My colleague T.L. made an interesting observation today, one I think worth sharing.
As we all know, President George W. Bush has repeatedly denied that he would seek to institute a military draft.
Yet, we know that our military needs more troops. The resulting recruiting efforts reportedly include offers of significant incentives, such as:
So, recruiters are getting creative by offering anything from cash bonuses to college tuition, hoping to attract new recruits, like David Hoang of Alameda.Cash and college aid? Obviously a deal many would find worth taking.He just got out of high school and was thinking about going straight to college until an Army recruiter offered him $2,000 in cash and $50,000 for college.
So, the military needs more troops, but the Bush Administration wants to avoid a draft at all costs.
Which leads T.L. to wonder: was the Republican leadership's decision to allow changes in the Pell Grant formula, changes that reportedly will result in the elimination of Pell Grant awards to 84,000 students who were eligible for them before, partly a way to entice more young people to join the military? By making it harder for some to stay in college -- while offering significant back-end college funding support that may be even more difficult to refuse?
Is this a new part of the back-door draft? Should some of our Democrats be looking to connect a few dots here?
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