Posted on 11/11/2015 6:50:49 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
MADISON, Wisconsin â As the nation celebrates its veterans and pays tribute to their sacrifices, itâs important to remember the promise made to Americaâs protectors has too often been broken.
The headlines over the past few years in particular have screamed of neglect, ill-treatment and other abuses of too many veterans.
That broken faith was no more apparent than in Wisconsin, at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center. While federal lawmakers have conducted a series of investigations into widespread over-prescription of opiates that led to the death of a 35-year-old Marine veteran at the facility and have pledged changes to the system, they did so after a series of investigative reports and the subsequent public pressure those stories created.
Ten months after the story first broke, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who was roundly criticized for failing to heed reports and whistleblower accounts of the problems, appears to have escaped any consequences from her Senate colleagues. Baldwin recently was cleared of a federal ethics complaint alleging she fired one of her top aides and offered her hush money to cover up failures.
Last month the union leader at the medical center said she tried to alert congressional Democrats of the prescription drug problems as early as 2009. Lin Ellinghuysen, president of the local chapter of American Federation of Government Employees âoutlined the issues in an April 2009 memo thatâs marked as having been âhand-deliveredâ to Rep. Ron Kind, then-congressman Dave Obey and then-Sen. Russ Feingold, according to Donovan Slack, reporter for Gannett Wisconsin Mediaâs Washington bureau. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, has acknowledged his office could have done a better job handling an email from a whistleblower.
Much has transpired since early January. Hereâs a timeline of some of the key events: â¢Jan. 9 â Center for Investigative Reporting publishes first article documenting the over-prescription of painkillers at the Tomah VA Medical Center â¢Jan. 22 â Marquette Baylor was fired from her position as deputy state director for Baldwin. â¢Jan 22 â Sources tell the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Baldwinâs office offered a severance package to Baylor that includes a confidentiality agreement and a payment. âIt is not known how much money she would receive, but insiders said it would be less than six figures.â Sources tell Wisconsin Watchdog that Baylor declined the offer.
â¢Jan. 24 â Baldwin meets with the family of Jason Simcakoski, the Marine who died of a âfatal mixture of drugsâ at the Tomah facility. â¢Jan. 27 â âAides to Baldwin did not respond to multiple messages asking what the senator did in response to the inspection report she received, or how she responded to the whistleblowerâs emails.â
â¢Feb. 18 â Baldwin hires Democratic Partyâs top lawyer and political fixer Marc Elias.
â¢Feb. 19 â Republican Party of Wisconsin files ethics complaint against Baldwin on charges of illegal appropriation of taxpayer funds and massive cover up.
â¢March 3 â Campaigning continues. Amid the Tomah scandal, Baldwin campaigns at EMILYâs List 30th Anniversary event. Event includes well-connected and well-funded donors.
â¢March 17 â A report finds the VAâs assistant inspector general for health care inspections kept a March 2014 review of over-prescription issues from the public because it âcontained unsubstantiated allegations that might be damaging to the providersâ reputations.â
â¢March 30 â Families of patients at Tomah VA and whistleblowers offer emotional testimony at a joint field meeting of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
â¢Aug. 6 â A federal report confirms a lethal cocktail of opiates and other prescription drugs killed Marine Corps veteran Jason Simcakoski while he was a psychiatric patient at Tomah.
â¢October âUnion leader at medical center tried to alert congressional Democrats about the over-prescription of opiates at the facility as early as 2009 â five years before a 35-year-old Marine died there when doctors prescribed him a fatal mixture of drugs, according to memos obtained by USA Today. âLin Ellinghuysen, president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees that represents Tomah employees, outlined the issues in an April 2009 memo that is marked as having been âhand-deliveredâ to Rep. Ron Kind, then-congressman Dave Obey and then-Sen. Russ Feingold. The politicians told the publication they have no recollection of receiving the memo.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, has said his office did not receive the letter but that it could have done more to address concerns noted in a whistleblower email received by staff.
A spokesman for Feingold, who is looking to win back the Senate seat he lost to Johnson in 2010, told USA Today that a âthorough reviewâ of Feingoldâs archived Senate records produced no evidence that he ever received the memo.âRuss believes our veterans deserve the care theyâve earned and been promised,â campaign manager Tom Russell said in a statement issued to the publication.
âAs a U.S. senator, Russ fought to open new clinics and centers in Hayward, Rice Lake, La Crosse and Wausau and for increased resources to help veterans in western and northern Wisconsin. As a U.S. senator, Russ would fight to improve care at our VA facilities and honor the service of our veterans by advocating for their interests in the Senate.â
Wisconsin GOP spokesman Pat Garrett called out Feingold for âdodging responsibility.â Feingold âreceived hand-delivered information on the gross negligence and dangers inside the Tomah VA over six years ago, yet he ignored those warnings amidst his non- stop political campaign for power,â Garrett said in a statement. âNow, the Washington insider is playing politics again by blaming others and dodging responsibility instead of working to address the serious issues facing our veterans.â
â¢Nov. 2 â Dr. David Houlihan, Tomah VA Medical Center chief of staff and psychiatrist is fired without any settlement or negotiation, according to VA officials. Houlihan had been on administrative leave since Jan. 16 over allegations of improperly prescribed painkillers. He was dubbed the âCandy Manâ by some veterans.
â¢November â Baldwin responds that Houlihanâs firing and revocation of his license were âlong overdueâ but show that âchange is possible and provides new-found hope that trust can be restoredâ at VA. âThat trust has been broken and it needs to be fixed. That is why I have introduced (legislation) that has earned the support of his family and a number of veteran service organizations to provide the VA with the tools it needs to help prevent this type of tragedy from occurring to other veterans and their families,â Baldwin said.
TAMMY: U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, was the subject of an ethics complaint. Baldwins was accused of a political cover-up in her officeâs failure to pick up on reports of painkiller over-prescription at the Tomah medical center. Her Senate colleagues recently cleared her of wrong-doing.
Baldwin aide breaks silence, alleges senator engaged in âcover-upâ
Many, many links to other parts of this important story at original source. Sorry about all of the gobbeldy-gook in this post. There is no way you can take out those symbols that occur with every quotation mark and bullet point.
Everybody please donate to the Freepathon, and maybe John Robinson will fix this problem.
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Once again, I, as a Wisconsinite, APOLOGIZE TO AMERICA for this POS CongressLesbain.
However, in my defense, she WAS bought and paid for with outside money and foisted upon Wisconsin.
Don’t think that happens in YOUR state? Think again.
She’s another one on my growing list of graves to p*ss upon!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.