Hey, dicksmith, what’s up with Harry Reid?
Yesterday, we wrote about VetVoice and Votevets complaining that the new Republican Congress hasn’t been able to create favorable employment conditions for veterans. Right after I wrote that TSO found an instance that the new Congress had indeed passed a bill to improve the employability of veterans in the form of the “Veterans Opportunity To Work Act” almost a month ago;
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act Wednesday evening.
The House legislation, passed by 400 lawmakers, wouldn’t actually create jobs. Rather, it would overhaul the military’s Transition Assistance Program, creating a job retraining program for older veterans who have been unemployed for 26 weeks or more.
However, Harry Reid is holding up a vote in the Senate. Harry Reid, a draft dodger to whom VoteVets contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars because of his supposed support for veterans wants to attach a tax break for employers who hire veterans…a good idea, but since the House hasn’t voted on it yet, that move would delay activation of the other provisions of the bill.
But my point is that if VoteVets is so concerned about Congressional inaction, why aren’t they trying to influence “their” candidate to pass the bill as it is and get immediate relief for veterans instead allowing Harry Reid to dick around with popular legislation that’s just sitting on his desk?
Category: Congress sucks, Veterans Issues
Transition Assistance Program
Biggest waste of a week in my entire military career, at least it was at the time I went through in 1998.
I understand that a lot of guys are getting out when they’re 22-25 years old, meaning they’re in direct competitiion with recent college grads, whose unemployment numbers are even worse than returning vets (currently around 12 percent.)
A lot of guys and gals have yet to learn the fine art of networking. Even something as simple as a Linkedin profile and following up in areas of interest with professionals in those fields goes a long way to finding a job upon leaving the service. Unfortunately, TAP doesn’t teach our servicemembers HOW to sell themselves or show that even a supposedly “grunt” MOS/NEC translates into real-world experience.
Throwing money at a problem doesn’t fix it, as we’ve seen far too many times, especially with this administration.
“Throwing money at a problem doesn’t fix it, as we’ve seen far too many times, especially with this administration.”. Precisely, Sparky, especially viewed in the context of the Dept. of Edumacation. How many billions have been pissed down that hole?
There’s a job fair for vets and active duty service members today, in Lansing, Mi. at NG HQ, if anyone sees this and didn’t know about it.
The Veterans Opportunity to Work Act passed the senate today 95-0.