Obama knew about VA issues in 2008

[kage69]

Obama has went to extremes to fix the VA.
For one, Obama knows that ending war reduces that vet needing VA assistance.
Two, Obama knows the VA system has been stressed for decades.
Three, Obama knows republicans have cut vet benefits for decades, over and over.
Four, Obama knows the republicans would love nothing more that to kill off the VA replacing it with private healthcare. Good luck as a vet under THAT system...
And last, if anyone truly wants to figure out the issue here, ask GW.
Ask GW and Cheney how it was they intended to treat returning vets from the Bush wars while his party blocked assistance for those returning vets.
Just because GW is no longer president doesn't mean he is off the hook.
Want to dissect a crime, ask the criminal.
For that you need to visit an ex president chopping grass down in Texas.

Wait, they let him do grass? I thought he just did brush! That and the whole painting thing, damn! Proper Renaissance man there. It's like Cincinatus and Leonardo came back from the dead and made their own little retarded man baby. lol

 

[Jhhnn]

The best thing you can do for Obama is to stop being his Renfield. Oh, have you thought how to defend his honor for this abomination? Maybe blame Bush? The more you defend the worse your leader looks. Let the facts determine the merit of the accusation.

Need to duh-vert so soon?

 

[unokitty]

Obama, Veterans Affairs, and 'Betrayal'

Running for president in May of 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama delivered a stem-winder on mismanagement of veterans care under President George W. Bush, recalling the story of an 89-year-old South Carolina veteran who committed suicide after being repeatedly denied access to health care.

“How can we let this happen?” Obama thundered in front of a podium in Charleston, W.Va., that read, “A Sacred Trust; Support our Veterans.” “How is that acceptable in the United States of America? The answer is, it’s not. It’s an outrage. And it’s a betrayal, a betrayal of the ideals that we ask our troops to risk their lives for.”

The years change.

The relevance of Obama's questions haven't changed.

"How can we let this happen? How is that acceptable in the United States of America?"

While the country changed presidents, the scandal at the VA didn't change.

Different president. Same VA scandal.

Same betrayal.

Uno

 

[ivwshane]

The VA is under the Executive branch and Shinseki is a member of Obama's cabinet.

0/10 on your attempt to deflect.

Solutions have been proposed. One example is giving patients facing too long a wait period and those who live far away from any VA medical facility access to 'regular' doctors. The current backlog could be quickly cleared this way too.

Fern

Really you piece of shit partisan hack? Congress doesn't controlled the purse strings? Congress isn't capable of investigating the situations? Congress can't find, offer, require, solutions?

How long has this problem been going on? How long has their been a congress aware of this matter?

You are right, you stupid fuck, congress can't do anything, only the executive branch can, so what is congress doing right now? Oh an investigation?

 

[Sonikku]

First he ruined our economy. Now our VA hospitals? Is there anything good about America that this man won't destroy?

 

[UberNeuman]

Well, let's face the truth - America doesn't care for its Vets, never really have unless they come home with all limbs and not showing any post-traumatic disorders.

 

[ivwshane]

Well, let's face the truth - America doesn't care for its Vets, never really have unless they come home with all limbs and not showing any post-traumatic disorders.

What are you talking about?! Of course they care about the vets, don't you see all those yellow ribbons people wear or put in their trees? If that's not caring then I don't know what is!


/s

 

[DominionSeraph]

First he ruined our economy. Now our VA hospitals? Is there anything good about America that this man won't destroy?

He's the man who took the "white" out of "White House." He cares nothing for our history and traditions.

 

[Cozarkian]

Wow, Colbert called the VA "a real scandal" and launched an attack on Obama. Played a clip where Obama claimed he kept his promise to improve the VA, suggested he has the NSA spy on his Wolf Blitzer so he can find out what is going on sooner, pointed out that President Bush left him a memo telling him the VA was mismanaged, and even tossed out some bonus info that we are still in Afghanistan.

 

[who?]

It isn't on the website yet but Jon Stewart had an excellent bit on his Thursday show about our long national history of screwing over the veterans.

 

[Matt1970]

Really you piece of shit partisan hack? Congress doesn't controlled the purse strings? Congress isn't capable of investigating the situations? Congress can't find, offer, require, solutions?

How long has this problem been going on? How long has their been a congress aware of this matter?

You are right, you stupid fuck, congress can't do anything, only the executive branch can, so what is congress doing right now? Oh an investigation?

Such anger.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Need to duh-vert so soon?

I was talking to him about his need to circle the wagons and divert from what's happening now. Note my stating that facts need to determine the outcome of this. He sells Obama like snake oil. Well sometimes he's the snake and I provided an example. Oh but that's different! Well no. The VA has had substantial problems for too many presidencies and guess what? Mr. Went To Extremes spent more public effort hounding Snowden, and that goes to my point about people like him and you apparently.

No Made on TV promotional cliché, no reference to any other administration alters what is being done now. They failed and Obama stands or falls on his merits as does the rest of DC, and don't try to divert from that fact.

 

[Jaskalas]

Boomerang, Michal1980, Pokerguy first 3 posts. Who knew.

Edit:Good news for you, after several attempts, it stuck to the wall this time.

That's great news, now people won't be so stupid as to re-elect him.

Yeah, we're two years too late for that. Maybe Dems will allow impeachment to hold someone accountable starting with the man that holds no one accountable?

Right..., well at this point he could murder puppies and there's nothing anyone will do about it. Saying it "stuck" this time is quite disingenuous, unless it's to provide people a clear demonstration of how Obamacare will treat them.

What are people going to do about it, vote Republican?

 

[thraashman]

That's great news, now people won't be so stupid as to re-elect him.

Yeah, we're two years too late for that. Maybe Dems will allow impeachment to hold someone accountable starting with the man that holds no one accountable?

Right..., well at this point he could murder puppies and there's nothing anyone will do about it. Saying it "stuck" this time is quite disingenuous, unless it's to provide people a clear demonstration of how Obamacare will treat them.

What are people going to do about it, vote Republican?

Well he hasn't done anything even remotely close to an impeachable offense. Jon Stewart did a good bit on The Daily Show last night that basically showed this nation has a history of fucking over its veterans. Voting Republican won't do anything different than voting Democrat in this case because both parties equally screw veterans. For example it wasn't Democrats blocking a bipartisan bill to improve healthcare and education for veterans back in February. Trying to equate the issues with the VA to the ACA only proves 2 things. First that you refuse to accept this problem existed prior to Obama taking office (yes, it hasn't gotten better and that's on this President) and second that you haven't the slightest concept of what the ACA is.

And looking at it, if even 75% of the lies the GOP tells about the President were true, he'd still have been better than McCain or Romney.

 

[Jaskalas]

I'm saying the President is beyond accountability. and surmise that the gist of your post stands in agreement.

Whether the President himself manages to address the VA before he leaves office, is something else entirely. There's still time for him to get credit for "fixing" that.

 

[thraashman]

I'm saying the President is beyond accountability. and surmise that the gist of your post stands in agreement.

Whether the President himself manages to address the VA before he leaves office, is something else entirely. There's still time for him to get credit for "fixing" that.

No, I said that the current failure to fix the issue with the VA falls on this President. However the Republican party repeatedly shows it has no intention of doing anything better for veterans but are happy to pay lip service and to attack Obama.

 

[fskimospy]

That's great news, now people won't be so stupid as to re-elect him.

Yeah, we're two years too late for that. Maybe Dems will allow impeachment to hold someone accountable starting with the man that holds no one accountable?

Right..., well at this point he could murder puppies and there's nothing anyone will do about it. Saying it "stuck" this time is quite disingenuous, unless it's to provide people a clear demonstration of how Obamacare will treat them.

What are people going to do about it, vote Republican?

Impeachment over incompetence at the VA? That's ridiculous and you know it.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Impeachment over incompetence at the VA? That's ridiculous and you know it.

Nope not happening. For me I'd wish a clear presentation of facts unfettered by concerns for political repercussions, and of course i mean as a matter of course. We'll have impeachment first.

 

[rudder]

Obama is on top of it. He is getting some reports together from the VA and has forced someone to resign who announced retirement a year ago.

 

[shortylickens]

Yeah, fire the guys who are trying make the system work with half the money they actually need. Thats a real good scheme.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Wow dude, that's some good anger going there. Mad that your guy finally got nailed with something that he can't weasel out of? And speaking of partisan hacks, I'd love to see the outrage from the usual suspects here if the House started investigations on this. You'd all be railing about yet another republican witch hunt.

And if memory serves me correctly, Obama was on a Senate committee in 2008 that was looking into problems at the VA, so he went into office knowing that he needed to address this. 5+ years later, 'holy cow! I just heard about this in the news like the rest of you! I'm MAD! If these allegations are true, I'm gonna get serious!'. That's his excuse every time something comes up. So tell me, what exactly has he been doing for the last 5+ years besides playing cards and golf?

/cues up the 'bu bu bu boooosh took more vakashunz then Obama! music.

And NO, I'm no partisan hack. I'll readily agree with others that have said that this has been a mess for decades under both parties and it's a disgrace. Our vets DO deserve better.

Really you piece of shit partisan hack? Congress doesn't controlled the purse strings? Congress isn't capable of investigating the situations? Congress can't find, offer, require, solutions?

How long has this problem been going on? How long has their been a congress aware of this matter?

You are right, you stupid fuck, congress can't do anything, only the executive branch can, so what is congress doing right now? Oh an investigation?

 

[boomerang]

Yeah, fire the guys who are trying make the system work with half the money they actually need. Thats a real good scheme.

Obama doubled their budget. Now I'm in no position to say whether they are over or under funded, but what I do know is that they are paying bonuses to employees to fudge their numbers to the extant that people are dying as the result. The investigation has just begun so we don't know what else is going to turn up when it's over.

And if the Obama administration follows their pattern, the investigation will still be going on when he leaves office. When outside groups must sue under FOIA to get documents that the administration will not provide to Congress, something is very, very wrong. And there most definitely is something very, very wrong. There is no reason at this point to believe that the administration will behave any differently than they have before.

You more than many of us here must know the ins and outs of the VA system to a greater degree than those of us that did not serve. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty certain there is a sliding scale of services available depending on how/where you served. Declared and undeclared wars, etc. My stepson, who was involved in the Black Hawk Down fiasco in Somalia has limited benefits available to him - if I am to believe what he tells me. Why I would choose not to believe him is a story in itself and not really pertinent to the discussion.

My point in the previous paragraph is that it's easy to throw out the number of veterans we have but how many are eligible for treatment and for what types of treatment at the VA? So, underfunded? Maybe, but maybe not.

 

[boomerang]

I'll readily agree with others that have said that this has been a mess for decades under both parties and it's a disgrace. Our vets DO deserve better.

One problem is that it is the norm and not just here, in fact everywhere, that something like this turns into a purely political fight. This constant bleat of "well so and so didn't fix it" is meaningless. Everyone agrees that the situation has existed for a long time and spanning numerous presidency's of both parties. But we have people more interested in "their guy" not shouldering any blame than investigating and correcting the problems. It's not a matter of blame, it's a matter of which President is going to correct the problem.

It's not going to be this one either. His modus operandi tells us that. The nation knows it. His supporters know it. But why is the most important aspect of this to protect a grown man who sought the highest office in the land not once but twice? His defenders here mirror the nation. Get him through to the end with as little sticking to him as possible. That's what's important. All these other mountains of crap that have been building up higher and higher, the VA situation being just one portion of it, well we're going to play the hear no evil see no evil on all that.

No accountability. My argument early on in the thread.

 

[FerrelGeek]

+1

One problem is that it is the norm and not just here, in fact everywhere, that something like this turns into a purely political fight. This constant bleat of "well so and so didn't fix it" is meaningless. Everyone agrees that the situation has existed for a long time and spanning numerous presidency's of both parties. But we have people more interested in "their guy" not shouldering any blame than investigating and correcting the problems. It's not a matter of blame, it's a matter of which President is going to correct the problem.

It's not going to be this one either. His modus operandi tells us that. The nation knows it. His supporters know it. But why is the most important aspect of this to protect a grown man who sought the highest office in the land not once but twice? His defenders here mirror the nation. Get him through to the end with as little sticking to him as possible. That's what's important. All these other mountains of crap that have been building up higher and higher, the VA situation being just one portion of it, well we're going to play the hear no evil see no evil on all that.

No accountability. My argument early on in the thread.

 

[WackyDan]

No, but he was running. And he was talking to government people.


Also, I dont blame Obama for the current situation. The VA was a freaking mess long before he even decided to run. Bush and Clinton share much more culpability here.

5 years in... He owns it. I don't doubt that the VA has been a mess for years, but he owns it... He acknowledged years ago that we needed to fix it...He owns it.

Given the VA's budget ($132 billion?) I find it hard to comprehend how they could fuck things up so badly.