Ken
The “overseas war operations” issue will have to wait until the nationwide referendum on Nov 4th since Pelosi/Hoyer have decided that the President and Vice president should not be impeached for violations of the National Security Act of 1947, Section 503(f)
(f) No covert action may be conducted which is intended to influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies, or media.
we will have to await the decontamination of the Dept of Justice before treason charges may be brought against them both after they leave office.
I know several Moderate Republicans quite well, I also know some serious wingnuts and am related to a couple dozen. I can tell the difference fairly easily.
Anything not directly releated to the purpose and intention of the bill is pork.
Do you really want to go there? Are you that naive?
Google finds a quick example.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13686.html
And attaching things to bills is called “amendments” and is pretty much the core of what congress does everyday.
I would like to see some “clean” bills go through as well but that is not the way a representative democratic republic works.
The bill is in committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions. We have not even seen the final bill. There might be some changes made (like transferability) which is what the pentagon seems to want spelled out even though the original version left rule making on that particular issue up to each service to decide internally. The Feinstein-Craig amendment is already stripped out I think.
The core issue is whether we want to update the original GI Bill as a reward for service in the armed forces, or the McCain version which seeks to create a new retention tool.
The money involved is negligible compared to the amount spent every month on contractors and mercenaries in Iraq.
McCain and the hand picked compliant brass at the Pentagon oppose it.
The bill is endorsed by:
Organizations:
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
The American Legion
The Military Officers’ Association of America (MOAA)
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA)
AMVETS
The Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA)
The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS)
The Student Veterans of America (SVA)
The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)
The National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC)
The Partnership for Veterans’ Education
The American Council on Education (ACE)
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU)
Disabled American Veterans (DAV)
(list continues at http://www.gibill2008.org/about.html
)
I also have a nephew going back for his 4th tour in Iraq next month. It is his fifth including one in Afganistan. His education was paid for with ROTC service but he wants to go to law school when his required 4 year period is up. He may then re join as a JAG lawyer but the current JAG scholarship program seems to be limited to the Air Force. The amount included in this program would be a drop in the bucket of the cost at a top law school but it may enable him to go to one of the second tier.