And I will not accept from Senator Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did,

Source

Of course, he was too busy hobnobbing with the Govenator to be bothered to even show up to vote.

Yep, and these were the oh-so-terribly-out-of-line comments by Obama he was responding to:

I respect sen. John McCain's service to our country. He is one of those heroes of which I speak. But I can't understand why he would line up behind the President in his opposition to this GI bill.

I can't believe why he believes it is too generous to our veterans. I could not disagree with him and the President more on this issue. There are many issues that lend themselves to partisan posturing but giving our veterans the chance to go to college should not be one of them.

But, you know, instead of explaining why he felt it was right for him to be absent for the vote and remain staunchly opposed to this bill (even after his own bill was defeated, meaning there would be no improvement to GI Bill benefits anytime soon if this bill failed), he pulled the Tom Cruise defense*.

*

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Chainlink

Key West, FL

August 2005

MAY 22, 2008 02:50 PM

bean said:

Chainlink said:

McCain pulled out the olde " if you haven't served you have no right to an opinion" line on Obama regarding the new GI Bill today..

And I will not accept from Senator Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did,

Source

Of course, he was too busy hobnobbing with the Govenator to be bothered to even show up to vote.

Yep, and these were the oh-so-terribly-out-of-line comments by Obama he was responding to:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

He'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic.
Did you see his statements near the end of the article ?

"Perhaps if Senator Obama would take the time and trouble to understand this issue, he would learn to debate an honest disagreement respectfully," McCain said. "But, as he always does, he prefers impugning the motives of his opponent, and exploiting a thoughtful difference of opinion to advance his own ambitions."

As if " you didn't serve, you can't tell me ! " is some honest respectful debating.

I have a hard time digesting that this guy (McCain) has a chance in hell. He should be utterly crushed, with ease.
But then, I didn't think much of George either.

SockPuppet

I'm lost

July 2006

MAY 22, 2008 02:53 PM

bean said:

Chainlink said:

McCain pulled out the olde " if you haven't served you have no right to an opinion" line on Obama regarding the new GI Bill today..

And I will not accept from Senator Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did,

Source

Of course, he was too busy hobnobbing with the Govenator to be bothered to even show up to vote.

Yep, and these were the oh-so-terribly-out-of-line comments by Obama he was responding to:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

It's clearer and clearer that the Republican establishment has decided they have no hope of winning this election.

OhSoOrdinary

New York, NY

July 2006

MAY 22, 2008 03:22 PM

coyotemike said:

motorfirebox said:

coyotemike said:
The GI Bill used to be a fine reward for service. Go into the military, and when you get out, you get to go to college. Hell, that used to be about half the selling point for getting recruits. Now, according to a former student of mine, it doesn't even cover half his tuition, let alone books, fees, living expenses (if he had chosen to live in campus). And this is at a school with one of the cheapest in-state tuitions in the whole fucking country! He spent 2 years in Iraq, getting shot at so he could fix radios, and now he's slowly going broke because he wants an education.

Nice way to say "thanks for almost getting your ass blown away."

not to mention that the whole process is a massive time sink--even moreso if you want to collect some of your earnings up front (so you can, y'know, afford the initial tuition payment + books).

I'm not sure, but I think the G.I. Bill simply wasn't adjusted for inflation. The money given is plenty to go to school . . . 30 years ago.

We get an 3% increase every year. But when school raise tuition 4-7% every year, it's not much help.

otaku

USA

January 2004

MAY 23, 2008 07:44 PM

ckdexterhaven said:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

stockula said:

bean said:

stockula said:

attn_ho said:

stockula said:
He hates conservative Republicans, too.

I really, and im not joking, would like to hear why you say so.

My impression of mccain is that hes just power hungry now. He seems to have reversed every stance hes taken for the campaign.

So, do you think he lacks principles? or do you think that deep down he holds too centrist of values? socially or fiscally or both?

McCain has a keen grasp on how to seize power at the expense of the GOP and conservative agenda but without a coherent reason why he would want to do with the power he would win He cannot honestly believe fighting global warming and legitimizing illegal immigration would HELP and strengthen the USA. What is really up his sleeve?

Whoever wins in 2008, we lose.

You do of course realize that any "liberal" positions he might have at one time appeared to hold he rarely ever acted on as a Senator and abandoned entirely over the last 8 years, right?

His entire "global warming strategy" has been "well, it might be a problem, and we might have to do something about it at some point, but I'm not going to actually support anything that's on the table right now," which apparently is just enough to piss off the far right wing but not enough to actually have any sort of a green record to curry favor with liberal-leaning independents, let alone Democrats.

Everything else he's seemed to be a moderate on he has systematically shifted to be lock-step in line with the conservative side of the Republican party on. Once he lost the 2000 primary, he did everything he possibly could to kiss Bush's ass and suck up to nearly every policy the Republican leadership laid out.

He's the worst kind of shill imaginable. He believes in nothing, and is constantly changing his positions to whatever might have gotten him widespread appeal had he held those positions 6 years earlier. It's a testament to how desperate the Republicans are and how much in disarray the party is that he is far and away their "best" candidate.

As if. I hate him. Most conservatives hate him. He is far far far from the best. I can't even understand how this guy became our nominee. I agree it shows how fucked up the GOP is that he is our nominee but it's not out of any crass calculation of 'hey at least he can win'.

Who was your guy, Stock? Or, more specifically, who would you have liked to have seen get the nomination?

6 days later, still no answer.
Gee, why am I not surprised....

SuburbanMonk

La Jolla, CA

February 2007

MAY 26, 2008 08:49 PM

The MGIB works wonders for an associates degree. The problem is if you try to attend a bachelor's degree granting institution. The icing on the cake is that they take your veteran's education benefits as a part of your aid package in place of scholarships, grants, and subsidized loans. So now, when your educational benefits aren't enough to cover your cost of attendance, your only options are unsubsidized loans and private loans. Sweet deal.. "thanks for your service."

hadees

Austin, TX

December 2003

MAY 28, 2008 10:42 AM

I don't really get why the Democrats didn't vote for McCain's bill, well other then politics. If they didn't think the benefits were enough nothing is stopping from still trying to increase them later on.

Frankly I think the best solution would merge the two bills. It is smart to focus on benefits that make people want to stay in the military while at the same time improving college benefits. I don't see the approaches as being mutually exclusive.

And to be fair the Democrats are also trying to attach their bill to the war funding.

OhSoOrdinary

New York, NY

July 2006

MAY 28, 2008 11:01 AM

hadees said:
And to be fair the Democrats are also trying to attach their bill to the war funding.

Why is that bad? People keep saying that like it's bad.

[/ignorant]

SuburbanMonk

La Jolla, CA

February 2007

MAY 28, 2008 11:08 AM

The benefit is no longer a veteran's benefit if it is used to keep people in the military, it is a re-enlistment incentive. If Congress and the Pentagon were interested in increasing the tools each service has to retain servicemembers, they would have done so, and still have the opportunity to do so when each fiscal year's defense appropriations act comes around. There is no splitting hairs; if you're going to give veteran's benefits, do it for the veterans. If you want to improve retention in the military, increase the pay charts annually beyond the inflation rate, give out re-enlistment bonuses that actually can have an impact on a servicemember's life. It is great that they are giving out 90,000 to 120,000 to bomb technicians and special operators, but a majority of jobs in the military get little to no bonus. True, there is a relationship between veteran's benefits and a decision of whether or not to leave the service, however enhanced education incentives will not make a drastic difference in the number of people leaving active service.

The current government and military leadership doesn't want the common person to further their education. Then we would all have a clue that they're nothing but a bunch of fuck-ups...