Air Force Association Endorses GI Bill

But McSame Still Does Not Support The Troops

Think Progress:

Air Force Association Endorses Webb’s GI Bill

...McCain’s record on veterans issues may have given the AFA pause. McCain has been a vocal opponent of the Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) 21st Century GI Bill. He offered his own watered-down version of the bill but shut out most veterans groups from the crafting of the legislation. Now the AFA and McCain have officially parted ways, with the AFA endorsing Webb’s bill, S.22:

Updating the bill to tie it to the current costs as proposed in S. 22 will help Airmen achieve a complete four-year education and thus a better quality of life after serving, while bolstering recruitment efforts throughout the military and helping lower post-military unemployment rates of veterans.

The AFA specifically urged providing “the full benefit to anyone who has served three years active duty,” a component of Webb’s bill McCain has rejected and the Pentagon has mocked.

McCain has claimed he has the support of “literally every veterans organization in America.” Yet the AFA is just one of many groups who object to McCain’s opposition to the GI Bill — a bill he found so unimportant he skipped the vote on it:

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

American Legion

Military Officers Association of America

Student Veterans of America

Veterans of Foreign Wars

This is only a partial list of the 15 veterans groups — not to mention the 30 governors — who have endorsed Webb’s bill.