Posted on 12/24/2016 9:57:15 AM PST by ConsCA
President-elect Donald Trump was expected to make his choice for Veterans Affairs Secretary known, possibly today, amid controversy among veterans service organizations over the pick and the direction of the $180 billion-a-year cabinet agency. Trump has been unpredictable during the transition but members of his transition team said earlier this week that the president-elect would be announcing more appointments before Christmas and sources in the veterans community said the VA choice could come Friday. At Mar-a-Lago, Trump's palatial Florida estate and winter retreat, the President-elect met Tuesday with Dr. Delos "Toby" Cosgrove, president and CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, who withdrew from consideration for the VA post when VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned over scandals at the agency. Cosgrove reportedly was the frontrunner to take over the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is an Air Force veteran who served as a major in Danang during the Vietnam war and earned a Bronze Star. Trump also met Tuesday with Luis Quinonez, founder of a healthcare company serving the government and the private sector. Quinonez later told Univision he was under consideration for the VA post. More than 20 veterans and advocacy groups have expressed alarm over some of the names that have been floated for the VA post and have called on Trump to consider keeping current VA Secretary Robert McDonald on the job. Separately, members of the Trump transition team also met earlier this month with the "Big Six" veterans service organizations, including the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, AmVets, the Disabled American Veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Vietnam Veterans of America. Two of the VSOs, AmVets and the DAV, later urged Trump to consider keeping McDonald. .".
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
the fed govt has no skill running a consumer service organixation and medical care is far far too critical a service to entrust them with, anyway
give our vets a good medical care insurance plan (probably just give them their choice of any of the medical insurance plans we give our federal bureaucraps or congress rats)
this will let our vets choose their own doctors (really, not like Obamacare, which needs desperately to be REPEALED and not replaced)
The biggest job for the new VA Secretary will be to take on the Public Service Unions that represent the majority of the VA Employees. That person will need to be able to get Congress to go along with reforms that neuter the Unions. No small task and he will need the Megaphone of the President and every other voice in the Executive Branch.
Do some Freepers still think Romney should run the VA?
I personally think Sarah Palin would be the exact barracuda needed to shake it all up and start the process of FIXING it!
A lot of entrenched swamp critters in this outfit.
Time is of the essence!
It seems that the best solution would be to disband the VA, give all veterans a really good PPO, and privatize the VA hospitals. It simplifies the situation, eliminates bureaucracy, and creates greater competition.
...who ever..he’s got to have a big broom, and the courage to use it!
I think Romney should be named ambassador to The Bermuda Triangle.
I’ve heard that Pet Hegseth and Allen West are being considered. I don’t know how either would be. It definitely needs to be someone who has broad organizational and “Mr. Fixit” skills.
Allen West might be a good choice.
Allen West is a Hard Nosed SOB. Might be just what the Doctor ordered for that job.
Some of the Veterans Service Organizations mentioned are nothing but scams. They are feeding at the trough. Hopefully Trump goes with someone who has run a large healthcare organization like the Cleveland Clinic or Mayo Clinic.
Exactly! Is this not an anachronism? Why do they need special hospitals? Very inefficient and inconvenient. Maybe at some time it made sense. Now it is just another patronage organization. Government cannot do a good job running this type of organization. The incentives in government are all wrong for excellence. Give these veterans tax credits, free insurance, or whatever it takes for them to get the healthcare they need, where they live, with their own choice of providers.
Lt. Dan. From a role in Forrest Gump to an active supporter of veterans. He respects those who have served. Who better?
The problems at the VA have been well documented. There are also millions of vets, like me, who have received prompt, efficient, and quality medical care.
Shamefully, the VA is plugged with your typical government employee hires.
Seems all the top positions are filled with minorities that then only hire and promote other minorities. I am fine with hiring minorities if they’re the best person for the job. Unfortunately, that’s not often the case.
One of my best friends sought help at the VA. He was dying of cancer. When he finally got to speak to someone, a rather large black woman went on some political rant about George W. Bush. My friend told her that he didn’t come there to hear her political positions. He wanted to see if there was anything the VA could do to help. In the end, they did absolutely nothing to help. In fact, they did more harm than good because he wasted a lot of time fooling with them.
My point, I guess, is that it’s going to take a lot to change what’s going on at the VA because there are too many people on the payroll that just don’t give a damn.
My aunt traveled about 60 miles to see her hubby once a week. Terrible, terrible...
When I lived in Va, they had a little community hospital. Most efficient hospital I ever saw and best docs.
BTTT
She'd go along with it—she enjoys toying the media as much as Trump does.
“My point, I guess, is that it’s going to take a lot to change what’s going on at the VA because there are too many people on the payroll that just don’t give a damn.”
Some do not give a damn.
Some of the VA facilities are good. But, I know some which are not, I’ve a friend who’s a Vietnam vet in Kentucky. He honestly thought they wanted him to die so they wouldn’t have to address his heart issues. It’s a good thing he was on his wife’s insurance, the surgery he had saved his life.
I live not far from a good VA facility. I had service related injuries which were compounded by playing college football - neck and spine. Just to get a look see would take 8 weeks at the VA. I went private, and got a exam in 10 days. Turns out I needed to have a fusion in my neck, and had surgery within 7-10 days.
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