You may remember that Bill O’Reilly — in response to the heaps of criticism he received for denying the existence of homeless veterans, then claiming that America’s roughly 500,000 homeless vets deserve to be homeless because they’re substance-addicted and mentally ill and that the government doesn't owe homeless vets anything — magnanimously announced that he had discovered that America needs a new and improved G.I. Bill and that veterans are not getting the assistance they need. Acting as if it were his idea, BOR announced:

“WE [that’s the BOR royal ‘we’] are proposing a new G.I. bill with the help of Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) that will provide important new benefits for G.I.’s after they leave the service.”

This bill had not even been drafted, but BOR promised to “monitor” its creation and harass any politician who opposed it. When it eventually existed.

That BOR would actually pretend that a new G.I. Bill was somehow his idea is an ego trip of Kanye West-type proportions, as well as an outright lie and a ridiculously inefficient way to help homeless vets who are suffering RIGHT NOW. So what will BOR claim (if he decides to report it) that Sen. James Webb, on his first day in office in January 2007, proposed a new G.I. bill that is “a mirror of the World War II G.I. Bill” and that just five days after BOR’s “big announcement”, Webb, Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) held a press conference calling for its implementation?

Senators Jim Webb (D-VA), Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) today joined representatives of the nation’s leading veterans’ organizations to advocate comprehensive educational benefits for post-9/11 veterans in the fiscal year 2009 budget.   The groups unveiled their Independent Budget to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs earlier in the day, advocating a “21st Century GI Bill,” similar to the Webb-Hagel bill (S.22) that enjoys widespread support in Congress.

This is the first time in twenty-two years of presenting an Independent Budget to Congress that the participating veterans’ organizations have advocated a new, comprehensive GI Bill, as opposed to a mere enhancement. –snip-

“This independent budget represents the voices of our nation’s veterans’ service organizations who truly understand the costs of war,” said Senator Webb. “These advocates have called for a ‘21st Century GI Bill’ that provides returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with benefits that respect their service and reward their sacrifice like the WWII veterans that came before them.”

Good work, BOR! I suppose your hypothetical support and as-yet-implemented monitoring services for a non-existent bill must’ve been the catalyst for this stunning development! Maybe you can also take credit for Barack Obama’s Veterans Homelessness Prevention Act that Obama and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced in November 2007, which is designed to keep veterans from falling into homelessness in a more effective way than simply claiming they don’t exist.

Barack Obama is the author of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Act, which would launch an innovative pilot program to promote facilities like Buckingham Place that pair housing for at-risk veterans and their families with supportive services to prevent them from sliding into homelessness. The program would authorize $26 million for both the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs to bring together non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives to provide services like mental health counseling, financial planning, and job training so that our veterans have the skills and tools that they need to build a life after their service.

So BOR threw his weight and mighty mouth behind a non-existent G.I. Bill when he could’ve supported two existing pieces of legislation (which BOR had never previously claimed to support). This is his solution to helping homeless vets.

So, how about it, BOR? Will you simply scrap “your” non-existent G.I. Bill, declare “Mission Accomplished!”, thank yourself for all your hard work, and wash your hands of all the homeless vets you denied and insulted? What about the homeless vets from Fitzgerald House who you insulted and tried to humiliate on your show for having the audacity to deliver a 17,000-signature petition to you demanding an apology? What about the other 495,400 homeless vets in the US?

Are you going to do anything? Did you ever actually plan to do anything other than promote yourself as the champion of homeless vets after repeatedly denying their existence and publicly slandering them?