VETERANS
The Pentagon's Unfounded Fears About The GI Bill

In February, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), along with a bipartisan Senate coalition that included Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and John Warner (R-VA), re-introduced the "21st Century GI Bill," which aims to dramatically expand educational benefits for returning veterans. The original GI Bill, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed in 1944, "provided full tuition, housing, and living costs for some 8 million veterans," but it has been scaled back over time to such an extent that "today the most a veteran can receive is approximately $9,600 a year for four years -- no matter what college costs." Webb's bill, which has 57 co-sponsors, would pay a significant portion of college costs for all service members, including national guard members, who served in active duty after Sept. 11, 2001. Even though support for increased educational benefits for veterans should be "at the top of the list of no-brainers in Washington," the Pentagon, the White House, and some members of Congress are resisting Webb's efforts "out of fear that too many will use it." In a press briefing earlier this month, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell warned of the "harm" Webb's bill would do to troop retention and objected to the generous benefits given after "only" two years of service. Accepting the Pentagon's argument, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Burr (R-NC) have introduced their own GI bill expansion that pegs benefits to the length of time served in active duty, reserving the most generous benefits to older soldiers who signed up before 9/11. But major veterans organizations such as VoteVets.org, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the American Legion back Webb's bill.

RETENTION VERSUS RECRUITMENT: "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," said Morrell when arguing against Webb's bill. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has aired similar concerns, saying that his "first objective is to strengthen the All-Volunteer Force" and that "serious retention issues could arise" under a too-generous GI Bill. But these concerns are overblown since they do not account for increased recruitment. While increased education benefits are expected to affect reenlistment rates, a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report found that the loss in retention from Webb's bill will be entirely made up for by increased military recruits. By CBO's accounting, the expected 16 percent drop in the reenlistment rate would be offset by "a 16 percent increase in recruits." As Sen. John Warner (R-VA) has noted, "[P]utting a big piece of cheese out there will induce more qualified people to join just to get this. It should be a tremendous incentive for recruitment."

TWO YEARS VERSUS SIX: While claiming that the Pentagon has no issue with "more generous education benefits to troops," Morrell said that the Pentagon is "certainly concerned" that the benefits in Webb's bill "would be eligible to them after only two years of service." Instead, the Pentagon wants to peg increased benefits to "a longer period of service," adding that "six years would show a commitment to service." Under Morrell's terms, a soldier who participated in the invasion of Baghdad in April 2003 and had remained in service ever since, would be forced to wait until April 2009 before becoming eligible for full benefits. But as VoteVets Chairman and Iraq war veteran Jon Soltz points out, "time of service isn't a measure of commitment to service." "What about the troops who served under six years, did a few tours in Iraq, and came back without a limb, and could no longer serve? Have they shown less of a commitment to America?" asks Soltz. Additionally, Soltz notes that soldiers sign up for eight year contracts, with most for four years active. "So even if they do begin school when they're done with their active duty commitment, the military can call them up at any time they need them, for the life of the troop's contract."

COSTS VERSUS BENEFITS: In testimony to Congress last summer, some Defense Department officials offered up the cost of Webb's bill as one reason to resist it, saying that "the current program for active duty is basically sound and serves its purpose in support of the all-volunteer force. The department finds no need for the kind of sweeping (and expensive) changes offered." But the expansion of educational benefits in Webb's bill is "is projected to cost about $2.5 billion per year," roughly the cost of U.S. operations in Iraq for one week. In announcing the American Legion's support for Webb's bill last week, National Commander Marty Conatser addressed criticisms that the GI Bill is too expensive, pointing out that the "bulk of that cost is paid for by the men and women who wear the uniform. Benefits are just a small, small cost of war." Additionally, as New York Times columnist Bob Herbert pointed out recently, "[M]oney that goes to bolstering the education of returning veterans is an investment, in both the lives of the veterans themselves and the future of the nation." In fact, educational benefits for veterans are a proven investment. A 1988 congressional study found "that every dollar spent on educational benefits under the original GI Bill added seven dollars to the national economy in terms of productivity, consumer spending and tax revenue."

Under the Radar

CONGRESS -- GOP HOUSE BILL BUCKS BUSH ON SIGNING STATEMENTS: Throughout the last seven years, President Bush has issued an "unprecedented number" of signing statements on bills he has signed into law -- either innocuously commenting on the bill or signaling an intent to ignore part or all of the law he just signed. But yesterday, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) introduced "the Presidential Signing Statements Act" in an effort to provide some congressional oversight of these practices. "To enable a more complete public understanding of our nation's laws, the U.S. Congress should also be able to call for the executive's explanation of the meaning and justification for a presidential signing statement," Jones said. The bill would also require the president to submit copies of the signing statements to Congress and require them to be published in the Federal Register.

TORTURE -- CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST '20TH HIJACKER,' GUANTANAMO TORTURE VICTIM: The AP reports that the Pentagon has "dropped charges" against Mohammad al-Qahtani, "a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called '20th hijacker' in the Sept. 11 attacks." An attorney involved in the case "said he could not comment on the reasons for the dismissal." Al-Qahtani, also known as Detainee 063, was an important detainee for the Bush administration. He was the subject of a 2002 meeting at Guantanamo that included former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, Vice President Cheney's lawyer David Addington, and former Pentagon counsel Jim Haynes. Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld authorized the "First Special Interrogation Plan" for Qahtani, which included "forty-eight days of severe sleep deprivation and 20-hour interrogations, forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, physical force, prolonged stress positions and prolonged sensory overstimulation, and threats with military dogs," as the Center for Constitutional Rights observed. But renowned international lawyer Phillippe Sands noted that credible evidence gleaned from this torture was non-existent. Furthermore, the records of the interrogations were mysteriously lost, as cameras that "run 24 hours a day at the prison were set to automatically record over their contents."

IRAQ -- FORMER STATE OFFICIALS SAY STATE DEPT. MISLED CONGRESS ON IRAQ CORRUPTION: Yesterday, two former State Department officials testified before a Senate panel about corruption in Iraq. Judge Arthur Brennan, who served as the director of the Office of Accountability and Transparency in Iraq, said that his office's work "was ignored and demeaned by the Department of State, the Department of Justice, and the government of Iraq." The State Department reportedly whitewashed a report he sent to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) that criticized an Iraqi watchdog agency. SIGIR's report ended up ignoring his team's assessment and "failed to even mention what a disaster" the Iraqi agency "really was." Brennan also accused Amb. Ryan Crocker for hiding the truth about Iraqi corruption: "If he doesn't know, then he's negligent. If he does know, then he's intentionally misleading Congress and the American public." He said that the State Department "retroactively classified" his team's report on Iraqi corruption "in an effort to prevent it from being made a subject of public knowledge and discussion." The department ordered all State personnel not to testify at a House Oversight Committee hearing on the subject.

Think Fast

A House Judiciary Committee deadline passed yesterday "with former White House adviser Karl Rove standing by his refusal to testify about allegations that he pushed the Justice Department to prosecute former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman." Rove instead sent a letter offering to respond to questions in writing, rather than testify publicly under oath.

With the housing crisis and volatile markets slowing the economy, the Treasury Department reported yesterday that "corporate income-tax revenue over the first seven months of the fiscal year" was 14.7 percent "lower than during the same period a year earlier" while "the federal deficit ballooned to $152 billion, 88 [percent] higher than the same period last fiscal year."

$0.109: amount the average gallon of gasoline increased in one week, up to $3.722, setting a fourth consecutive record.

The House and Senate are expected to defy the White House today and pass legislation that would require the administration to halt oil shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. "The strong bipartisan support represents a major shift for Republicans, who until now have generally followed the lead of President Bush."

House Republicans have adopted a new message: "The Change You Deserve." But "the change you deserve" is also the advertising slogan of Effexor XR, a drug used to treat depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in adults.

The current economic downturn "is imposing a particularly punishing toll on Hispanics." According to the Labor Department, "the unemployment rate among Hispanics spiked 1.4 percentage points, to 6.9 percent," since April 2007. "By comparison, the overall jobless rate rose half a percentage point, to 5 percent."

A new survey by the National Retail Federation finds that Americans plan to use their stimulus checks "to pay for increasingly expensive gas and groceries, rather than spend it on electronics or clothes. ... The latest survey found 17.2 million people plan to use some of their tax rebate to pay for gasoline, up from 12.1 million in the trade group's February survey."

Iraqi hospital officials said today that "a fragile cease-fire failed to stop fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City where the latest clashes between Shiite extremists and U.S.-backed Iraqi forces killed 11 men and wounded 19." U.S. forces responded to attacks by "militants" just "hours after Iraq's main Shiite political bloc and supporters of firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr signed a cease-fire."

According to Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), the White House appears willing to compromise on the issue of retroactive immunity for companies that joined administration's surveillance program. Bond "said the White House seems willing to let the FISA court help determine whether phone companies should be shielded from litigation."

And finally: According to a new survey by The Hill, more than 20 U.S. senators would be interested in becoming vice president, if the spot were offered to them. While some senators answered the question seriously, others laughed it off. "Of course," Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) said. "Big house, big car, not much to do. Why not?" "I'd bring a lot of fun to the job," Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) added. "We would rock the Naval Observatory."

Good News

"The Nissan Motor Company plans to sell an electric car in the United States and Japan by 2010," the first by a major automaker to "bring a zero-emission vehicle to the American market."

State Watch

CALIFORNIA: "Raids by federal authorities on undocumented immigrants in Northern California panic parents and school officials as fears spread that students might be targeted."

LOUISIANA: Proposal to phase out Louisiana's income tax would "leave a huge gap" in the state budget.

MASSACHUSETTS: "State environmental regulators are asking federal officials to ban boats from discharging waste in Boston Harbor and Cape Cod Bay," an attempt to "make the state's entire coastline off-limits to sewage."

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: Conservatives lash out at Bush administration guidelines on terrorism language: It's "McCarthyism in reverse."

ATTACKERMAN: Americans shouldn't try to dictate "what the Iraq war means to an Iraqi."

TPM MUCKRAKER: Pentagon document dump: E-mailer suggested "softball" interview with top general.

MEDIA MATTERS: Military analysts involved in Pentagon propaganda program were quoted more than 4,500 times on major TV networks and NPR.

Daily Grill

"I'm a peace man."
-- President Bush, 5/12/08

VERSUS

Q: There is no selective military strike that could be considered [on Iran or Syria]?
BUSH: Well, there's always -- as you know, there's always that option. I made it very clear during my presidency: that option is on the table.
-- Bush, 5/12/08

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