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But when it comes to helping this mostly lower-class kids get a college education and out of poverty and crime:
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/0...ition_070731w/
Administration opposes broad GI Bill changes
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jul 31, 2007 20:47:38 EDT
The Bush administration opposes a Senate plan to dramatically increase GI Bill education benefits, but it does support some more modest changes, including one that could refund money to service members who paid the $1,200 enrollment fee to sign up for the current benefits program.
Defense officials testified July 31 before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee about S 22, a bill promising to pay full tuition plus a $1,000 monthly stipend for qualified active-duty veterans. Defense officials said GI Bill benefits are an important recruiting benefit, but making the program too generous could hurt, rather than help, the services.
S 22, known as the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007, was introduced in January by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and has become a major initiative for Senate Democrats. The only thing standing in its way has been money. Webb said the bill’s purpose is to restore the veterans’ education benefits program to the value it held after World War II, when it paid for tuition, fees and books, plus a monthly living expense so veterans could afford to attend college.
Webb’s bill wouldn’t pay for full tuition at any school; the maximum payment would be capped at the average cost of in-state tuition at a four-year public college or university.
With an average cost of about $1,450 for a four-year public school, Webb’s bill would result in a monthly benefit of about $2,400, defense officials said. That is enough to cause concern about some service members who might otherwise re-enlist in the military, possibly deciding instead to get out and attend college after their initial military obligation. To prevent mass departures, the services could be forced to increase already growing re-enlistment and specialty bonuses, defense officials said.
( it's not "patriotism", the military competes for resources like any any other organization. The Repugs have greatly increased the pay to (FDA) polictial appointees, but vets get ed. The Repugs are all about stuffing their own pockets with tax dollars, not about running the govt and help the country. Make a few more years in the military more attractive than going to college. kids aren't stupid. )
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the veterans’ committee chairman, has twice delayed a vote on Webb’s bill while looking for ways to fund it. A decision on whether to push ahead with the bill is not expected until after Labor Day.
The Defense Department does not oppose extending the current 10-year post-service limitation on when benefits can be used, nor does it oppose another bill that would stop requiring a $1,200 contribution from service members enrolling in the Montgomery GI Bill program. The contribution is paid in 100 tax-free installments during the first year of active duty for new recruits. National Guard and reserve members who qualify for active-duty GI Bill benefits after being mobilized continuously for two years or longer can pay it in a lump sum.
Defense officials said doing away with the enrollment fee would amount to a $100-a-month pay increase, certain to be appreciated by service members. However, defense officials also said that because 97 percent of recruits enroll in the GI Bill — and pay the current contribution — they do not believe the fee is a disincentive to enrollment.
The bill eliminating the $1,200 fee is S 723, the Montgomery GI Bill Enhancement Act. It would provide refunds of the $1,200 contribution to anyone who has served on active duty since Nov. 16, 2001, regardless of whether they used any GI Bill benefits and whether they are still on active duty. That could mean refunds to 1.2 million people, since about 200,000 enroll in the GI bill program each year.
