McCain’s betrayal of decency

[Cyrano]

Who among us could have survived six years of horror in a North Vietnamese prison camp known as the Hanoi Hilton? There is no questioning that John McCain suffered terribly and is entitled to every benefit we can bestow upon our veterans.

So why is John McCain betraying today’s veterans? He was absent from the recent senate vote to grant veteran's college benefits. He was too busy raising funds in California.

The real reason he was absent is because he’s backing George Bush’s shriveled, stingy veteran’s bill, rather than the generous one rightfully passed by congress. John McCain knows better than most the meaning of military sacrifice. But he also needs Bush’s covert support.

What can you say about a man who holds his personal ambition above the well being of veterans, many who have suffered as much, and perhaps more than he has.

As much as I despise what Bush, Cheney, and their neocon and wingnut thugs have done to our country, I despise John McCain’s betrayal of veterans more.

Congratulations, John McCain. You have become the biggest whore in the brothel of politics.

[NewJeffCT]

1. well, we can't have soldiers getting college scholarships and all

they might quit the army and enroll in college!

at least that was McCain's logic, because he thinks the army is a bad place to be, it seems.

[wmbrew0206]

2. Please, there is a lot to go after McCain for but this is not one of them

McCain is against this bill for what I, as a Marine Officer, think is a good reason. The Webb Bill will really hurt retention of the most important demographic in the military.

From another thread:

Webb's Bill gives out such a high benefit package that the military is worried about retention.

If you have served than you know how important NCO's are. They run the military. The worry is that Webb's bill will pay out to anyone who has served two to four years (lets assume they made it to E-4) the same amount of money to go to college that they would make in the military. This will hurt your retention rate of arguably the most important group the military has.

McCain supported Graham's bill that also increases benefits but the benefits increase the longer you stay in. I think it caps at either 6 or 8 years.

Graham's bill originally was the only one to allow the benefits to be used by a spouse, but there was amendment put on Webb's that allowed this to happen.

I am hoping that Webb's bill is veto proof because I'm applying to MBA programs soon, but I do think it will have long term consequences in regard to retention.

[frogcycle]

3. While I "get" the rationale about retention

it just seems immoral. Smacks of "how ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm"

Or worse yet, sounds similar to a Weather Channel special I saw this weekend, in which planters in Mississippi in 1927 successfully lobbied the feds to refuse to evacuate black sharecroppers, lest they decide to work somewhere else. A pure extension of slavery under Jim Crow if ever there was an example.

If a given NCO would strongly prefer to go to college and leave the military career behind, then maybe he/she should. Maybe something about the military career other than paycheck should get them to want to stay. Or maybe the damned paycheck should be better - now THERE's a concept!

[wmbrew0206]

5. Here is the most important thing about the retention of NCO's

Your tax dollars were spent training them for the last four years. They are now the junior leadership that is going to be the day to day leaders that run the military and you need a lot of them.

I think the more benefits the longer you stay in, capped at 6 to 8 years, makes a lot of sense. It allows you to keep your retention of NCO's high enough to meet the needs of the service. By capping it out, the NCO who re-enlist but decided not to do 20, still have gained a benefit by staying in.

[Cyrano]

4. Retention instead of a draft?

Sorry wmbrew, but I can't agree with you. If this "war" were as critical to American security as Bush & Co. make out it is, they would institute a draft.

The reason they won't do so is because the moment they do, the country would turn against them, demand their impeachment, and probably scream to have them shipped off to the Hague.

And yes, I've been in the military. Were I in today, I really don't know whether I would continue to serve, or go to Sweden.

Please stop believing that retention or "stop loss" as it's called, is anything but a euphemism for indentured servitude.

[wmbrew0206]

6. OH, BS. Retention is not indentured sevitude.

Retention is extremely important to the military, without it we would be combat ineffective. It is military members voluntarily agreeing to serve a certain more amount of years.

Stop-Loss, OK you have an argument there. I would counter with the fact that "Stop/Loss" in the contract that you voluntarily signed. It is not something that they added after the fact.

The reason we are not going to have a draft is because it took the military over ten years to recover from the last draft. The military is DOES NOT WANT a draft. They are more opposed to it than anyone else.

[Cyrano]

7. When military personnel are required to endure three, four, or more

deployments, I would call that what it is -- cruelty.

No one gets to pick their war. But there have to be limits on what we ask of our troops. Anyone who has no problem with seemingly never-ending deployments can only be called fanatical.

I respect your service. But I do not respect the abuse being heaped on our troops in this horrible, unnecessary misadventure from which only war profiteers are benefiting.

[wmbrew0206]

8. I don't want to get into debate with you about what is an acceptable

number of deployments.

I'll say this, I was commissioned before 9/11 and go out in '07. I deployed three times and volunteered for the last two. The most deployments you will likely have to do before getting out is two in the Army (12 month deployments) or three in the Marine Corps (7 month deployments). The Army may be more due to stop/loss, but I don't know for sure, since I'm a Marine and they canceled the stop/loss around September '03.

Those are also the worse case scenarios (ie straight from boot camp and MCT to a deploying unit and then part of a unit that does three straight 7 months over and seven months back tours.)

I think two to three deployments is reasonable. If you decide to stay in and do more than you know what you're getting into.

[Cyrano]

9. We've strayed far from the topic which is John McCain

He should know better than most the horrors of war. Yet, he has no problem singing about bombing Iran, or playing on fear by stating "there will be more wars."

I have a problem with a man trying to win the presidency by showing how macho he is. There is far more national security to be gained through intelligent diplomacy than through saber rattling.

I therefore repeat what I said above. McCain has become the biggest whore in the political brothel.

[Supersedeas]

10. well said