Provided without comment, except to say that I’m shocked, shocked.
sharing tax returns with White House
“Most transparent administration in history?” Um-huh. Sure. Whatever.
Yeah, your leg’s wet again. And it’s not rain.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden
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DoD negotiates cuts to troops’ compensation
Stars & Stripes reports that the Department of Defense, the White House and Congress has reached a deal on how much they can screw the troops;
The White House and the Defense Department earlier this year proposed cuts to benefits including raises, allowance and health insurance, and planned to save money by retiring the Air Force’s A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, mothballing some ships and curbing other equipment costs.
Top brass came to Capitol Hill and made their case to lawmakers for a spending reduction plan that covers the next decade, saying mandatory budget caps set to kick in 2015 will put the Pentagon in a money crunch. The Senate backed many of the military proposals but the House balked at finding savings by carving out troop benefits.
So, I’m sure the other agencies, the EPA, the Department of Education, the Department of Commerce, Health and Human Services and all of the rest will be marching into Congress to demand cuts to their own employees’ compensation packages, too. But, I’m not holding my breath.
Concerned Veterans For America says that Congress is planning to lard up the Defense Bill with non-defense related stuff;
CVA is deeply concerned about reports that lawmakers are attempting to add non-defense related spending riders to the FY2015 NDAA- including funding for a women’s history museum and the acquisition of more public land for the federal government. At a time when our nation is facing record level of debt and the Pentagon is making tough choices due to a shrinking defense budget, it is absolutely disgusting that lawmakers would use an important piece of national security legislation like the NDAA as a vehicle to fund pet projects and reward political supporters – especially while our nation still has brave servicemen and women risking their lives in combat every day in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So, yeah, way to be frugal, guys, and way to show the troops that you’re sticking up for them. You can also cut your own compensation packages and show the rest of us how it’s done. You can cut staff, cut your expense accounts, turn in your free cars. There’s lots of ways that 535 folks can find places to cut before they start cutting the pay of the folks doing the really heavy lifting of government.
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Gates: It was the micromanagement that drove me crazy
Robert Gates and Leon Panetta, both former Obama Administration Defense Secretaries tag-teamed the president at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation on Saturday, complaining that the White House wouldn’t listen to the advice they got from the Pentagon;
“Because of that centralization of authority at the White House, there are too few voices that are being heard.”
Without naming the Obama administration, Panetta said that “by the time you get to the White House, the staff has already decided” what should be done.
Yeah, well, at this point it doesn’t matter. Panetta is a Clintonista and the only reason that he is coming out now against Obama is to distance the Clinton Democrats from the failed Obama Democrats in the run up to the political season. Gates’ opposition is purely personal. Both of them are too late. If either had the country’s best interests in their hearts, they would have said something when it could have made a difference rather than waiting until the damage is irreversible.
“My concern in terms of this relationship of the White House and the military is not on the big issues,” Gates told an audience at the presidential foundation in Simi Valley, California.
“It’s in the increasing desire of the White House to control and manage every aspect of military affairs.”
He compared the Obama administration to that of Lyndon Johnson, who “personally chose” military targets in the Vietnam war.
“It was the micromanagement that drove me crazy,” Gates said.
Too little, too late, Bob. You always have to micromanage a fraud.
Thanks to Andy11M for the link.
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Obama: ‘We can’t ever quit’ on veterans
The Washington Times reports that President Obama’s weekly message focused on veterans appropriately leading up to Veterans’ Day, but his message is just words and doesn’t match his actions;
“The end of a war is just the beginning of our obligations to those who serve in our name. These men and women will be proud veterans for decades to come, and our service to them has only just begun,” Mr. Obama said. “Let’s honor our veterans by making sure they get the care and benefits they’ve earned. That means health care that’s there for them when they need it. It means continuing to reduce the disability claims backlog. And it means giving our wounded warriors all the care and support they need to heal, including mental health care for those with post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injury.”
The Obama Administration threw billions of dollars at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for the treatment of veterans, but those billions were apparently squandered because nothing improved in regards to getting treatment to veterans who earned it. The money went to coddling the VA employees instead with high-priced conferences and new furnishings for their offices while thousands of veterans languished on secret and not-so-secret lists. President Obama threatens to veto the defense bill this year if Congress doesn’t shift health care costs to veterans. And just last year, Obama’s Defense Department raided the $770 million Tricare surplus that veterans paid for their own health care. That surplus was spent on pet projects in the DoD.
The president has also threatened to veto the defense bill if Congress gives the troops a pay raise that keeps pace with inflation.
Six years into the mismanagement of the Veterans Affairs Department, the Associated Press reports that a thousand employees of the VA are being scrutinized and looking at losing their jobs;
[VA Secretary Robert] McDonald’s comments represent a departure from his previous public remarks. At a news conference Thursday, he said the VA has proposed disciplinary action — up to an including firing — against more than 40 employees nationwide since June. Those cases are all related to a scandal over long patient wait times and manipulation of records to hide the delays.
At an appearance Friday at the National Press Club, McDonald said the VA has taken or is considering disciplinary action against 5,600 employees during the past year, although aides later clarified that most of those actions were not related to the health-care scandal.
Just as with everything else that this administration faces, they wait until the last minute to deal with problems – and then they have to “focus group” their reaction. If these employees are so terrible that they must be terminated, why is it only happening now when it could have been done last year or the year before?
The troops have never failed the President, not once, whenever he’s called on them. It’s unfortunate that veterans can’t say the same about the President.