Why Is The U.S. Funding Higher Education For Pakistan

[longknife]

When The Pentagon Is Cutting Tuition Assistance For American Troops?
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Rep Blasts Higher Ed Aid To Pakistan, As Military Suspends US Tuition Assistance -- FOX News Why is the U.S. funding higher education for its "Benedict Arnold ally" Pakistan when the Pentagon is cutting tuition assistance for American troops?

That's the question Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, asked as he prepared to introduce a bill Tuesday to give Pakistan aid the "sequester" treatment -- halting the money until U.S. tuition assistance is restored.

Read more: Rep blasts higher ed aid to Pakistan, as military suspends US tuition assistance | Fox News

Another disgusting example of screwing our troops for the administration's political games.

 

[Emir]

Remember the last time we cut foreign aid to Pakistan? The western-educated, American-friendly elite were replaced by a new generation of leaders hostile to the west. Funding higher education is not a political ploy, it is a forward-thiinking policy decision independent of defense policy.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Well how `bout dat? Dat do-nothin' Congress finally did sumpin'...

Tuition assistance amendment a casualty of budget push
March 19, 2013 WASHINGTON — Hopes that lawmakers would save military tuition assistance programs as part of their upcoming budget bill were dashed late Monday when the Senate abandoned the proposal.

The push to restore tuition assistance programs had gained support among lawmakers in the chamber, but idea was scrapped when the Senate voted to move ahead on the budget measure without any amendments. Congress must pass a new measure funding federal operations before March 27 to prevent a government shutdown. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., a sponsor of the tuition assistance amendment, called its failure a disappointment. “We owe it to the men and women in uniform — many of whom joined so they could further their education after protecting our country — to hold up our commitment to them,” she said in a statement. “It is unacceptable to attempt to balance the budget on the backs of our servicemembers.”

Earlier this month, officials from the Marine Corps, Army and Air Force stopped new enrollments to their respective tuition assistance programs, which had provided full reimbursement for the cost of college classes. A statement sent to Stars and Stripes on Tuesday said the Navy is “working to see how we can maintain” tuition assistance for the greatest number of sailors. Service officials blamed sequestration — $85 billion in mandatory agency spending cuts this year, half coming from the military — for the sudden funding change. Troops and veterans groups have complained the move could leave student servicemembers with incomplete degrees and formidable debt.

Meanwhile, the White House will have to answer public concerns about the end of the popular education benefit after a petition on its “We the People” web site reached the 100,000 signature threshold for public comment on Monday. The petition calls for an executive order reinstating the tuition assistance funds and blocking the Pentagon from any future changes to the program. The White House has not said when they will issue a response to the petition. Past responses have ranged from the absurd — a petition to build a Death Star easily reached the comment threshold — to in-depth commentary on the president’s gun control plans.

Last week, Pentagon spokesman George Little lamented the tuition assistance cuts but said military leaders were left with few alternatives. “We are here because of sequestration,” he said. “If sequestration were averted, we may be facing a different set of choices.” He said no budget decisions regarding tuition assistance for next fiscal year have been finalized, but added “we’re in a period of terrible budget uncertainty, and this is one of many programs we’re going to have to look at. “We have to make some very tough decisions,” he said. “That’s the reality of it.”

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Senate orders reinstatement of tuition assistance programs
March 20, 2013 WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials would have to reinstate military tuition assistance programs under a measure passed by the Senate Wednesday afternoon.

The plan, approved by a voice vote, was inserted into the Senate’s plan to fund federal programs through the end of this fiscal year and must still be approved by the House before it can be signed into law. But the move marks a dramatic turnaround from earlier this week, when the push in Congress to save the tuition assistance programs appeared dead. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., sponsor of the measure, said numerous troops he has spoken with were dismayed over service officials’ decision to end the education benefit, and he questioned whether the move was more politics than financial need.

Earlier this month, officials from the Marine Corps, Army and Air Force stopped new enrollments to their respective tuition assistance programs. Each had previously provided $250 per semester credit hour and up to $4,500 a year to servicemembers pursuing college degrees. Service officials blamed sequestration — $85 billion in mandatory agency spending cuts this year, half coming from the military — for the sudden funding change. But veterans advocates and lawmakers lamented the change as short-sighted and potentially devastating to student servicemembers midway through a degree program.

Under the proposed amendment, military officials could cut tuition assistance programs for the remainder of the fiscal year, but only by the amount mandated under sequestration — about 8 percent. It would effectively undo the services’ plans to zero out the program and use the savings elsewhere. If the House agrees with the amendment, the funding and number of applicants eligible for tuition assistance programs could drop, but tens of thousands of troops will still be able to continue their classes without finding new ways to pay for tuition. Roughly 300,000 servicemembers used the military tuition assistance programs last year.

Earlier on Wednesday, a trio of Republican House lawmakers introduced stand-alone legislation to restore the military tuition assistance programs, arguing that the money saved by cutting the benefit wasn’t significant enough to justify the hardship to troops. House and Senate lawmakers are expected to begin crafting compromise language on the budget bill later this week. Congress has until March 27 to pass a budget bill funding federal operations for the next six months if lawmakers want to avoid a government shutdown.

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