The Veterans Administration: Caring for our Vets with Complete Abandon
I should say complete abandonment ...
President Obama is fond of saying how much he has done for our nation's Vets.
Most of all, let’s keep working to make sure that our country upholds our sacred trust to all who’ve served. In recent weeks, we’ve seen again how much more our nation has to do to make sure all our veterans get the care they deserve. As Commander in Chief, I believe that taking care of our veterans and their families is a sacred obligation. It’s been one of the causes of my presidency. And now that we’ve ended the war in Iraq, and as our war in Afghanistan ends as well, we have to work even harder as a nation to make sure all our veterans get the benefits and opportunities they’ve earned. They’ve done their duty, and they ask nothing more than that this country does ours – now and for decades to come.
I think we should examine this more deeply, he has increased the Department of Veterans Affairs budget each year since taking office, what was it spent on? The agency has spent a total of $489 million to upgrade conference rooms, buy draperies, and purchase new office furniture over the course of Obama's Presidency! Meanwhile, Vets are DYING waiting for treatment, while the VA cooks the books and delays reporting requested dates of care to make the numbers look better. Even the hapless Democrats are increasingly calling for action, including the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz is calling for an FBI probe into the VA and the dismissal of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki following the Office of Inspector General report into Veterans wait 115 days for care in Phoenix Veterans Affairs system. This is NOT a new issue as Obama has pretended, and the Bush administration briefed the incoming Obama administration of ongoing problems.
In a stinging piece by Clarence Page, the Obama administration cover-up is outrageous and damaging.
Of all the scandals and pseudo-scandals of which President Barack Obama has been accused, the Department of Veterans Affairs debacle is the most damaging for at least three reasons:
One, health care — including VA health care — was the signature issue of his election and re-election.
Two, the VA, for all its flaws, also is held up as a model by leading liberals and progressives of how effectively a gigantic government program can deliver quality health care directly to patients without passing through private providers or insurance companies.
That’s mostly true. In April, for example, the independent American Customer Satisfaction Index found VA patient satisfaction to be 84 percent for in-patient care and 82 percent for outpatient. That’s as high or slightly higher than the survey found for civilian hospitals for the third year in a row — and considerably higher than the survey’s 66 percent satisfaction rate for federal agencies in general.
But the current scandal is not found in the VA’s care as much as in the hurdles veterans have faced as they try to enter the system to receive that care. Most alarming are reports, revealed to CNN by a whistleblower, that about 40 veterans died while waiting for treatment at a Phoenix VA hospital.
Three, Team Obama can’t say that the president wasn’t warned, although White House press secretary Jay Carney seemed to try.
On Monday, May 19, Carney said in a briefing that the president learned about the Phoenix deaths from CNN. A day later, Carney walked that back, saying the issue of excessive wait times at VA hospitals is “not a new issue” to his boss.
The VA have promised reforms and the following assistance to gain faster decisions on "fully developed claims". I don't think I'll be holding my breath for a solution from the Obama Administration. If anything could bring down his Presidency, this should ... it won't, he's invincible !
Or have I been eating paint chips again?
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