boutons_deux
05-14-2014, 04:19 PM
Republican Texas Senator Jon Cornyn has led the charge in trying to get Shinseki to resign, saying that he thinks it's time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ZKqtbpBZM) "for new leadership at the VA."
Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, while not explicitly calling for Shinseki to quit, has said (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ipe0cpXkY)that "a change in leadership [at the VA] might be a good step in the right direction."
Public outrage about what allegedly went on at the Phoenix VA hospital is understandable and justified, but what we're seeing from Republicans like Cornyn and McConnell is just cynical manipulation of public opinion.
Republicans don't really care about veterans or the VA, they just care about using this controversy to discredit the President and his Democratic Party - there is an election coming up, after all - and as a twofer, discredit the idea of government-run healthcare programs like the VA. John McCain has even called (http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/editorial/2014/05/13/mccain-reforms-va-hospitals-merit/9054725/)for the VA to be privatized.
The hypocrisy here is astounding.
Remember, it was just a little under three months ago (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/senate-rejects-far-reaching-veterans-affairs-bill/2014/02/27/1d10801c-a001-11e3-b8d8-94577ff66b28_story.html?tid=pm_pop)that Senate Republicans under the leadership of Mitch McConnell filibustered a bill that would have boosted VA funding by $21 billion, expanded benefits, and repealed a provision of the Murray-Ryan budget deal that slashed military pensions.
And it wasn't like this anti-veteran Republican filibuster was some radical break from the past either. Time and time again during the Obama presidency Republicans have either blocked or opposed bills that would have helped out the veterans they're now claiming to care so much about.
Back in 2012, for example, GOP senators blocked a $1 billion jobs bill would havehelped (http://www.examiner.com/article/senate-republicans-shoot-down-jobs-bill-for-veterans)millions of unemployed veterans find work.
And in that same year, Republican opposition also blocked a bill - the so-called Veterans' Compensation Cost of Living Adjustment Act - that would have kept veterans' benefits on par (http://www.examiner.com/article/gop-blocks-cola-on-benefits-for-disabled-veterans-and-survivors) with rising expenses.
The list goes on. Before that, GOP lawmakers killed (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/23/1249904/-GOP-s-actual-track-record-on-supporting-veterans)the Wounded Veteran Job Security Act, the Veterans Retraining Act of 2009, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, the Disabled Veterans Home Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act of 2009, the Veterans Business Center Act of 2009, and the Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act of 2009.
Every single one of these these bills would have helped veterans and every single one was killed exclusively by Republican opposition.
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/23708-the-mitch-mcconnell-va-scandal
Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, while not explicitly calling for Shinseki to quit, has said (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ipe0cpXkY)that "a change in leadership [at the VA] might be a good step in the right direction."
Public outrage about what allegedly went on at the Phoenix VA hospital is understandable and justified, but what we're seeing from Republicans like Cornyn and McConnell is just cynical manipulation of public opinion.
Republicans don't really care about veterans or the VA, they just care about using this controversy to discredit the President and his Democratic Party - there is an election coming up, after all - and as a twofer, discredit the idea of government-run healthcare programs like the VA. John McCain has even called (http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/editorial/2014/05/13/mccain-reforms-va-hospitals-merit/9054725/)for the VA to be privatized.
The hypocrisy here is astounding.
Remember, it was just a little under three months ago (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/senate-rejects-far-reaching-veterans-affairs-bill/2014/02/27/1d10801c-a001-11e3-b8d8-94577ff66b28_story.html?tid=pm_pop)that Senate Republicans under the leadership of Mitch McConnell filibustered a bill that would have boosted VA funding by $21 billion, expanded benefits, and repealed a provision of the Murray-Ryan budget deal that slashed military pensions.
And it wasn't like this anti-veteran Republican filibuster was some radical break from the past either. Time and time again during the Obama presidency Republicans have either blocked or opposed bills that would have helped out the veterans they're now claiming to care so much about.
Back in 2012, for example, GOP senators blocked a $1 billion jobs bill would havehelped (http://www.examiner.com/article/senate-republicans-shoot-down-jobs-bill-for-veterans)millions of unemployed veterans find work.
And in that same year, Republican opposition also blocked a bill - the so-called Veterans' Compensation Cost of Living Adjustment Act - that would have kept veterans' benefits on par (http://www.examiner.com/article/gop-blocks-cola-on-benefits-for-disabled-veterans-and-survivors) with rising expenses.
The list goes on. Before that, GOP lawmakers killed (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/23/1249904/-GOP-s-actual-track-record-on-supporting-veterans)the Wounded Veteran Job Security Act, the Veterans Retraining Act of 2009, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, the Disabled Veterans Home Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act of 2009, the Veterans Business Center Act of 2009, and the Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act of 2009.
Every single one of these these bills would have helped veterans and every single one was killed exclusively by Republican opposition.
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/23708-the-mitch-mcconnell-va-scandal