Barack Obama Insults Veterans By Helping Them Go To College

Just as long as you don't major in philosophy.

Darn that elitist Barack Obama -- not only does he want to inflict higher education on all young people, he also wants to make it more available to veterans. Which is why he announced Wednesday, on Armistice Day and everything, that all 50 states (and yes, DC and Puerto Rico) are now offering in-state tuition to all veterans, thanks to a bill he signed in August. Get ready for some idiot on Fox News to complain: "We didn't storm Omaha Beach just so some punk kids could study poetry, dammit!"

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In addition to the break on tuition, the White House also announced that the Veterans Administration and Federal Trade Commission would cooperate to more closely crack down on "schools that engage in deceptive or misleading advertising, sales, or enrollment practices towards Veterans." You know, those scammy for-profit schools that do a terrific job of marketing to vets, taking all their GI Bill money, and leaving them with overpriced, useless "training" or degrees -- often, with an extra load of student debt, too.

The administration is also launching an improved online "GI Bill Comparison Tool" that will allow veterans to compare schools to see how well they serve vets in terms of graduation and retention rates, as well as the specific services offered to vets.

The White House is also pushing Congress to support three bills that would improve higher education for veterans:

One bill would heighten standards for schools receiving G.I. Bill funds, while another would help protect G.I. Bill benefits for veterans whose schools close mid-term. A third, just introduced on Tuesday, would increase regulation of for-profit colleges, many of which target veterans.

Hmmm ... sounds like a lot of regulation and federal interference that might turn out more philosophers than welders. Let's not hold our breath expecting Congress to get behind all that socialism for our veterans. If we wanted to get all technical about it, we could point out that the post-WW II GI Bill was an investment that helped make possible the expansion of the middle class and the overall economy during the 1950s, but that still sounds dangerous. Isn't it enough just to wave a flag and make a campaign commercial showing some military hardware?

[ HuffPo / The White House / Marketplace ]