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.