What is the G.I. Bill?

The G.I. Bill is commonly referred to as the G.I. Bill of Rights and is also known as The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. It was signed into law on June 22, 1944 by President Roosevelt. The law provided a comprehensive benefits package that included up to four years of education or training, federally guaranteed home, business, or farm loans with no down payment, and unemployment compensation that set aside a weekly unemployment allowance of $20 for 52 weeks. Those eligible had to have been in active duty for at least 90 days, even if they were not in combat, and couldn't have been dishonorably discharged. The Veterans Administration was responsible for implementing these key components of the bill.

What's the significance?

While for most Americans higher education and home ownership were unattainable dreams before WWII, the G.I. Bill allowed millions of veterans to take part, and by 1947 they made up 49 percent of college admissions. By 1956, nearly 7.8 million of the 16 million WWII veterans had taken part in an education or training program and the VA had guaranteed 5.9 million home loans. It represented a huge contribution to the welfare of veterans and their families and to U.S. economic growth.

While it was a controversial bill, many agreed that they did not want to see a repeat of what happened after WWI. At that time, the Great Depression made it extremely difficult for veterans to assimilate into civilian society. Many were only compensated with a $60 allowance and a train ticket home. While they were supposed to get bonuses from the Bonus Act, they found out that they wouldn't see this money for 20 years and began protesting. The G.I. Bill was initially stalled due to disagreement in the Senate and House over the unemployment provision, as some believed this would make veterans lazy. However, after it was eventually passed, less than 20 percent of the funds set aside for unemployment benefits were actually used.

The education benefits didn't last long, and after the Veterans Adjustment Act of 1952 the government no longer paid tuition directly to colleges and universities, affecting veterans from the Korean War and the Vietnam War. While the 'Montgomery G.I. Bill' was introduced in 1984 to revamp the original and provide more money for education, it couldn't keep up with the rising cost of tuition in higher education and it was decided that a '21st Century G.I .bill' was needed.

The Post-911 G.I. Bill, also known as The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, went into effect in August 2009 and has greatly expanded the education benefits for those who were active duty on or after September 11th, 2011.

Who's talking about it?

Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow David Woolner honors FDR's legacy and shows how the G.I. Bill opened up higher education for millions of americans...As of February 28th 2012, WAVY-TV 10 reports that G.I. Bill benefits are nearly 90 days late and that veterans are expressing their frustration on the Post 9-11 G.I. Bill Facebook page...Policy Mic criticizes the current G.I. Bill and writes that it's doing a bad job of providing for veterans...Jim Lehrer interviews historians and a journalist about how the G.I. Bill changed America...Salon.com reports on the passing of the new G.I. Bill in the Senate despite Republican opposition...NPR's "All Things Considered" discusses whether too much of the G.I. Bill money is going to for-profit education institutions...WBUR looks back on how the Bonus Army led to the GI Bill.

What is the gospel of prosperity?

Just like it sounds, the gospel of prosperity is a movement that emphasizes the connection between finances and faith. An outcropping of the Pentecostal movement, the prosperity gospel, also known as "Health and Wealth Gospel" and the "Word of Faith," teaches that God showers money and material goods on his believers. The reverse is also true: those who believe will be favored with riches. The gospel of prosperity first came onto the scene in the 1980's with televangelists Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart and has now morphed into a booming multi-million dollar industry led by Joel Osteen's Lakewood in Houston, T.D. Jakes' Potter House in Dallas, and Creflo Dollar's World Changers outside of Atlanta. Osteen is not only a preacher, but a New York Times bestselling author of "Your Best Life Now" (4 million sold) and the soon-to-be-released "It's Your Turn." Critics say the prosperity gospel goes against Bible teachings and ignores the have-nots. More disturbing, perhaps, is the lack of financial transparency and exploitation of the movement's followers. Sen. Charles Grassley began an investigation of six televangelists in 2007 who gobbled up hundreds of millions of dollars from followers.

What's the significance?

During the boom years the prosperity gospel prospered as adherents attributed their wealth to their willingness to "put God first" and donate the first 10% of their income to the church. But, as the economy has unraveled, the idea that the have-nots have been overlooked by God becomes an even more pernicious claim. With its "let go and let God" mentality, the gospel of prosperity hinders progress on economic reform.

Who's Talking About It?

David Van Biema and Jeff Chu write in TIME that the prosperity gospel "suggests that a God who loves you does not want you to be broke." In fact according to a TIME poll, 17% of Christians surveyed said they considered themselves part the gospel of prosperity movement, while 61% believed that God wants people to be prosperous and 31% believe that if you give your money to God, God will give you more money in return... CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian, reporting on Kenneth Copeland, who garnered the nickname the "godfather" of "prosperity gospel," quoted one former ministry employee who said, "It's a business, it's a bottom-line business"...And Anthea Butler over at Religion Dispatches says gospel of prosperity theologians turned the Word of Faith movement on its head. "Rather than focus on audience healings and testimonies, the leaders themselves became advertisements for the movement; highlighting their expensive cars, airplanes, homes, and perfectly-toned bodies as a way to show their parishioners and followers across the world that prosperity was the way."

[Note: updated 3.9.11]

What is HAMP?

HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) is a $75 billion federal program that was set up by the Obama administration in 2009. It was designed to help struggling homeowners modify their mortgages to make them more affordable and avoid foreclosure, with a goal of helping 3-4 million people over four years. It's part of Making Home Affordable, which was part of the Financial Stability Plan introduced in February of 2009 to address key problems at the heart of the financial crisis.

What's the significance?

The program has fallen short of its own goals and is widely criticized for moving too slowly and helping too few. Only 1.5 million people were invited to try the program in its first year and about 40% of those people were eventually kicked out. It continues to kick out about half of those who enter it. It was designed with $1000 incentives to entice banks to make loan modifications permanent, but the auditor of the program has called the number of those permanent changes "anemic." The program seems mostly to delay foreclosures, rather than stop them, often depleting homeowners' resources in the meantime. The number of people in the program is steadily decreasing even as the number of underwater homeowners grows. Criticism comes from both sides of the aisle: consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren grilled Tim Geithner on the unsuccessful program while Republican Darrell Issa called it a "charade of offering false hope and false promises."

Who's talking about it?

Mike Konczal points out that the problem with HAMP was that it left mortgages servicers in the driver's seat...He also compared L.A.'s elegant solution, a tax on empty properties, to HAMP's bungled solutions...Shahien Nasiripour and Arthur Delaney reported extensively on the program's failings in August 2010...ProPublica crunches the numbers on how the program has failed homeowners...David Dayen connects the dots between HAMP's failure and foreclosure fraud cases...Tim Fernholz talks to experts who expect foreclosure documentation fraud to make things tough in administering HAMP...Peter Goodman reports that even those in the program who are considered a success story have been through hell and back...Felix Salmon wonders if the whole thing was just a cruel bait-and-switch...The Republicans are trying to defund the program entirely, but not offering up any alternatives to help homeowners.

What does legacy loan mean?

"Legacy loan" is a new term for adjustable-rate mortgages made during the recent housing bubble. Such loans stimulate exorbitant lending by offering homeowners short term “interest-only” or “minimum-only” payment options. Unfortunately, these rates readjust after only a few years to much higher levels, leaving many homeowners in the red and debt holders without payment.

What’s the significance?

Legacy loans are a main focus of the Geithner Plan for stimulating credit markets. Due to the increased default rate on legacy loans, their securitized value in the debt market has decreased drastically, and anyone holding such debt is incurring huge write downs. The list of debt holders includes major financial institutions that are now at risk of insolvency and thus unable to continue lending. The Geithner Plan attempts to lift these legacy loans and assets off the balance sheets of major banks so that they can again facilitate the flow of credit.

Who’s talking about it?

Economist blogger Brad Delong defends the plan for legacy loans and assets as an excellent scheme that lets the taxpayer come out on top … Paul Krugman argues the plan is doomed to fail because it does not recognize that legacy loans make the financial system fundamentally unsound…Willem Buiter believes the size of the plan is not large enough relative to size of legacy debt.