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It shouldn't be surprising that the party that has defined itself around "the most consistently unpopular president in modern political history is tanking at the polls," Josh Marshall writes. Republicans have followed President Bush's strategy of brashly pushing ahead with ... READ MORE

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John Edwards is far from the "great national leader" that Barack Obama supporter Tom Daschle claims he is, writes Ed Morrissey. The former South Dakota senator may be just trying pump up his candidate's latest endorsement, but he shouldn't forget ... READ MORE

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John McCain should pray that Barack Obama picks John Edwards as his running mate, since he has no executive experience and hasn't won a primary, Victor Davis Hanson writes. But Republicans have their own problems with voters this year, writes ... READ MORE

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John Edwards's endorsement of Barack Obama is merely "bandwagoning," writes Pejman Yousefzadeh. The former North Carolina senate could have made a real difference had he endorsed before his own state's primary, when Obama needed the help, the blogger writes. While ... READ MORE

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John McCain's opposition to Sen. Jim Webb's (D-Va.) new GI Bill gives Barack Obama an opening to win over veterans and shore up his national security credentials, writes Ben Crair. McCain's own plan isn't as generous as Webb's, leaving Obama ... READ MORE

MyDD
Democrat Travis Childers's victory in Tuesday's special election for a Mississippi House seat shows that playing to racial fears doesn’t work, Jonathan Singer writes. Republican attack ads tried to link Childers to Barack Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright, yet Childers ... READ MORE

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John McCain is trying to have it both ways on climate change, writes Meteor Blades. He's giving speeches to show he cares, but has voted against budgets and policies that would have invested in renewable industry, the blogger writes. McCain ... READ MORE

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April 22, 2008

McCain And GOP Allies Propose Their Own G.I. Bill Expansion

@ 1:05 pm by Walter Alarkon

John McCain, who refused to support a bipartisan measure expanding the G.I. Bill proposed by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), put forth his own proposal Tuesday.

McCain, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) are calling for an expansion of the Montgomery G.I. Bill, which has provided education benefits for members of the military. They aim to increase the $1,100 of education benefits per month for active duty service member to $1,500. That would increase to $2,000 per month for a member who served on active duty 12 years or more.

Webb's bill, which has the support of Democrats and Republican Sens. John Warner (Va.) and Chuck Hagel (Neb.), also seeks to increase educational benefits for those in the military.

McCain had questioned whether Webb's bill provided enough incentive for its beneficiaries to stay in the military.

"We should encourage service members to remain in the military, and they should be rewarded with additional benefits if they do," he said in a release announcing his proposal.

McCain also had concerns over how the new benefits Webb called for would be administered and whether they could be transferred to family members, said McCain spokesman Robert Fischer.

The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments "know how to work with the current setup for G.I. benefits," Fischer said. "Our bill continues that administration, where Webb's bill creates a new administration delivery." Fischer added that McCain, Graham and Burr's bill would allow the G.I. Bill recipients to give half of their benefits to dependents after six years of service and the entire benefit after 12 years.

Webb spokeswoman Kimberly Hunter said that McCain's bill is more focused on career officers, not the entire volunteer military force. She said that Webb's benefit was designed for those in the military looking to transition to other careers.

"This military does a fine job of managing its career force, but when comes to… the 70 to 75 percent of service members who volunteered and did their time and decided not to re-enlist, they're being left behind and Sen. McCain's legislation continues to do this," Hunter said.

She added that Webb is working with Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) to find a way to administer an enhanced G.I. Bill.

Read more about McCain, Graham and Burr's proposal here. Download a fact sheet of Webb's plan here (.pdf).

2 Comments »

The Hill welcomes comment from anyone and will almost always post it whether it is favorable or critical, as long as it is substantive and advances debate.
  1. McCain rolls out his own GI Bill.

    Think Progress

    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….

    Trackback by Radio Left — April 23, 2008 @ 12:00 am

  2. John Mccain is against americans and america. When he puts his name in front of anything and says its good for America watch his eyes they tell on this man.

    Comment by joe — April 23, 2008 @ 5:44 am

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