Webb raises taxes

By Brian Kirwin | May 16, 2008
Filed Under Democrats, Economics, National Defense |

I’ve been reading about Sen. Jim Webb’s GI Bill for the last few weeks and honestly was leaning to supporting it. Ronald Reagan extended the GI Bill in ‘87 That’s what I get for relying on the liberal media, who only after the vote in the House decided to print this little tidbit:

Webb pays “the estimated 10-year, $51 billion cost for Webb’s GI Bill with a surtax to be imposed on those earning more than $500,000 annually.”

Which brings up this interesting point:
How many times can Democrats spend the same money? I’ve been listening to Obama and Hillary pay for everything from health care to education to roads and bridges and John Edward’s next hairstylist bill by “taxing the rich.” And everytime they try to actually do it, they wind up missing the rich and hitting the rest of us. Webb’s tax increase just made that more likely.

Which brings me to this fine tidbit of information, courtesy of ABC.

At Georgetown, where tuition alone is $39,390 per year for a full-time student, the GI Bill makes a dent, but not a very big one.

That says more about the cost of education than it does about the GI Bill. Besides, since when does throwing more money at something make it less expensive?

It amazes me. We are at the height of information technology and communications. More information is more accessible than at any time in our history. There is absolutely no sane reason why one year’s tuition should require $40,000. That’s the problem. It’s not that the GI Bill is so bad. It’s that the cost of education is market-shielded.

Every private-sector endeavor has provided more choice of higher quality at lower cost. Education and health care, two endeavors awash in government money, have not. It strains credulity to believe that more government money makes that better.

I believe in the GI Bill. I believe we should reward those who battle every day to preserve our freedom. But I also believe that the problem here isn’t lack of money from government as much as it’s lack of modernization in our methods of learning.

And stop raising taxes, for crying out loud!

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Comments

One Response to “Webb raises taxes”

  1. Ragnar on May 19th, 2008 6:06 pm

    Jim - bottom line, the government can find money for anything - see the latest bi-partisan pork-filled Farm Bill (Bush and I agree on this one), but then there is complaining about education?

    The issue here has nothing to do with taxes - it has everything to do with not wanting to give soldiers, sailors and Marines a way to another life. The Administration can’t afford to open the gates.

    After WW2 the GI Bill covered the expenses of attending ANY college in the nation, even Harvard. The current GI Bill? Less than 25%. As for your taxes - the WW2 GI Bill returned 7 to 1 on every tax dollar spent and built our nation into what it is today.

    Among many things that the right forgets when they whine about every tax in existence is the fact that not only does living in this nation have a cost - but that many of our government’s expenditures are an investment.

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