I ran across a couple of interesting reads this week.
First, the Congressional Budget Office's letter [pdf] to Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) about the Webb GI Bill.
The CBO analysis shows that, as John McCain claims, the new GI Bill would decrease retention. However, the CBO's analysis shows that this can be partially offset by recruiting bonuses, and also that the quantity and quality of new recruits will rise with better educational bonuses. In addition, the total five-year cost of the original bill is $1.1 billion. That last number doesn't figure in the additional taxes paid by better-educated (and therefore better-paid) vets.
Second, here's an interesting McClatchy story about the Bush administration's budget requests for Iraqi police versus US police. The White House wants $603 million for Iraqi police, yet has cut a grant program for local police by $700 million. Since the start of the war, we've spent a little over $20 billion on training and equipping the Iraqi police force and army.