Sure, still waiting for the facts to come out about who is at fault and why. Of course the Obama Derangement Syndrome squad claim that President Obama personally created the overruns and are properly "outraged" about it. Just like Toad propagating the lie that the President promised to cut his pay by 5% and is "outraged" that the tax records do not support the lie.
"Remember to always be yourself. Unless you can be batman. Then always be batman." Unknown
The Republicans might have to make a tough choice here. Should they support shutting down the VA bureacracy for the most part and replacing with a Vet-Caid system? From talking to veterans that have been frustrated with the system for decades, it might be time to offer them access to private sector medicine.
Think the Dems would sign onto this bipartisan solution? It would probablybe more expensive, especially at the start, but with the wars winding down, now might be the time to transfer funds from the military to the former soldiers.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
Almost every veteran that I know are extremely happy with VA once they get into the system. No way would they appreciate being forced into private care with "vouchers".
The point is moot as it is impossible for the Republicans to actually craft a viable plan on any issue as they have clearly shown over the past decades.
"Remember to always be yourself. Unless you can be batman. Then always be batman." Unknown
Nonetheless, I replied that there was more to this than we were getting from the feeding-frenzy stories offered up by the media. ... I'd like to offer a few quick bullet points that anyone writing about the VHA should at least be aware of. Here they are:
• During the Clinton administration, the performance of the VHA was revolutionized under Kenneth Kizer.
• Under the Bush administration, some of the VHA's old problems started to re-emerge, most likely because it no longer had either presidential attention or a great administrator.
• Under the Obama administration, the patient load of the VHA has increased by over a million. Partly this is because of the large number of combat vets returning from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and partly it's because Obama kept his promise to expand access to the VHA.
• It was inevitable that this would increase wait times, and the VHA's claims backlog did indeed increase during the first three years of Obama's presidency. Over the past couple of years, however, wait times have shrunk dramatically.
• What's more, despite its backlog problems, the VHA still gets high marks from vets.
• The most sensational charge against the VHA is that 40 or more vets died while they were waiting for appointments at the VA facilities in Phoenix. But so far there's no evidence of that.
• In February, Republicans killed a bill* that would have funded two dozen new medical centers.
Anyone want to research those claims above and see if they are incorrect? If not, this issue is a lot more complicated than is being reported (there's a shocker), and the blame needs to be laid on everyone to whom it belongs.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
I'm more concerned about the failure of the GoTP to allow legislation pass that would have helped the veterans. As usual they were more interested in scoring another filibuster and saying 'no', rather having a serious talk about how to close a few loopholes for the wealthy and funding it. Any one of the loopholes were LESS IMPORTANT THAN TAKING CARE OF THE VETS, and as usual the GoTP was nowhere to be found...but sure loves to screw it up and blame it on someone else.
Gee, the same Republicans that are calling for Shinseki's head, and trying to find a way to somehow blame the black-guy-in-the-White-House, have already forgotten February, 2014:
(Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans blocked legislation on Thursday that would have expanded federal healthcare and education programs for veterans, saying the $24 billion bill would bust the budget.
Even though the legislation cleared a procedural vote on Tuesday by a 99-0 vote, the measure quickly got bogged down in partisan fighting.
Supporters said the measure would have brought the most significant changes in decades to U.S. veterans' programs. For example, it called for 27 new medical facilities to help a healthcare system that is strained by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
With Democrats pressing for passage this week, Senate Republicans, backed by their leader, Mitch McConnell, attempted to attach controversial legislation calling for possible new sanctions on Iran that President Barack Obama opposes.
"The issue of Iran sanctions ... has nothing to do with the needs of veterans," complained Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bernard Sanders of Vermont, the main sponsor of the bill.
Republicans also raised budget concerns, forcing another key procedural vote that ended up killing the bill. By a vote of 56-41, the Senate failed to waive budget rules that would have allowed the bill to proceed. Sixty votes were needed and 41 of the chamber's 45 Republicans voted against the waiver.
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In December, Congress passed a two-year budget deal that included a reduction in veterans' pension benefits. Weeks later, Congress did an about-face and repealed many of the cuts.
And early this week, with the initial 99-0 procedural vote on Sanders' bill, the Senate appeared to be delivering a strong show of support for veterans, only to see the legislation die in the Senate with Thursday's vote.
Boy, imagine my surprise...again. The Dems press for passage of legislation to INCREASE the funding for veterans...To create 27 new medical facilities...And the knuckle-draggers--(and McConnell--Oh sorry, that's redundant)--filibustered it because they couldn't attach a poison-pill amendment to it. (At least, that was their excuse. It's a given that even if they could have attached their little amendment to it, they would have filibustered it anyway.) We can't have anything passing that might turn out to be beneficial to the Kenyan....
I guess if Fred wants to keep spouting his b.s., I can keep posting the truth.
