The new GI Bill overwhelmingly passed the Senate today by a 75-22 margin. One Democratic senator and two Republican senators did not vote.
The Dem who didn't vote on the resolution was Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts who was diagnosed Tuesday with malignant glioma, which is a type of brain tumor normally found in children. Although the family isn't saying so, doctors have privately said that the senator's prognosis can't be good.
The two GOP senators who did not vote were Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK, and Senator John McCain, R-AZ.
"To the soldiers and families who have sacrificed so much in this war, especially our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines from Oklahoma, I say thank you," says Sen. Coburn in a letter dated Feb. 27, 2008, which appears on his web page. Thanks from a senator doesn't pay for a single text book , let alone a bachelor's degree, but perhaps Sen. Coburn had a good reason not to vote today. There isn't anything to suggest that his absence wasn't legitimate.
But the so-called straight talking Sen. McCain wasn't available to vote for veterans benefits because he was busy interviewing candidates for vice president and appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres show.
Some commander-in-chief he's gonna be. Wow, I'll bet the kids in Iraq are hoping that Gen. David Petraeus is right and Pres. Bush is wrong, but either way they can't be feeling very confident that the leading candidate for president will bring them home soon.
Maybe he'll get Ellen to do a USO tour.
