Less than one month after President Bush received a standing ovation at the State of the Union address when he said his new budget plan would allow U.S. troops to transfer their unused education funds to their families, the Bush budget has no mention of funding for troops and their families.
The way President Bush has reneged on his promise to the troops and their families is just another example of how the Bush administration makes promises and then never follows through with them.
Also suffering is the Department of Veterans Affairs which is in dire need of more funding for the thousands of troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who suffer from PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
And to add insult to injury, there is also talk the much heralded troop withdrawal from Iraq is not going to take place as Bush also announced.
Meanwhile, Bush's approval ratings in the latest polls have him at 30 percent which is understandable considering the way he has turned his back on the troops he sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, and now their families back here in the United States.
Bill Corcoran, Chicago, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ a blog that has gained widespread recognition as the only blog devoted entirely to bringing readers what is happening with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
No Funds in Bush Budget For Troop-Benefits PlanHe Made Proposal in January Speech
By Michael Abramowitz and Robin WrightWashington Post Staff WritersSaturday, February 9, 2008; A01
President Bush drew great applause during his State of the Union address last month when he called on Congress to allow U.S. troops to transfer their unused education benefits to family members. "Our military families serve our nation, they inspire our nation, and tonight our nation honors them," he said.
A week later, however, when Bush submitted his $3.1 trillion federal budget to Congress, he included no funding for such an initiative, which government analysts calculate could cost $1 billion to $2 billion annually.
Bush's proposal was added to the speech late in the process, administration officials said, after the president decided that he wanted to announce a program that would favor military families. That left little time to vet the idea, develop formal cost estimates or gauge how many people might take advantage of such a program. Some administration officials said the proposal surprised them, and they voiced concerns about how to fund it.
Some critics in Congress cite the episode as a case study of what they consider the slapdash way Bush has put together the legislative program for his final year in office. Still, the idea is generating bipartisan interest from members of Congress who are eager to assist military families coping with long-term absences of loved ones deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Click on link above to read the rest of this story.
No comments:
Post a Comment