Yesterday, House leaders in both parties struck a deal on a war supplemental bill that includes expanded college benefits for veterans. The GI Bill is Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) version, as well as a provision allowing troops to transfer the benefits to family members. President Bush has promised to sign the legislation.

Now, however, Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — the two most vocal opponents of Webb’s bill — are trying to take credit for it. They are claiming that they always supported the generous benefits — their main concern was just ensuring the benefits’ transferability:

McCain: That has always been my primary concern with respect to the Webb bill. … With the addition of the transferability provisions sought by Senators Graham, Burr, myself and others to give service members the right to transfer earned G.I. Bill benefits to spouses and children, we will have achieved in offering vastly improved educational benefit.

Bush: Throughout the past five months, President Bush and members of his Administration have worked hard to ensure that an expansion of GI benefits includes transferability. … The President is pleased that Congress answered his call.

Webb said that he had been considering changing his bill to include a transferability option. But instead of working with him, McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) went ahead and introduced an opposing bill. While it did have transferability, it also had less generous educational benefits.

This was never the real reason Bush and McCain opposed the legislation. Their constant complaint was that Webb’s version was too generous and would lead to a drop in military retention:

McCain: “I want to make sure that we have incentives for people to remain in the military as well as for people to join the military.”

Bush administration: “The last thing we want to do is provide a benefit — or the last thing we want to do is create a situation in which we are losing our men and women who we have worked so hard to train.”

As the CBO concluded, these claims about retention were inaccurate. The Pentagon also argued that it was too generous to confer benefits on troops after “only” two years of service, and legislation offered by McCain and his Senate allies would have reserved the most generous benefits for those who have served at least 12 years, excluding most servicemembers.

Last week, President Bush presented Tom and Romayne McGinnis with a posthumous Medal of Honor for their son, Private First Class Ross Andrew McGinnis. Ross was killed in Iraq in December 2004 when he threw his body in front of a grenade to protect four of his fellow soldiers, saving their lives. Bush praised Ross’s heroism, and pledged to “never forget” the soldiers “who came forward to bear the battle” for “freedom and security” in Iraq:

The day will come when the mission he served has been completed and the fighting is over, and freedom and security have prevailed. America will never forget those who came forward to bear the battle. America will always honor the name of this brave soldier who gave all for his country, and was taken to rest at age 19.

Ross’s father, Tom McGinnis, is holding Bush to his word. The next day, McGinnis called on Bush to sign the 21st Century GI bill, while speaking at the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes induction:

Our troops when they get home also need our support. … They need to be able to continue their education where they left off. And so I say thank you to the Senate and House who have helped to pass the new GI bill. Now this GI bill only needs the signature of the President of the United States to become law. And I think it’s time that George Bush can sign this bill and make it law to show his appreciation for the support these loyal youth have given him.

Watch it:

McGinnis told the Army Times that he felt he had to seize the opportunity to speak out about the bill while in Washington: “If I didn’t do it when I was down there at the Pentagon or the White House, one of the two, when will I ever have the chance to make an impact?”

Both Bush and the Pentagon oppose Webb’s GI bill. A Pentagon spokesman said it was inappropriate to award educational benefits “after only” two years of service. Opponents of the bill misleadingly cite a Congressional Budget Office report to claim that the bill would harm retention rates, ignoring the report’s finding that the bill would encourage 30,000 new recruits every year.

In threatening to veto the bill, Bush is ignoring the substantial majority of both houses of Congress, along with an overwhelming majority of American citizens. Will Bush also ignore the father of one of America’s greatest heroes?

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Last month, the Senate passed Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) 21st Century GI Bill on a veto-proof 75-22 vote. Steve Robertson, the American Legion’s legislative affairs director, said Webb’s bill “was clearly a cooperative operation, bipartisan and with involvement with the veterans service organizations,” adding, “That’s why I think everyone’s pretty much in sync with it … it was a group effort.”

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) not only skipped the vote on Webb’s bill, but he and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also failed to include veterans’ concerns while drafting their competing measure. Veterans groups said they were not consulted for the Graham-McCain version of the GI Bill, calling their measure “very partisan“:

“We didn’t have that much input into [the Republican version] – there was no dialogue to my knowledge other than ‘this is it,’” Mr. Robertson said. [...]

The Graham-Burr-McCain plan is “very partisan and is seen as a way to convolute the GI bill, or to slow the Webb-Hagel proposal down,” [VFW's deputy director for legislative affairs Eric] Hilleman said.

This isn’t the first time McCain has ignored veterans concerns. While he has claimed that he has “received the highest award from literally every veterans organization in America,” it seems he has some trouble with the literal meaning of “literally”:

– Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave McCain a grade of D for his record of voting against veterans. (By contrast, Obama got a B+.)

– Disabled Veterans of America noted McCain’s dismal 20 percent voting record on veterans’ issues. (Obama had an 80 percent.)

– In a list of “Key Votes,” Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) notes McCain “Voted Against Us” 15 times and “Voted For Us” only 8. (Obama voted for VVA 12 times, and against only once.)

Last month, McCain said, “I take a back seat to no one in my affection, respect and devotion to veterans,” except when in comes to rewarding them for their sacrifices.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press” this morning, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) discussed his 21st Century GI Bill, which would dramatically expand educational benefits for returning veterans. President Bush, however, has vowed to veto the bill. Webb blasted Bush for this unprecedented action:

No president in history has vetoed a benefits bill for those who served. … The Republican party is on the block here, to clearly demonstrate that they value military service or suffer the consequences of losing the support of people who’ve served. … The president has a choice here to show how much he values military service.

Watch it:

The Pentagon has suggested that Webb’s bill is too generous in conferring benefits to soldiers after “only” two years of service. However, as Webb pointed out, soldiers would still have to finish their enlistment term. What’s more, as a recent CBO report showed, any loss in reenlistment rates is entirely made up for by increased military recruits.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his allies have introduced their own version of the bill, which would reserve the most generous benefits for those who have served at least 12 years. Webb pointed out that it would exclude the vast majority of service members:

Seventy to 75 percent of the ground troops in the Army and the Marine Corps have left the service by the end of their first enlistment. And those are the people who are not being taken care of. … They are not getting an opportunity for the first-class education they deserve.

As Webb pointed out, conservatives need to match their rhetoric on supporting the troops with their actions.