Tuesday, May 20, 2014
From: Gary L. Bauer
VA Scandal Grows
Congress may need yet another select committee — one to investigate the scandal at the Veterans Administration. Almost every day it seems another whistleblower steps forward with allegations of abuse, mismanagement and neglect of our heroes. Here are the latest developments:
- Add Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the growing list of VA medical centers across the country that are investigating the falsification of documents and wait times. An investigation at the Albuquerque VA Medical Center was launched last year — well before the dozens of possible deaths at the Phoenix VA system began making headlines. The Albuquerque Journal suggests that some bureaucrats may have been falsifying records in order to secure performance bonuses.
- While news of 40 deaths at the Phoenix VA system grabbed the nation’s attention, Stars & Stripes reports that the VA has settled more than 160 malpractice claims since 2001 related to delayed treatment. The VA admits that 23 people died as result of delayed care.
- Yesterday another whistleblower came forward. Dr. Margaret Moxness was a psychiatrist at the Huntington VA Medical Center in Charleston, West Virginia. Dr. Moxness says she was ordered to delay treatment of some of her patients, and at least two committed suicide as a result of not receiving the care they needed. Like other whistleblowers, Dr. Moxness says she complained to supervisors, but adds that she was “functionally silenced.”
- Problems at the VA have existed for years. But why are we just now hearing about it? If the VA had its way, we wouldn’t be and that may be a scandal all by itself. The VA is perhaps the worst government agency to work for when it comes to whistleblowers.Stephen Kohn, executive director of the National Whistleblower Center, said that VA whistleblowers routinely face retaliation and, “The VA is notoriously bad, and institutionally bad, and no one has taken any steps to fix it.”Tom Devine of the Government Accountability Project says that the VA is “uniquely intolerant to well-taken whistleblowing.” Devine adds, “It’s almost the bureaucracy’s lowest common denominator, both in terms of quality of performance and in terms of secrecy enforced by repression.”As the scandal grows and we find out more, we need to remember that there are thousands of dedicated doctors, nurses and health care workers in the VA system who are trying to do their jobs. My father accessed VA hospitals for years. This scandal is not an indictment of those healthcare workers, some of whom are coming forward now. It is an indictment of the bureaucrats who refused to admit that the system was failing and who put their own interests ahead of those of our heroes.
What Did The President Know And When?
It’s never a good sign when Watergate references start popping up, but people are beginning to ask, “What did the president know and when did he know it?” And if you believe White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, Obama first learned about the problems at the VA from news reports, the same time we all did.
Carney has got to come up with a better response. From the IRS scandal to Fast and Furious, this plea of ignorance has been used too many times. Here are the facts:
- Obama campaigned against the “deplorable conditions at some VA hospitals” in 2007, and promised to be a president who would fight for our veterans “every hour of every day.”
- A year later after the 2008 election, the Bush Administration warned Obama’s transition team about problems at the VA. Briefing memos obtained by the Washington Times stated ominously, “This is not only a data integrity issue in which [Veterans Health Administration] reports unreliable performance data; it affects quality of care by delaying — and potentially denying — deserving veterans timely care.”No one is accusing the Obama Administration of creating the mess at the VA. But it clearly ignored it. Why would it do that? One possible explanation is politics.During the contentious debate to pass Obamacare, the last thing the administration needed was a potential scandal exposing the failures of . . . government-run health care.Sarah Palin deserves another tip of the hat. She was mocked for warning that government control of health care inevitably leads to bureaucrats deciding who lives and who dies. That is exactly what some people in VA appear to have done.
- Exactly one year ago tomorrow, Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, wrote a letter to President Obama about the VA. Miller warned about “management failures, deceptions, and lack of accountability permeating VA’s healthcare system,” and added, “I believe your direct involvement and leadership is required.”The White House knew. It knew long before the rest of us did. And it seems no did anything. Well, not exactly. The administration forced out someone who was already on his way out. VA Under Secretary Robert Petzel, who “resigned” Friday, had announced his retirement in September.Join Me In July!Join me in the nation’s capital July 21st and 22nd for the Christians United for Israel Washington Summit.
Founded by Pastor John Hagee, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) is the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States with more than one million members. I am honored to serve on CUFI’s Executive Board.
Watch this brief video about the Washington Summit.
This year’s Summit features an outstanding lineup of speakers, including:
Charles KrauthammerBill Kristol
Dennis Prager
Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer
Former CIA Director James Woolsey
I look forward to seeing you there!
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