I received a phone call from Mrs, Testvet today and she and I are planning a visit here at our home this week. I went back and reread some of Mike's old diaries. I thought I remembered most but
this one really caught my eye.
How could congress be so ridiculous to NOT know this all was happening long before President Obama was even elected? jimstaro, llbear, Danang me and so many others on here knew the score when this was unraveling. The wheels of justice move slow but the mess that fell on the General's head should be reminded daily to those so called legislators who used General Shinseki as a Gotcha moment for an Obama scandal.. After re reading
Testvet 6778 old diary, I just got infuriated all over again.. What a great advocate Mike was. He inspired not only me but wanted calls to action waaaaaaaaay back in 2008.
I was not in Florida in 2008 but here Congressman Miller is screaming for heads and chairing comittees while acting like the VA just fell apart under this administration should have known about the 41 investigations that the General inherited.
How dare he? Rich Nuggent, the so called legislator from the 11th district who came into power in 2010 (if he really cared) should then and NOW, which he is not, be up to speed on the VA Medical Center in his own district in Florida.
The shredders were shredding, the backlogs were there and 41 out of 57 VA facilities were being investigated
Mike Bailey ( Testvet wrote this, right here on DK's in 2008_
Despite the Veterans Administration to paint this episode as a few "bad apples" destroying claims paperwork and evidence that is needed for veterans or their surviving spouses to obtain earned veterans benefits, the fact that this is now known to have occurred at 41 of the 57 Regional Offices across the nation and territories, show this is a system wide practice, that has been known for decades (they first fired people (lawyers) for this in 1987.
My friend Larry Scott broke this story October 13, 2008 and the VA has been in reaction mode ever since, even to the extent to refuse to allow him to participate in a conference call with new organizations on October 18, 2008
Well guess what? General Shinseki was not running the VA then !!!!!! Obama had not been elected President, so where was the outrage from all that was happening then, Congress? Whose head did you want on a platter? How many vets died? General Shinseki tried to bring the VA up to the 21st century and did demand accountability so who is really to blame? CONGRESS is, that's who !!!!!! Now their answer is to privatize.
This congress is the biggest hypocritical bunch of worthless POS's for representation this country has even seen.
Mike's diary went on to read:
VA's shredder bins typically are emptied once or twice a week, meaning that the 474 documents may represent only a few days' worth of errors. It will be nearly impossible to figure out how many documents had been incorrectly destroyed in the past—or if any have, Dunne says.
The approximately 50 different kinds of records found slated for destruction—including nine compensation claims, 18 notices of disagreement with a decision, and two death notices—could be key pieces of evidence for a veteran's application for benefits, says Jerry Manar, the national veterans service deputy director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. If a key piece of evidence has been shredded, "it can result in the denial of a claim," Manar says. More than 800,000 claims of various kinds are currently pending in the VA's backlog
What did the do nothin Congress think? By some miracle with two wars after so many years raging ending, that when troops started returning home, they would all be well and unscathed? Do we really have this many clueless, mean spirited, unpatriotic, partisan people pretending to be leaders sitting up in DC taking up oxygen and space? Taking up space on our dime and veterans and their families blood and sacrafice? Add lying us into war and paying for that sacrafice with not enough funding, doctors and personnel?, Did they actually believe the partisan BS from Fake news? Suddenly Obama, presiding while black and democratic to boot,was the evil meanie from Kenya who is to blame and hates America? What a sorry state of affairs !!!!
I read this comment with tears in my eyes.
am sorry to see this happening over and over (23+ / 0-)
again to these soldiers it is wrong to keep abusing them over and over again and then deny them help
Military & Veterans: Politics for the deserving aka Mike Bailey
by testvet6778 on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 01:30:19 PM EST
It is past time to stop this madness regarding the congress with no clue and start getting our base out to vote and even in our own party allowing the right wing to destroy our country and integrity. Past time.
Mike Bailey died in October 2013 and is sorely missed. His widow is making it day by day as most spouses of veterans do. I am looking forward to her visit and know Testvet left a legacy of advocacy for all of us to carry and pass the torch. I know I learned much from him. I continue to learn. I continue to grow and Mike Bailey is one reason why I went on CNBC. He knew in September what I was doing...He did not live to see the interview but he knew the score of how long we all had been trying to get congress to take responsibility for it's soldiers who sacrafice. I am just sorry my shout out to him was left on the editor's cutting floor.
We need to make sure the Tea Party has their power removed come November. We need to make sure Dem and Republicans do their job regarding returning veterans and we need to do the right thing.. In 2008 we had a Dem congress with a republican VA secretary and then we had a president put a competent combat vet in charge but the tea party got real partisan like a bullet knows the difference between letters of the alphabet of D and R. Schrapnel and PTSD, IED, do not distinquish between party lines.
Thanks Mike and all the people on here who have tried to make wrong, right, I hope it is possible.
Can we make congress aware that we KNOW who is to blame for the VA mess?
Can I get an Amen?
Can you join me in making sure that regular folks know the TRUTH?
Can we please stop catering to the losers who undermine every single bit of good this president has tried to do for not only our nation's veterans but also remind every Vietnam Vet, they did not even get a proper Thank you until 2012 and it was FROM THIS PRESIDENT.