HOW (AND WHY) McCAIN SEEKS TO UNDERMINE MILITARY VETS WHILE SCREAMING ABOUT SUPPORTING THE TROOPS

We've been holding up the hypocrisy of Republican legilsators who falsely claim to support the troops and support U.S. veterans by emphasizing their actual voting records when it does come to supporting the troops. Recently two actual military heroes now in the U.S. Senate, James Webb (D-VA) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE), have been pushing bipartisan legislation to update the GI Bill. Simply put, they want to bring the intent of the law-- to give returning American vets a chance for an education-- into sync with what education costs today, not what it used to cost when Democrats first fought off Republican attempts to kill the concept in the 1940s.

And yet the opportunities offered under the GI Bill have been a path into the expanding middle class for millions of American families. Senators Webb and Hagel-- and dozens of co-sponsors from both parties-- want to make that a reality again. So what's standing in the way? Arch hypocrites led by Bush and McCain, one a coward who never served and despises all military men because of his own shortcomings and the other an angry old man who is basically nothing but a garden variety a control freak. The control freak and Lindsey Graham (his little light in the loafers mini-me from South Carolina) and another reactionary boob, Richard Burr of North Carolina, have offered their own version of the bill with the intent of circumventing its effectiveness.

57 senators support the Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act (S.22) introduced by Webb and Hagel. All they need is 3 more backers to make it filibuster-proof-- something they will need since anti-military fanatic Mitch McConnell-- thrown out of the Army after less than two weeks when he was caught groping a private's privates (something he denies, of course)-- has vowed to use every parliamentary trick in the book to stop this from passing, the same way he prevented equal pay for women from passing yesterday (women being another "special interest" he hates). McCain's devious substitute bill could split the Senate, undermining the commonsense legislation that Senators Webb and Hagel offered. In doing so, it also undermines America's veterans, McCain's real objective. McCain blurted out his real reason for opposing the bill most senators who want to help vets support. McCain fears that if recruits are offered real educational opportunities they won't keep re-upping and then he won't have anyone to fight his hundred years war in the Middle East.

Our friends are VoteVets outline how McCain's devious bill undermines the intent of the GI Bill modernization:

1) The McCain-Graham-Burr legislation creates a flat education benefit, not taking into account the cost of state colleges where veterans live. This would mean veterans in states where the cost of education is higher than the benefit would have go to into debt to get an education, or uproot themselves and their families to move to a place where the benefit would cover college. In many cases, the McCain bill won't even cover half the cost of college.  The Webb-Hagel Bill determines the education benefit based on the highest state college tuition in a veterans' home state, allowing veterans to come home and attend college, without upheaval in their lives.

2) The McCain-Graham-Burr legislation creates second-class veterans, by offering those who serve in the military for 12 years the chance to transfer their education benefits to their children. This says to a veteran who serves for two years and loses both of his legs in combat that his service isn't as valuable as someone who has served for longer.

3) The McCain-Graham-Burr legislation leaves the National Guard and Reserve out in the cold. In the current conflicts, the National Guard and Reserve have served faithfully alongside their active duty compatriots, and deserve equal benefits. Yet, the McCain bill does nothing to reward our Guard and Reservists for their cumulative service. Under the McCain bill, over 160,000 members of the Guard and Reserves who have done more than one tour in Iraq or Afghanistan would get no credit towards an education for their additional sacrifice.