This morning, President Bush signed a war supplemental spending bill which included a doubling of GI Bill college benefits for troops and veterans. The Bush administration had resisted Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) strong bipartisan effort to pass the bill, going so far as to warn of “harm” that might come from giving expanded educational benefits to soldiers who served “only” 2 years.
But today, Bush was all too happy to pat himself on the back for the GI Bill, and to laud the work of senators who tried to stand in the way of the bill’s passage:
The bill is a result of close collaboration between my administration and members of both parties on Capitol Hill. … I want to thank members who worked hard for the GI Bill expansion, especially Senators Webb and Warner, Graham, Burr, McCain. This bill shows that even in an election year, Democrats and Republicans can come together to stand behind our troops.
Watch it:
McCain — along with Bush — was one of the most vocal opponents of Webb’s bill. He claimed it was too generous, would lead to a drop in military retention, and would “hurt the military.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham — a key McCain surrogate — urged his conservative colleagues to vote against Webb’s bill, claiming “we will get rewarded in the next election” for doing so. McCain, Burr, and Graham offered an alternative bill that was “seen as a way to convolute the GI bill.”
But once the House struck a deal pushing forward Webb’s legislation, McCain disingenuously tried to take credit for it. In fact, McCain didn’t even show up last week to vote on the GI bill legislation, which passed 92-6. The only other senator not present for the vote was Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who is battling a brain tumor.

Yes, please, let Bush praise McCain everyday. Obama’s gap will increase to 20% in a matter of days…
June 30th, 2008 at 10:38 amkoo-koo! koo-koo!
June 30th, 2008 at 10:38 amAnd the BushCo Cabal keeps spinning!
This is sad but also a bit funny. He can lie and lie and never change his expression.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:38 amGeorgie didn’t mention his other lackey Boehner by name? I hope this doesn’t make him cry. C’mon George, give Boehner his props! He tried just as hard as all of your other obstructionist @ssholes on the Hill to block this bill. After Bush and his buddies are finished sucking each other off over work that they had no participation in, he’ll probably call a news conference to take another jab at the “do nothing Democrat Congress”.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:39 amBut ….. Won’t this plan destroy our military? Isn’t it just another way to try to end the Iraq war?
I am SOOOO confused!
June 30th, 2008 at 10:40 amYeah, that’s quite a circle jerk Bush is enjoying.
Do they really believe the shit they spout?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:45 amAnother sign that the GOP have nothing for America–when they try to take credit for the very proposals they opposed. I wonder if anyone told Bush he would be lying through his teeth when he gave credit to McCain and Graham for the GI Bill?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:46 amAbove the Clouds Says:
Another sign that the GOP have nothing for America–when they try to take credit for the very proposals they opposed. I wonder if anyone told Bush he would be lying through his teeth when he gave credit to McCain and Graham for the GI Bill?
Ya think it matters to them? Lying is the same as breathing for this scumbag.
Another rover ploy; say it enough and the 19%ers will believe anything.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:52 amBush is pathetic, but watch Graham & McCan’t take the credit.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:52 amI was against it before I was for it….
June 30th, 2008 at 10:54 amThat mystical wonderful place that is Bush’s mind where every minute starts a new day and no one can remember when
June 30th, 2008 at 10:56 amRepublicans always take credit they don’t deserve. They try to prosper off the hardwork of many democrats that had to fight a long battle to get this bill approved.
I’m very happy though because the vets are the winners which in the end is all that matters. They have waited far too long for this Bill and vets certainly deserve the increase in benefits.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:58 amGosh, which did Maverick do:
a.) Lead
b.) Follow
c.) Get out of the way
J-Mac is losing more of his Maverickiness.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:59 amraynman Says:
I was against it before I was for it….
“…and then I was too busy to vote either way on it. That, my friends, is the McCain approach to all issues.
“Or at least it was yesterday. Today is another matter, my friends. What group am I speaking in front of, and who signed the check?”
June 30th, 2008 at 11:00 amIt only passed with a considerable war spending bill, defeats the whole achievement this is somehow supposed to be.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:05 amWho are the six senators voting against the Webb measure?
June 30th, 2008 at 11:05 amRepublican plan:
fool enough of the people enough of the time
June 30th, 2008 at 11:07 amscared, ignorant voters like rogers are the only things keeping ANY republicans in office
without their overwhelming cowardice, most of the republican agenda would be dead in the water
June 30th, 2008 at 11:09 amI’ve become convinced that Bush is just gaslighting us in revenge for his poor approval ratings. To keep myself from going insane, I have to continue to go back and make sure my memory isn’t playing tricks on me. Sure enough, as always, it’s Bush playing tricks on my memory.
McCain, Military Oppose Expanding GI Bill
Presidential Hopeful Believes Legislation Would Hurt Military
April 14, 2008
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, seemed to give a thumbs down to bipartisan legislation that would greatly expand educational benefits for members of the military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan under the GI Bill.
McCain indicated he would offer some sort of alternative to the legislation to address concerns that expanding the GI Bill could lead more members of the military to get out of the service.
Pressure had mounted on McCain to support the bill — a veterans group, which backs the legislation, delivered a petition to McCain’s Senate office, signed by 30,000 veterans.
President Bush, in his State of the Union address this year, suggested not expanding the GI Bill benefit for current soldiers,
June 30th, 2008 at 11:15 amHey S_Martass:
BOO!!!
June 30th, 2008 at 11:25 amWOW!!! Jus….WOW!!!
Come on Obama, don’t let them get away with this one.
The media isn’t going to say CRAP about this because they are NO DOUBT in the bag for McSame.
This is just….WOW!!!
June 30th, 2008 at 11:26 amHey NotSo S_Mart:
June 30th, 2008 at 11:28 amI thought Rove said that the more educated people are the more likely they are to vote Democrat. It’s the 23% knuckledraggers voting Republican lockstep.
S_Mart Says: Democrats are stupid and only stupid people vote for them! My rebuttal presented in RantingTommy’s new intelligent debating style! What a Pioneer!
You really should check the facts before you make such false statements.
The more educated people are, the more likely they are to be liberal because they have the skills to be realistic. Also, the more poor people are the more likely they are to be liberal because they can feel the pain of being poor.
It’s the ignornant folks who tend to be Republican.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:32 amS_Mart, re-read your grammatically challenged posts before you call the kettle black.
Using your logic, if God is love, and love is blind, then God must be blind.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:44 amS_Mart as a lump of clay-
I put no credence in KKKarl’s opinions, however since you’re closed little mind gets it’s talking points from a small cadre of reichwingers, one of them being Herr Rove, I thought I’d point out to you that you were posting “off message”. It may affect your 10 cent per post check next week, just sayin’.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:47 ams-mart,
try this site and then link to the U of Chicago’s NORC site.
http://www.halfsigma.com/2006/06/liberals_smarte.html
June 30th, 2008 at 11:53 amComing up on C-SPAN: Dana Perino further recognizes the president and the Republicans in Congress for condescending to work with Democrats “in passing this legislation, which speaks to the President’s ongoing commitment of support to the troops are your eyes glazed over enough so I can continue my smarmy ways without being challenged good I figured none of you in this press room would question us about Jim Webb’s bill blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda…
“oh and about the report of us being unprepared way back in ‘03: as we’ve said numerous times, we’re forward looking, looking forward, moving ahead, more important tasks with the enemy that wants to do us harm, fight them there so we don’t have to fight them here . . . “
June 30th, 2008 at 12:20 pmA Patriot Acting Says:
Georgie didn’t mention his other lackey Boehner by name? I hope this doesn’t make him cry. C’mon George, give Boehner his props!
June 30th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Don’t worry, Boehner won’t be crying today. I happened to watch Bush’s signing speech, and Boehner’s name was actually mentioned first. I really can’t understand how anyone could believe a word of today’s speech, when Bush and McCain have been such vocal opponents of this bill. Even the 23%ers, or whatever they’re down to now, must be scratching their heads and furrowing their brows over this bit of hypocrisy.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:32 pmS_Mart Says:
unbelievable Says:
Offer some evidence to back up your assumption.
You are evidence. You are a right-winger who is stupid enough to believe Bush when there is no hiding the fact that he is lying, again. And, you are too dumb to even be embarrassed by your pathetic gullibility. Your Republican leaders are fully aware of the stupidity of their base, and they happily fool you time after time.
Fool me once, shame on you.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:38 pmFool me over and over again, I’m a dumbass Republican.
And, of course, the MSM will let them get away with this lie. They won’t qualify his statement by pointing out that Bush and McCain both opposed the bill. So, the low-information voters out there, the ones who only get their news from the TV, will think that Bush and McCain were responsible for getting the bill passed.
The very first thing Obama needs to do once he takes office is to do something to reverse the media consolidation that has happened since Clinton passed the bill allowing this to happen. I don’t care how many good things Clinton did while in office, but allowing the passage (even encouraging) the bill that allowed this media consolidation was the single thing he did that helped put this country into the mess it is in now.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:43 pmS_Mart:
If you believe that god impregnated Mary, then you are a true believer, and as such you know deep in your heart, when you wake up in the middle of then night and there is no one to pose for, that you are going to hell for your continued support of george bush. If you voted for him in 04, knowing that he sent men and women to their deaths for no reason you have their blood on your hands and your god will not forgive you. It’s no use telling yourself that you will repent, your god knows your plan and he will send you to hell.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:49 pmS_Mart Says:
RantingTommy Says:
Democrats are stupid and only stupid people vote for them!
Oh really? 47% of the people in this country must be stupid because that’s the percentage that say they will vote for any Democrat over any Republican. The last poll showed it was 47% Democrat to 34% Republican. The 34% is the low-information voters who still support Bush plus a couple of extras because Bush’s last rating was, I believe, 28%.
You can’t cure stupid, so this stupid troll is doomed. Hopefully it’s head will explode on November 3 and put it out of it’s miserable existence.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:51 pmI think Bush is helping McCain with his overall pandering strategy, which goes like this:
1. Speaking to a group of chickenhawks, McCain insists that our all-volunteer military is working, and recruiting is just fine, thankyouverymuch. He will claim that he didn’t support the Webb bill because it would have meant troops leaving the military to pursue their educations.
2. Speaking to a group of veterans, McCain cites Bush’s praise of him and his support for the new G.I. Bill.
3. Speaking to a mixed group of chickenhawks and veterans, McCain develops laryngitis…
June 30th, 2008 at 1:13 pmBobwurst Says:
S_Mart:
If you believe that god impregnated Mary, then you are a true believer, and as such you know deep in your heart, when you wake up in the middle of then night and there is no one to pose for, that you are going to hell for your continued support of george bush. If you voted for him in 04, knowing that he sent men and women to their deaths for no reason you have their blood on your hands and your god will not forgive you. It’s no use telling yourself that you will repent, your god knows your plan and he will send you to hell.
Exactly.
S_ will join the TREASONOUS Bush Criminals, as well as TRAITOR Ronnie Reagan, now DEAD and BURNING for his GENOCIDE.
Traitor Ronnie: DUH! HOT, MASTER Satan, HOT!!!
June 30th, 2008 at 1:18 pmA Patriot Acting Says:
Georgie didn’t mention his other lackey Boehner by name? I hope this doesn’t make him cry. C’mon George, give Boehner his props!
June 30th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Listen again, 30 seconds in.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:43 pmI saw Bush out and out lie this morning — he gave McCain credit for a bill he opposed!
June 30th, 2008 at 2:03 pmNot that this is a surprise, nor even the first time, but the media should be jumping all over this and they are silent.
Hmm, no surprise there either.
Standard Rove-ian approach:
1. Project your shortcomings onto your opponent (i.e. Obama as the country-club guy making snide comments);
2. Take credit for your opponent’s strength (i.e. touting the Bush administration and Republican lawmakers for passing a G.I. bill, thus, “we support the troops,” even though we opposed the bill.)
3. Slander the opponent; erase damaging emails, lose others; mince words; flip-off any calls for justice and oversight; attach signing statements to nullify any bills you don’t especially like (i.e. the past 7.5 years).
June 30th, 2008 at 4:35 pmThis whole situation reminds me of a scene at the end of the movie, Dragonslayer. The dragon’s corpse is rotting on the ground, with crows and buzzards picking at it when the king’s coach pulls up. The king shuffles up to the corpse and his minister hands him a sword. The king puts the point of the sword into the dragon’s cold flesh and the minister loudly proclaims, “All hail Casiodorus Rex, dragonslayer!”
All hail King George, draqonslayer!
June 30th, 2008 at 6:39 pmI think they dress him up in between bike rides and just tell him to read the teleprompter.
“One of the things important about history is to remember the true history.” –George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 6, 2008
June 30th, 2008 at 9:17 pmHello,
A friend of mine has created a very interesting video. It has inspired me vote in the upcoming election, and if you aren’t already going to, I am sure it will for you too.
You can find the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4kg514DcTA
I would love to hear what you think about it after you watch it. Thank you for your time.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:28 pm