21st Century GI Bill would encourage 30,000 new recruits annually.
21st Century GI Bill would encourage 30,000 new recruits annually.
A common conservative talking point against Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) 21st Century GI Bill is that it would reduce reenlistment rates by 16 percent, citing a recent CBO report. But the report also states that there will be a 16 percent increase in recruits. Slate explores the numbers and finds that the military would in fact see several times as many new recruits as drop-outs:
The problem is, the “16 percents” aren’t necessarily equal. You need to know the underlying numbers of recruits and re-enlistments. … The CBO estimate concluded that the 16 percent increase in recruitment would add an additional 30,000 recruits annually, while a 16 percent decline in re-enlistment would result in 7,000 fewer re-enlistments annually. In other words, new recruits would greatly outnumber soldiers who decline to re-enlist.
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The whole “effecting retention” thing is just a cop-out for Gramps and bush/co. What this is really about is taking $$$ away from such great causes like Backwater,Halliburton,KBR,and the rest of the neo-cons money grubbing buddys. Note to troops from bush/co…”SHUT UP AND KEEP DYING!”
May 29th, 2008 at 10:07 pmOnce this administration has its hands on something, it doesn’t want to let it go. Even if it means getting more in the long run.
May 29th, 2008 at 10:12 pmYou can’t expect the innumerate Conservatives to be able to comprehend this!
May 29th, 2008 at 10:15 pmOK, so the reduction of troops is not the real reason for opposing this bill.
May 29th, 2008 at 10:18 pmSo what is?
Follow the money.
Since when did neocons understand simple math?
May 29th, 2008 at 10:29 pmThe neo-cons will certainly not go back and say they were mistaken. We’ll just have to move forward without them.
Doable….
May 29th, 2008 at 10:31 pmThe numbers fog the REAL issue . . . this new benefit package will INCREASE enlistment but:
1. The enlistees will be higher educated motivated individuals, smart enough to realize the opportunity, rather than those with little options and criminal records being “signed-up” currently.
2. Smarter soldiers bring the issue of intelligent dissent and questions of a system geared toward a “serf” mentality.
3. Ranks will fill with individuals with a better understanding of how the real world works. Officer corps pulled from upper class fundamentalist training camps such as the Air Farce Academy will have more that their mental equals within the enlisted ranks.
It may be too late for the current crop of tainted politicos in the Pentagon, but a better educated and motived new military will in the long run create more Shinsekis, Fallons and Tagubas than Betrayuses, or Odiernoes . . .
May 29th, 2008 at 10:39 pmWell said, Jess Wonderin.
I see no downside to a better educated military.
May 29th, 2008 at 10:44 pmIt’s cheaper to use and abuse the troops until they are destroyed than to pay new fresh ones to do the job. Yeesh, they’re only humans.
May 29th, 2008 at 10:52 pmIn other words, new recruits would greatly outnumber soldiers who decline to re-enlist.
Even with the current stop-loss policy in place (and in use)? This seems a static statistic that ignores other realities such as an open-ended war, and a military with no compunction against using it’s human resources in a most callous manner.
I mean, given recent history, these hypothetical new recruits must know going in that they could very well be forced to serve multiple deployments. Will a bit of new incentive overcome reaction to the current precedent? Only if the economy goes deep into recession.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:00 pmCan anyone recommend any good liberal books to read? Which author has the current state of affairs in it’s most accurate viewpoint?
May 29th, 2008 at 11:18 pmgitrdone Says:
Can anyone recommend any good liberal books to read? Which author has the current state of affairs in it’s most accurate viewpoint?
If you remove the words “liberal book” you will find an excellent book that describes how the republican controlled congress of recent past managed to put America into the worse state of affairs ever. I recommend Broken Government by John Dean, former Nixon WH counsel. He also wrote Worse than Watergate.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:28 pmMcCain didn’t officially vote “no” on this…he was busy stumping for money and blustering on this issue. He shouldn’t have any more say on this since he couldn’t go back to the capitol to do what he was elected to do, even if his vote were to be for nothing. McCain not voting just means money is much more worth his time than his Constitutional duty, his constituency and the troops he says he supports.
As they say, McCain’s deafness is blinding.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:35 pm“Conservatives Without Conscience” by John Dean. But he’s a Conservative — a real one. You’ll want to avoid a terminal case of cognitive dissonance.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:36 pmExcellent books, leftcoast!
May 29th, 2008 at 11:37 pmgitrdone Says:
can anyone recommend any good liberal books to read? Which n author has the current state of affairs in it’s most accurate viewpoint?
######
“The War I Always Wanted” by Brandon Freidman
“Love My Rifle More Than You” by Kayla Williams
Both soldiers served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Brandon was an infantry platoon leader for the 101st Airborne in Operation Anaconda, Afghanistan, and the initial invasion of Iraq. Kayla was a militry intelligence linguist and interpreter attached to the infantry.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:38 pmAlso,
“A Time To Lead” by Gen. (Ret.) Wesley Clark
May 29th, 2008 at 11:41 pm“America: Our Next Chapter: Tough Questions, Straight Answers,” Senator Chuck Hagel
May 29th, 2008 at 11:43 pmThe CBO estimate concluded that the 16 percent increase in recruitment would add an additional 30,000 recruits annually, while a 16 percent decline in re-enlistment would result in 7,000 fewer re-enlistments annually. In other words, new recruits would greatly outnumber soldiers who decline to re-enlist.
That’s too hard for Grampy to unnerstand.
And get the hell off his lawn.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:32 am“what are you going to do?…release the dogs, or the bees, or the dog with bees in their mouths and when they bark they shoot bees at you?”
May 30th, 2008 at 12:46 amgitrdone Says:
——————————————————————————–
Can anyone recommend any good liberal books to read? Which author has the current state of affairs in it’s most accurate viewpoint?
Glenn Greenwald’s “A Tragic Legacy” is an excellent examination of the Shrub mindset and is a particularly good look at how we got into the standoff with Iran. I highly recommend it. Also Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine” is a good read concerning how the corporate and banking structure is impoverishing millions around the world.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:58 amPretty much everything Greenwald has produced has been excellent.
“Bush on the Couch” is awesome.
But I especially recommend “The Authoritarians”to everyone. It isn’t a “liberal book” but explores the mindset of authoritarians in general. It’s available as a free PDF here:
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
May 30th, 2008 at 1:48 amAll good examples of good liberal books so far. I would add to the list:
“Screwed” by Thom Hartmann
May 30th, 2008 at 4:06 am“Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man” by John Perkins
“Imperial Ambitions” by Noam Chomsky
very interesting.
although I usually hate to say this, this guy is pretty wise..
Murdoch predicts McCain will lose:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/29/murdoch-predicts-mccain-will-lose/
“While calling himself a friend of McCain, Murdoch said his lengthy stint in Congress has led the Arizona senator to make so many compromises that it is not clear where he stands on the major issues. He also called McCain “unpredictable,” and questioned his knowledge on economic issues. “
May 30th, 2008 at 4:35 amCould it be GitRdone is wising up? Have we converted one? If so welcome to the correct side. Note I did not say left or right, the stuff that is going on has nothing to do with being a Liberal or Conservative.It has to do with fixing our broken Government and getting rid of the corrupt SOB’s.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:15 amScotty McC. is going to be a guest on C-Span in a few minutes.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:32 amsing birdie sing
May 30th, 2008 at 7:35 amScotty’s driving the bus over Rove’s Plame excuses.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:41 amAnd he’s not “spicing things up” because his publisher wants him to. He’s laying it out in a very straightforward manner.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:45 amWell, at the rate Dictator Bush is getting them killed off due to his Global Domination efforts, I dont think that will be enough.
JJ
May 30th, 2008 at 8:13 amUltimate Anonymity
Can anyone tell me why McCain doesn’t want to see a gain of 23,000 soldiers a year?
May 30th, 2008 at 9:48 amgitrdone, the book “Cobra II” would be a good choice in my opinion.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:50 amWell…if it will bring in 30,000 new recruits anually, then I am against it. We should not be encouraging new enlistments when the “suicide” rate is 10x’s the death rate in a war zone, and when tens of thousands of war vets are now homeless. If anything this illustrates a system that needs to be dismantled. The current congress’s refusal to prosecute the Bush admin and other departments for KNOWN war crimes makes them complicit in these same crimes. If anything they should be funded state militias to come in and detain all these war criminals in D.C.
May 30th, 2008 at 10:20 amI hate to say it, but this GI Bill will get our children killed. Losing mid/junior level NCOs and getting new recruits in exchange will only put less leadership on the battlefield. We bled NCOs in the 80s while downsizing and have almost recovered now. Please, please don’t go this road again. Yes, I’m in the military (26 years) and am not conservative. I do however care about the young troops I’m responsible for – and this one will get some of them killed.
May 31st, 2008 at 2:33 am