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POPSJohn McCain is in New Jersey Today. Half of NJ's National Guard Isn't
When John McCain is in New Jersey today, we urge him to address the thousands of families that have been affected by this deployment and describe the relief he would provide them as President. In addition, VFA had been repeatedly contacted by NJ Guard members and other servicemembers from New Jersey who want to know Senator McCain's position on compensating members of our armed forces who have been stop-lossed. Recently, Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey introduced a bill calling for compensation to provided to those who affected by this regrettable policy. VFA calls on Senator McCain to clearly state if he supports Senator Lautenberg's "Stop Loss Compensation Act." Our servicemembers deserve answers, especially after considerable questions were raised regarding Senator McCain's support for our troops' well being when he opposed the successful effort to expand the GI Bill, as called for in a bill that Senator Lautenberg also co-sponsored.
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POPSA Tale of Two Johns We? Out of the 92-6 vote, two senators were not present. One of them was Ted Kennedy, who is home recovering from brain surgery. The other was John McCain. Even John Cornyn was faux-brave enough to vote "yea" after his defiance was stomped out of Congress like a flaming bag of dog shit. Time and time again, John McCain has been a detriment to troops and veterans, not only for his disastrous plans for Iraq but for the curtailing of benefits soldiers receive when they come home. His loyalty no longer resides with fellow veterans but to slick D.C. politics. I know you're not reading this, Senator McCain, but we'll be watching for more of the same.
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POPSNew GI Bill Close to Final Approval The package also includes a monthly living stipend, an annual book allowance, and money for tutorial assistance, along with many other features. At this point it gets complicated, however, in terms of how they're going to actually implement this thing. But for all of you affected by this, Maze explains: Benefits increases take effect as soon as the war funding bill is signed into law by President Bush, which will happen in the next few weeks. But veterans now in school will not get the higher amounts right away because lawmakers are giving the Veterans Affairs Department until Aug. 1, 2009, to calculate and pay amounts that will vary by state and by school. Retroactive payments will have to be made. Also, anyone who had not previously enrolled in the GI Bill will have to wait until Aug. 1, 2009, to collect any payments.
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POPSBush & McCain Support the Troops by Saying...F**k 'em!
President Bush and Presidential wannabe Senator McCain are always bragging about how they support the troops and honour their service. Oh yeah! This sounds great, but when it comes to actually doing something good and fair for them when they return from the firing line, they say fuck 'em. No money for their education or other benefits. After all, if we make it too good, they will wanna leave the service rather than remain canon fodder indefinitely. Neither of these political pieces of fecal matter stop to think about how increased and improved GI benefits will bring additional people into the service that will more than make up for those who might leave after three years. All they care about is having enough bodies willing to be shot up in Iraq so they can maintain their illegal and tragic war. These war criminals should hang their heads in shame as should anyone who would consider voting for McCain after seeing what a hypocrite he really and truly is.
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POPSMr. Bush And The GI Bill "Thankfully, the new G.I. Bill has strong bipartisan support in Congress. The House passed it by a veto-proof margin this month, and last week the Senate followed suit, approving it as part of a military financing bill for Iraq and Afghanistan."
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POPSWar Funding Bill Jettisons Immigrant Labor Work Permits The bill before the Senate would add more than $28 billion to Bush's budget request for this year and next, with almost $50 billion more after those two years for a big expansion of veterans benefits under the GI Bill from 2010-2018. Reid faces enormous procedural headaches in getting the war funding bill - and its various add-ons - passed this week. Democrats have divided the war funding bill into two components: non-war add-ons and Iraq funding-policy restrictions. Reid has signaled he wants the non-war extras to get a vote before the war funding itself, but it's a high-wire strategy. The new GI Bill and Democratic priorities like extending unemployment benefits are among the big-ticket add-ons, both of which have drawn veto threats. There's also $50 million to track down child predators, $400 million to help rural schools and $350 million to fight Western wildfires, just for starters.
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POPSVeterans’ Groups Pushs For More Predictable VA Funding “It is a lot cheaper to provide veteran care through the VA than it is to provide it by Medicare or Medicaid,” said Violante. “If we put the resources into the VA it would certainly be fiscally responsible.” Congress now appropriates VA medical care funds on an annual basis. Political squabbling has delayed VA funding in 13 of the past 14 years — something that has severely hampered the department’s ability to plan and manage its healthcare system, according to DAV’s talking points. Veterans’ groups say the change would ensure the agency can better handle the growing number of veterans dependent on it for medical care. An added benefit would be that advance appropriations would not fall under pay-as-you-go budgetary rules, which do cover mandatory funding. This means the advance appropriations would not have to be offset by spending cuts or revenue raisers, requirements that make it harder to move legislation.
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POPS Stand With Our Veterans IAVA.org Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act, H.R. 3793 email petition In July, a presidential commission revealed that the Department of Defense is unfairly penalizing wounded veterans by not providing them with their full enlistment bonuses. Some have even been asked to return money they've already received. Tell your Representatives to support legislation that would ensure our servicemembers don't get penalized for being discharged as the result of an injury. We've provided you with some suggested language, but feel free to edit it. Your message will automatically be sent to your local Congressional Representatives.
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