Posted on 07/02/2014 7:48:17 PM PDT by Libloather
Politicians have always touted their support for military veterans back home. The willingness to expend federal dollars to provide the best care possible is popular across the partisan spectrum and is rarely cause for controversy.
But the issue has been turned on its head in recent months, with the fallout from the Veterans Affairs scandal prompting even the Obama administration to admit a corrosive culture at the VA affecting facilities across the country.
Its also invited criticism of vulnerable House and Senate Democrats from Republican candidates and outside groups. For Republican challengers and operatives, the VA scandal offers a striking example of federal government mismanagement with a Democrat at the helm and provides another link between Democratic incumbents and President Barack Obama.
Veterans issues tend to be bipartisan, non-controversial and not a big deal in most campaigns which is why the VA scandal is a problem for Democrats this year, Republican pollster Dan Judy said. Democratic candidates in most of the competitive states already have the millstone of President Obamas unpopularity around their necks, and the VA scandal is only making that weight heavier.
(Excerpt) Read more at atr.rollcall.com ...
The VA shows that government-run healthcare is a terrible idea.
That’s why the MSM is deep sixing the story.
Well, when it _is_ brought up, extra care is taken to spread the blame over time...to 2006, or even in one news story, to 1939...Very clearly, Bush didn’t spend the money for who he knew would be coming home... </barf>
Medical treatment for vets is the most important problem, but VA sloth and failure has far reaching consequences.
Vets who have applied for compensation for svc related injuries have died while waiting literally years for their claim to be processed, even though lawyers for Vets went to court and a Federal judge ordered VA to trim their backlog and get timely.
Our local VA rep got his case closed soon after that, but he had waited 3 years already. My husband filed Sept 2012, passed away April 2013. I took over the claim and it is still pending-1 year, 10 mos.
Obviously, a Fed. Court judgement means nothing.
When it comes to their own, Congress moves quickly. Sen. Frank Lautenberg died in June 2013 and in Sept 2013 Congress attached a check for $174,000 to his widow (said to be worth only 50 million) to a bill being passed.
Wasn't that thoughtful?
vaudine
People who volunteer for military service are a small portion of our population. They mostly vote republican. So the dims see them as opposition.
Reward their friends and punish their enemies at work here.
Gee, haven’t even seen the VA scandal in the msm lately. Every new scandal pushes the previous one to the back burner, by design or incompetence.
“People who volunteer for military service are a small portion of our population. They mostly vote republican. So the dims see them as opposition.”
I don’t think that is true anymore; many people enlisting are doing it simply for a job. I know two personally, and there is nothing conservative or patriotic about them. They view it no differently than working for the Division of Motor Vehicles.
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