VETERANS ADMINISTRATION REFORMS THAT WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN (Trump Position Paper)

Trump Campaign Website ^ | October 31, 2016 | Domald J. Trump

[smoothsailing]

October 31, 2015

Veterans Administration Reforms That Will Make America Great Again

The Goals Of Donald J. Trump's Veterans Plan

The current state of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is absolutely unacceptable. Over 300,000 veterans died waiting for care. Corruption and incompetence were excused. Politicians in Washington have done too little too slowly to fix it. This situation can never happen again, and when Donald J. Trump is president, it will be fixed – fast.

The guiding principle of the Trump plan is ensuring veterans have convenient access to the best quality care. To further this principle, the Trump plan will decrease wait times, improve healthcare outcomes, and facilitate a seamless transition from service into civilian life.

The Trump Plan Will:

1. Ensure our veterans get the care they need wherever and whenever they need it. No more long drives. No more waiting for backlogs. No more excessive red tape. Just the care and support they earned with their service to our country.
2. Support the whole veteran, not just their physical health care, but also by addressing their invisible wounds, investing in our service members’ post-active duty success, transforming the VA to meet the needs of 21^st century service members, and better meeting the needs of our female veterans.
3. Make the VA great again by firing the corrupt and incompetent VA executives who let our veterans down, by modernizing the VA, and by empowering the doctors and nurses to ensure our veterans receive the best care available in a timely manner.

The Trump Plan Gives Veterans The Freedom To Choose And Forces The VA To Compete For Their Dollars

Politicians in Washington have tried to fix the VA by holding hearings and blindly throwing money at the problem. None of it has worked. In fact, wait times were 50% higher this summer than they were a year ago. That’s because the VA lacks the right leadership and management. It’s time we stop trusting Washington politicians to fix the problems and empower our veterans to vote with their feet.

Under a Trump Administration, all veterans eligible for VA health care can bring their veteran's ID card to any doctor or care facility that accepts Medicare to get the care they need immediately. Our veterans have earned the freedom to choose better or more convenient care from the doctor and facility of their choice. The power to choose will stop the wait time backlogs and force the VA to improve and compete if the department wants to keep receiving veteran's healthcare dollars. The VA will become more responsive to veterans, develop more efficient systems, and improve the quality of care because it will have no other choice.

The Trump Plan Treats The Whole Veteran

We must care for the whole veteran, not just their physical health. We must recognize that today’s veterans have very different needs than those of the Greatest Generation.

The Trump Plan Will:

1. Increase funding for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury and suicide prevention services to address our veteran's invisible wounds. Service members are five times more likely to develop depression than civilians. They are almost fifteen times more likely to develop PTSD than civilians. This funding will help provide more and better counseling and care. More funding will also support research on best practices and state of the art treatments to keep our veterans alive, healthy and whole. With these steps, the Trump plan will help the veteran community put the unnecessary stigma surrounding mental health behind them and instead encourage acceptance and treatment in our greater society.
2. Increase funding for job training and placement services (including incentives for companies hiring veterans), educational support and business loans. All Americans agree that we must do everything we can to help put our service men and women on a path to success as they leave active duty by collaborating with the many successful non-profit organizations that are already helping. Service members have learned valuable skills in the military but many need help understanding how to apply those skills in civilian life. Others know how to apply those skills but need help connecting with good jobs to support their families. Still others have an entrepreneurial spirit and are ready to start creating jobs and growing the economy. The Trump plan will strengthen existing programs or replace them with more effective ones to address these needs and to get our veterans working.
3. Transform the VA to meet the needs of 21^st century service members. Today’s veterans have very different needs than those of the generations that came before them. The VA must adapt to meet the needs of this generation of younger, more diverse veterans. The Trump plan will expand VA services for female veterans and ensure the VA is providing the right support for this new generation of veterans.
4. Better support our women veterans. The fact that many VA hospitals don’t permanently staff OBGYN doctors shows an utter lack of respect for the growing number female veterans. Under the Trump plan, every VA hospital in the country will be fully equipped with OBGYN and other women's health services. In addition, women veterans can always choose a different OBGYN in their community using their veteran’s ID card.

The Trump Plan Will Make The VA Great Again

The VA health care program is a disaster. Some candidates want to get rid of it, but our veterans need the VA to be there for them and their families. That’s why the Trump plan will:

1. Fire the corrupt and incompetent VA executives that let our veterans down. Under a Trump Administration, there will be no job security for VA executives that enabled or overlooked corruption and incompetence. They’re fired. New leadership will focus the VA staff on delivering timely, top quality care and other services to our nation’s veterans. Under a Trump Administration, exposing and addressing the VA's inefficiencies and shortcomings will be rewarded, not punished.
2. End waste, fraud and abuse at the VA. The Trump plan will ensure the VA is spending its dollars wisely to provide the greatest impact for veterans and hold administrators accountable for irresponsible spending and abuse. The days of $6.3 million for statues and fountains at VA facilities and $300,000 for a manager to move 140 miles are over. The Trump plan will clean up the VA's finances so the current VA budget provides more and better care than it does now.
3. Modernize the VA. A VA with 20^th century technology cannot serve 21^st century service members and their needs. The VA has been promising to modernize for years without real results. The Trump plan will make it happen by accelerating and expanding investments in state of the art technology to deliver best-in-class care quickly and effectively. All veterans should be able to conveniently schedule appointments, communicate with their doctors, and view accurate wait times with the push of a button.
4. Empower the caregivers to ensure our veterans receive quality care quickly. Caregivers should be able to easily streamline treatment plans across departments and utilize telehealth tools to better serve their patients. As we have seen from the private sector, the potential for new, innovative technology is endless. Abandoning the wasteful and archaic mindset of the public sector will give way to tremendously effective veteran healthcare.
5. Hire more veterans to care for veterans. The more veterans we have working at the VA, the better the VA will be. They understand the unique challenges facing their community. To increase the number of veterans hired by the VA, this plan will add an additional 5 points to the qualifying scores of veterans applying for VA jobs.
6. Embed satellite VA clinics in rural and other underserved areas. The Trump Administration will embed satellite VA clinics within hospitals and other care facilities in rural and other underserved areas. This step will ensure veterans have easy access to care and local hospitals and care facilities can handle the influx of patients without backlogs while tapping the specialized knowledge of VA health specialists.

[BlackFemaleArmyColonel]

Thank you. Trump has my vote!

[BlackFemaleArmyColonel]

Go Trump!

[DoughtyOne]

Yes, I’ve seen it.

Isara has been confronted on that by a number of people, but he thinks he’s doing good work for Cruz by foisting it off on the forum. He’s just showing the character of some people who flock to Cruz.

Levin should be ashamed...

[BlackFemaleArmyColonel]

Love Trump! Why aren’t the other candidates outlining their positions???

[hoosiermama]

Trump is a leader. They are followers. Their plans will follow shortly in typical “me too” form

[LibsRJerks]

Kinda in tears reading this. NO other candidate, anywhere, at any time has proposed something of this nature for our vets. Donald Trump, for all his foibles, must have the heart of a lion.

God Bless you, Mr Trump — you have my vote!!

[Jane Long]

They are followers. Their plans will follow shortly in typical “me too” form

---

Had that same thought, earlier.

We’ve already seen it with Trump’s other plans...to a degree.

[Jane Long]

Amen.

;-)

[Angels27]

God bless Mr. Trump for laying out a plan to support and take care of our veterans. The care our wonderful veterans have recieved has really gone to hell under the Clinton, Bush and 0bama regimes. Should Mr. Trump be elected I really hope he carries this plan out. We really need to take good care of these brave men and women.

[smoothsailing]

Go Trump!

It’s a good plan. I hope he gets a chance to launch it.

[seekthetruth]

Thanks so much for posting Donald's plan for our Veterans. They are our heroes that the powers that be have abandoned for so very long.

I saw the event today on OAN and it was awesome!

HEADS UP TO NEW YORK FREEPERS!
Donald Trump will be having a book signing on Tuesday and word is that there will be a group protesting against Trump's illegal immigration plan. However, an ICE group in support of Trump will be their to counter the protesters. Please read below, and join them in support of Donald if you can.

*******

Hi NY ICers!

Thank You to Member, Jim M., for this intel!

Donald Trump will be signing copies of one of his books this Tuesday, November 3rd, and it is expected that our familiar adversary will demonstrate against him.

Even if You don't have a favorable opinion of Trump, the adversary finds him to be the face of people representing our Movement. He stands for immigration enforcement in their eyes, though, of course, his visibility on our Issue and Movement is relatively new.

He has used his celebrity status for our Issue, which, when the mainstream media wanted to ignore us, has been useful for those in our Movement because the media finds it hard to ignore Trump, since he has been a part of the that world of celebrity for a long period.

As usual, I will be there to defend our Issue and our Sovereignty against those who want to promote their self-serving and selfish agendas of eroding our borders even further.

Below are the Details:

WHAT: NY ICE Demonstration

WHEN: THIS Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 11:45am
WHERE: In front of Trump Tower at 725 5th Avenue (near 57th Street), New York, NY 10022. The closest subway stop is the “F” subway to 57th Street in Manhattan.
BRING: Cameras!!! Also, bring simple, large signs that are anti-amnesty and/or pro-U.S. Sovereignty. “NO AMNESTY” is an example. Bring prepared sound bites for the press.

MORE INFO: Please visit http://thoughtgallery.org/events/donald-trump-book-signing-crippled-america/#.VjQTbyt4ySq

Joanna, President
NY ICE (New Yorkers for Immigration Control and Enforcement)
http://www.nyice.us/

[paratrooper82]

NOTHING will get fixed at the VA until they (a Trump administration) gets the public sector unions out of the VA!!!

[GraceG]

The only thing that would make it better would be that in order to work at any top administration level of the VA you should have at least 10 years of military service or at least 5 years of combat experience.

Civilians should not be running the top levels of the VA, simply because they don’t have any damn way to relate to our soldiers.

We have tons of warriors with missing legs and arms, these people would be great for doing the desk jobs at the VA and they could help straighten out the paperwork and beer-o-craps.

[BlackElk]

I have never been bashful about "bashing" candidates whom I do not favor. I started this cycle fully expecting to trash Trump.

I do find, however, that on one issue after another, he is convincing me that he is the real thing. I wanted Scott Walker because I very much admire how he has manhandled the left in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, his candidacy was not to be successful.

I now want Ted Cruz. Nonetheless, while I originally would not have voted for Trump even if he were nominated, I have paid attention to his campaign. He is a gifted campaigner and communicator. He is bringing back the "Reagan Democrats" (an incredibly important issue to me). He has established credibility on immigration, an issue on which I am a convert. He is right. I had been wrong. His position paper on the RTKBA arms satisfied me. My impression is that he will resist these infernal "trade" deals that are impoverishing American workers and our nation. I trust him to rebuild the military and particularly the Navy. I trust that he really means to "Make America Great Again."

My remaining doubts are on Right to Life, resistance to perversion posing as "marriage," and similar issues that have always been of great importance to me.

I shall continue to pay respectful attention to him and his campaign. If you are familiar with my posting history, you know I am a quite stubborn fellow on such trash as Willard, McCain, Dole, Bush the Elder,Ford, Nixon and many others.

If Trump turns out to be a phony (which I do not expect him to be), this nation may well be over. I would also bet you that I am not the only hardliner here who is at least tempted by Trump. I believe that you have always been a hardliner as well. Treat us skeptics respectfully if you want our support for Trump and you and he may well get that support. Keep us fully informed and be honest with us if he blunders. We understand that no one since Our Savior has been perfect.

If people are unfair to Trump, I will join you in going after them. JimRob seems supportive of him and that counts for a lot. Many of those who are usually my allies here have gone over to Trump before me and I have not joined them yet but I am prepared to defend him against unjust attacks. I do wish that he had avoided the ungallant attack on Megan Kelly. No one is perfect. Neither is she.

Continue to be the good person and solid conservative that you have always been here (in my experience). Many more than you may suspect will pay attention to your opinions. You have earned that right.

May God bless you and yours!

[smoothsailing]

beer-o-craps

Ha! Love it! That's what they are!

and I certainly agree with you about putting combat veterans in those jobs.

[PGalt]

HOORAY Trump

[Candor7]

Each turret salvo sends the weight of 3 Volkswagons to the target.

I love the old battle wagons too, build a model of the USS Missouri when I was 9 years old.

[JRandomFreeper]

Bfl

[JRandomFreeper]

Did you see this one?

The article has some brain stuff to check out.

Yeah I know.. a 15 year freeper that actually read the article. Shameful....

/johnny

[Caipirabob]

Wow...putting our most valiant veterans above the interests of illegal invaders?!?