What You Missed at the VFW Convention Yesterday

Yesterday morning, I had the honor of addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention in Orlando, Florida. (You might not have gotten the chance to see me speak -- a couple of famous folks also stopped by.)

I was very proud to be there, and to meet a room full of veterans of all generations, going back to World War II and Korea. These brave warriors remember not only the beaches of Normandy, but also a time when Americans made sure that troops coming home from war got a fair chance at a first-class future. Thanks to the original GI Bill, the World War II generation had their educations paid for, whether they went to Harvard or flight school.

The World War II generation included some of our strongest supporters in the fight for a new GI Bill, and the VFW has been one of IAVA's major allies in Washington. Together, we ensured today's veterans would get the same opportunities afforded to the Greatest Generation. Thanks to the new GI Bill, hundreds of thousands of troops sitting in Humvees and walking the streets of Iraq can afford to dream bigger dreams.

We are very proud of what we achieved -- but now it's time to take the next step.

As part of my remarks yesterday, I announced IAVA's relaunch of www.GIBill2008.org. The website, which served as a critical hub of online activism during our fight for the new GI Bill, is now a resource center for veterans and members of the military to learn about their hard-earned education benefits.

Starting this week, www.GIBill2008.org will provide America's newest generation of veterans with the tools they need to access the new GI Bill. It includes an interactive benefits calculator based on your zip code, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and the latest news and information about the new GI Bill as it goes into effect.

The GI Bill became such a hot issue this year that every single major Presidential candidate spoke about it. Some deserve more credit than others. But our victory will not mean a thing if Iraq and Afghanistan veterans do not use their new benefit. IAVA has begun extensive community outreach with ads in newspapers across the country, urging veterans to visit www.GIBill2008.org.

You can help -- check out the site and tell your friends and family. It may not always be obvious, but the Iraq War has touched every community in this country -- help make sure the veterans you know, learn about their benefits.

P.S. IAVA is auctioning off two Tampa Bay Buccaneers season tickets to benefit the family of Spc. Raymond Boutwell, a decorated Army National Guardsman who served in Iraq with the 3ID and was shot and killed in Pensacola earlier this summer. Ray is survived by his longtime girlfriend, who is pregnant with their first child due later this year.

The tickets were graciously donated to us by one of Ray's fellow soldiers, and IAVA will donate all proceeds from the auction to a fund for Ray's girlfriend and their unborn child. Thank you for your support and please keep Ray and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Comments

[saltysea]

Way to go, IAVA, you're one of the best organizations around!

[paulrieckhoff]

Thanks! Please tell your friends to join us at www.IAVA.org!

[oldwiseone]

Liberals

are for the people

Conservatives

are for business

allowing conservatives

to run the country

is like

allowing the horse

to take the rider

where the horse wants to go

Do we really want to go

where this elephant is

taking us?


The constitution forbids

a military president,

and for good reasons.

Look at what McCane wants to do

draft 18 years olds

there wil be many wars

bomb bomb bomb

Therefore it follows

that military experience

is not a qualification

for the presidency,

indeed,

it is a disqualification

[BlueZoo]

How anyone could have been against this bill, just boggles my mind; however, there were those who voted against giving our GIs this small piece of our gratitude. WHY??? There can be no moral or political grounds for not supporting our soldiers - no way, no how! Like many others, I cannot support this war but I support each and everyone of those who joined up to fight! Screw you, Mr. President, for calling me "unpatriotic" for this stance! Tell my brother, who treats those with the most serious injuries at Walter Reed, that he's unpatriotic! He's sick of the despair and devastation he sees everyday! He wants this war over and so do I!!!!!

[dm92]

John McCain didn't support it - claimed he had a better bill, but I see no evidence that he was working on anything - seems he was trying to cull favor with this putrid adminstration.

[mabinog]

dm, the word you were looking for there was curry. cull means to cut out.

[RonNYC]

Rieckhoff is a great man. I see him often on MSNBC.

I also miss Paul Hackett. A wonderful veteran who was about to run for Senator of Ohio before he was swift voted by Sherrod Brown and screwed over by Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer. Brown has done nothing in the Senate as far as I can tell.

Getting back to Rieckhoff. He is always insightful and has a huge heart. Bravo to his fine work!.

[saltysea]

Me, too; i miss Hackett. Hope he makes a comeback. He must be helping behind the scenes.

[twerp55]

i was shocked to hear a question put to john mccain about how we can continue the war in iraq and afghanistan without implementing a draft. the women asking was very serious mccain answered with how he agreed with her. will mccain bring back the draft? all he talks about is war -the surge-more wars. thats all he knows. HOW COME THE MSM DIDNT JUMP ON THIS STORY? IM TIRED OF THE MSM GIVING HIM A FREE PASS EVERY TIME HE PUTS HIS $500.00 LOAFER IN HIS MOUTH. CHECK IT OUT. HE SAID IT AT A TOWN HALL MEETING.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

The veterans deserve the best and while Mr. Rieckhoff is to honorable a man to bash McBush's record on supporting the veterans the truth should be told.

HERE IS HOW THE VETRANS GROOPS RATED BOTH JOHN McCAIN and OBAMA (based on their voting record in the senate):

*(IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS FOR AMERICA)
- John McCain "D"
- Barack Obama "B+"

* VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA
- John McCain voted "AGAINST" this group 15 times
- Barack Obama voted "AGAINST" this group ONLY "ONE" time

* DAV (Disabled American Veterans)
- John McCain has a 20% rating
- Barack Obama has an 80% rating

[1differentdrummer]

Thank you.

[tdpubs]

This is the kind of post that I feel proud of getting involved in. Thank you so much for your service to the country and to the vets. I have followed you and the previous incarnation of your organization. Again, thank you very much.

[paulrieckhoff]

Thank you, tdpubs! Always good to hear from folks from the OpTruth days.

[MrTessier]

Thanks for all the effort. I consider myself one of the success stories of the GI Bill. I never ended up getting a degree, but I did get 2 years worth of classes that have allowed me to excel at my job. It also made it financially possible to go to school and was a the single most helpful thing in transitioning from active duty to civilian life. I think it shows that beyond getting the degree itself, there is enormous value in having another direction available for pursuit.

[MinneapolisBob]

Can a Veteran please explain why the majority of them support the republicans? They are the party which consistently tries to find ways to cut funding and programs designed to improve the lives of our troops and Veterans, and honor their service. Virtually every program and legislation ever created to support our troops and Veterans were introduced and put into action by Democrats.

So why vote against the hands which feed you, and support the hands which do everything to stop your progress?

[Futumpsh]

It's a kind of brainwashing. You are taught from day one that the chain of command is infallible. Every day you pass by a smiling picture of the president, secretary of defense, commanders, and on down as you walk out of the barracks. Daddy Bush and Cheney were on the wall when I was in, and I actually said at one point, years after I was out of the service, "I like Cheney." I didn't really like him...didn't know anything about him. I just knew that he was on the wall with an American flag behind him and I assumed he was a good guy. I eventually woke up and I now see these folks for the soulless, sh*t birds that they are.

That being said, I think that the number of military personnel who do not support this administration is vastly understated.

[saltysea]

Thank you for this post.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

That is turning my dad and older brother who served in Korea and Vietnam, respectively are voting for Obama.

[OleSmartee]

I watched with apprehension as Barack began a slightly increased get-tough stance with McCain during that VFW speech he made. I hope it helps, because....

According to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday, McCain leads Obama among likely U.S. voters by 46 percent to 41 percent, wiping out Obama's solid 7-point advantage in July and taking his first lead in the monthly poll. Plus, McCain now has a 9-point edge, 49 percent to 40 percent, over Obama on the critical question of who would be the best manager of the economy -- an issue nearly half of voters said was their top concern in the November 4 presidential election.

Read it for yourself: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUKN1948672420080820?sp=true

This is not good. I hope Barack has a plan other than making catty remarks about the other side. Americans are beginning to grow tired of that. And if Barack thinks putting Hillary on the ticket will fix this, I gotta say it'll make it WORSE instead. The McCain people will be even MORE adament to win.

Again, this is not good.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

I really think that poll was the exception because other polls done and released at the same time has Obama wih a narrow lead. The economy number is in stark contrast to other polls. I just don't believe that one poll.

[Liberoservative]

O missed a chance to really hit home with the VFW....

He should have brought out the FACTS on McC's voting record on veterans....

I sincerely think that they have no clue how McC actually voted against funding for the VA so many times....

[BottomLine2008]

Did anybody talk about Mccain and Bush selling out the vets opposing the New GI Bill?

[SecondBase]

Great question.

[kbrandauer]

I saw a local Orlando station's news clip about W's speech claiming how under his administration, veteran's benefits were doubled thanks to the GI Bill... you know, the one that he and McCain fought against ... ??!! I was screaming at the tv (which I tend to do every time I see that freekin sneer...).

I was waiting for the correction by the local tv reporter, but of course, none came. They just parrot what was said, so every Joe Blow that only gets their news from tv will now believe it.

I'm surprised there wasn't some kind of reaction from the crowd given the history of getting this bill past these McBush obstacles ....

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

Obama did on the day of the vote on the Senate floor. And McBush pushed back (even though he did not even show up for the vote) by saying Obama did not serve and the media gobbled up McBush's attack rather than the merit of Obama's argument.

The media narrative has been to put a question mark over Obama's head and treat McBush as the safe candidate which most of us know is the furthest thing from the truth. Especially when McBush wants to start a war every week.

[gage]

McCain, Secretary Gates, etc. were supporting an alternate bill. They were in favor of a new GI BIll, but they preferred their version, which had provided incentives to stay in the service and transferibility of benefits to family members.

Also, the Democrats tacked on a bunch a bunch of pork to the bill in order to make it harder for porkbusters like McCain to support it in good conscience. The Dems could have submitted a clean bill, but they didn't, because they wanted to make political hay with it.

[Futumpsh]

Nice try.

The bill that McCain supported would have attempted to increase retention by making leaving the service less attractive. That's not really the same as "providing incentives to stay in the service."

Also, could you be more specific about the pork in the bill that was passed?

McCain, a "porkbuster?" You just blindly believe anything that man says, don't you?

[PioneerKing]

PAUL:

Why do you link your opening comments to McCain's speech? McCain did not vote for the GI Bill. If anything it would have been appropriate to have a link to your speech or to Sen. Obama, who voted for the GI Bill.

[JBS]

As much as I appreciate the new GI Bill, I think you under-estimate the difficulty veterans are going to have getting the VA to actually provide the benefits. This is going to be especially true for National Guard and Reserve soldiers mobilized for Iraq and Afghanistan.

That's based on my experience with the V.A so far., as a former mobilized National Guard soldier.

[paulrieckhoff]

I dont think we under-estimated it at all, JBS. That is exactly why we created www.GIBill2008.org.

Please let people know about it.

Thanks!

[Futumpsh]

I don't begrudge any benefits that the Iraq/Afghanistan vets get for their service--they deserve everything we can provide, but two things:

1. They're going to need help with their healthcare and disability claims more than they're going to need college money.

2. We Desert Storm vets got the shaft.

[HowietheScreamer]

on point 2... yes, very true.

[BassMonk]

The GI Bill sure did help me get through college in the 90s. You won't hear me complain about it.

[MoeB]

Great job Paul! I don't think you get enough credit for the hardwork you do on behalf of soldiers in this country. You make us all proud.