Play Politics With Veterans Earns Some Well-Deserved Backlash

Another Republican proving that once the wars come to an end, veterans no longer matter. So what else is new eh? I guess the veterans groups decided to not take it this time. Thank you Richard Burr for...NOT serving!
Veterans' groups rip Richard Burr over VA

By HADAS GOLD | 5/26/14


The groups call Burr’s open letter a 'monumental cheap shot.' | AP Photo

Leading veterans groups are lashing out against Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) for an open letter he wrote scolding the organizations for not doing more to condemn Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki.
Calling Burr’s letter a “monumental cheap shot” and a “disgusting ambush style of politics,” Veterans of Foreign Wars’ commander in chief William A. Thien and John E. Hamilton, the adjutant general, said on Monday that Burr should be ashamed of his conduct.
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“Senator, this is clearly one of the most dishonorable and grossly inappropriate acts that we’ve witnessed in more than forty years of involvement with the veteran community and breaches the standards of the United States Senate. Your allegations are ugly and mean-spirited in every sense of the words and are profoundly wrong, both logically and morally. Quite frankly Senator, you should be ashamed,” Thien and Hamilton wrote.
(Also on POLITICO: Dempsey: VA scandal demands accountability)
In the open letter on Friday, Burr said that aside from the American Legion, which called for Shinseki’s resignation early this month after reports surfaced of veterans dying while on wait lists at VA hospitals, other veterans’ groups seemed “more interested in defending the status quo within the V.A., protecting their relationships with the agency, and securing access to the secretary and his inner circle.”
“Last week’s hearing made it clear to me that the (veterans’ groups executive) staff has ignored the constant VA problems expressed by their members and is more interested in their own livelihoods and Washington connections than they are to the needs of their own members,” Burr wrote.
Paralyzed Veterans of America National President Bill Lawson and Executive Director Homer Townsend Jr. wrote that Burr represents “the worst of politics in this country.”
(Also on POLITICO: At West Point, Obama to look afar)
“Your attitude and actions reflects great discredit upon the United States Senate and every member of Congress should be embarrassed by your ‘open’ letter. Only a politician would be so bold as to believe he or she knows better what veterans want and need than actual veterans themselves. You clearly represent the worst of politics in this country,” they wrote.
And the Disabled American Veterans wrote that it is clear Burr would rather have heard them call for Shinseki to resign than to hear how to actually fix the VA.
“Senator Burr may be enamored with the idea that all of VA’s problems and challenges can be overcome by replacing one Secretary, but the plain facts and simple logic indicate otherwise. If Senator Burr believes that calling for the resignation of Secretary Shinseki is the only measure of whether a leader cares about veterans, perhaps he should check with Speaker Boehner, Chairman Miller and numerous Republican Senate colleagues who have not yet done so,” the group said in a statement.
But Burr isn’t backing down. In response to the letters from the veterans’ groups, Burr said in a statement to CQ Roll Call on Sunday that his letter outraged the groups more than the scandal engulfing the Veterans Affairs.
“The VSOs’ response is a rousing defense of the status quo at VA,” Burr said. “It’s clear that my open letter to America’s veterans has outraged some VSOs more than the scandals at VA — I believe their testimony stands on its own.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/richard-burr-eric-shinseki-veterans-affairs-107096.html#ixzz33185ubjY

 

I believe BO made the VA a political issue as far back as 2007 when he made the VA a campaign issue.
Now remind us, considering he got Obamacare passed without a single Republican vote & less than unanimous Dim support, why didn't he lift a finger to fix this over the past 7 years?
I see a trend with BO...he doesn't lift a finger in 7 years to help the vets & he doesn't lift a finger in 7 hours to help our people being slaughtered in Benghazi.

 

Exactly what does this have to do with the ACA and fix what in the last 7 years? You're all over the place as usual.

 

Oh, I forgot who I was dealing with....I'll go slower.
1) BO identified problems with the VA back in 2007 when he made it a campaign issue.
2) BO has had 7 years to correct the problem he identified 7 years ago

**Obamacare was brought up to show that BO could get anything done if he cared enough to actually act.

There, even you should be able to keep up.

 

You have to spell everything out for him - letter after letter after letter.

 

That's exactly what I suspected... Nothing at all.

 

And your puppet chimes in with nothing. Predictable!

 

Why don't you idiots read a few of the veteran's groups comments about Burr and see if you agree with your Republican ilk.

 

Here's an idea, why don't you read some of the reports concerning vets not getting proper care. Read about those who have died. Read what some of the families have said. Then read re-read BO's campaign comments regarding this same issue.
After you've done all that maybe I'll read what some bureauocrat, whose lack of action has been called into question, has to say.

 

I am curious. Just what does Richard Burr have to do with Phoenix? With Los Angeles? With the VA not authorizing private care as authorized by Congress?

 

Richard Burr - Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. That's what.

 

So he is in charge of Phoenix? Congress gave Obama the money. It was excluded from the sequester. They authorized the VA to use private medical services. Yet somehow Obama totally messed it up even though it was one of his campaign planks. Somehow out of all of that you find a single Republican at fault. I have no idea who made your blinders, but I would love to see how they can make anything so they can block so much reality.

 

What makes the whole VA thing even more reprehensible is that General Shinseki could have been involved in the Benghazi coverup.

 

It's the 4th branch of government, the bureaucracy that's clearly at fault here. They are so entrenched in laws, regulations, and procedure that it is impossible to hold anyone truly accountable for anything. The system is only concerned with it own self preservation. I'm not say that there aren't good people in government service trying to do the right thing, but that there are more who's sole focus is covering their buts and increasing the amount of their pay checks so they can make it to the golden rainbow at retirement time. Terms I've heard are "fees for friends" (consultants) in hopes that you may become one, sliding your cubical a little each day for added leg room, and a dogmatic adherence to procedure so technically you're never to blame no matter what the outcome. This is why we get 50 cent on the dollar in value for government services, and sometimes people die. I'm sure there will be a nice little political witch hunt and someone will cut a deal and take the blame while the political circus of finger pointing comes to a boil. The problem is systemic and is draconian as a medieval court and until we address that, the problem will remain.

 

I think the usual knee-jerk reaction to blame the "bureaucracy" for VA failures more than fails to get at the real causes of the problem. We've had the longest war in US history, and the third longest war in US history running concurrently. If you remember in 2007, Walter Reed was filled to capacity from all the wounded soldiers pouring into the system and conditions were deplorable. It's not like a lot of new VA facilities are being built either. Congress is trying to take care of the returning veterans on the cheap and they prove this every time they kill an appropriations bill for the VA. I'm sure that the VA personnel would just love to give the best care possible to our veterans but they do not control the purse strings. That would be the congress. They have to work within the system they have and it isn't like congress cares about vets and Richard Burr have proven exactly that.

 

Then why weren't the veterans sent to private care? Congress approved that, but no one used it. Why weren't people punished for lying when they were keeping 2 lists? That is a crime that needs to be prosecuted. Problem is that Holder/Obama can not do anything against a Democrat or member of the administration. The IG reports have repeatedly pointed out the problem, but no one did anything. WHY? I say that is the bureaucracy and I will bet you cannot prove it is anything else.

This is the outcome when you have single payer medical. And you want that for the rest of us?

 

You obviously know nothing about the US healthcare system and your comments prove it. I will not argue quantum physics with a Neanderthal. Go get informed and come back when you have a clue what you're talking about.

 

If you are talking about the VA health care system, it is totally messed up, has been for the last 5 years under Obama (and more), and is now solely his onus.

 

Again, I'm calling total BS.