This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Veteran Health Care

  • ‘Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste’

    That statement by then White House Chief of Staff and now floundering (sorry I just couldn’t resist that) mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel, one of the true bully boys of the Democrat Left, is seldom quoted in its entirety and that’s a shame because the wisdom of it is in the follow-on:

    “What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things that you thought you could not do before.”

    And there, with that concise bit of political wisdom, Comrade Rahm has quite precisely handed the Republican Party the strategy to controlling all the keys to the Capitol after November 2014.

    With many scandals to choose from: Fast & Furious, Benghazi, IRS, and now this latest, the VA debacle, it would seem that Republican officeholders and candidates would have a cafeteria style selection of means with which to attack their Democrat opponents. That would be a mistake.

    In the coming mid-term elections, the Democrats greatest weakness is the ill-planned and not thought through health care legislation which no Republican should ever identify as the Affordable Care Act. It is OBAMACARE, first, last and always. He went to great lengths to make this statutory albatross take wing, so let him bear this fallen bird upon his shoulders to his grave. He and Democrat leaders crammed it down America’s throat, now let him and every Democrat, who in blind party loyalty and against the better interests of his/her constituents, voted for this atrocious legislative abomination, choke on that vote in the coming elections.

    The Democrats’ one defensive position is to claim that they are trying to help the little guy, the uninsured, the worthy vulnerable among us. And therein lies the trap; for who among us is any more worthy than our veterans, many of whom, if not most, come from “little guy” backgrounds, and who have selflessly served on their nation’s behalf? And as soon as any Republican challenger brings this veteran’s issue into the discussion, this failing federal medical system becomes a live grenade for the Democrat, this federal bureaucracy that has demonstrably failed our most worthy warriors since its inception. And the consequences of that failure have recently magnified under an Obama administration that would subject the entire American populace to a similar, bureaucratic, union-protected, under-performing medical model that guarantees American citizens dying before their time, all due to federal, institutional constipation.

    Following Rahm Emmanuel’s dictum, every Republican candidate in America should demand of his Democrat opponent a clear statement as to that Democrat’s position on Obamacare. Should a Democrat foolishly attempt to defend that legislative abomination and the folly it is producing, then the Republican is presented with a truly gotcha moment:

    “So, you’re saying the American people deserve a health care system just like the Veterans Administration?”

    Never let a good crisis go to waste…

    Crossposted at American Thinker

  • So Much For “We Didn’t Know”

    The more that comes to light, the more it’s apparent that senior officials in the VA years ago knew damn well that games were being played with patient scheduling.

    Why?  Because as this Army Times article states, in April 2010, the VA’s Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management, William Schoenhard, wrote a memo to regional directors “calling for ‘immediate action’ to review scheduling practices to eliminate “inappropriate” strategies.”  He wouldn’t have done that had senior VA leadership been clueless regarding the problem.

    This means that senior VA leadership knew about the problem at least 4 years ago.  Dunno about you, but 4 years seems like long enough to get that one problem fixed.

    Shinseki claims he “had not seen” the memo in question.  While that may be technically true, I bluntly do not believe he was ignorant of the problem.

    Robert Petzel, the VA’s designated scapegoat in the matter, has indicated he was aware of the memo.  Maybe that’s why he ended up being the designated scapegoat – lack of “plausible deniability”.

    Time to uphold the bushido code of your ancestors, Shinseki.  As well as to display the honorable conducted expected from a former US military officer.

    It’s time for you to resign. Now.

    Oh, and to anyone who may have falsely told investigators they were unaware of the problem, I have some free advice.  You really might want to “lawyer up”.

    Because as I’ve said before:  it wasn’t the break-in that ended up putting many of those involved in Watergate in jail. It was their participation in the cover-up.

  • What Goes Around, Comes Around

    National Review Online has a short, but good, article detailing how the POTUS has played politics with VA medical care over the years – and how his administration would “fix things”.  IMO, It’s worth a look.

    Petard, own, hoist.  That kind of thing.

     

    Update:  Well, so much for the “we didn’t know that this might be an issue” argument.  Apparently the current Administration’s transition team was briefed that this could be an issue 5 1/2 years ago – in late 2008.  So if they haven’t been monitoring it, I’d certainly like to know why the hell not.

  • Oh Boy

    The VA treatment scandal keeps spreading. Now, a former psychiatrist at the Huntington VA Medical Center, Charleston, WV  VA – Dr. Margaret Moxness – has come forward with some pretty damning accusations.

    Specifically, Dr. Moxness claims she was told to delay treatment for patients needing it.  She further claims that her complaints about those delays were ignored by her superiors.  And she also claims  that at least two individuals committed suicide while awaiting treatment.

    This is not exactly a new case, either. The individual reportedly worked for the VA at Huntington VAMC from 2008 to 2010.

    Details are here, courtesy of Fox News.  IMO, it’s worth a read.

    The VA has not yet commented on the matter.

  • “Slow-Rolling” Appointments: Not Just at Larger VA Medical Centers Anymore

    It seems as if the VA appointment “record-keeping issue” is indeed widespread, and possible systemic.  The Army Times is reporting that VA investigators are now looking at the Cheyenne, WY, VA Medical Center (VAMC).

    A nurse – who’s now been suspended from duty – at the Cheyenne VAMC allegedly told employees there to falsify appointment records.  According to Wyoming’s congressional delegation, “the department only took action against the nurse after an email about ‘gaming the system’ surfaced in media reports.”

    Additionally, two employees at the Durham, NC, VAMC were placed on leave last week for “inappropriate scheduling practices”.  Investigations have also been started at VA hospitals in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado.

    Oh, and the problem apparently has been under investigation for a while, too.  The VA OIG apparently began investigating similar complaints of “hidden” wait times at the Albequerque VAMC months before the scandal broke in Phoenix.

    If the problem is this widespread – and has been under investigation for months – that tells me senior VA leadership indeed needs to go.  IMO, that means either they were complicit in the practice or were completely out of touch with reality.  In either case they’ve proven they’re simply not able to do their job.

     

  • Did Holder “Misspeak” Yet Again?

    Earlier this week, the US Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department had no plans to investigate the VA hospital “secret list” scandal. I noted that in this story.

    Well, it looks like the AG’s remarks on the subject were – to be charitable – inaccurate.  Again.

    Yesterday, the VA’s Acting Inspector General, Richard J. Griffin, disclosed that VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) personnel are currently working with Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona and with personnel from the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department in Washington, DC. According to Griffin, these individuals are working together to “determine any conduct that we discover that merits criminal prosecution.”

    Hmm.  Last time I checked, both US Attorney’s offices and the Public Integrity Section were part of the Justice Department – which Holder heads. And from what Griffin said yesterday, it certainly looks like they’re “involved in an investigation” at this time. But maybe I’m just confused here.

    It’s simply not plausible to me that the AG would be clueless about what his agency is doing in connection with a matter of extreme public interest.  I don’t believe he is, actually.

    This isn’t the first time that Holder has made public statements (some of them under oath) that later turned out to be inaccurate. Remember Holder’s “erroneous” testimony to Congress concerning “Fast and Furious”?

    Geez.  GMAFB.

    I have to tip my hat to Holder, though. With a straight face, he delivers sworn testimony and other public statements that later are shown to be inaccurate better than anyone in recent memory. The man has talent, and he has chutzpah.

    He has no shame, of course. But he certainly has talent and chutzpah.

    As I said the other day: Holder seems to have forgotten history. He might do well to remember it.

    Why?  Because it wasn’t the Watergate break-in that put former AG John Mitchell in prison. It was his participation in the cover-up.

  • Shinseki vows not to resign

    Shinseki vows not to resign

    Yeah, I’m still watching this thing on CSPAN of Shinseki answering what the Washington Post calls “tough questions”. So he was asked by Senator Dean Heller, Nevada Republican, why he shouldn’t resign from the position at which he’s been such a miserable failure. I’m sure that the definition of “Peter Principle” will be edited to include his photo.

    So Shinseki’s response was recorded by the Post;

    [T]he retired Army general said he took the job “to make things better for veterans” and to “provide as much care and benefits for the people I went to war with” and other veterans as he could. “This is not a job,” he said. “I’m here to accomplish a mission that I think they critically deserve and need.”

    Shinseki vowed to remain in office until he meets his goals for improving the department’s performance or until President Obama tells him it is time to go.

    “Any allegation like this .?.?. makes me mad as hell,” Shinseki said in an opening statement. “But at the same time, it also saddens me.”

    The short answer would have been “I haven’t killed enough veterans yet” apparently. Things under Shinseki haven’t improved even marginally, in all areas of the Veterans’ Affairs Department conditions have deteriorated substantially, so, I’m thinking that Ric is delusional if he thinks that he can improve conditions at the Veterans’ Affairs Department. He even admitted during testimony, that some of the things that need improvement are outside of his abilities. So, WTF is he still doing there?

    {Vermont Senator Bernie] Sanders noted that the VA health system generally receives high marks from patients who use it. The American Customer Satisfaction Index shows that the network, which serves more than 8 million veterans, achieved scores equal to or better than those in the private sector last year.

    I agree with part of that statement. The actual medical treatment at the VA is superb, some of the best doctors and nurses in the country work there, but it’s the bureaucracy that stands between the care and the patients that sucks major ass. And that’s the part that would seem the easiest to fix. All of the complaints about the VA have been about the bureaucracy, since the beginning of time. Fixing that would require some leadership, though, and the VA execs aren’t interested in using any leadership, and Shinseki has never displayed a measure of leadership since he came to my attention more than a decade ago.

    I just don’t know how anyone, including Shinseki, can think that his continued occupation of that position can ever benefit veterans in any way shape or form.

  • And The Cover-Up Continues . . . .

    Title says it all:

    Eric Holder: No Plans at DOJ to Investigate Secret Waiting Lists and Veteran Deaths at VA Hospitals

    Is anyone surprised?  God knows how Holder can look at himself in the mirror.

    Holder would do well IMO to remember one thing, though. It wasn’t the Watergate break-in that ended Nixon’s Administration.

    It was the cover-up afterwards that nailed them.  And John Mitchell was one of those who ended up doing time.