John McCain stood with President Bush in opposing the New G.I. Bill, sponsored by Jim Webb. He said that it would hurt retention although the study he cited that would reduce retention by 16%, also concluded that there would be a 16% in increase in new recruits.

Since the study actually said that there would be no net change in military troop levels, why did John McCain oppose it? Can anything be too generous to offer our troops returning from multiple tours of duties in Iraq and Afghanistan?

John McCain was captured and tortured. Over 4100 of our soldiers have not been so fortunate as to live through their encounter with the enemy. Tens of thousands are not as fortunate as John McCain, as they can not return to being gainfully employed because of their disabilities from wounds received while in Iraq or Afghanistan. Some of those wounds are horrific, in part because we now have the medical care that saves the lives of those who previously would have died.

What bigger slap in the face is there to active service men and women to find out that their G.I. benefits are woefully inadequate compared to what soldiers returning from World War II received? I’ll tell you what is more offensive to these troops than opposing the New G.I. Bill. It is claiming you supported the bill all along, when in fact you did not approve of the bill, and did not vote for it.

Reminder to John McCain: Our troops are bogged down in a horrible, unnecessary war. They went there out of a sense of duty and honor. That does not make them stupid!

They know you were against the new G.I. Bill, so stop claiming it was your idea. Gee, who else does that? Oh, that’s right! It is George Bush’s standard operating procedure to claim that he supported something he actually opposed.

For a reminder, review the investigation into 9/11, and Bush’s opposition to any fact-finding mission, only to later claim credit for the 9/11 commission saying that he is the one who asked for the investigation.

We’re just not that stupid any more. We don’t trust George Bush and we don’t trust John McCain. Taking them at their word is a laughable proposition for these incorrigible liars. What’s that saying? “Fool me once…”.

The CarpetBagger Report has more:

There was a vote last night in the Senate on the war supplemental, which included the Webb/Hagel GI Bill. The spending bill, including the expanded education benefits for veterans, passed overwhelmingly (92 to 6), and will be added to the $165 billion that the House and Senate have already approved for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The roll-call is online; every Democrat, and most Republicans, voted for the bill. John McCain, as is now common, didn’t show up for work. Barack Obama was there, and he voted for the funding.

What’s especially interesting, though, is McCain’s response to last night’s vote.

For those who can’t watch clips online, McCain, campaigning in Ohio, told voters, “I’m happy to tell you that we probably agreed to an increase in educational benefits for our veterans that not only gives them increase in their educational benefits, but if they stay in for a certain period of time than they can transfer those educational benefits to their spouses and or children. That’s a very important aspect I think of incentivizing people of staying in the military.”

Is that so. McCain is “happy” to promote a bill “we” passed to help veterans with their education benefits.

You’ve. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.

As regular readers no doubt recall, McCain opposed the Webb/Hagel GI Bill. He actively fought against it.

Remember this?

The Senate approved a $194.1 billion wartime spending bill Thursday that promises a greatly expanded GI education benefit for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan…A Vietnam veteran himself, McCain has opposed Webb’s bill as overly generous to veterans at the expense of career military officers and NCOs. McCain did not return to the Capitol for Thursday’s votes…