- Sep 14, 2011
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House Republicans to Troops: Pay for Your Own Damn GI Bill
iStock
http://www.theroot.com/house-republicans-to-troops-pay-for-your-own-damn-gi-b-1794449073
Just like when Republicans talk about “family values” and then you find out they’ve been having secret sex meet-ups in airport bathrooms or abusing teenage boys, when conservatives say they “support the troops,” they usually mean they’re sending them overseas to fight for oil profits, but now it also means they’re taxing them for their own benefits.
http://www.theroot.com/house-republicans-to-troops-pay-for-your-own-damn-gi-b-1794449073
According to the Military Times, House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) has drafted legislation that would charge soldiers $100 a month for access to the GI Bill. The bill would deduct a total of $2,400 from each soldier’s paycheck to make them eligible. To be clear, this money would not be used to offset spending, because it would only be a fraction of the total cost. Supporters of the proposal (pronounced “as soles”) say that having soldiers “buy in” would make future budget-makers less likely to cut veterans benefits, which is a lie, for two reasons:
http://www.theroot.com/house-republicans-to-troops-pay-for-your-own-damn-gi-b-1794449073
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There's a plan in Congress to start charging troops for their GI Bill benefits
By: Leo Shane III, April 18, 2017 (Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
WASHINGTON — A congressional proposal to make service members buy into their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits surprised veterans groups on Tuesday, with advocates divided over whether it amounts to a long-term fix for the benefit or an unfair bill for veterans.
“This new tax on troops is absurd,” said Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander Brian Duffy in a statement. “Ensuring veterans are able to successfully transition back to civilian life after military service is a cost of war, and not a fee that Congress can just pass along to our troops.
“Congress must stop nickeling and diming America’s service members and veterans.”
The plan — draft legislation from House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe, R-Tenn. — would deduct $2,400 from future service members’ paychecks to establish eligibility for revamped post-military education benefits. This was first reported Tuesday by Task & Purpose.
Currently, the post-9/11 GI Bill offers full tuition to a four-year state college (or the equivalent tuition payout for a private school) plus a monthly housing stipend to any service member who spends at least three years on active duty, and to reservists who are mobilized to active-duty for extended periods. Troops wounded while serving are also eligible.
Unlike the older Montgomery GI Bill benefit, the post-9/11 GI Bill does not require any fees or pay reductions for eligibility. The new proposal would change that, taking up to $100 a month from new enlistees’ paychecks for the right to access the benefit after they leave the ranks.
The money collected would amount to a fraction of the overall cost of the veterans education benefit. Congressional staff estimate the move would bring in about $3.1 billion over the next 10 years, while total GI Bill spending is expected to total more than $100 billion over the same decade.
Supporters of the plan say having service members “buy in” to the benefit would strengthen it against periodic attempts by budget planners to trim veterans education benefits. Last year, veterans advocates sparred over proposed cuts to GI Bill benefits given to the children of troops, and a plan to cap some housing stipends connected to the program.
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VFW Blasts Proposed GI Bill Enrollment Fee as 'Tax on Troops'
Military.com | 18 Apr 2017 | by Richard Sisk
The Veterans of Foreign Wars ripped the House Veterans Affairs Committee Tuesday for considering a proposal to slap troops with a so-called "enrollment fee" for access to GI Bill education benefits.
"This new tax on troops is absurd," Brian Duffy, National Commander of the 1.7 million-member vets group, said in a release. "Ensuring veterans are able to successfully transition back to civilian life after military service is a cost of war, and not a fee that Congress can just pass along to our troops."
In a statement, the committee didn't directly respond to the VFW charges but said that changes to the GI Bill and to benefits for survivors and spouses would be among a number of proposals considered next week at a hearing. The proposal on a fee for access to the GI Bill was first reported by Task & Purpose.
Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), the committee's chairman, and other members welcomed feedback from witnesses and veterans service organizations "on whether all, some or none of the proposals under consideration advance through the Committee," the statement said.
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Remember when President Obama vetoed this? Well, its back and drumpf would sign it in a flash.
Write your congress.
Do it NOW.
iStock
http://www.theroot.com/house-republicans-to-troops-pay-for-your-own-damn-gi-b-1794449073
Just like when Republicans talk about “family values” and then you find out they’ve been having secret sex meet-ups in airport bathrooms or abusing teenage boys, when conservatives say they “support the troops,” they usually mean they’re sending them overseas to fight for oil profits, but now it also means they’re taxing them for their own benefits.
http://www.theroot.com/house-republicans-to-troops-pay-for-your-own-damn-gi-b-1794449073
According to the Military Times, House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) has drafted legislation that would charge soldiers $100 a month for access to the GI Bill. The bill would deduct a total of $2,400 from each soldier’s paycheck to make them eligible. To be clear, this money would not be used to offset spending, because it would only be a fraction of the total cost. Supporters of the proposal (pronounced “as soles”) say that having soldiers “buy in” would make future budget-makers less likely to cut veterans benefits, which is a lie, for two reasons:
http://www.theroot.com/house-republicans-to-troops-pay-for-your-own-damn-gi-b-1794449073
=====
There's a plan in Congress to start charging troops for their GI Bill benefits
By: Leo Shane III, April 18, 2017 (Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
WASHINGTON — A congressional proposal to make service members buy into their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits surprised veterans groups on Tuesday, with advocates divided over whether it amounts to a long-term fix for the benefit or an unfair bill for veterans.
“This new tax on troops is absurd,” said Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander Brian Duffy in a statement. “Ensuring veterans are able to successfully transition back to civilian life after military service is a cost of war, and not a fee that Congress can just pass along to our troops.
“Congress must stop nickeling and diming America’s service members and veterans.”
The plan — draft legislation from House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe, R-Tenn. — would deduct $2,400 from future service members’ paychecks to establish eligibility for revamped post-military education benefits. This was first reported Tuesday by Task & Purpose.
Currently, the post-9/11 GI Bill offers full tuition to a four-year state college (or the equivalent tuition payout for a private school) plus a monthly housing stipend to any service member who spends at least three years on active duty, and to reservists who are mobilized to active-duty for extended periods. Troops wounded while serving are also eligible.
Unlike the older Montgomery GI Bill benefit, the post-9/11 GI Bill does not require any fees or pay reductions for eligibility. The new proposal would change that, taking up to $100 a month from new enlistees’ paychecks for the right to access the benefit after they leave the ranks.
The money collected would amount to a fraction of the overall cost of the veterans education benefit. Congressional staff estimate the move would bring in about $3.1 billion over the next 10 years, while total GI Bill spending is expected to total more than $100 billion over the same decade.
Supporters of the plan say having service members “buy in” to the benefit would strengthen it against periodic attempts by budget planners to trim veterans education benefits. Last year, veterans advocates sparred over proposed cuts to GI Bill benefits given to the children of troops, and a plan to cap some housing stipends connected to the program.
====
VFW Blasts Proposed GI Bill Enrollment Fee as 'Tax on Troops'
Military.com | 18 Apr 2017 | by Richard Sisk
The Veterans of Foreign Wars ripped the House Veterans Affairs Committee Tuesday for considering a proposal to slap troops with a so-called "enrollment fee" for access to GI Bill education benefits.
"This new tax on troops is absurd," Brian Duffy, National Commander of the 1.7 million-member vets group, said in a release. "Ensuring veterans are able to successfully transition back to civilian life after military service is a cost of war, and not a fee that Congress can just pass along to our troops."
In a statement, the committee didn't directly respond to the VFW charges but said that changes to the GI Bill and to benefits for survivors and spouses would be among a number of proposals considered next week at a hearing. The proposal on a fee for access to the GI Bill was first reported by Task & Purpose.
Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), the committee's chairman, and other members welcomed feedback from witnesses and veterans service organizations "on whether all, some or none of the proposals under consideration advance through the Committee," the statement said.
=====
=====
Remember when President Obama vetoed this? Well, its back and drumpf would sign it in a flash.
Write your congress.
Do it NOW.