Puterbac News Network and Political Discussion Thread

[Johnette's Daddy]

I thought the liberal conventional wisdom said that the Tea Party held the GOP in its vice grip.

It does. The establishment Republicans that won did so by moving to the right of the Tea Party, making it nearly impossible for them to get anywhere near the center by the time of the general election.

[crashcourse]

40 vets died because the VA failed to treat them. Then the VA cooked the books to cover it up. There's probably more of this going on.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/14/us/va-sca ... -reaction/

Circle all that apply

a. It was caused by an Anti-Islamic video.
b. It has been over a week since this scandal broke, and it was still caused by an Anti-Islamic video.
c. This is a phony scandal.
d. It's the Koch brothers' fault
e. It's the result of climate change
f. If the dead vets liked their health plan, they got to keep it
g. This was a "red line." If it ever happens again, there will be serious consequences.
h. Visit #treatourvets and show your support

As a vet - and as someone who visits patients at the VA on a weekly basis - I can attest to two things:

1) It's been this way at least since the late 80s
2) The current problem in Bush/Cheney's fault, as their war-planning didn't include ramping up capacity for the VA. They literally didn't believe there would be any appreciable wounded and there is still no accurate measure to track injuries. The official count of war wounded is 32,000 but US Vets and other groups put it at over 150,000 (the official count doesn't include PTSD, post-concussion syndrome and other stuff that manifests later).

The biggest shame of the political grandstanding in Washington is the budgetary screwing the VA gets. The VA has been underfunded for 15 years and the chicken hawks who sent our kids to war didn't have the common decency to at least make sure the kids who returned got get comprehensive, red-tape free healthcare.

The biggest problem is the vets themselves

There are close to 10 million vets in the VA

almost 5 million get disability payments--Disability has turned into a joke. Over 50% of vets get disability for stuff that was going to happen to them whether they were in the military or not. I've seen numerous vets service connected for hypertension, diabetes, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, etc etc never served a day in combat. I see vets who draw full military retirement, full disabilty and still manage to hold down a governemnt job. Ive seen guys on crutches in the morning going to their comp and pen exams and playing gol;f that afternoon.

They are a steady stream beating down the doors of the VA's getting appointments to document their disabilitues in hopes they can get more disability.

Its not the WW2 vets who are the greatest generation came home and assimilated into society often without asking for any quarter. Its not the vietnam vets so much. The ones I see the most of --often did the least. The severly wounded amputees/TBI's etc present the least problems in overburdening the system. Those guys are warriors who ask for no quarter just help in assimilating back into society.

But the majority just clog the system filing compensation request after compensation request/appeal after appeal. And you never get thos guys better. How can you when you reward vets to not get better? They know the classifications we use and they huddle to make sure they use the key phrases that they hope will get them further compensation

Tammy Duckworth is a true american hero and a US Representative from Illinois
Love to see her run the VA



http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEVxrO ... KlVenjHG8-

[crashcourse]

that video was a small segment of the envisceration job she did on that "vet"

Unfortunately he is the rule instead of the exception of somebody who served a short time and blames the military for every ache and pain or illness he ever gets

[crashcourse]

Throw in a stagnant work force full of administratvie bueracrats who would much rather have themselves look good over proper care for the vet.

Many appointments use the first 10 minutes to ask stupid questions to check off somebodys area of expertise. a lot of guys are seen 5-10 time a year and every appointment they are asked the same question. do you feel safe at home, do you have a home, how best do you learn, etc etc. these are all performance standards. throw in somebodys idea of what to do for vets who have a cholesterol of 201 of a blood sugar of 121 or a bood pressure of 131/81. you then have to answer a bunch of templated questions about what you ar doing in those scenarios never mind the guy might have inoperable lung cancer or be senile and 90 the system demands you justify why your not givng him drugs or treatment and you have to explain why. just another check block on some administrators bonus sheet if a certain percentage of pateints are treated via the checklist. throw in the fact many US vets are treated or many VA's are manged by people who hnever set foot on a military base or worse yet barely speak english and you understand another weakness.. I would say 30 percent of providers are names I cannot pronounce. mostly because the VA is not a place good doctors practice at --they make too much money outside the govt. unfortunately many VA docs are here as a last resort and unfortunatley many administrators have the same qualifications. And even if they fail miseribly--you ever try to get rid of a government employee? They have union protection, EO protection, gender protection, etc etc--there is no reward for busting your ass other then self satisfaction -many govt employees unfortunately do the least they need to do and are well protected doing the least

well enough of my rant--got called into work at 3am and no use in going home now

[Toemeesleather]

BS, it's STILL Bush's fault.

[hedge]

Damn, crash bringing it strong this morning. Good stuff. Servicemen get plenty of respect, and most of it is deserved. But when it moves into "never criticize a vet for ANYTHING" simply b/c he was a vet, whether he really served or not, is just stupid. Glad to see a serviceman calling out his own when it's warranted...

[Toemeesleather]

The open pig trough attracts more and more from all segments of society.


::::Godspeed Brock...::::

[hedge]

Teabagger posterboy Dinesh D'Souza pleads guilty to making illegal campaign contributions. For the better part of a year I believe conservative have been arguing that there was nothing to the govt's case and that this was just persecution of an innocent man who dared to speak out against this tyrannical govt. Oops, Dinesh issued a statement admitting that he knew he was breaking the law.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/d ... html?hp=l1

Christopher Hitchens had some good debates with that guy...

[hedge]

[youtube]_tfogZpxnFg[/youtube]

[10ac]

Pat Sajak ✔ @patsajak
Follow
I now believe global warming alarmists are unpatriotic racists knowingly misleading for their own ends. Good night.
9:38 PM - 19 May 2014
2,260 RETWEETS 1,562 FAVORITES ReplyRetweetFavorite

OK, there you have it. The science is now settled...

[sardis]

Vanna always made me feel warm...

[hedge]

Why racist?

[10ac]

http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/21/dem-c ... eport.com/

[youtube]wk2dyF5Fvv8[/youtube]

How did DSL miss this, uh, nuggget?

[bluetick]

Sajak is no Gene Rayburn.

[bluetick]

The religion of peace: http://www.bellanaija.com/2014/05/18/pr ... in-prison/

There is no religion of peace. Period.

[sardis]

Then-Senator Barack Obama, November 12, 2007:

“After seven years of an Administration that has stretched our military to the breaking point, ignored deplorable conditions at some VA hospitals, and neglected the planning and preparation necessary to care for our returning heroes, America’s veterans deserve a President who will fight for them not just when it’s easy or convenient, but every hour of every day for the next four years.”

Then in 2012:

“For the first time ever, we’ve made military families and veterans a top priority not just at DOD, not just at the VA, but across the government.”

[bluetick]

Sure enough, last night the tea partiers got whacked everywhere they were on a ballot for high office.

So now comes the new phenomenon whereby repubs forego the tea party label while confiding in whispered tones to hold several TP values dear. Look for increased cellphone-security at upcoming fundraisers, as a new breed of GOPers emerge - mainstream-republicans-in-name-only (marinos...I should copyright that).

[bluetick]

Then-Senator Barack Obama, November 12, 2007:

“After seven years of an Administration that has stretched our military to the breaking point, ignored deplorable conditions at some VA hospitals, and neglected the planning and preparation necessary to care for our returning heroes, America’s veterans deserve a President who will fight for them not just when it’s easy or convenient, but every hour of every day for the next four years.”

To be fair, he did say four years. Not eight.

[Toemeesleather]

Sure enough, last night the tea partiers got whacked everywhere they were on a ballot for high office.

So now comes the new phenomenon whereby repubs forego the tea party label while confiding in whispered tones to hold several TP values dear. Look for increased cellphone-security at upcoming fundraisers, as a new breed of GOPers emerge - mainstream-republicans-in-name-only (marinos...I should copyright that).

Or, less verbose, the same way dems will abandon Obama/ACA this fall.


....the diff being - repubs will gain seats in both houses.

[Toemeesleather]

“At the time the Affordable Health Care Act was passed, I was, uh, working for Points of Light, so, I think it’s hard to go back…to look back retrospectively, but when I look at it, I think about “what do we need to do going forward?” I look at it, I come at it from the perspective of someone who made payroll, who saw rising healthcare premiums, who believes we actually need to work together to make changes where it’s not working and improve the things that already are working.”



MSNBC asks Michelle Nunn "Would you have voted for Obamacare"?