Education Doesn't Seem too High a Price
Administration Fights Dem Plan to Boost School Aid for Vets
August 09, 2007 11:55 AM
Alexandra Bahou and Anna Schecter Report:
The Bush administration opposes a Democratic effort to restore full educational benefits for returning veterans, according to an official's comments last week.
Senate Democrats, led by Virginia's Jim Webb, want the government to pay every penny of veterans' educational costs, from tuition at a public university to books, housing and a monthly stipend . . .
. . . More than 450,000 used the benefit last year, at a cost to taxpayers of $2 billion, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which administers the program. The Democratic proposal would cost an additional $5.4 billion a year, the VA estimates -- and that's too much, it says. ________________________________________________________________________ It would seem there are worse things to do for your returning veterans than educating them. This is a nation that talks the talk, but no longer walks the walk educationally. Young men and women who take personal risks no one else is willing to, for their country, certainly deserve a leg up.
* For more in-depth articles from Jim on Iraq War, check out Opinion-Columns.com