Dems Use War Funding Bill for More GI Benefits

Source: New York Times

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 3, 2009
Filed at 8:12 p.m. ET

More Politics NewsWASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional Democrats are using an approximately $100 billion war funding bill to give recently expanded GI Bill education benefits to the children of military service members who die while on active duty.

The provision, pressed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, would give GI Bill benefits -- which were greatly expanded last year -- to each child of a service member killed in action or while on active duty, instead of a single family member as permitted under current rules.

Aides to both Pelosi and the House Appropriations Committee said the plan would be included in the war funding bill, despite not having passed either House or Senate during initial consideration of the legislation last month. It would cost an estimated $164 million over the next decade.

House-Senate negotiators are putting the finishing touches on the war spending measure in hopes of sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature next week.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/06/03/us/politics/AP-US-Congress-War-Funding.html?_r=1

of taxpayer funds than another $100 billion for another year of war.

Remember the Republican outrage, complaining about less than a billion dollars of the $787 billion stimulus package, and using that as a reason to try to hold up the vote? They whined about less than 1/5 of one percent of the funds.

So, it will be interesting to see if Repukes complain about $164 million of a $100 billion bill. That's less than 1/5 of one percent (0.00164 overall to be exact).

Help those families, destroyed by the corrupt radical republicans and their unjustified war for corporations in Iraq.

i can imagine the republicans will then say that soldiers are purposely getting killed so they can put their children through college

Sounds like something he'd say.