The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room » McCain And GOP Allies Propose Their Own G.I. Bill Expansion


		KEY BLOGS What they are saying today Drudge Report Drudge banners: "IOU" and links to this LA Times story on the budget crisis in California. And the U.S. says North Korea does not appear to be readying a missile launch in this Bloomberg story is also highlighed on Drudge. ... READ MORE Huffington Post The Huffington Post banners: "Obama's first major military operation underway in Afghanistan" and links to this AP story. Unemployment to hit a 9.6 percent, a 26 year high, according to this AP report, highlighted on the HuffPo. And Jesse Berney ... READ MORE HotAir The Obama administration doesn't see the contradiction between calling for free elections in Honduras and staying out of the election in Iran, writes Allahpundit. And veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas went "nuclear" on the White House for controlling the ... READ MORE DailyKos Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) wants to president but "she couldn't even get her own campaign's scheduling staff to give her enough time to run," writes Jed Lewison. And South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's (R) recent confessions have set off ... READ MORE Townhall South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's (R) Republican enemies hope he stays in office, writes Matt Lewis. And, drawing on examples from other countries, Carol Platt Liebau writes what ObamaCare "really means." READ MORE OpenLeft Advancing the debate over torture is always going to be difficult, writes Daniel de Groot. And Mike Lux takes a look at the fight over a new Pecora commission. READ MORE RedState The press is "finally" calling out the Obama administration for controlling the press, writes Paint it Red. And Moe Lane takes a detailed look at the 2010 election and the ages of several Democratic committee chair people. READ MORE MyDD Mitt Romney appears to be urging Republicans to stand up to President Obama, writes Charles Lemos. And Lemos also writes that South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) must think the Associated Press is a "licensed therapist." READ MORE Powerline Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) appeared to open the door to the Obama administration making more demands Israel in the peace process while in the country, writes Paul. And new polling shows that support for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is ... READ MORE Matthew Yglesias The entire committee system in Congress "leaves a lot to be desired," writes Matthew Yglesias. And Yglesias also points out a general thought among the punditry right now: Congress is asserting its dominance in setting and controlling the agenda, not ... READ MORE CLICK FOR MORE SUMMARIES

	• MORNING READ • MIDDAY BLOG ROUNDUP • DAY'S END ROUND-UP

You need Flash Player 8 (or higher) and JavaScript enabled to view this content CLICK FOR MORE HILLTUBE

Morning Read | Midday Blog Roundup | Day's End Roundup

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).

Archived under: Defense, Legislation, News
Tags: Chuck Hagel, Daniel Akaka, G.I. Bill, John McCain, John Warner, Lindsey Graham, Richard Burr, Veterans' Affairs

4 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.

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
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
nrjwohiek unkhc ubol vgznrdy vhakbdxs tqkyr mdjrlnats

Comment by gwpibljm veycuba — September 11, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
"Don't you believe that part of your duty as President of the United States of America is to protect the most vulnerable of our society?
How is it then that since you have been associated with A.C.O.R.N., you have been using recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, and the homeless as victims in your illicit efforts to win votes?

Comment by Carol — October 15, 2008 @ 7:26 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Blogroll

April 22, 2008

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

4 Comments »

Leave a comment