'Blue Dog' Democrats Threaten Passage of GI Bill for Veterans

Lawmakers take aim at veterans over GI Bill that would allow them to attend college.

This Afghan child may have an education in his future thanks to the efforts of soldiers like this member of the Oklahoma National Guard, but the soldier's anticipated educational opportunities are on the chopping block over a group of Democrats known as the 'Blue Dogs' who say it is not a good fiscal move to educate the veterans under the proposed GI Bill. Photo by Tim King Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - Last week, despite enormous momentum, a key vote was delayed by several members of the House of Representatives regarding the New G.I. Bill. It was delayed until this week because conservative Democrats known as the "Blue Dogs" are contesting the return on investment or cost-benefit of rewarding veterans with academic advantages for their service.

One Oregon Guard officer told Salem-News.com it is important to consider that the prosperity of the 1950's and much of the infrastructure of the United States was built by veterans that returned from WWII to full ride scholarships at leading universities.

The ones holding up the GI Bill are House Democrats. In spite of the negative impact the bill's failure would represent, they say they're concerned about the cost of the bill, which amounts to less than 0.5% of war funding for the year. One veterans group said this is Washington ineffectiveness at its worst.

Supporters of the GI Bill say that despite deep bi-partisan support, the endorsement of every major veterans' organization, and studies showing that a new GI Bill is a fiscally sound investment in our nation's future, a few members of the House are standing in its way at this late, critical stage.

They are urging Americans everywhere to write to their lawmakers and demand that the GI Bill is funded and passed so we can give our war veterans an opportunity to seek an education after surviving service in a hellish war like Iraq.

Patrick Campbell, an Iraq Veteran and the Legislative Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, says, "The new GI Bill (HR 5740) has broad bi-partisan support, and leading Democrats and Republicans have been fighting for it since day one. But thanks to this small group that is mounting an ill-advised opposition, the vote is going to be close, and we need your help to make sure Congress does the right thing."

He says that in his group's view, "The GI Bill is a cost of war, and a smart investment in one of the most motivated, deserving groups of people our country has to offer."

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pulled the bill from the schedule Wednesday night, the Wall Street Journal reported, "after conservative-to-moderate Democrats revolted over Democratic leaders' insistence on including in the war funding bill an unrelated provision to sharply increase education benefits for veterans under the GI Bill."

The GI Bill is designed to give Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans enough of a financial boost to finance four-years at a public college. The plan would cost $51 billion over a 10 year period. The Democrats say the bill "runs afoul of a rule" that is designed to prevent new benefit programs from causing the deficit to spiral, many veterans are shocked that after approving so much war funding under Bush, these same Democrats would turn their backs on education.

CQpolitics.com reports that Republican delay tactics did impact the bill’s delay, "by eating up valuable floor time that Democrats needed to clear other priorities before waging their supplemental fight."

According to CQpolitics.com, the Blue Dogs are troubled that the spending package includes enhanced education benefits for veterans not offset by other spending reductions. They warned mid last week that they may vote against the rule for debate over the measure, something that no Republicans were expected to support. If the rule isn't adopted, a carefully designed plan from the Democratic leadership for adopting the overall package would ultimately collapse.

"I would think that they would have a difficult time getting a bill to the floor that creates a new entitlement," said Allen Boyd , D-Fla., a leader of the 47-member Blue Dog Coalition.

The Blue Dogs have created the pay-as-you-go rule. It requires the costs of new mandatory spending or tax cuts to be fully offset. The Blue Digs argue that attaching the veterans’ educational benefits to an emergency spending bill violates that pay-as-you-go principle of responsible spending that Democrats have heralded as proof that they are fiscally responsible.

In the meanwhile, Patrick Campbell and other veterans urge others to call their representatives and tell them how important this bill is to our veterans. "Please call your representative and Senator to voice your support for this critical piece of legislation."

It does seem amazing that we would even debate the subject; it seems like a black eye is in the works for somebody, but once again it is the veterans who are having to wonder what their futures will be like after serving in a war. It is probably a fair assumption that most of the Democrat "Blue Dogs" have not endured the horrors of combat like these education seekers have. With all of the rule bending the Bush Administration has gotten away with, this seems a great thing to just move through in spite of the fiscal objections. But the Democrats have been ridden hard over Rush Limbaugh's "tax and spend" reputation and now it looks like there will be more veteran victims as a result of it.