An overwhelming majority of the House voted May 15 to sharply increase education benefits for Iraq-Afghanistan veterans under the GI Bill–and to pay for it with a tax surcharge on the wealthy, Newsday reports. Thirty-two Republicans joined with Democrats on a 256-166 vote to provide up to four years’ full tuition at a level charged by the most expensive in-state public university, a monthly housing allotment based on local cost of living, and an annual $1,000 book stipend. But the benefits increase, part of a multibillion-dollar emergency spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, still faces an uncertain future. President George W. Bush has vowed to veto the bill over the non-war spending, the tax surcharge, and restrictions on his ability to conduct the Iraq war…

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