill qualification purposes). Extra opportunities could be made available to those who agree to extended service in our reserves after their initial enlistment is up.
- inactive, on 05/13/2008, -1/+2Our government says after serving in military for three years you can either keep serving or receive education that would cost most people $100,000 or more for free? Three years is nothing. Thats like one tour in Iraq or one year. You think people are going to keep serving after 3 years when they get a benefit like that at the end? These people are already getting up to 40,000 dollars in sign up bonus. This is ridiculous. I can respect true soldiers who remain in our forces serving for our country. All I can see coming from this are opportunists serving themselves so they can waste all the training we gave them by quitting after 3 years to receive the pot of Gold we lured them with. And this will happen. You think people will even bother staying after three years? Your delusional.
- inactive, on 05/13/2008, -1/+2This GI bill expansion is ridiculous. The main part of this bill is saying by staying in Military for 3 years you get full ride through state university and matching payment for financial aid to a private university. This is ridiculous. 3 years? hell to train a soldier to serve one year in Iraq basically. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. When being in the military is more about how can I maximize what I get out of the military in the shortest time possible I am only disgusted. The defense department suggests 6 years service for full ride through public university. This sounds reasonable. At least I can imagine we might get something from this kind of time. Like maybe real soldiers fighting for their country who deserve respect rather then opportunists whose only motive is a year in Iraq 10s of thousands of dollars of college paid for and a lifetime of benefits. That is not a veteran or a hero. How many do you think will be even slightly interested serving more then three years when after just three years they can expect the opportunity of a lifetime, the finest education at my expense?
- DSPoh, on 05/12/2008, -2/+2Sorry about the busted links.
For more information on the New GI Bill, please see here: http://tinyurl.com/42ak6u
For a list of Senators and Representatives that have already signed off on the bill, please see here: http://tinyurl.com/4tfxj5
After your call, please take a minute to tell us about it here: http://tinyurl.com/3eg3bp
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