Thursday, October 04, 2012

Eye Candy falters


BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

LAST NIGHT, CELEBRITY IN CHIEF THE VERY SHY BARRY O WAS FORCED TO GO OUT ON THE SCARY STAGE AND CONFRONT THE MASSIVELY POPULAR MITT ROMNEY WHO IS KNOWN TO BE ONE OF THE BEST SPEAKERS OF THIS DECADE AND . . .

WRONG!

LAST NIGHT, PAMPERED AND PRAISED BARRY O WENT UP AGAINST THE CANDIDATE THE BULK OF THE PRESS CORPS HAS INSISTED WAS A JOKE AND WHO HAD ALREADY LOST THE RACE.

AND A FUNNY THING HAPPENED.

WHEN THE PUBLIC WAS ABLE TO WATCH THE TWO WITHOUT THE SNARK OF GAIL COLLINS AND OTHERS, WHAT THEY WERE LEFT WITH WAS A ROMNEY WHO COULD COMMUNICATE AND A SNIPPY LITTLE BARRY O WHO FELT HE SHOULD BE HAILED AS THE WINNER JUST BECAUSE HE BOTHERED TO SHOW UP.

ROMNEY DIDN'T JUST WIPE THE FLOOR WITH BARRY O, HE WIPED THE FLOOR WITH THE CHATTERING CLASS WHICH TRIES TO PASS ITSELF OFF AS REPORTERS.

SPEAKING TO THESE REPORTERS, BARRY O INSISTED THE DEBATE WAS RIGGED AND, LIKE IN 2008 WHEN HE LOST TO HILLARY CLINTON, HE WAS JUST GOING TO REFUSE TO DO ANY MORE DEBATES.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:


USA Today's Susan Page (link is text and video) has a column today on the presidential debates which kick off tonight for some candidates.  (Some?  As Isaiah notes his comic this morning, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson  will not be on stage, the duopoly does not want them invited.)   In her piece, Pages notes a number of topics she feels should be covered including, "President Obama can rightly claim to be an early opponent to the war in Iraq. But once troops were there, he was an opponent of the surge that ultimately proved successful. What has he learned from those two decisions that will make him a more effective commander in chief in the future?"  Before anyone points out that tonight's debate is domestic topics, Susan Page knows that, her column is about the three debates President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney will take part in.
 
There are many good questions Barack could be asked about Iraq including why he backed Nouri al-Maliki for a second term as prime minister after Nouri's State of Law came in second?  The country's Constitution was very clear on the process and how do you help a fledging democracy take root when you overturn the results of an election?  As John Barry's "'The Engame' Is A Well Researched, Highly Critical Look at U.S. Policy in Iraq" (The Daily Beast) notes:

As Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor charge in their ambitious new history of the Iraq war, The Endgame, Obama's administration sacrificed political influence by failing in 2010 to insist that the results of Iraq's first proper election be honored: "When the Obama administration acquiesced in the questionable judicial opinion that prevented Ayad Allawi's bloc, after it had won the most seats in 2010, from the first attempt at forming a new government, it undermined the prospects, however slim, for a compromise that might have led to a genuinely inclusive and cross-sectarian government."
 
 
Another question Barack should be asked is why he keeps talking about bringing the troops home from Iraq when (a) 15,000 troops were moved to Kuwait, (b) a small number of US troops were left in Iraq, (c) Barack just sent a small number of Special-Ops back into Iraq and (d) he's negotiating to send more US troops back into Iraq?
 
 
Last week,  Tim Arango (New York Times) reported, "Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that could result in the return of small units of American soldiers to Iraq on training missions. At the request of the Iraqi government, according to General Caslen, a unit of Army Special Operations soldiers was recently deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and help with intelligence."  As  John Glaser (Antiwar.com) observes, "Most Americans have been led to believe that all US forces besides those guarding the massive American Embassy in Iraq have been withdrawn since the end of last year. But small units have remained in Baghdad to support elite Iraqi forces that report directly to the increasingly authoritarian Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki."  RTT News reports today, "U.S. military training for Iraqi security forces will continue uninterrupted despite failure of the Congress to approve money for it in a temporary spending bill now funding government operations, the Pentagon has said."  northsunm32 (All Voices) points out, "Pentagon officials had warned legislators that the failure to extend the authorization for the program could force the withdrawal of 220 of 296 personnel it currently had in Iraq working with the Iraqis. Obviously, this did not sway Congress. However, just as obviously, there is no plan to withdraw those personnel."
 
We'll come back to the topic of the US presidential elections at the end of the snapshot.  Right now, we'll stay with the US but move to veterans issues.  Last week, James Dao (New York Times) reported, "Numbers tell the story.  Last year, veterans filed more than 1.3 million claims, double the number in 2001. Despite having added nearly 4,000 new workers since 2008, the agnecy did not keep pace, completing less than 80 percent of its inventory.  This year, the agency has already completed more than 1 million claims for the third consecutive year.  Yet it is still taking about eight months to process the average claim, two months longer than a decade ago.  As of Monday, 890 pensions and compensation claims were pending."  That was last week.  Today?
 
 
James Koutz: We've seen many pilot programs and promises from VA. It's time to roll up our sleeves and really fix what's wrong with this system. As the Social Security Administration and other benefit programs can handle their claims in a timely manner, veterans cannot understand why the VA cannot. In the American Legion, we've made training our Service Officers a top priority. It's part of the job -- not something that gets in the way of the job. We bring our Service Officers together for training twice a year. They make recommendations based on a complex system they must navigate on a daily basis. They're the ones who can see the flaws in the VA's work-credit system that rewards quantity over quality. There simply has to be a better way to get this done. For instance, VA could start counting claims done right as a positive and claims done wrong as a negative so everyone could have a more accurate picture of what's reallly getting done in these regional offices. Veterans waiting past the realistic target date might be compensated with interest on their claims creating an incentive for VA also to get these claims decided on time. There are ways to work with the mechanics of this system and to make it serve the veteran and not the bureaucrats. We're willing to roll up our sleeves and work with you to find those ways.  The American Legion has people in the trenches who not only understand the problems but contribute to the solutions.  Veterans are tired of hearing how the government is working on ending a backlog that continues to grow.  Veterans and the American Legion want results and are willing to do whatever it takes to obtain them.  Remember, we're all partners in this.  Everyone knows the claims process is confusing for veterans and the American Legion is there with free services to help navigate the system and make things easier for both the veteran and the VA personnel who have decided their claims.  Nobody gets charged a penny for this service -- not the veteran, not the government.
 
[. . .]
 
Chair Jeff Miller:  I want to hone in, just for a bit, on the claims backlog because obviously that is a huge issue that's out there, that everybody in this room is concerned about. Congress is concerned about it. The Dept of Veterans Affairs is concerned about it. But it doesn't seem to be getting any better. [VA] Secretary [Eric] Shinseki has already said several times, you quoted it in your opening statement, that by 2015, they would, within 125 days, the idea was that everybody would have their claims ajudicated at 100%. Well it isn't happening. And unfortunately, we had a hearing just a couple of weeks ago where we kind of took a status check with VA: Where are you? Their focus was more on what they were turning out which is exactly what you talked about. And that's important. A million claims being adjudicated. But the backlog is growing. And if you're not keeping up with that backlog, it's certainly not going to assist and fix the problem. So, again, I would like to hear from you if you would, your perspective on what are the things that can be done? What can Congress do legislatively, if you will, to assist the problem? We all talk about the electronic medical record. But that is years away from being able to truly have that seamless transition. We're moving in that direction. But we've got folks, you know, today that are waiting one, two years waiting to have their claims ajudicated and we've put dollars forward, we've put bodies forward. It does not seem to fix the issue. So I'd like to hear what you think.
 
James Koutz: Well, Mr. Chairman, I think one of the things that we could do is do more hiring of ajudicators, do more hiring of the processers.  As you probably know, a lot of these claims that are coming back, they're not completed.  They need to be fully developed claims.  I believe like any other business, if you're in the backlog, then the only way to get the backlog taken care of is to hire more people.  And I understand the VA -- being a former, or still a commissioner of the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs -- that it takes time to train an ajudicator or claims processer.  That'll take time.  But maybe we can -- and I don't know how much overtime they're working, if they're working overtime -- But I think they've got to do these claims more accurately because, when they come back, the first thing that we see is mistakes and that claim goes right back to the regional office and we're starting all over again from step one.  So I think that's the biggest thing, maybe get the accuracy where the Secretary said he would like to have it, 98% accuracy.  If we get to that number, then I think you'll see the backlogs claim be reduced.
 
Chair Jeff Miller: Do you know the percentage of the claims that your Service Officers put together or ajudicated complete?  I mean, they may not necessarily get the rating that they're asking for, but the percentage of packages that are completed?
 
 
James Koutz: I don't.  But Peter Gaytan, our executive director of our Washington office, probably can answer that for you.
 
 
Peter Gaytan:  Thank you, Commander.  Mr. Chairman, the American Legion takes very seriously, the quality of our work and our training of our Service Officres.  Twice a year, we put our Service Officers rigorous training to make sure that they have the qualifications, knowledge and skills to not only produce quality, fully developed claims that we submit to the VA but also to help reduce the backlog because it's got to be a team effort to do that.  We're going to have qualified, well trained officers to do this work.  Now your specific question on the number that the American Legion ajudicates or
 
Chair Jeff Miller: Or percentage.
 
Peter Gaytan:  I would like to defer to our National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission VA Director Verna Jones who handles that area.
 
Verna Jones:  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We actually received a report from the VA just last week.  And I can tell you the number of claims.  The American Legion handles  244,000 claims annually.  That's our number this year: 244,000.  Now I'm not sure of the exact percentage but the number is 244,000 claimsfor the American Legion nationally.
 
Chair Jeff Miller: Okay.  If you would, just for the record, if you could let us know, just trying to get a handle, you know, on how many claims are being done by the veteran themselves obviously using the veterans Service Officer.  The assumption, from my standpoint, would be that it would be better to go through a Service Officer in order to file your claim.  But I'm interested in knowing for no other reason then I think folks up here on the dais would like to hear it.
 
 
Today the US House Veterans Affairs Committee and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a joint-hearing which was a presentation by the American Legion.  The American Legion's National Commander James Koutz handled the presentation and he was accomanied by Verna Jones, Michael Helm, Peter Gaytan and Kenneth Governor.  The Chair of the House Committee is Jeff Miller who was present.  As he noted,  "the Congressional schedule changed a few weeks ago so a lot of members are not in Washington today."  Ranking Member Bob Filner is not seeking re-election to the Congress but is instead running for Mayor of San Diego. The scheduling change meant that he was not present.  US House Rep Mike Michaud was Acting Ranking Member.
 
 
Acting Ranking Member Mike Michaud:  I was troubled by the July report from CBS News that found suicide rates for our soldiers is up 80%.  Our veterans are returning from war with invisible wounds that need treatment but are discouraged from seeking treatment for various reasons.  As a nation, we can do better.  We must get this right.
 
 
He was referring to David Martin's report for CBS Evening News (link is text and video) report on the suicide rate in July: "July was the worst month ever for Army suicides.  Thirty-eight active duty and reserve soldiers took their own lives.  Among active duty troops, 2012 could turn out to be the worst year ever.  Behind the numbers are heartbroken widows who say their husbands sought help but couldn't get it."  And as disturbing is the number of veterans suicides. 
 
Over the weekend and through Monday, the Austin American-Stateman began publishing the results of their investigative series on veterans deaths.  This was a six-month investigation focusing on the the deaths of Texas veterans and, in their overview article, they noted:


■ More than one in three died from a drug overdose, a fatal combination of drugs, or suicide. Their median age at death was 28.
■ Nearly one in five died in a motor vehicle crash.
■ Among those with a primary diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder, the numbers are even more disturbing: 80 percent died of overdose, suicide or a single vehicle crash. Only two of the 46 Texas veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts with a PTSD diagnosis died of natural causes, according to the analysis.
■ The 345 Texas veterans identified by the VA as having died since coming home is equal to nearly two-thirds of the state's casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. But that only includes veterans who have sought VA benefits, meaning the total number of deaths is likely much larger.


That is from the overview article.   The paper also offered "Suicide among veterans receiving less attention than active-duty deaths" which tells the story of Iraq War veteran Ray Rivas who took his own life on a day when his wife, Colleen Rivas, described him being in "good spirits" and notes:

An American-Statesman investigation into the deaths of 266  Texans who served during the Iraq or Afghanistan wars show that 45  committed suicide, making it the fourth-leading  cause of death behind illness, accidents and drug-related deaths. That percentage is more than four times higher than the general population: Suicide accounted for 3.6 percent  of all Texas deaths over the same period, compared with 16.9  percent of the veterans the newspaper studied.


Rivas o.d.ed "on sleeping pills in a parking lot."  Iraq War veteran Eric Sessions died on his motorcycle and is part of  the report entitled "After returning home, many veterans get into motor vehicle accidents" which finds, "Next to illness and disease,  motor vehicle accidents such as Sessions' were the leading cause of death among the 266  Texas veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan whose histories were tracked by the American-Statesman. The motorcycle and car wrecks were responsible for 50  deaths, or 18.8 percent  of the total ― more than suicides or prescription drug overdoses."  The paper also offers "Which veterans are at highest risk for suicide?"  The Military Suicide Research Consortium's Peter Gutierrez agrees that "relationship problems, legal problems, mental illness, depression" are the same in the civilian world and among service members and veterans but feels the civilian population is less likely to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury.   Afghanistan War veteran KC Dobson's took her own life last year, "Her Army photos show a beaming, freckle-faced young woman in fatigues, her dark hair pulled back in a bun. But her smile masked what family members said was emotional and physical pain that dogged her throughout her deployment to Iraq and after her 2010 discharge."

Other reports by the paper are "Researches look into possible causes of current 'epidemic' of suicide and PTSD" and "Scores of recent Texas war veterans have died of overdoses, suicides and vehicle crashes, investigation finds" -- all articles share the byline "by American-Statesman Investigative Team."


RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
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