...[I]f the administration knew of potentially life-threatening wait times at VA facilities and efforts by VA employees to conceal the real numbers, something wasn’t done years ago — long before CNN revealed the specific Phoenix accusations....Please take a moment to read the brief article from which the above excerpt came and to watch the short video about the Veterans Administration scandal.
Obama can't have it both ways, either he knew since 2008 (video proof) or he just learned about it in the news? Please. They did not care, they threw more money at the problem and hoped it would go away. That is their answer to everything. Ironic isn't it. Put people on a waiting list, veterans, to keep from spending money on their medical treatment, then ... throw tons of money at the problem when it becomes a political problem. Doesn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com
BO's MO: Declare an on-going investigation then protract it without further comment (it's under investigation) and hope that it goes away. It seems to have worked, so far. Those of you who don't understand this are part of the problem(s)!
ReplyDeleteWe all know Barry´s priorities are golf, vacations, and begging campaign money, but now that 450 Veterans are Dead, he wants to start an investigation, yeah right, just like he did right after the Benghazi attack. I can remember him saying " Those who are responsible for this WILL BE BROUGHT TO SWIFT JUSTICE"
ReplyDeleteStill waiting!
Now that he has been made aware of the problems with the VA, the supreme leader is going to get to the bottom of this. He is demanding answers, now on to play some golf. I am surprised he doesn't blame this on Bush since Bush is the one who told him of the VA problem six years ago.
ReplyDeleteI hope he doesn't draw another line in the sand because that means six more weeks of winter.
I understood B.O. to say that he has been working on improving the VA since his Senate days. Now he's going to fix it ??????? How can any thinking person still believe the BS that this fraud spews? When will this, his latest scandal, become "old news"?
ReplyDeleteWhoever argues that VA has been broken for a long time is correct. It has. We cannot say that it has only been Democrats who’ve ignored the VA. That said, the political solution is to throw a lot of money at an utterly broken system. It is unreserved foolishness.
ReplyDeleteAnd then we have Dr. Krauthammer who opines that if you don’t like what you see happening within the VA ... just wait until Obama Care takes hold. Can you say UTTER DISASTER? Of course, we cannot place this solely at the feet of Democrats. After all, the American people elected such POS as Obama, Pelosi, Hoyer, and all the crooked politicians of the Democratic persuasion who quickly retired before the last elections in order to avoid indictment.
Shinseki’s incompetence as Secretary of the Veterans Administration parallels his incompetence as Army Chief of Staff and why Don Rumsfeld fired him. So, if you are a progressive minded moron, what do you do with someone who is an incompetent Army Chief of Staff? Why, you appoint him to serve as VA Secretary —of course.
The VA system is the most expensive health provider there is not because of the medical expenses but because of the number of bureaucrats it takes to administer it.
ReplyDeleteOld inefficient buildings with outdated equipment run by people who can't get fired. They need to convert some VA's to long term care and the remainder of medical care is paid by CHAMPUS. Better care, less money.
"the political solution is to throw a lot of money at an utterly broken system. It is unreserved foolishness"
ReplyDeleteDitto and since we are entirely broke, where is this "money" going to come from? BTW, money, per se, usually isn't the cause of government program failures. I didn't hear [accountability] mentioned in B.O.'s conference this morning.
By "accountability" I am making reference to such as:
ReplyDeletehttp://freebeacon.com/issues/va-spends-close-to-500-million-on-conference-room-office-makeovers-under-obama/
I wonder why this didn't come up?
Pardon my ignorance but do retired Generals and Admirals recieve the same shoddy health care as any other vet?
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteI can think of one retired General that should !
Just like the GOP rejected Hillary's request for more security at Embassies....
ReplyDeleteWhy Is the VA Suffering From a Lack of Resources in the First Place?
"...nsufficient funding of veterans’ healthcare has been caused primarily by political decisions made by “support-our-troops” members of the US Senate and House of Representatives. Members of Congress who have in recent years voted against increasing the funding of veterans’ healthcare—increases necessary to meet the need created by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—deserve much of the blame for starving the VA into this scandalous situation..."
"...Congress has consistently agreed to to spend less money on the VA than Obama had requested. Since 2010, by our calculations, Congress has agreed to fund about $2 billion a year less, on average, in discretionary spending than Obama had sought.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/179961..."
GOP blocks veterans bill
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/199480-gop-blocks-veterans-bill
Senate rejects far-reaching Veterans Affairs billhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/senate-rejects-far-reaching-veterans-affairs-bill/2014/02/27/1d10801c-a001-11e3-b8d8-94577ff66b28_story.html
With just 41 votes, Republican senators block veterans benefits bill
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/27/1280922/-With-just-41-votes-Republican-senators-block-veterans-benefits-bill#
Expanded veterans benefits bill fails over GOP’s budget-busting objections
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/27/expanded-veterans-benefits-bill-fails-over-gops-bu/
The right’s sad VA hypocrisy: Limbaugh and co.’s desperate Obamacare ploy
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/20/the_right%E2%80%99s_sad_va_hypocrisy_limbaugh_and_co_s_desperate_obamacare_ploy/
Point of clarification...
ReplyDeleteWhen I published this blog post and asked "This is governing?" I was referring to the something that Jay Carney said (not the state of care at the VA per se:
"We first learned about these problems [in Phoenix] through the reports [in the media]...
Yet, the Obama administration knew that there were problems with VA care several years back.
As Sam pointed out in his comment above:
Whoever argues that VA has been broken for a long time is correct. It has. We cannot say that it has only been Democrats who’ve ignored the VA.
However, the Obama administration says about various possible scandals: "We first learned about these reports when we heard them in the news." That kind of disclaimer used so often smacks of incompetence -- at the least.
There is also this, and some of the details go back to 2008 during the days of transition: Obama transition team was told about 3 audits showing VA misreported wait times: Inspector frustrated with efforts to dire situation.
ReplyDeleteClearly, problems with VA health care are not new -- and Obama did know about the problems from the first day that he took office.
Why Is the VA Suffering From a Lack of Resources in the First Place?
ReplyDelete"...Insufficient funding of veterans’ healthcare has been caused primarily by political decisions made by “support-our-troops” members of the US Senate and House of Representatives. Members of Congress who have in recent years voted against increasing the funding of veterans’ healthcare—increases necessary to meet the need created by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—deserve much of the blame for starving the VA into this scandalous situation.
Congress has consistently agreed to to spend less money on the VA than Obama had requested. Since 2010, by our calculations, Congress has agreed to fund about $2 billion a year less, on average, in discretionary spending than Obama had sought.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/179961/why-va-suffering-lack-resources-first-place#
Wow Liberturd you need to do a little research. Congress has increased the VA budget by 78% and per patient by 27%. It is always the dems belief that the solution is throw money at any problem. Look how well that has worked for the VA and education.
ReplyDeletehttp://finance.yahoo.com/news/obama-white-house-buck-stops-100000619.html
Today, from Senate Democrats Just Blocked a Bill to Increase Accountability at Scandal-Plagued Veterans Affairs Department:
ReplyDeleteSenator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) asked for consent to take up and pass the Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act, a bill that would make it easier/possible for the scandal-plagued department to fire employees based on poor performance. The House overwhelmingly passed the legislation on Wednesday, with a bipartisan vote of 390 to 33. (Only Democrats objected.)
Surely the Senate would follow suit, right? Not exactly. Senator Bernie Sanders, a union-backed socialist from Vermont, objected on behalf of Senate Democrats to Rubio’s request. Instead of taking any action now, Sanders said he is going to hold a hearing—several weeks from now....