Senators introduce stopgap to reinstate tuition assistance
Senators Jim Inhofe and Kay Hagan introduced a stopgap budget bill that would reinstate tuition assistance for the troops still on active duty according to Fox News;
“The president wants Americans to feel the pain of the arbitrary across-the-board budget cuts from sequestration, but to cut off promised education assistance for our service members when there are other lower priority spending programs to draw from is an injustice,” Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.
He and Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina introduced an amendment Wednesday to a stopgap budget bill that would restore the program.
Inhofe recognizes what the service chiefs have ignored – it will hurt retention to cut off the few things the troops have which keep them motivated to stay.
Hagan, in a statement, also said she understands the Pentagon has some “tough budget decisions” to make, but called the decision to suspend tuition assistance “shortsighted.”
It’s especially sad that the politicians are looking out for the troops’ welfare better than their own generals are doing. And I especially think that it sucks that the Navy Department is willing to cut Marines’ tuition assistance, while keeping their own for other-than-Marine Navy personnel.
Category: Air Force, Big Army, Marine Corps, Navy
I hope everyone realizes that the whole point of pulling tuition assistance was to make things as painfull as possible. Then all the angry service members and their familis calling their congressmen screaming would motivate them to comprimise (read give in) on a new budget.
You know the system is falling apart when politicians support the troops(less than 1% voting block) more so then the DoD/Troops support each other.
Andy is right, unfortunately. But the difference is when schoolkids can’t see the White House, they move on and see something else. When Joe can’t afford tuition and drops out of college, he/she may not get back to school.
Assuming it was a plot to make things painful-who the F in the Pentagon is is getting phone calls from the WH and agreeing to do it?
I’m pissed off about this, and doubly so that the F’ing Navy CHOSE to cut off Marines, but not thier own.
F them.
Probably won’t be long for the Navy either, crucible. USAF and USCG today also announced suspension of their TA programs.
@4- I’m also skeptical that the WH is directing this, or all four services would have cut it, and at the same time. I am also quite sure that the CNO did not direct the Commandant to cut TA from the Marine Corps.
Why is anyone surprised at this? Promises made to veterans are a moving target.
@ 6
The Commandant of MC does not answer to the CNO…they are both 4 star service chiefs & members of the JCS who report to the SECNAV and SECDEF.
@8- OK, I will rephrase, nobody in the Navy directed anyone in the Marine Corps to halt tuition assistance.
Perhaps if the Navy didn’t spend $26/gal for biofuel, they could afford to honor their education contracts with their sailors. In addition, the DoD in general could quit spending our money on things like cooking shows and iPhone apps that tell you when to take a coffee break.
http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=e3ace3df-25a9-47c4-8c43-1403e134ce11
It IS all a political ploy to put pressure on Congress and make Republicans look like the bad guys (although they are equally complicit in out of control spending and debt). However, the “cut” is only a reduction in the INCREASE of spending, not a real cut. So if they could afford White House tours and tuition assistance last year, they should be able to afford it this year and every year after since they are spending MORE.
This is like saying I planned to spend an additional $1000 this year but changed it to $999.50 so now I can’t afford the same amount of toilet paper I purchased last year.
The only reason they can get away with this is the disgusting ignorance of finance and the economy in the US population.
Yeah, the announcement that TA was ending for Marines was in a letter from the CNO to the Navy Department on sequestration guidance. I have the letter somewhere if you want to see it.
OK Jonn, I will take your word for it. So the Navy is just slow to comply with Admiral Greenert’s guidance or they were specifically excluded?
The letter only mentioned the Marines’ TA.
I can’t find the letter right now, but here’s a Stars & Stripes article that mentions the letter from SecNav Maybus.
Let’s see…cut the military’s pay, cut their on AD benefits, cut their retirement benefits, screw them all the way around. Are they trying to deter people from enlisting? I gotta be honest, I went in to get the “old” GI Bill, which I got and finished school. After that I kinda lost track of all but the most serious issues facing the military while I was raising my family, but this??? Being Combat Arms we spent a goodly amount of time in the field so I didn’t get to take ‘real’ advantage of the program while I was in but I did get in a couple of classes which helped later.
Question to you smart guys, if this ‘stopgap’ thing doesn’t work, does that void current member’s contracts?
I have somehow slipped through some portal into Bizarro World.
No references to cite, but I think the timing of the suspensions by the different branches has to do with remaining budget and pressure to/from somewhere in DOD.
Okay, according to WAPO, Defense Comptroller Robert Hale asked the services to consider significant reductions in funding new tuition assistance applicants.
Pincus wrote it, and his numbers don’t seem to add up, but here is the article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/military-rethinking-leads-to-some-hard-choices/2013/03/13/36924736-8b5e-11e2-9838-d62f083ba93f_story.html