[Imc-newsroom] Support for Troops Questioned

[ColonelDan]

Support for Troops Questioned
Democrats Detail Bush's Cuts in Military Family Benefits
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2153-2003Jun16.html

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 17, 2003; Page A19

Democrats concerned about facing a popular wartime president in next year's
elections think there may be an opening in the most unusual of places:
President Bush's treatment of the military.

Bush is held in high esteem by the military, because of his leadership of
successful military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq and his unstinting
defense budgets. But Bush's opponents say he has rewarded American troops'
heroism by skimping on their housing benefits, their tax cuts, their health
care and education for their children.

A new report by the Democratic staff on the House Appropriations Committee
this week asserts that Bush, by cutting about $200 million in the program
that provides assistance to public schools serving military bases, would
pare education funding disproportionately for children of soldiers who
fought in Iraq. That adds to several complaints the staff has assembled:
Bush's signature on the latest tax cut, which failed to extend a child tax
credit to nearly 200,000 low-income military personnel; a $1.5 billion
reduction in his 2004 budget, to $9.2 billion from $10.7 billion, for
military housing and the like; and a cut of $14.6 billion over 10 years in
benefits paid through the Veterans Administration.

"They're saying they unequivocally support the military, but then they make
quite clear that the check is not in the mail," said Rep. David R. Obey
(Wis.), the top Democrat on House Appropriations, referring to the
administration. "They're taking actions that fly in the face of the support
they profess for the military."

The White House parries the charge by pointing to pay raises for the troops
of more than 15 percent under Bush, privatizing of troops' housing, and
large increases in defense spending -- all resulting in record retention
rates in the military. Bush aides also counter that the president proposed
the largest-ever increase in discretionary spending for the Veterans
Administration in his 2004 budget.

"The commander in chief has restored respect, pride, pay, training and the
quality of life for our active-duty military and veterans," said Trent
Duffy, spokesman for Bush's Office of Management and Budget. "His special
bond with our troops only grows stronger by shallow attempts to weaken it."

But such attempts are not new. Bush himself used a similar attack against Al
Gore in the 2000 campaign, complaining to a VFW meeting in August 2000 about
"soldiers who are on food stamps and soldiers who are poorly housed." He
vowed then: "We will give our armed forces better pay, better treatment and
better training."

This time around, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), a presidential candidate and
Vietnam veteran, said he feels "very strongly" that the issue, particularly
veterans' benefits, is a vulnerability for Bush. "The real test of
patriotism is how you treat veterans and keep promises to people who wore
the uniform," he said.

The maneuvering has already begun. Last week, Democrats tried to add $947
million for military housing to a 2004 spending bill, losing on a party-line
vote in a subcommittee. They also charge that Bush would cut off about
173,000 veterans from health care under his 2004 budget request to "refocus
the VA health care system" while requiring enrollment fees and higher
out-of-pocket costs.

On the subject of funds paid to schools that serve children of military
personnel, Bush's 2004 budget recommends cuts of $172 million, or 14
percent, in payments called "impact aid" that make up for lost local tax
revenues from tax-exempt property. The analysis by Obey's staff calculates
that the military portion of the program is set to fall by more than 30
percent, to $435 million from $635 million -- much of that affecting
children of troops that have served in Iraq.

For example, uniformed personnel at Fort Hood, home to the 1st Cavalry and
4th Infantry, send almost 17,000 students to Killeen and Copperas Cove
public schools. The analysis found that Bush's proposed cuts in impact aid
would reduce Killeen's school budget by $22 million, or 13 percent, while
Copperas Cove would lose $9.6 million, or 22 percent. The report found a
similar effect for the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division at Fort Stewart,
Ga., the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and the
101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, Ky.

The White House, while not disputing that it is cutting the impact aid, said
both Republican and Democratic administrations have for years sought to cut
the aid to reflect the number of military employees who live off base and
pay local property taxes. Over eight years, OMB's Duffy said, the Clinton
administration proposed cutting a total of $100 million in such funds.

Democrats are hoping such explanations won't be convincing when military
families' children begin to feel the squeeze on their schools. Already,
Obey's staff reports, Defense Department schools overseas had to end the
school year a week early because of a lack of money.


© 2003 The Washington Post Company