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The Daily Muck
Soldiers coming back from World War II were greeted with the GI Bill, giving opportunity and promise to begin anew. Now over 800,000 young men and women are returning from war fronts looking to make their own fresh start, but they are finding the modern version of the GI Bill is insufficient, barely covering half of today's skyrocketing college tuition. (Washington Post)
By allowing outside influence to affect policy and protocol,the Bush administration has severely watered down the clout of the Environmental Protection Agency, reports a Government Accountability Office finding. The EPA's duty of assessing cancerous hazards in chemicals, specifically, has been curbed by non-scientific reviews and involvement from White House budget officials, the Energy Dept, and the Pentagon to name a few. (Associated Press)
Ashley Dupre, known as "Kristen" to former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, is now suing the founder of the video franchise "Girls Gone Wild" for $10 million. Dupre was featured in one of the company's videos during a drunken spring break foray in 2003. She says she was only 17 at the time, too young to sign a binding agreement to use the footage of her. Dupre "did not understand the magnitude of her actions ..." at the time, her lawsuit claims. (LA Times)
The Supreme Court ruled Monday to stand behind an Indiana law requiring citizens to present an official form of ID to vote. The ruling is likely to lead to more such laws, though they only tend to pass in states where there is both a Republican legislature and governor. (New York Times and Politico)
The crippled Federal Election Commission, vital for the monitoring of fundraising efforts in campaigns, is part of the reason why new lobbying disclosure reports, aimed at opening the tracking of influence and advocacy, only further obstruct lobbying oversight. Many of the new disclosure features of such reports can't be enforced until the FEC is a full-strength commission. (Politico)
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) sold assets of his oil services company (worth around nearly $6 million) to Key Energy Services for $12 million in late 2003. Six weeks earlier, an executive form Key testified during a Pearce-led hearing on natural gas. There is no evidence that Key benefited in any way from Pearce's position, yet Pearce's records show no proof of the sale, underlining the difficulties in monitoring financial disclosures by members of Congress. (Roll Call)
Josh
Zachary
On GI benefits: my nephew did 6 yrs in the army just prior to our current war. When he got out he got a good $25,000 job trouble-shooting lasers used for medical purposes, but soon discovered that his lack of education prevented him from moving any further up the ladder - he was at max pay forever at an entry level job. Worse, he had ideas and drive and no place to use them. He then decided to go back to school. He finished two years at Community College and two at State College earning a degree in business with an emphasis in computer applications. During these four college years he also made up the last two years of high school he didn't get to attend when he was 16-18 years old. He worked full time and then some the entire four years waiting tables and such. He lived in student housing where he had a bedroom in houses which rented to as many as twelve students. He once had to ask us to cover the cost of an $1800 car repair bill because he was out of resources. He really hates asking for money, but this time he was out of options and he had to have the car. Pinching pennies hardly describes his lifestyle. At graduation he carried a debt of $17,000, which I find appalling. I asked him about the GI money and he said it was barely enough to cover the cost of his bedroom, much less tuition and books. What good is a GI bill if it can only be marginally useful to the top 2% of the most motivated vets?
The happy ending to this story is that his cousin got him an in at his work and he started at $50,000 with all kinds of upward movement possible in the future. After 6 months and a raise (he's good at what he does), he celebrated with a new car. He's looking for Miss Right and a family now that he has a secure future.
Not all vets can work 40-50 hours a week, take a full load of classes including summers, and graduate with a B average. A little more financial help is only just compensation for services rendered.
April 29, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
"The Indiana Voter ID Law is thus unconstitutional: the state interests fail to justify the practical limitations placed on the right to vote, and the law imposes an unreasonable and irrelevant burden on voters who are poor and old."
US Supreme Court Justice David Souter, in his dissent to Crawford v. Marion.
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/07-21.pdf
April 29, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a Vietnam vet, the educational benefits (a couple of hundred bucks a month) covered much less than 50% of tuition and books, and nothing for living. It was however a help, and with that help plus a little drive and effort I was able to make a life and raise a family. It was a "helping hand", not a "handout". Thank you fellow taxpayers for that "helping hand". I may not have made it without that help.
April 29, 2008 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
It would be nice if the federal government really supported our troops as much as we citizens are always told to, and do.
April 29, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink