V.A. health care funding
May 31, 2014 14:13:36 #
This for everyone who wants to blame everything that's wrong in the world on OBAMA,read on at your own risk.Since FEB. Mitch Mcconnell has blocked a bill from being voted on that would increase spending for veterans health care.this bill would allow for 27 new facilities and clinics.Republican senator Mcconnell as minority leader will not bring to a vote because he wants Iranian sanctions included in the bill.So in the mean time our vets aren't getting the care they need and the Honrable senator from Kentucky blames the President.this bill won't solve all the va's problems but it sure would help.
May 31, 2014 14:21:26 #
May 31, 2014 14:34:36 #
Too bad they can't get a "single subject bill" rule put in place like Colorado has. That would get rid of the BS riders that hold up good bills...
May 31, 2014 15:41:05 #
bigb wrote:
This for everyone who wants to blame everything th... (show quote)
The vote you speak of was for the 2015 proposed VA budget, it has absolutely zilch to do with this year, or any previous years activities. Besides, the VA problem is not a money problem in the first place. It's due to managerial/organizational/corruption problems. Apparently, when the scandal started to break, the Dems started sending out talking points to blame the problems on the Repubs cutting funding and such. Considering that the VA has not only been fully funded, but also beyond their annual budget requests, the money issue trying to be raised is, for all intensive purposes, a lie.
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/may/21/katrina-vanden-heuvel/katrina-vanden-heuvel-says-congress-has-slashed-fu/
May 31, 2014 15:45:59 #
VA spending has increased 106% since 2003 while caseloads only increased 30% (per the Wall St Journal today).
As is usually the case in government and politics, MORE spending is NOT the solution to this problem, or it would ALREADY be solved. (But it remains the easiest "solution" for politicians to propose.)
As is usually the case in government and politics, MORE spending is NOT the solution to this problem, or it would ALREADY be solved. (But it remains the easiest "solution" for politicians to propose.)
May 31, 2014 17:04:55 #
My point is that while holding a bill hostage,that same person is blaming OBAMA for the va's problem,which getting timley appointments for vets needing care.This bill would allow for more clinics and facilities to help eleviate that proplem.The bill s-1982 was sponsered by Bernie Sanders,an independant from vt. Granted this won't help anyone today or the near future but it's a start.Nothing happens in d.c overnight that's just the reality of govt.If money isn't the issue and it's just incompedence in scheduling,then contract that out to a privat outfit,problem solved.
May 31, 2014 17:24:24 #
larrywilk wrote:
So...out of curiosity, what was the problem before February?
Idon't know what happened before feb.I would just like to read what our republican members think about Mcconnell blocking the bill that could add clinics and other facilities for vets needing care?
May 31, 2014 17:24:35 #
The Republicans in Congress have blocked several bills concerning Veterans. They talk out of both sides of their mouths. That's why I tell people that Repubs do not have your back if you're a veteran.
May 31, 2014 17:32:09 #
You all are barking up the wrong tree.
The Feb bill is a complete red herring concerning this problem uncovered again - for something like the 19th time since WWII.
Government bureaucracy stinks at delivering services in a monopoly. Period. The VA health system is a classic bureaucratic monopoly.
LOTS of money has been thrown at this problem over the years. Money alone won't solve it. It takes management and systems - which is hard, slow, dull, unglamorous work. So no politician cares or does much of anything to make that dull, slow work happen. And the unions fight any change in systems or incentives.
That's what has to change - not throw more money at the problem to add some facilities. They'll be just as inefficient as the old ones in no time without better systems and management.
The Feb bill is a complete red herring concerning this problem uncovered again - for something like the 19th time since WWII.
Government bureaucracy stinks at delivering services in a monopoly. Period. The VA health system is a classic bureaucratic monopoly.
LOTS of money has been thrown at this problem over the years. Money alone won't solve it. It takes management and systems - which is hard, slow, dull, unglamorous work. So no politician cares or does much of anything to make that dull, slow work happen. And the unions fight any change in systems or incentives.
That's what has to change - not throw more money at the problem to add some facilities. They'll be just as inefficient as the old ones in no time without better systems and management.
May 31, 2014 18:33:18 #
Allen Hirsch wrote:
VA spending has increased 106% since 2003 while caseloads only increased 30% (per the Wall St Journal today).
How can the WSJ, which is owned by the News Corp, support only a 30% increase in caseloads since 2003?
From Forbes Magazine: "All that can be said with any certainty is that as of last December more than 900,000 service men and women had been treated at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics since returning from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that the monthly rate of new patients to these facilities as of the end of 2012 was around 10,000."
May 31, 2014 18:43:33 #
rgrenaderphoto wrote:
How can the WSJ, which is owned by the News Corp, support only a 30% increase in caseloads since 2003?
From Forbes Magazine: "All that can be said with any certainty is that as of last December more than 900,000 service men and women had been treated at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics since returning from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that the monthly rate of new patients to these facilities as of the end of 2012 was around 10,000."
From Forbes Magazine: "All that can be said with any certainty is that as of last December more than 900,000 service men and women had been treated at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics since returning from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that the monthly rate of new patients to these facilities as of the end of 2012 was around 10,000."
Huh? What's that got to do with anything? They're reporting the actual data and you say "why don't they support more?"
For one thing, WWII and Korean vets are dying, so that significantly offsets the increase you cite.
Jun 1, 2014 06:59:38 #
dljen wrote:
The Republicans in Congress have blocked several bills concerning Veterans. They talk out of both sides of their mouths. That's why I tell people that Repubs do not have your back if you're a veteran.
You are one MEAN lady! I tried and tried and you're still mean. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Jun 1, 2014 07:07:26 #
dljen wrote:
The Republicans in Congress have blocked several bills concerning Veterans. They talk out of both sides of their mouths. That's why I tell people that Repubs do not have your back if you're a veteran.
And you do not have all of the details, yet you have plenty to say about what you do not know.
The reality of it all is that the liberals pack the bills with things they want that have nothing to do with the pretense of the bill.
Then Dirty Harry blames the others for not wanting any part of it.
When a bill passed by the House that will actually do some good, Dirty Harry sits on it and never sees the Senate floor.
Jun 1, 2014 07:18:50 #
Jun 1, 2014 08:23:25 #
The real lies that are told have to do with the rationale for war in the first place, the poor planning for the actual casualties that are quite predictable. Mortal combat is a terrible experience for those that experience it and all the spending and treatment in the world will not undo the damage that occur to people in these engagements. Unfortunately our wars are not wars anymore, they are enterprises in police action. We disregard the real consequences all the time in the name of political claptrap. We are lied to by leaders whose political viability is maintained by those that profit from such wars. Now those same people are arguing about who to blame.
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