President Obama Proposes Veterans Jobs Corps

President Obama made good on a promise to do more to help unemployed veterans find jobs by calling for $6 billion in spending aimed at service members returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Veterans Jobs Corps program would use $1 billion over five years to help as many as 20,000 veterans find work preserving and restoring federal, state, local and tribal lands. He also called on Congress to increase funding in fiscal 2013 for programs that help communities hire police and firefighters, with a focus on prioritizing the hiring of veterans. His 2013 will include $4 billion to expand the Community Oriented Policing Services grant program and $1 billion for a fire and emergency response program. President Obama had first proposed additional funding for these initiatives in his jobs bill.

Late last year the president approved executive actions to help veterans search for jobs, and one of the only pieces of the president’s American Jobs Act that cleared the Republican controlled Congress was the adoption of tax credits for employers that hire veterans.

President Obama made the announcement at Arlington Fire Station No. 5, a Northern Virginia firehouse that sent some of the first emergency responders to the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 and took the opportunity to renew his call that Congress allocate some of the savings from the wind-down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to “so some nation building here at home, to improve the quality of life right here in the United States of America, and to put our veterans to work.”

Republicans have targeted the COPS program for cuts ever since its passage and Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla), chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs committee would not say whether he would do an about-face and now support expanding the program.

This is a bold and frankly brilliant move by the president. It’s smart policy–after all, many of our military veterans are perfectly suited to transition into police, fire and first responder jobs. And it is excellent politics. The wars are winding down and now the Republicans are going to have to show who their true constituents are: will they support continuing the gluttonous tax benefits to the very wealthy or will they help our men and women in uniform transition back into civilian life?

Read more: afghanistan, economy, emploment, iraq, military, veterans

Photo from expertinfantry via flickr.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Past Member .

8:08AM PST on Feb 8, 2012

I read on a newspaper that Obama allowed the soldiers to rape the animal to calm their ardor. he had also returned on sodomy for soldiers. why do not you speak? Here in France, zoophilia is punished. Why the united states this law is not punished?

send a green star

Chad A.

5:49PM PST on Feb 6, 2012

Good move, now do things for other jobless groups and help get folks back into their homes!

Parvez Z.

10:39PM PST on Feb 5, 2012

Very good idea hope the Zionist force will let him work as they control the economy of America and the do not want peace call all the forces back home close Gitmo prison and money saved should be used on welfare of the poor American people so as to improve job situation etc

LARRY H.

4:02PM PST on Feb 5, 2012

I agree it's about time someone did something to help the returning veterans. Hope it goes through without cuts.

Dori W.

3:46PM PST on Feb 5, 2012

Well it's about time something like this was proposed. We should be supporting our veterans and programs here at home. Bravo!

AbdulAziz A.

1:56PM PST on Feb 5, 2012

Well done Obama .... about time you lived up to a promise and we hope he can close Gitmo down and the Republicans will allow him to do something good. Perhaps he can save some money from bringing back the destroyers and destructive forces.

I sure also he will not be able to do so as the Zionists, Bankers, financiers and corporates will try to remove him from power and stop doing any good.

If US can be persuaded to keep away from attacking Iran, it may yet save thousands of lives ob the both sides and stop the body bags flying back to their loved ones in US too.

Lynda H.

12:41PM PST on Feb 5, 2012

Great idea, Mr. President, but what about veterans from prior conflicts who have fought for their country's freedom?

Marilyn L.

10:19AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

Of course the Republicans don't want this to go through our fund it, it would be another notch in President Obama's success belt.

Lin P.

9:42AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

Sure hope the jobs will be environmentally friendly. So many of the now veterans have been trained for violence and destruction though. They need jobs, of course, but care must be taken and well thought out, just what those jobs are and the future impacts they will have.

Marianne C.

8:41AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

I'm pretty sure the GOP will stamp their little feet and resist this development, too. They'd rather have homeless vets living on the streets than have Obama get the credit for creating the jobs THEY haven't had time to be bothered with.