Free Republic

Five hundred and forty-eight Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees have been terminated since President Donald Trump took office, indicating that his campaign pledge to clean up “probably the most incompetently run agency in the United States” by relentlessly putting his TV catch phrase “you’re fired” into action was more than just empty rhetoric. Another 200 VA workers were suspended and 33 demoted, according to data newly published by the department as part of VA Secretary David Shulkin’s commitment to greater transparency. Those disciplined include 22 senior leaders, more than 70 nurses, 14 police officers, and 25 physicians. Also disciplined...

“It feels like a slap in the face,” Oklahoma veteran trying to change law that requires repaying severanceService members are often given severance when the military downsizes and closes bases, but now in some cases years later the government is taking that money back. Under federal law, until veterans pay back their involuntary separation pay, they can have their VA disability withheld. Tim Foster, an Oklahoma veteran, is trying to change that by changing the law. “It feels like a slap in the face. It really does,” he said. Foster started his military career at 23. The marine served for...

Veterans’ group in Chicago suspects being ‘muscled’ by city out of facility near proposed Obama library By Joseph Weber Published May 15, 2016 FoxNews.com A charity group that helps homeless military veterans on Chicago’s South Side says the city is trying to take control of the meager facility to make way for the restaurants, shops and other commercial venues that would complement the proposed Obama presidential library and museum. Group leaders said the RTW Veterans Center is the last privately-owned property on a stretch of S. King Boulevard near the proposed Washington Park site for the Barack Obama Presidential Center...

The chief of an Army medical center has been relieved of his command because of problems with patient care, and the Pentagon has ordered a review of its health care system, defense officials said. The commander was replaced Tuesday at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and three deputies were suspended, the Army said in a statement. The shake-up comes after two deaths this month of patients in their 20s and problems with infection control at the facility that were pointed out in March by a hospital accreditation group, according to two defense officials. They spoke on...

Barack Obama is on record as being “furious” over the needless deaths in Veteran’s Administration hospitals. He’s not “furious” because he loves veterans, to the contrary, Barack Obama is “furious” at being been caught in yet another lie. By his own admission Obama knew there were problems in the VA in 2007. In 2008 even before he first took office, Obama was made aware of the problems in the VA hospital system. His response was to appoint Eric Shinseki whose only qualification was that he is “America’s first Asian American four star general,” as the new head of the Veteran’s...

The American Legion says the VA scandal has left a “black eye” for veterans this Memorial Day.

The bodies of at least 28 veterans were found this past week at the LA CoronerÂ’s office. The bodies had never been buried. CBS Local reported: The bodies of 28 veterans at the L.A. County Morgue were finally moved Friday for burial to the Riverside National Cemetery. CBS2/KCAL9 pressed the L.A. County CoronerÂ’s Office Thursday to find out why the bodies had not yet received a proper burial after a source indicated there may have been as many as 60 veterans at the morgue for the past year and a half. The morgue says the bodies were unclaimed and they...

In nearly four and a half weeks, the ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening news shows have offered 110 minutes to an evolving Obama administration scandal involving secret lists designed to keep veterans from receiving proper medical treatment. Back in January, it took those same network shows just four and a half days to churn that much coverage for Chris Christie's Bridgegate.

(CNSNews.com) - Amid increasing pressure from both Democrats and Republicans for President Obama to say something about the unfolding scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the president finally did so on Wednesday. "I know that people are angry and want swift reckoning. I sympathize with that," Obama said. "But we have to let the investigators do their jobs and get to the bottom of what happened. Our veterans deserve to know the facts; their families deserve to know the facts. Once we know the facts, I assure you, if there is misconduct it will be punished."

"I will not stand for it — not as commander in chief but also not as an American," Obama said following an Oval Office meeting with embattled VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

May 18, 2014 Obama is ‘Madder than Hell’ about VA Scandal by Rick Moran Of all the self-serving tripe…Guess what. The president of the United States is “madder than hell” about the Veterans Administration scandal. That’s the word from White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. Funny…VA Secretary Eric Shineski said almost the exact same thing last week when testifying before Congress when he said, “Any allegation, any adverse incident like this makes me mad as hell.”I suppose they could have channeled Howard Beale completely and added, “And I’m not going to take it anymore.”Perfect — the administration taking its...

If our government has any obligation to fulfill its many promises on health care, it should be first and foremost to the men and women who served in our armed forces. But the scandal over hidden waiting lists at a growing number of veterans’ hospitals (seven so far) — wherein dozens of veterans died while waiting months for vital treatment, and the VA covered up the lengthy wait times — should make everyone wonder whether we can place our trust in a government-managed health-care system. The Dayton Daily News reported on Sunday that its investigation of a database of...

PHOENIX -- A grieving Maricopa, Ariz. mother claimed her son was one of 40 veterans who died while waiting for medical services from the Phoenix Veterans Association. Carl Mclaughlin, 38, hung himself from a four-post canopy bed in his father's bedroom in December. "Everyday I think, 'How did this happen? How am I supposed to go on without him,'" said Terry Mclaughlin, Carl's mother. She said her son served the country proudly and for eight years as an Army scout and left the military life several years ago. She believes her son suffered from PTSD and other mental illnesses, but...

At least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret waiting list. The secret list was part of an elaborate scheme designed by Veterans Affairs managers in Phoenix who were trying to hide that 1,400 to 1,600 sick veterans were forced to wait months to see a doctor, according to a recently retired top VA doctor and several high-level sources. For six months, CNN has been reporting on extended delays in health care appointments suffered by veterans across the country and who died while waiting...

Recently, although he failed to return a Marine guard’s salute, Barack Obama later approached the Marine and “shook hands” with him had a brief conversation with him. The follow up “handshake” part of the story was not reported and many on the Right mistakenly howled at the “insult.” This brief and otherwise meaningless “gotcha” moment allowed a half-witted liberal blogger named Charles Johnson to gloat and laugh at conservatives who had jumped on the story. Score one for the Left. Nevertheless, the genuine insults Obama heaps on veterans each day far out-number this small minded “victory” in the Left’s war...

You won’t be surprised to learn this is a violation of a promise: It was one of the simplest, most poignant promises Barack Obama made in 2008 in his first campaign for the White House: He would fulfill “a sacred trust with our veterans” by significantly reducing the government’s lengthy backlog of pending claims for disability coverage. The goal: All veterans could get a decision on disability claims within 125 days. The results: Records obtained by the Washington Guardian show that as of Nov. 5, the day before Mr. Obama won re-election, 558,230 of the 820,106 veterans seeking disability coverage...

An average of 18 US military veterans are taking their lives every day as the Obama administration and the Pentagon grow increasingly defensive about the epidemic of suicides driven by Washington’s wars of aggression. The stunning figure was reported last week by the Army Times, citing officials in the US Veterans Affairs Department. The department estimates that there are 950 suicide attempts every month by veterans who are receiving treatment from the department. Of these, 7 percent succeed in taking their own lives, while 11 percent try to kill themselves again within nine months. The greatest growth in suicides has...

WASHINGTON — Veterans trying to get an education under the new GI bill face delayed checks, erroneous payments and uncertainty about what their actual benefits are, officials told a congressional committee Wednesday. Testifying before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Department of Veterans Affairs officials acknowledged problems that have characterized the initial eight months of the overhaul of the original Montgomery GI Bill. Glitches were expected in the beginning, but they need to be fixed, officials said. "A fellow veteran ate canned beans and sardines three meals a day for an entire semester trying to scrape up gas money for his...

There is a number of leftys who continue to make the comment that VA care and benefits are socialist. Since I have worked at the cursed VA, I sent this letter to my local paper(in their format), who refuses to print it. I hope someone can find info they can use here.

Paralleling Obamacare with existing government programs should stand as a bellwether for those who favor this bloated plot to undermine our basic freedoms. The Veteran's Administration (VA) provides a glaring early warning of our future, if Obamacare replaces our health care infrastructure. Personal experience tells a disturbing story. Before my father graduated from high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force for two stints of service beginning in 1944. In October of 2008, we began treading water with the VA, filing for his military pension. In seventeen months, we have provided over one hundred pages of old military documents, along...