VA Benefits Part I: The G.I. Bill

This is the 1st part in a three part series concerning VA benefits. It was meant to be one blog, but it got a little too long.
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Everywhere you go, and just about everyone you talk to claims that they support the troops (excluding Berkley, CA). Whether they lean left or right, or whether or not they agree with the wars, they all say they support the troops. If they say it because they mean it, or if they say it because it is a common thing to say, I don't care. I'm not putting people's beliefs on trials. My point is that it is one of the few things Americans seems to agree upon anymore. But when does the "support" become harmful? When the politicians try to prove that they support the troops too (especially in an election year) to their constituents.

One thing that both parties seems to agree on is that they need to give better benefits to veterans. After all, its a VERY safe thing to do, and there's practically no political-risks involved. Both parties want to prove that they care for our veterans, and of course the mass population wants them cared for too.

So what worries me, is the latest proposals from both the President and the Congress. They sound great, they look great on paper, and who in the general public wouldn't want more for our vets?

In his last State of the Union address, President Bush called on congress to pass a law allowing veterans to pass their G.I. Bill to their dependents. Both sides of the aisles stood up with a rousing round of applause. Who wouldn't want that? The G.I. Bill has proven to be a great benefit for society when troops get out of the military. It helped the WWII generation become contributing members again when the war ended. This would allow for the spouses and the children to use the military member's G.I. bill. With tuition assistance and online courses, the military members don't really need the G.I. bill like they used to, anyways.

However, I have a problem with this. I may be the only person in the world opposed to this proposal, but I am. When one considers the logistics and costs, one may find that it could be more hurtful to military members and their families. Here's why: Every person that enters the military, while in basic training, is given the opportunity to sign up for the G.I. Bill. However, it is a one time offer. If you refuse, it can never again be offered. So there is a tremendous amount of pressure to go ahead and accept it. Sure enough, just about everyone signs up for it. Now, once you've signed up for the G.I. Bill, an allotment of $100 is taken out of your paycheck for one year. Seems like a good investment, right? Invest $1200 and get back something around $50k for college. But no one thinks about how that is accomplished. Its accomplished by the fact that they know that the vast majority who signed up for the G.I. Bill won't use it. If you do the math, approximately only one out of every 50 servicemen will actually use it. Now, when you consider the fact that it'll become available to dependents, that 50:1 ratio will significantly decrease. So something has to happen. Either the initial investment of $1200 has to increase (and during that first year the rank is anywhere from E-1 to E-4, so its not like they have a lot of money), the amount that the G.I. Bill is worth will have to decrease (a decrease in the G.I. Bill with an increasing cost of tuition certainly wouldn't be beneficial), or the government will have to foot the bill, which means either the taxpayer pays for it with an increase in taxes or we add it to our national debt, deepening the deficit and weakening the dollar further.

I hope you see my point. Now is not the time for the government to further increase spending in an area that is not required.