New CBO Report Proves McCain Is ‘Full Of It’ In His Opposition To Webb-Hagel GI Bill
New CBO Report Proves McCain Is ‘Full Of It’ In His Opposition To Webb-Hagel GI Bill
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and the Pentagon have voiced their opposition to the bipartisan Webb-Hagel GI Bill by spouting fears that “too many will use it,” and it will therefore “harm” the military.
A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report analyzing the impact of the GI Bill shows that McCain is indeed “full of it.” While the report explains that troop retention will decline because some troops will take advantage of their new education benefits, the loss in retention will be entirely made up for by increased military recruits:
Literature on the effects of educational benefits on retention suggest that every $10,000 increase in educational benefits yields a reduction in retention of slightly more than 1 percentage point. CBO estimates that S. 22 (as modified) would more than double the present value of educational benefits for servicemembers at the first reenlistment point — from about $40,000 to over $90,000 — implying a 16 percent decline in the reenlistment rate, from about 42 percent to about 36 percent. […]
Educational benefits have been shown to raise the number of military recruits. Based on an analysis of the existing literature, CBO estimates that a 10 percent increase in educational benefits would result in an increase of about 1 percent in high-quality recruits. On that basis, CBO calculates that raising the educational benefits as proposed in S. 22 would result in a 16 percent increase in recruits.
Ignoring the conclusion of the CBO report, the Army Times prints this deceptive headline suggesting that the GI Bill will only harm the military: “CBO: Better GI Bill would cut retention 16%.”
As Sen. John Warner (R-VA) has said, the flip side of the impact on retention is that “putting a big piece of cheese out there will induce more qualified people to join just to get this. It should be a tremendous incentive for recruitment.” If McCain and the Bush administration truly wanted to repair retention problems, they shouldn’t take benefits away from troops but rather — as Jon Soltz has said — “focus on the role of contractors, who continually snatch up troops, offering them up to 10 times their military pay to do a similar job in Iraq.”
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last year, I received an unsolicited offer to miliary times/navy times/army times/air force times. I sent back the reply card after I wiped my ass with it.
I haven't heard back from them since.
I can't imagine why.
______________________________________________________________
is anyone still having trouble viewing the video I posted about?
May 9th, 2008 at 2:52 pmSen. John McCain (R-AZ) and the Pentagon have voiced their opposition to the bipartisan Webb-Hagel GI Bill by spouting fears that “too many will use it,” and it will therefore “harm” the military.
Much better to lower standards, and let in criminals, and gang members. That will really improve the military. McCain can't really be that stupid, so he must just be lying, again.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:52 pmIf McCain and the Bush administration truly wanted to repair retention problems, they shouldn’t take benefits away from troops but rather — as Jon Soltz has said — “focus on the role of contractors, who continually snatch up troops, offering them up to 10 times their military pay to do a similar job in Iraq.”
Would help too , if they weren't asked to do multiple ridiculously long tours in an illegal occupation..........
May 9th, 2008 at 2:54 pmI'm betting that McCain hates living in a fact-based reality.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:55 pmraynman: So does his wife.
Uncle Ho: I was able to find the video after following your search suggestion. Great video, btw. What was up with that crotchedy-looking old woman? Ugh.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:59 pmSen. John McCain (R-AZ) and the Pentagon have voiced their opposition to the bipartisan Webb-Hagel GI Bill by spouting fears that “too many will use it,” and it will therefore “harm” the military.
Yeah
They need to get a plan together that helps the military ; like the use of network and cable military analysts to reinforce its talking points and present a favorable picture of happenings in Iraq...............
May 9th, 2008 at 3:01 pmFrosty; methinks the old bat was following the Bushco playbook about shutting out others who don't get on their knees to pray to the party. you know the one, about keeping dissenters out of sight.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:05 pmWhat I don't understand is the true Republican motive for opposing this bill. The new recruits it attracts will make up for (and by some estimates, MORE than make up for) those who will choose to leave the service rather than re-enlist. And it will attract recruits who aren't felons and/or idiots. It will truly be something that supports the troops. It's one of those no-brainer issues that will go over really well with voters in an election year. And, by giving these young men and women access to a good education, we will be providing our government and private sector employers with a work force that is both experienced and educated, as well as strengthening our middle class (upon which our economy depends) -- as happened with the G.I. Bill right after WWII.
Will all this going for it, and with their argument about retention debunked, what's their beef?
Is it the cost?
Is it classism?
Is it that we don't want to give our soldiers any other attractive option than to work for Blackwater?
There's got to be an ulterior motive here somewhere. I just haven't figured it out.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:07 pmBTW; Halley made the front page in today's local paper.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:08 pmsee if this link works. http://www.timesherald.com.
McCain: "What? Support the troops? Me? uh, I mean, of course I support the troops! I support them so much I want to make civilian life worse for them so they'll stay in the military."
May 9th, 2008 at 3:09 pmoops, wrong times herald. try this one,
http://www.thetimesherald.com
May 9th, 2008 at 3:10 pmI think the Bush administration feels it is cheaper to keep actual military numbers low and simply pay Blackwater their fee. Think about it: Bush is paying Blackwater through 'off the books' requests - supplemental funding. If Bush increased the military numbers, then they would have to pay for the retirement, health care, education, housing, schooling, re-locating, etc. of those enlisted men and women. As it is, all those 'future' costs are Blackwaters (or the American taxpayer) to deal with. So chimpy is overpaying Blackwater now, so we don't have to care for our soldiers later on. That is how the GOP supports the troops - by paying too much for mercenaries and taking benefits away from our brave soldiers.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:14 pmI hope Obama considers Hagel for veep.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:16 pmI'd like to dispute this, StratRat.
I don't believe Bush thinks it's cheaper -- I believe he thinks it's better. Better for him and for Cheney and for their mil-ind cronies.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:18 pmI still can't view the video Uncle Ho. Keeps telling me the page is unavailable. I'll try it when I get home.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pmI’d like to dispute this, StratRat.
I don’t believe Bush thinks it’s cheaper — I believe he thinks it’s better. Better for him and for Cheney and for their mil-ind cronies.
Fair enough, but 'better' could mean numerous things. Better for the Mil-Ind to make money, better for the American people to not have a draft, better for Cheney's stock portfolio, etc...I bet the average American doesn't know how many mercenaries we are paying in Iraq, and what it is costing the taxpayer. Bush seems to be more interested in short term gains at the expense of long term consequences.
Maybe that's what made him the successful businessman he was /snark off.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pm"the old bat was following the Bushco playbook about shutting out others who don’t get on their knees to pray to the party"
Yeah, they can deny dissent all they want, but they're in for a rout this November. Yay!
May 9th, 2008 at 3:24 pmThis is part of the Bush/Republican logic. The military is there to do the heavy lifting and to bear the brunt of violence. You really do not need to have well qualified people to act as cannon fodder on the front line. Even NCO's need not be exceedingly qualified. Thus the Bush kingdom seeks to create a permanent underclass to feed recruits into the military.
The original GI Bill made it possible for hundred's of thousands of veterans to obtain trade, college and professional education. They were able to use this education as a basis to join the middle class of the United States. However, the elites of the Republicans know that this will put pressure on their own ruling class. This is especially true since the Republicans have planned on a post-industrial US in which service jobs and servants will provide manpower to cater to the elites. Production, high level services will be farmed out to other countries like China, India, Latin America and others so that the elite may take advantage of lower labor costs. Under this system, lower classes will be locked out of college or be forced to spend a majority of their working lives repaying private college loans to the elite investment class. This is why we are already seeing that a smaller portion of the current college aged youth are actually making it through college.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:27 pmWilco Says:
I hope Obama considers Hagel for veep.
With all the high quality Dems available for the VP nod, I would not be in favor of any republican, under any circumstances. Why make heart-attacking Obama look more attractive to the murderers.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:27 pmWhy does McSame hate all troops that were lucky enough (or good enough) to evade capture and be tortured for years on end?
May 9th, 2008 at 3:32 pmJealousy?
Exit:
May 9th, 2008 at 3:34 pmI think it's politically advantageous. He's a moderate Rep. And a widely experienced congressman, too.
It'll go a long way to cement a reputation of reaching across the aisle, that this isn't a nation of blue states and red states.
If he goes for a liberal democrat, it'll help the Reps attack him as too liberal.
But, I'm not recommending him as veep, but I think it's not foolish to at least consider him.
Jim Webb would be interesting as well, but the legislative experience issue would be all the more in play.
But I don't know how better qualified a person can be than Jim Webb. Admiral, asst Secry of State (or was it defense), Senator (although just for a short time).
But his was a hard won seat and if he gave it up, I wouldn't be too confident in finding another dem to keep it.
I guess Webb would be better qualified if he had judicial experience, as he'd then be a triple threat, with experience in all three branches of government, and a lengthy, decorated term in the military.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:37 pmHagel is hardly moderate. He's the polar opposite of LIEberman: He's critical of the war but right-wing on everything else.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:38 pmIgnoranceIsNotBliss; try this way-
go to the earlier thread 'McCain's 10 Second Flip and see Who Misspoke?'s post at 1:21 pm, the link she posted should take you right to it. I tried it and it worked fine for me.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:38 pmI did that to Uncle Ho and I still get the same message.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:40 pmI need some help from someone more computer literate than I am to please explain this to me. Are the talking about storage or surfing?
May 9th, 2008 at 3:41 pmoy. the = they. I swear I type all of the letters.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:42 pmIgnoranceIsNotBliss Says:
oy. the = they. I swear I type all of the letters.
IINB: Do you have one of those McCain brand keyboards? You know, the kind that forgets every 4th thing you type :)~
May 9th, 2008 at 3:48 pmLOL. Maybe. It's the second time I've done it today.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:52 pmIgnoranceIsNotBliss; I just tried it again via Who Misspoke?'s link and it still worked for me.
plan B;(if you have not tried this already) go to http://www.myfoxdetroit.com and click local news/politics. look for topic: Teen Questions McCain
if that doesn't work, I'm out of ideas.
any others?
May 9th, 2008 at 3:52 pmDid that too Uncle Ho. I'll try it when I get home. I can get to the page through her link but there are only words. No video.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:58 pmBy corallary, if the military pays its members too much, they will leave earlier.
Let's 1/2 their pay.
May 9th, 2008 at 4:03 pmActually, McCain's resistance on the GI Bill and other veterans' benefits is entirely consistent with the neocon's intent to privatize the military. If they provide benefits, especially educational benefits, soldiers would be less likely to sign on with the private armies like Blackwater. And it might even attract enough new and better qualified recruits that it would make the military more effective again and reduce the apparent need for a private military.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:12 pmSen. McCain can't possibly support Webb's bill because ultra-right-wing-head-in-the-sand-we're-good-they're-bad Republicans will see this wisdom as "elitism," and a "lib'rul give-away" that invariably will lead to high taxes.
On a daily basis, we are witnessing a man selling his soul. No wonder he keeps getting mixed up.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:17 pmUnfortunately, this began when he rolled over for BushCo during the 2000 Repug Primaries. Now he is just following their orders so he can claim his "rightful" place in history.
Just more proof that he collected a few too many Frequent Stayer points in the Hanoi Hilton program.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:53 pm"But if we teach these soldiers skills that are useful in the real world, they'll be able to get out of the army! And that would be bad for my Iran plans! Imagine the horrors! Educated soldiers hitting the streets, when they should be joining up for life!"
May 9th, 2008 at 8:24 pmJohn McCain, who claims that he's in great condition and is planning to hike across the Grand Canyon this summer, also received a tax-free V. A. disability income in 2007 of $58,358. To access the original story, please see http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-pension22apr22,0,485555.story?track=mostviewed-storylevel.
John McCain's net worth, according to information provided at http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/CIDsummary.php?CID=N00006424&year=2006 -- "From $27,817,187 to $45,045,011." In addition, his wife appears to be quite well off as well. According to a CNN article found at http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/03/mccains.money.politics.ap/index.html -- "Within the industry, as heiress to her father, she is widely assumed to own a majority of the company. If so, that would make her net worth at least $100 million, if industry estimates of Hensley's value are accurate."
Oh, and there's his salary as a U. S. Senator, which in 2006 was $165,200.
So, despite his ability to hike across the Grand Canyon, claimed ability to handle the rigors of the Presidency, and current salary as a U. S. Senator of at least $165,200, he continues to collect more than $58,000/year tax free because he is supposedly unable to participate in gainful employment.
And finally, despite the fact that he probably could not purchase health insurance at any price (a little matter of a pre-existing condition), and despite his insistence that government-run health insurance for all would be a disaster, he doesn't seem to have foregone his taxpayer-funded health insurance benefits (a government-run program), even though he could more easily afford to self-insure than 99.99% of the United States population.
I do believe that I've found the perfect campaign slogan for McCorpse, as so eloquently stated by the ruling pigs in George Orwell's Animal Farm: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
May 10th, 2008 at 2:24 amFrom your update:
"The CBO reports a 16% drop in the reenlistment rate (from 42 to 36%) – which translates into a 6% drop in reenlistment."
From your CBO quote:
"implying a 16 percent decline in the reenlistment rate, from about 42 percent to about 36 percent."
You need to brush up on your math. 42% to 36% is a drop of six percentage points which is a 14.3% decrease. The article says about 42 and about 36. If the more precise versions of those numbers turned out to be, say, 42.4% and 35.6%, the resulting drop would be 16%.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:43 ammay have been mentioned, and i don’t know the details, but yesterday rachel maddow reported that this bill is also being held up by BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS…
go figure…
May 10th, 2008 at 10:35 amThe WWII GI Bill created the greatest educated and socially upward rise in the Middle Class, resulting in a return of $7 for every $1 invested and gave us the late 50's and 60's social revolution by providing an educated youth with time and resources to change America.
Webbs Bill gives today's GIs the same help and benefits to America . . . but the McSame RepubliCONs would rather sneak them home uncared for and burn the losses in the pet roasters.
And why would a multi-millionaire, with a job, free medical care, 8 homes, a wife with $200 Million and a jet, find the NEED to draw $28,000 a year from what he calls a "Bankrupt Social Security System"???
McSame blows it out both ends and takes all he can with both hands . . .
May 11th, 2008 at 12:38 amThe neocon asswipes who have almost completely flushed this nation and its military down the commode see much more logic in lowering the recruitment standards and enlisting criminals than trying to attract young people looking to improve themselves and their nation.
It is further proof that the powerful are looking for no more than cannon fodder to expend in the perpetration of their dark agenda.
These evil chickenhawk pricks have to go.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:55 pmI think most of the disagreement on this issue is military staffing in the short run.
I understand that with the Webb bill, the benefits may induce many veterans to leave the military and also induce more recruiting in the future. But, it sets up a near term shortage. For progressives that promote a near term withdrawal from Iraq, that scenario lines up with their perception or desire for staffing needs. And additionally, it accelerates the need to withdrawal which progressives want.
But the scenario doesn't fit with the view of republicans that want to maintain a more robust short run presence in the middle east and especially Iraq. The near term shortages in military staffing may play into democrat plans, but they hamstring republican plans to continue to prosecute the war in Iraq.
This GI bill issue probably has more to do with the war in Iraq than it has to do with either parties goals for veterans benefits.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:57 pmAs a 26-year member of the military I support increased educational benefits. However, it's important to recognize (it seems rather obvious) that an increased recruitment rate will not come close to compensating for decreased retention. Training costs will increase drastically (stunningly expensive stuff) and a shortage of mid/junior-level NCOs will cost lives on the battlefield (yes, that's those new recruits, our sons and daughters, being killed). It's great to want the best for our military, but this one will get people killed. The taxpayer has an investment in every military member, and that has to be protected - that's the reality of an all-volunteer military. That this is being heralded as such a hot political issue bodes poorly for the person in uniform defending our country. For the record, I am not Republican or conservative.
May 28th, 2008 at 3:49 amThis is another example that the "old world jounalism of Murrow, Cronkite and Rather is dead and buried. In the case of the Time Magazine reporter Ms Tumulty, she seems to think the finding out the who, what, where, when and how have been replaced with a steno pad, which she records what ABC said in rebuttle to the complaint of Congressman Kucinich. There is a great disconnect with what happened and the points made by ABC. She asks little of no questions to ABC. She takes what is handed to her and repeats it vebatim and then calls that reporting. I call is stenography. Lida Sohbet sohbet sesli chat Gelinlik Modelleri
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CBO calculates that raising the educational benefits as proposed in S. 22 would result in a 16 percent increase in recruits.
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Much better to lower standards, and let in criminals, and gang members. That will really improve the military. McCain can’t really be that stupid, so he must just be lying, again.
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