Appearing on Fox’s Special Report, Julie Pace opined that Hillary Clinton’s poo pooing of the problems at the VA will haunt her through the 2016 election:
“The Hillary Clinton comment, sometimes when you do this job you hear a candidate say something and you just know that that is something that is going to trail her through Election Day next year if she is the eventual Democratic nominee.”
[youtube]https://youtu.be/7ULpWZBUhzo[/youtube]
I think she’s right and that this is a powerful issue. Clinton committed a huge gaffe and it opened a door into the real Hillary Clinton. Last month Clinton haughtily dismissed the problems at the Veterans Administration. The problems are not real, argued Clinton. It’s all part of a vast right wing “ideological agenda.”
The former first lady blamed Republicans for using the issue as part of an “ideological agenda” and said they want the VA to “fail.”
“Now nobody would believe that from the coverage you see, and the constant berating of the VA that comes from the Republicans, in – in part in pursuit of this ideological agenda that they have,” Clinton said.
“They try to create a downward spiral, don’t fund it to the extent that it needs to be funded, because they want it to fail, so then we can argue for privatization.”
Clinton created a straw man for her argument, displaying an astonishing ignorance of the issue:
Clinton said veterans often report having a positive experience with the VA when they get treatment through the agency.
“I don’t understand why we have such a problem, because there have been a number of surveys of veterans, and, overall, veterans who do get treated are satisfied with their treatment,” she said.
But that isn’t the issue, is it? The problem isn’t “those who do get treated”, it’s those who do not. The issue is the time spent waiting for treatment. The IG reported that 300,000 vets have died waiting for care.
Here Pete Hegseth highlights the issue:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xKVZo-6U2k[/youtube]
Peter Johnson Jr.:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RTV61b1Beg[/youtube]
The problems are real and they are widespread:
Just days earlier, CNN reported major delays within the VA system as appointment times were not getting any better. In 2014, the VA’s inspector general found inappropriate practices were systemic in all of the department’s facilitates.
Obama promised to fix the VA. That promise was as sincere as “you can keep your doctor and your plan.” No one has no one been fired. In fact, administrators have been awarded $100 million in bonuses for allowing vets to die waiting for treatment. It is a peak into the future of Obamacare.
Sen. John McCain and three other GOP Senators introduced a bill that would allow vets who cannot be seen in less than 30 days the option to seek private care.
No you won’t, said Obama. You’ll live (and die) with what we give you.
As reported by the Washington Times, “VA Secretary Robert McDonald defended President Obama’s budget request to cut some funding from the new Choice Card program for veterans, saying he wants the embattled department to be able to make decisions about whether the program is working and when to limit it.”
“The president’s proposal to cut some of the $10 billion in program funding irked key members of Congress, who created the Choice Card just six months ago to federally fund private clinic visits for veterans stuck on long waiting lists at the VA. And a poll released Tuesday by Concerned Veterans for American found that veterans overwhelmingly want the choice to receive care outside of the VA.”
Thus Obama not only failed to honor his assurance, he stymied efforts to improve the lot of veterans. Clinton calls offering vets a alternative to waiting to die an “ideological agenda.”
On the eve of Veteran’s Day Clinton, sensing she’d screwed up, then decided to cast herself as the savior of the VA, sort of a Hillary of Arc. What were not “widespread” problems a couple of weeks suddenly took on grave importance, and she informed America that she alone was the one recognizing the troubles and she alone would find the answers:
“These problems are serious, systemic and unacceptable. They need to be fixed,” Clinton said at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. She added: “Privatization is a betrayal, plain and simple, and I am not going to let it happen.”
Take a guess at what she would offer in part:
As president, according to the fact sheet, Clinton would push for more coordination between the Veterans Health Administration and other insurance providers and allow some private sector care “when it makes sense to do so” or “when the VA cannot provide timely access to necessary care.”
That’s right. She’d offer what the GOP offered last year. She’d offer exactly what she derided Republicans for offering.
What a sh*t head.
Clinton hiked up her pantsuit and revealed an Achille’s cankle. What it also revealed was her utter callous attitude toward veterans, which in reality is not very distant from her general contempt for people in general. Her initial comments were dismissive of the VA troubles and derisive of the GOP. Privatization is betrayal, unless she does it. The problems at the VA aren’t widespread and serious, unless she deems them to be. Offering a private care alternative for vets is a horrible thing unless she offers it. That’s where you focus. I’d pound the living crap out of her for this.
What a sh*t head.
Does anyone imagine the media will notice that Clinton is offering last year’s GOP plan?
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
What a joke, I worked as a scheduler at the VA and the appointment problem is wide spread and much worse than you can imagine. To say there is progress is disgusting. If I have a huge pile of crap and I take away a teaspoon and flush it then I have progress. Hilldabeast and Obola only know politics and less than ZERO about the VA!!
Hey, there’s always Bernie.
@Greg: I hope this was in humor, but based upon your past posts, I think you really believe every word you post!
Everything it says about Sanders is true. I think he deserves some recognition for it. Which other candidate of either party can any of that be said about?
The VA has always done a poor job
Perhaps Dr J might consider a short drive to the Roxbury VA to do some volunteer work
I did. I helped bring in Golden Retriever pups for therapy dog work
Please let us know all about it Dr J
@Greg: Bernie is even worse, he wants me to pay for my education and everyone else as well. He’s a real joke!!
The GOP has voted 10 times in the past decade to stop Bills aimed at helping vets. You got nothing.
The GOP voted against bills including vets’ spending (makes no sense out of context), so Obama cutting a program that would help vets now DOESN’T MATTER.
That’s what you’re saying–it’s much more important to do your silly, Democrat party-before-country crap than to acknowledge that this single program, which veterans liked and which would alleviate this problem, should not have been cut, and Obama is responsible for veterans dying now, today.
You’re a moron. Oh, sorry, I already called you a Democrat.
What can be said? I don’t care if she takes the credit just give the men some care. The guys are not getting the proper medical care, a blown out knee, no new knee or the surgery to repair it they give them opiates, turning this generation of vets into addicts.
@Greg:
Hey, there’s always Bernie.
pffft the VA is socialist style medicine, fool.