Free Republic

Just 29% think President Obama has done a good job managing the VA in the wake of the department's patient-care scandal, according to the latest IBD/TIPP poll. 43% surveyed say he's done a poor job and 22% rate his performance as only average. Meanwhile, 63% say Obama was either disengaged (29%) or that he "knows more than he claims" (34%) about the scandal. [snip] The public also overwhelmingly rejects the notion that money was the chief reason for the VA scandal.

Cloudy Day Jihadists - #0 & 0 They release you when your father grows a beard They release you when your country’s not so feared They release you for jihadists numbered five They release you when O’s poll numbers dive But I would not feel so all amused Everybody must be used --------------------------------------- They release you when the VA’s all exposed They release you when the scandal burdens grows They release you without Congress in the know They release you, and the Kenyan just says, “So? Ah but I would not feel so all amused Everybody must be used ------------------------------------------...

Does the WH believe that all terrorists are equal, it's just some terrorists are more equal or rather worse than others? If the Obama administration is willing to use third parties (such as Qatar) to procure the release of individuals such as Bergdahl, and in the process, undesirables such as the 5 GITMO detainees are released, then the issue isn't the use of third parties, the issue(s) rather are which terrorists will the WH consider for release/swapping? If the WH says that they won't ever swap Al Qaeda for U.S. soldiers because AQ are terrorists (and they are terrorists --...

The Taliban’s release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl dominated the Sunday talk shows, pushing Friday’s resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki from the headlines. The Sunday shows were packed with Republicans launching into political attacks against President Obama and the administration for transferring five Taliban members from Guantanamo Bay to Qatar in exchange for the release of Bergdahl, the 28-year-old whom the Taliban released on Saturday, and administration officials defending the decision. "Disturbing," was how Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) put it on ABC's "This Week." "Dangerous," echoed House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) on CNN's "State of The Union."...

1.) If they believe that the Taliban aren't terrorists, then is this behind their reasoning that no negotiations took place with terrorists in the release of Bowe Bergdahl for 5 GITMO detainees? 2.) If they state that there was a third party involved (Qatar) and thus neither side (the WH or the Taliban) spoke directly with each other, then does that constitute their position that no negotiations took place with terrorists? The problem with #1 is that when the WH slammed Karzai over some of his statements concerning joining the Taliban, what could/can the WH say to Karzai now? Breitbart.com...

Top Republicans on the Senate and House Armed Services Committee criticized President Obama on Saturday for negotiating with the Taliban in releasing five Guantanamo Bay prisoners for the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. "Trading five senior Taliban leaders from detention in Guantanamo Bay for Berghdal's release may have consequences for the rest of our forces and all Americans," said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), the Senate Armed Services ranking member and House Armed Services chairman, respectively, in a joint statement. A senior White House official said the U.S. transferred five Afghan Guantanamo detainees to Qatar...

First of all, the contention that the Veterans Administration used secret waiting lists to conceal lengthy delays in treatments is disproved by the fact that everyone knows about them,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) argued. “To say it’s a secret when there are hundreds of stories in newspapers, magazines, TV and radio is just more of the same old Republican dirty tricks.” “Then to say that somehow President Obama is at fault is simply unfair,” Pelosi continued. “As anyone who has seen his recent press conference knows he only found out about it from media reports just like the...

On Thursday, the day before a double resignation at the White House, ABC's Jon Karl grilled Jay Carney over Barack Obama's confidence in Eric Shinseki. Less than 24 hours later, the press secretary and Veterans Administration head had both quit. During the back-and-forth, Karl pressed, "But does the President right now have confidence in Sec. Shinseki, yes or no? It's a very simple yes or no question. You told us last week he did have confidence, does he have confidence now?" [See video below.] Carney dodged and responded, "Jon, the President addressed this question from the podium." The journalist pointed...

Montel Williams went on Cavuto yesterday and spoke very passionately about how we are treating our veterans. He was very upset that Obama didn’t use his speech at West Point to apologize to veterans and make the case that they were going to fix it once and for all. I got the feeling he wants to see the passion he feels about the reflected in how Obama responds to this issue. Williams also pointed out that people aren’t even visiting our wounded vets anymore in the hospitals like they used to. He said he used to see celebrities visiting all...

Veterans Affairs (VA) Department officials testified about the alleged destruction of an unofficial patient waiting list associated with the Phoenix VA health care system.

EAST MEMPHIS, Tenn. (FOX13) - As reports of problems at VA hospitals around the country continue to surface a town hall meeting was held in Memphis Tuesday to find out if veterans are having problems in the Mid-South. The town hall was held at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library on Poplar Avenue. MORE: Memphis vet fights 'death row' conditions at VA hospital MORE: Reaffirming promises to reform troubled VA hospitals The vets came with story after story of how badly they have been treated just trying to get medical help at the one place you would think they would...

OK, I admit that I made up the above headline. But, if Nancy Pelosi can blame the VA scandal on George Bush, why can’t I accuse him of shooting JFK? No evidence? Well, if such accusations must be supported by facts, Pelosi would do well to stop braying about Bush. If you compare his actual record on the VA to that of alleged President Obama, the latter will not thank you for it. As is the case with income inequality, fighting HIV/AIDS and countless other issues, Bush has a better record on the VA than does his feckless successor. Sadly,...

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...

The first Memorial Day I can remember was just a few years after the end of World War II. I was in second grade and my teacher, Miss Frank, told us, choking back her tears, what it meant. Her beloved brother had died just a few years earlier, training another young aviator in taking off from the deck of a carrier. Something went wrong and they both plunged into the sea and their deaths. My classmates and I had then still vivid memories of separation from our fathers, uncles, and brothers, and war deaths of our own loved ones. Memorial...

The Obama administration said Saturday it will allow more veterans to obtain health care at private hospitals and clinics in an effort to improve their treatment. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki also said VA facilities are enhancing capacity of their clinics so veterans can get care sooner. In cases where officials cannot expand capacity at VA centers, the Department of Veterans Affairs is "increasing the care we acquire in the community through non-VA care," Shinseki said. Lawmakers from both parties have pressed for this policy change as the VA confronts allegations about treatment delays and falsified records at VA centers...

Responding to the ever-widening "secret death list" Veterans Affairs (VA) scandal, on of the Senate's leading liberals has not only blocked legislation aimed at fixing fundamental problems within the VA's health care system, he's also let little doubt to exactly how he feels of the accusation that scores of vets have died due to administrative cover-ups that have resulted in medical care being needlessly withheld. As reported by The Washington Free Beacon on May 22, 2014, Vermont's junior US Senator, Bernard "Bernie" Sanders, has effectively frozen in committee the Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act (VAMAA), which was aimed at giving...

Bias: President Obama repeatedly claims to know nothing about scandals, blames others for problems and has failed to achieve most of his stated goals. If he were a Republican, what do you think the press would call him? When a reporter asked in a two-part question whether Obama had been "caught by surprise" by the mushrooming scandal at the VA, Obama ignored it. It was a good question. The White House had earlier claimed that Obama only learned about attempts at VA hospitals to falsify records and hide chronic delays after reading about it in the newspaper, despite mounting evidence...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., repeatedly put the blame for the Veterans Affairs scandal on former President George W. Bush, while arguing that her party has worked hard for veterans in recent years. Pelosi took a shot at Bush while saying that the scandal is a high priority for Obama. "He sees the ramifications of some seeds that were sown a long time ago, when you have two wars over a long period of time and many, many more, millions more veterans," she told reporters during her Thursday press briefing. "And so, I know that he is upset about...

While Ambassador Chris Stevens was missing on September 11, 2012, and while Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith and Glen Doherty were fighting for their lives, with military assets within a quick flight to provide aid, the Obama White House decided to call…YouTube. A still-classified State Department e-mail says that one of the first responses from the White House to the Benghazi attack was to contact YouTube to warn of the “ramifications” of allowing the posting of an anti-Islamic video, according to Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The memo suggests that even as

Just when you think Democrats can’t possibly sink any lower, they go and do something like this. Marco Rubio wants to pass the Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act. This bill aims to make it easier/possible for the scandal-plagued department to fire employees based on poor performance (like any other real job). The House overwhelmingly passed it with a bipartisan vote of 390 to 33. (Only Democrats objected.)