Posted on 03/06/2007 5:38:47 AM PST by PajamaTruthMafia
Gov. Deval Patrick has bumped the state’s top veterans affairs adviser from his Cabinet, reversing a policy put in place by his predecessor and infuriating vets at a time of war and scrutiny over treatment of returning soldiers.
The governor’s newly reorganized Cabinet includes eight department heads, but not the secretary of the Department of Veterans Services, a position that was elevated to Cabinet level under former Gov. Mitt Romney.
The change comes as thousands of Bay Staters fight in Iraq and a major scandal unfolds over the treatment of veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
“We are irate,” said Jake Comer, a Quincy veteran and former national commander of the American Legion. “We fought for this. (Patrick) should continue to have this be a strong Cabinet position.”
But a Patrick spokeswoman said that under state law, the veterans post was never part of the governor’s Cabinet. “We have not changed the veterans affairs secretary position,” said spokeswoman Cyndi Roy. “It’s never been a Cabinet-level position.”
Roy said the governor has met with the head of Veterans Services, Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Kelley, and will continue to do so.
In 2003, Romney signed a law making the Veterans Services head a secretary, and swore in Kelley to the new post.
Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said: “Every governor has the right to organize their Cabinet any way they see fit. Under Gov. Romney, the secretary of Veterans Services was a full-fledged member of the Cabinet and he attended all of the Cabinet meetings.”
Kelley, who remains Veterans Services secretary, did not return a call.
Comer said the American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans organization, sent Patrick a letter last month when it caught wind of the position being bumped from the Cabinet. Comer said the governor’s staff assured the group the position would remain Cabinet-level, which allows secretaries direct access to the governor at weekly briefings.
“He’s now back-stabbed the American Legion. We’re not going to take this sitting down,” Comer said.
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-S. Boston), an outspoken veterans advocate, said he plans to talk with Patrick about the decision.
“Given the sacrifices that veterans continue to make for this country, their issues should be our highest priority,” Lynch said.
Eddie Miller, commander of the South Boston Veterans of Foreign Wars post, said, “We should never have anything go down a level with veterans. The veterans are the cornerstone of this country.”
America's finest BUMP! Anti-freedom, anti-veterans Democrat Crime Syndicate member bump.
Yes HE can!
after all, there's only so many dwaryers in a cabinet!
Besides the detailer and the guys that wash the Coupe and the chopper needed a cabinet level post
So what's a a poor little RICH gov. to do???
Devil's a typical Moonbat. I think he's going to add an office for undocumented citizens (illegal aliens) rights to his cabinet in place of the veterans.
Democrats HATE the military.
> Democrats HATE the military.
"I am writing too in the hope that my telling you this one story will help you to understand more clearly how so many fine people have come to find themselves still loving their country but loathing the military." -- Deval Plastic's former boss in a letter 1969
Amen.
Yes, you did. And now you understand how Coupe Deval says "Thanks". What goes around...
What do you bet most of the vets from South Boston voted for Governor Patrick?
Unless they are in a union, I don't think a lot of vets voted for him.
I think this will interest you
I'll bet they did in Southie.
I know a lot of those guys in the VFW and the American Legion. I knew them as a state Senate staff member. The vast majority of them are Democrats.
They(the vets) don't deserve to get treated this way, but I am certain most of them voted for Governor Patrick.
And that's a shame.
Voters get the government they deserve.
Massachusetts voters are getting exactly what they deserve when they elect morons like this racist clown and Kerry and Kennedy.
Maybe at the national level we will see the same with the election of Hillary and all the Patrick clones she will bring into office.
In the long term, it may all work out for the better. We would not have had a Reagan if it was not for the Carter fiasco, and we would not have had the 1994 Gingrich revolution without Clinton. The only problem with repeating this history is that four years of Hillary will turn the country into a territory of Mexico, so irate voters will be outnumbered by illegals.
Last month Coup-Deval refused to sign a boiler plate Proclamation honoring Ronald Reagan on his 100 birthday.
Only 45 Months till the next Governors election, I think the slogan of anyone woh goes up against Duval should be "Un-Pimp My State".
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