Tag Archives: Barack Obama

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VA boss Shinseki on his way out?

Maybe I’m reading too much into things at this moment, but my trick knee is throbbing and it’s telling me Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki’s time in public life might be nearing an end.

Congressional Democrats have joined their Republican colleagues in urging his ouster in light of the veterans’ health care scandal that is mushrooming across the country. Vets have died while waiting for health care; VA officials reportedly have doctored waiting times to make themselves look good.

All this has been done on Shinseki’s watch.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/206869-dems-break-with-obama-call-for-shinsekis-sacking

President Obama made a strong statement Wednesday in which he condemned the activities about which we already know. He called them “disgraceful” and said they “will not be tolerated.”

He had met with Shinseki privately at the White House and, as The Hill notes, the former Army general was not at the president’s side when he lowered the boom on the agency Shinseki runs.

I refuse to accept the criticism that Obama was too timid in his response. He is looking for all the facts before making any firm decisions. Congressional Republicans, therefore, need to zip it before popping off about what the president should do.

It’s the call for Shinseki’s ouster from congressional Democrats, though, that should have the president’s ear. He did say Wednesday that the outrage spans political partisanship and that all Americans should be angry over the deaths of veterans who were awaiting health care from an agency that made a vow to provide them the best care possible.

This controversy won’t go away until the president gets all the answers he demands — and then acts on the recommendations he receives.

It’s looking to me, though, as if one recommendation — to show the Vets Affairs secretary the door — already is on the table.

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Partisan battle over vets' health care?

The most interesting thing President Obama said today in his remarks about the Veterans Administration health care scandal involved what he hopes will be the lack of partisan rancor in this discussion.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus didn’t hear that part of the president’s remarks … apparently.

“Why did President Obama wait to address this situation only to ask our veterans for more time and to offer nothing but words?” Priebus asked.

Nothing but words? What does the RNC chairman want Barack Obama to do? Fire everyone? Does he want the Justice Department to bring criminal charges without first knowing what the evidence is to charge someone?

For crying out loud, does he want the president to don some surgical scrubs and tend to veterans’ health needs himself?

Give me a break.

The VA scandal is huge. Veterans reportedly have died while waiting for health care that had been delayed well past what is acceptable. VA officials allegedly cooked up wait-time lists that were bogus to cover their backsides.

Let’s stipulate that this is unacceptable at every possible level imaginable.

Republicans are angry, as are Democrats. The president noted, though, that this is requires an American response that goes beyond partisan posturing. Priebus is trying to gain some kind of political advantage here.

The president vowed to turn over every stone to find out what has gone so horribly wrong with our veterans’ health care system. I am quite sure I watched an angry commander in chief offer some pointed remarks today.

Enough of the peanut-gallery remarks, Chairman Priebus.

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Get the truth at VA, Mr. President

It is fair to assume that President Obama is as angry as he says he is about the growing scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The mess created by what appears to be a deliberate cover-up of health care for veterans is a blight on his presidency, not to mention the reputation of the agency charged with caring for our veterans.

The president today vowed repeatedly to get to the bottom of the scandal and, while expressing support for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, has left the door open for the retired four-star Army general to leave on his own — or be fired — if the evidence takes investigators to his office.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/president-obama-eric-shinseki-va-106938.html?hp=f1

I accept the president’s declaration of outrage as sincere. This is a horrible circumstance that, according to the president, isn’t anything new. It goes back “decades,” he said. Veterans are waiting too long to receive urgent medical care and that must end.

As a Vietnam War veteran myself — but one who enjoys excellent health (knock on wood) — I couldn’t agree more with that desire.

The issue blew wide open with reports of at least 40 veterans dying while in the care of the Phoenix, Ariz., veterans hospital; what’s more, we now know of bogus documentation that fabricated the vets’ wait time that in reality went far beyond the two-week maximum required by VA policy. Now we hear of extreme delays at VA medical centers in other states, including Texas.

President Obama said these delays won’t stand. We owe it to our veterans to get the top-notch care they deserve, he said, and he vowed not to rest until he finds out the whole truth about what has gone wrong, who is responsible and who to bring to account for this outrageous circumstance.

I’m with you, Mr. President, in your search for what’s gone so terribly wrong at the VA. You’d better know, though, that millions of sets of eyes will be watching you to ensure you keep your promise to follow the trail toward the truth — no matter where it leads.

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President preaches success

Barack Obama was preaching to the choir the other day.

He declared during a Democratic Party fundraiser that Americans “are better off now than when I came into office.”

Do you think?

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/fundraising/206591-obama-americans-better-off-under-his-presidency

That the president would say such a thing is no surprise. Incumbents make these proclamations when they’re out raising money for their party in an election year.

But … wait for it.

The other side is going to level the equally non-surprising broadsides at the president for dredging up that bad old recession he inherited when he took office on Jan. 20, 2009.

You remember that time, right? The job market was hemorrhaging jobs by 700,000 — give or take — a month. Unemployment was heading toward a peak of around 10 percent. Banks were failing. Auto dealerships were tanking. Oh, and we were fighting two wars and were losing American lives on Iraq and Afghanistan battlefields daily.

Have we returned to some Nirvana after that terrible experience? No. We’re still on the road back.

Joblessness is down. The private sector is adding jobs instead of losing them. The auto industry has returned to fighting trim. Bank failures have ceased. The budget deficit — which accelerated as the government sought to jump-start the economy — is receding. Congress has enacted a health care overhaul that is working.

I believe the president has reason to crow about the state of things in the country, despite the continuing rhetoric from the opposition that is scouring the landscape for anything on which to stain Barack Obama’s record.

Hey, that’s politics. Republicans want to control the Senate as well as the House of Reps; Democrats want to keep control of the Senate. Both sides seek to exploit advantage where they find it.

Not quite two years after a bruising re-election campaign in which Republicans sought to focus on the economy, the president now can turn to that very issue as a signal that we’re on the right track.

To paraphrase GOP presidential nominee Ronald Reagan’s famous query during the 1980 campaign: Are we better off now than we were six years ago?

I’d have to say “yes.”

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Ready for a GOP takeover?

Many of my friends, if not most of them, think I live, breathe and eat politics 24/7.

They may be right. One of them posed the question to me this afternoon: “Are you ready for a Republican takeover of the Senate?”

Yes. I am.

Do I predict it will happen when the midterm elections are concluded this November? Not necessarily, but it’s looking like a distinct possibility.

A few Democratic Senate incumbents might be in trouble. What’s more likely, though, is that Republicans will pick up seats that had been held by Democrats in GOP-leaning states. South Dakota is likely to from Democrat to Republican; so might West Virginia.

Meanwhile, Louisiana’s Democratic incumbent could lose to a GOP challenger. Arkansas was thought to be vulnerable to a GOP switch, but the Democratic incumbent there is making a comeback.

I’m not sure a GOP takeover of the Senate will be a bad thing. The Rs already control the House and pretty much have made a hash out of the governing process by its obstructing so many constructive initiatives.

If the GOP grabs the Senate, we’re looking at the possibility of Capitol Hill actually trying to govern. Recall the 1995 Congress, which turned from fully Democratic control to fully Republican. A Democrat, Bill Clinton, occupied the White House. The speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, turned almost immediately from fire-breathing zealot to someone who actually could deal with the president. He also had the Senate at his back.

Will history repeat itself? The current speaker, John Boehner, seems capable of striking deals — even though he has to say some mean things about the White House to placate the tea party wing of his party. If the Senate flips to GOP control, then we’ll see if the Republican-controlled Capitol Hill can actually produce legislation the president will sign.

Warning No. 1: If you seize control of Capitol Hill, you rascally Republicans, don’t try to toss the Affordable Care Act overboard. The president does have veto authority and you’ll need far more than a simple majority to override a presidential veto. The Supreme Court has upheld the law, which now is working.

Having said all this, I think it is simply wise to see what the voters decide in November.

The current crop of Republicans has shown quite a talent for overplaying its hand — e.g., the on-going ACA repeal circus, not to mention the IRS and Benghazi nonsense.

Although I am prepared for a GOP takeover, I am far from ready to concede it is a done deal.

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Button it up, Mr. VP

Dick Cheney continues to astound me.

The former vice president of the United States just won’t go away quietly. He keeps yammering and blathering about what a horrible job Barack Obama has done as president. He proclaims the president has demonstrated “weakness” in the face of foreign threats. He talks about the “danger” posed by the Obama foreign policy doctrine.

What utter crap!

Cheney the chicken hawk — who got all those draft deferments during the Vietnam War — keeps harping on the need for “military response” to any overseas crisis. Give me a bleeping break.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2014/05/18/cheney_obama_has_demonstrated_repeatedly_that_he_can_be_pushed_around.html

Cheney was at it again over the weekend, Monday-morning-quarterbacking recent moves by the Obama administration.

My hope would be that one day Cheney would follow the lead of the man in whose presidency he served, George W. Bush, and just clam up and let the one president we have do his job. President Bush, as has his father, George H.W. Bush, have been the models of post-presidential decorum as it regards the men who succeeded them in office.

In fairness, I cannot let slip a slap at President Clinton, who’s spouted his share of criticism at George W. Bush, who succeeded in him in the White House.

Presidents and vice presidents should assume a role of “elder statesmen,” which by definition keeps them elevated from the partisan political posturing that occupies current officeholders.

They’ve all had their time in the arena. They’ve all made mistakes. Yes, that means Vice President Cheney has made them, too — although he is so very loath to admit to the doozies that occurred on his watch.

Cheney’s post-vice presidential arrogance just is too much for me to take.

Put a sock in it, Mr. Vice President.

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Some scandals you take personally

Allow me this admission.

Some political controversies are more personal than others. Some of them skip across my radar and then they’re gone; others have this way of hitting you personally.

The Veterans Administration health care scandal hits quite close to home. White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said today that President Obama is “outraged,” and “mad as hell” over allegations that veterans have died while awaiting health care. The president vows to get to the very bottom of what’s going on, McDonough said, and vows to correct all of it.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2014/05/mcdonough-obama-madder-than-hell-on-va-scandal-188734.html?hp=l1

There had better be some major fixes, even if it requires heads to roll — starting with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who I happen to admire greatly. If it turns out he was oblivious to what happened at those VA hospitals, then he should go.

At issue is whether a reported 40-plus vets died while waiting for health care in Phoenix, Ariz., and that their wait times were disguised by phony records.

Why do I take this matter so personally? I enrolled at the Amarillo VA medical center a year ago. My friends tell me it must be nice to get “free medical care.” I correct them: “No, it’s prepaid.” Two years in the Army purchased that health care and I expect the government to take top-notch care of all of us who served.

So far so good at the Thomas Creek Medical Center in Amarillo. I’ve been more than happy with the care I’ve gotten. There’s a provision to add: I haven’t yet gotten sick. I enjoy good health and to date my regular checkups have gone well. I appreciate the respect shown by the VA hospital staff.

But this scandal — and I’ll call it that, because it rises to that level — needs to be resolved quickly and thoroughly all at once.

I’ll accept Denis McDonough’s assessment that the commander in chief is “mad as hell.” He damn well better be angry. He also needs to demonstrate that anger in a timely and highly visible manner.

One top Veterans Affairs official is gone. There well might have to be more of them shown the door. There also should be criminal proceedings launched against anyone shown to be culpable in the deaths of those veterans.

Yeah, some of these scandals pack a more powerful punch than others. This one hurts.

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'W' should have been there

OK, kids. At the risk of incurring the wrath of those who think I’m a member of the “Always Blame Bush” crowd, I’m going to weigh in on what some might perceive to be a sensitive subject.

Former President George W. Bush should have been among those attending today’s dedication of the 9/11 National Memorial and Museum.

He wasn’t there because of what a spokesperson for the former president said was a scheduling conflict.

President Bush had been invited. He couldn’t rearrange his schedule to make room for an event that surely had been on his radar for weeks, if not months.

President Obama was there, as was former President Clinton. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was on hand, as was former Mayor Rudy Guiliani, on whose watch the terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took part, along with former New York Gov. George Pataki and the current NYC mayor, Bill De Blasio.

Lots of dignitaries were on hand.

Not the 43rd president of the United States.

President Bush’s most stellar moments in office likely came in the hours and days after that horrific event, which occurred not quite nine months after he had taken office. The strength of character he exhibited in rallying a grief-stricken nation will be remembered forever. I admired then — and I do to this day — the way he stood in the rubble and declared through the bullhorn that “the people who knocked these buildings down will hear from all of us soon.”

The world today should have heard from the president on whose watch this nation was battered and scarred.

Scheduling conflict? It just doesn’t wash.

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VA mess … now there's a scandal

Internal Revenue Service vetting of conservative political action groups’ claims of tax exempt status?

Pffft. Big deal.

Benghazi … Shmenghazi.

Sure, it’s a bigger deal, but it doesn’t rise to the level of “scandal.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs and allegations that it delayed veterans’ health care so long that vets actually died while waiting? Now that is a hyper-serious matter that needs to be resolved thoroughly.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/eric-shinseki-senate-scandal-veterans-affairs-treatment-delays-106715.html?hp=l6

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki — a Vietnam War combat veteran and a former Army chief of staff — says he is “personally angered and saddened” by the allegations. He’d better be. Shinseki is now fighting to keep his job after the American Legion — in a rare statement of outrage — called for his resignation in light of the growing scandal.

At issue is the death of at least 40 veterans who were awaiting health care at the Phoenix, Ariz., VA hospital. Many of the vets’ names were on a secret waiting list that reportedly was designed to conceal lengthy waits that didn’t meet VA standards.

As a veteran myself who a year ago enrolled as a Veterans Administration patient at the hospital here in Amarillo, I have a number of concerns. The most notable of those concerns is whether such delays are being orchestrated at the Thomas Creek VA Medical Center in the city where I live. There was a time I wouldn’t have dared ask that question out loud, but given what has happened in Phoenix, is it possible that other such disgraceful activities are occurring across the Department of Veterans Affairs’ vast health care network?

The situation at the VA clearly is FUBAR, which in military parlance means — and this is the cleaned-up version — “fouled up beyond all recognition.”

President and Mrs. Obama have made veterans care a signature issue as the administration winds down the Afghanistan War, having already ended U.S. involvement in the Iraq War. Michelle Obama, along with Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Biden, have been champions for the cause of ensuring that our veterans receive the best health care possible.

One only can imagine what the response to this mess has been inside the West Wing of the White House, not to mention in the living quarters upstairs. I’m hoping the president has tossed some furniture around and is demanding answers to what has happened in Phoenix.

Gen. Shinseki, you have some serious explaining to do.

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Health always an issue for national candidates

Rich Lowry is a smart young man.

His essay, published on Politico.com, states clearly an obvious truth about the upcoming presidential campaign. It is that Hillary Clinton’s health will be an issue.

I get that. Indeed, Americans always should have assurances that the commander in chief will be in tip-top shape when he or she takes the reins of government.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/rove-is-right-106694.html?hp=l3#.U3QprFJOWt8

Lowry, smart conservative that he is, defends fellow Republican Karl Rove’s assertion that Clinton might have serious “brain injury” stemming from a fall she suffered in 2012. That’s where I part company with Lowry.

To his fundamental point about the health of candidates, let’s flash back a few election cycles.

Wasn’t Ronald Reagan’s health an issue when he ran for election the first time in 1980? He was nearly 70. When he ran for re-election in 1984, he stumbled badly in his first debate with Democratic nominee Walter Mondale, fueling open discussion that he had “lost it.” President Reagan quelled that talk immediately at the next debate when he said he “would not make my opponent’s age an issue by exploiting his youth and inexperience.”

Sen. John McCain faced similar questions about his health when he ran against Sen. Barack Obama in 2008. Let’s remember that there was some ghastly whispering going on about whether he suffered too much emotional trauma as a Vietnam War prisoner for more than five years. Plus, he had been treated for cancer. His health became an issue.

Hillary Clinton will be roughly the same age as Reagan and McCain when they ran for president. Let’s keep these health issues in their proper perspective. Igniting mean-spirited gossip about potential “brain injury” isn’t the way to examine an important issue.