We owe them more.

By PraetorOne

If there’s any doubt as to what John McCain stands for–or should I say DOESN’T stand for?– one only has to take a look at his opposition to the Webb Bill for veterans. For those of you who missed this–and you’re God awful lucky if you did, John McCain has come out against the popular, bipartisan “Webb” bill which would help fund higher education for veterans. Among McCain’s more asinine complaints is the age old Republican gripe that it’s too expensive. And yet, when we funded college education for veterans after World War II the program proved its worth by paying for itself seven times over. And yet McCain uses he same anemic argument that the Bush Administration makes against funding higher education for vets/ Their primary argument is that funding will cost $2 billion a year,but what they don’t mention is that we spend roughly $2 billion a week on the Iraq War.

Once again it appears as if the war hawks prefer to treat young soldiers as mere cannon fodder. They are perfectly willing to use our young men and women for invasion and occupation but when soldiers have served their time honorably, the right wingers show no sense of honor themselves. They, and that includes Bush and McCain, are the worst kinds of users. They simply don’t understand the fact that taking care of the veterans they create is a basic war expense; no different than body armor, guns, and bullets. the only difference is that the Bush Administration and Senator McCain seem to think more of military hardware than they do of living, breathing people. Something has gone very wrong when a gun is worth more than a young man’s future. Something has gone awry when a young woman’s physical, spiritual, and intellectual well-being is worth less than a tank or a Humvee. In other words we owe these people a bright, happy future after they out their lives on the line for their cheap, penny-pinching government.

Granted,the Webb proposal is more complicated. It provides educational benefits and a monthly living stipend based on where the individual veteran lives,which would require the government to keep track of each individual veteran, a fact which the government claims makes it too difficult to administer. This is a red herring because the government already has that information at its fingertips. Moreover, this is the same government that claimed it would be able to keep track of terrorists and illegal aliens. Well if it can’t keep track of our own veterans what makes it think that it can find terrorists? Why should we trust the government to find and protect us from illegal elements when it can’t even keep track of its own veterans.

Regrettably one feature which the Webb proposal lacks is transferability, the right to transfer educational benefits to a spouse or family members. The longer a veteran serves the more in education benefits that veteran would be able to transfer. Only 50 percent of veterans take advantage of their educational benefits, but you don’t have to be a rocket professor to understand that transferability coupled with higher educational benefits will increase participation in those programs.

The Department of Defense seems to base its disapproval on whether or not the Webb proposal will increase the number of young men and women who will sign up for the Bush/McCain war; not to mention how many will opt to sign up for another tour of duty. As if it makes a difference. Only a small number of people stay in the military for twenty years. In addition most soldier,if given a choice, will only sign up for one or two tours. Why if you didn’t know better you would think that Bush, McCain, and the DOD were trying to impoverish young vets in an attempt to force them into the military.

That’s unfortunate because a college education provides a number social benefits. It eases the transition from military to civilian life; it proves helpful in combating psychological disorders; it produces a productive, tax-paying middle class, and it introduces civilian students to veterans, educating civilians about the needs of returning veterans.

But that means noting to Bush and McCain. For users like those two no bill would be complete if it didn’t exploit the soldiers who are fighting their ill conceived war.

See Senator Webb’s site here for more information about the Webb Bill