It’s Time To Call Out The Real Villains
The GOP, the self-appointed party of “patriots,” was overjoyed President Obama’s West Point Commencement address was received with tepid approval. Why? Because he spoke the truth? “America’s costliest mistakes have stemmed not from restraint but from rushing to armed adventures without thinking through the consequences, without building international support and legitimacy for our action, without leveling with the American people about the sacrifice required.” Imagine if the address given by George W. Bush at that very same place in 2002 was as insightful, logical and considerate to the soldiers he stood before, many of them would not have become casualties of his poorly-planned wars.
Senator John McCain would entangle our military in dozens of wars if he had his way. Famous for being a POW, he has been voting repeatedly against his fellow veterans for years against needed funding for benefits. He was among the Republicans who voted against the Sanders Bill. He and his fellow Arizona Republican, Senator Jeff Flake need to do some serious soul-searching after laying the blame on Secretary of the VA Shinseki and the Obama Administration.
Does anyone else see this pattern: the GOP votes against funding (embassy security and Veterans’ care) and an inevitable crisis ensues? Perhaps if the Chris Matthews and Chuck Todds of the MSM would stop reading from Frank Luntz’s daily manifestos, the real villains would be held to account for the problems they create. I’m sure veterans would appreciate a government that actually cares for them rather than those who live to demonize the Obama Administration and fail our nation’s heroes.
Click here for reuse options!Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: VegasJessie
A resident of Las Vegas Nevada, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma as a Political Science major. Very motivated to get people to participate in the electoral process.
28 responses to It’s Time To Call Out The Real Villains
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Red Eye Robot May 30th, 2014 at 16:35
The real villains aren’t the Obama administration who stated in 2009 they would address the problem of long wait times for veterans and then cooked up a scheme of secret waiting lists to make it look like they were improving the problem while it actually got worse?
TiredOfThemAll May 30th, 2014 at 16:50
Actually, they did;
“This is not a new problem, this is a decades old
problem,” Lauren Augustine, an Iraq War vet and Legislative Associate with
IAVA, said. “And yet it hasn’t been adequately addressed because it keeps
happening. There’s a lot of problems with access,” she admitted. “The VA has
very outdated technology that it uses to not only work with veterans, but
schedule appointments with veterans.”
The agency did not fully implement digital
processing of claims nationwide until 2013 and, Augustine noted, uses a “trying
process” to employ new staff, contributing to the lack of providers. Davis, of
the VFW pointed to crumbling and underfunded facilities, arguing that the
provider shortage at the VA is no different than the doctor and nursing
shortages plaguing the rest of the health care system.
Obama and allies like Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate
Veterans Affairs Committee, have also fought for and secured substantial
increases in the VA’s budget. The Administration has also presided over
innovations, such as the opening of new outpatient clinics and introduce of tele-medicine.
These projects are exapnding the VA’s reach at relatively low cost, while
preserving its commitment to high-quality medicine. (The actual care at the VA
remains top-notch, by most accounts, once people get it.) Oh, and a plan to
reduce homelessness among veterans seems to be working. It’s down by 24
percent.
VA: Plan to End Veteran Homelessness ‘On
Track’
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/11/21/va-plan-to-end-veteran-homelessness-on-track.html
arc99 May 30th, 2014 at 16:58
TOIA thank you for a much-needed dose of bullsh*t repellent.
Dwendt44 May 31st, 2014 at 00:26
Bush knew there was a problem and ignored it like he did a lot of important stuff (9-11 for example). The system is overwhelmed right now. Add ambitious wait time they couldn’t meet, and the lack of adequate funding and wha la, a mess.
Still the problems seems to be with about 4% of the VA healthcare facilities, not all of them. There is hope.
fahvel May 31st, 2014 at 03:31
I love your wha la!!!!!! Here we make the same sound but it looks like this: voila!
VegasJessie May 30th, 2014 at 16:54
Funny you should say that. The wait times for the VA went from 248 days during Bush to its current 115. But it was fine when it was far worse because Bush represented Freedom.
mea_mark May 30th, 2014 at 17:04
Simply put, no they are not. Great progress has been made since Obama took over after the many years of neglect by previous administrations. What has been holding us back, from further progress, has been a destroyed economy by the previous republican administration and a lack of willingness on the part of the republicans to provide adequate funding to rectify all the problems quickly.
fancypants May 31st, 2014 at 02:44
the big carpet was getting very lumpy after all the walter reed issues got swept under it. Can we see GWBs VA cooked books ? probably not He’s off limits to any investigations.
mea_mark May 31st, 2014 at 08:32
By now he has probably painted over everything anyways.
Red Eye Robot May 30th, 2014 at 16:35
The real villains aren’t the Obama administration who stated in 2009 they would address the problem of long wait times for veterans and then cooked up a scheme of secret waiting lists to make it look like they were improving the problem while it actually got worse?
OldLefty May 30th, 2014 at 16:50
Actually, they did;
“This is not a new problem, this is a decades old
problem,” Lauren Augustine, an Iraq War vet and Legislative Associate with
IAVA, said. “And yet it hasn’t been adequately addressed because it keeps
happening. There’s a lot of problems with access,” she admitted. “The VA has
very outdated technology that it uses to not only work with veterans, but
schedule appointments with veterans.”
The agency did not fully implement digital
processing of claims nationwide until 2013 and, Augustine noted, uses a “trying
process” to employ new staff, contributing to the lack of providers. Davis, of
the VFW pointed to crumbling and underfunded facilities, arguing that the
provider shortage at the VA is no different than the doctor and nursing
shortages plaguing the rest of the health care system.
Obama and allies like Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate
Veterans Affairs Committee, have also fought for and secured substantial
increases in the VA’s budget. The Administration has also presided over
innovations, such as the opening of new outpatient clinics and introduce of tele-medicine.
These projects are exapnding the VA’s reach at relatively low cost, while
preserving its commitment to high-quality medicine. (The actual care at the VA
remains top-notch, by most accounts, once people get it.) Oh, and a plan to
reduce homelessness among veterans seems to be working. It’s down by 24
percent.
VA: Plan to End Veteran Homelessness ‘On
Track’
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/11/21/va-plan-to-end-veteran-homelessness-on-track.html
arc99 May 30th, 2014 at 16:58
TOIA thank you for a much-needed dose of bullsh*t repellent.
Dwendt44 May 31st, 2014 at 00:26
Bush knew there was a problem and ignored it like he did a lot of important stuff (9-11 for example). The system is overwhelmed right now. Add ambitious wait time they couldn’t meet, and the lack of adequate funding and wha la, a mess.
Still the problems seems to be with about 4% of the VA healthcare facilities, not all of them. There is hope.
fahvel May 31st, 2014 at 03:31
I love your wha la!!!!!! Here we make the same sound but it looks like this: voila!
mea_mark May 30th, 2014 at 17:04
Simply put, no they are not. Great progress has been made since Obama took over after the many years of neglect by previous administrations. What has been holding us back, from further progress, has been a destroyed economy by the previous republican administration and a lack of willingness on the part of the republicans to provide adequate funding to rectify all the problems quickly.
fancypants May 31st, 2014 at 02:44
the big carpet was getting very lumpy after all the walter reed issues got swept under it. Can we see GWBs VA cooked books ? probably not He’s off limits to any investigations.
mea_mark May 31st, 2014 at 08:32
By now he has probably painted over everything anyways.
Foundryman May 30th, 2014 at 16:51
Oh, i know!!! Let’s just privatize the VA… Viola! problem solved!!.It will be perfect after that, just like all private hospitals and clinics are…
John Tarter May 30th, 2014 at 22:08
You don’t have to privatize the VA, just give the veterans vouchers that they can use at civilian hospitals. You know, sorta like giving inner city kids vouchers or setting up charter schools that do a much better job of educating them than the unionized government institutions.
Dwendt44 May 31st, 2014 at 00:22
Except voucher school are doing no better than the public schools. Fact.
Vouchers for vets is a terrible idea. Many right wing nut jobs want to do away with the VA entirely. Vouchers will likely be the first step. Then some years from now, they can cut the vouchers down, and repeat that again a few years later, until the VA and the vouchers are gone totally.
While allowing vets to get healthcare outside the VA system when that system is overloaded like currently in some states might be a great idea, you can bet the Conservatives would load up that bill with a lot of crap that will insure it’s defeat.
Foundryman May 30th, 2014 at 16:51
Oh, i know!!! Let’s just privatize the VA… Viola! problem solved!!.It will be perfect after that, just like all private hospitals and clinics are…
John Tarter May 30th, 2014 at 22:08
You don’t have to privatize the VA, just give the veterans vouchers that they can use at civilian hospitals. You know, sorta like giving inner city kids vouchers or setting up charter schools that do a much better job of educating them than the unionized government institutions.
Dwendt44 May 31st, 2014 at 00:22
Except voucher school are doing no better than the public schools. Fact.
Vouchers for vets is a terrible idea. Many right wing nut jobs want to do away with the VA entirely. Vouchers will likely be the first step. Then some years from now, they can cut the vouchers down, and repeat that again a few years later, until the VA and the vouchers are gone totally.
While allowing vets to get healthcare outside the VA system when that system is overloaded like currently in some states might be a great idea, you can bet the Conservatives would load up that bill with a lot of crap that will insure it’s defeat.
Jake May 30th, 2014 at 17:34
It is a real tragedy that the Republican War on Veterans is succeeding.
Roctuna May 30th, 2014 at 18:03
Was mine one of them? BOTH of them were one of them! Cornyn will no doubt campaign on it this fall, all the while also campaigning on how much he supports our troops.
Roctuna May 30th, 2014 at 18:03
Was mine one of them? BOTH of them were one of them! Cornyn will no doubt campaign on it this fall, all the while also campaigning on how much he supports our troops.
Vi Bird May 30th, 2014 at 23:20
Yeppers! Both of the OK senators are on that list! I don’t know why I even looked. I knew they would and am totally ASHAMED!!
My son is active duty right now and they don’t CARE about anything but more tax breaks for millionaires!!
Vi Bird May 30th, 2014 at 23:20
Yeppers! Both of the OK senators are on that list! I don’t know why I even looked. I knew they would and am totally ASHAMED!!
My son is active duty right now and they don’t CARE about anything but more tax breaks for millionaires!!