Time for New GI Bill

My favorite columnist Nicolas Kristoff looks at data showing that America's economic leadership has more to do with near-universal post-elementary education than with government attempts to expand industry. Highly-educated people innovate, and create the industries that create jobs. Consider how many jobs Bill Gates created for other highly-educated people, who went on to form their own companies that employed other college-educated people, and so on. Think Silicon Valley.

Personally, I'd like to see the GI bill reinvented so that all returning veterans get a chance to educate themselves and, thereby, expand their opportunities. Obama's grandfather, who was a sergeant in Patton's Army in Europe during WWII, used the GI bill to get an education. I believe the GI Bill was a key factor in America's post war economic boom.

Whatever your views on the Iraqi war, the fact remains that the US government asked these men and women to risk their lives, and the US government owes an extraordinary debt to these soldiers. By investing in human resources, and offering financial aid to veterans and family members (who have suffered tremendously during soldiers' absence), the US can do good, and do well economically in the long run.