Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Billman for the powerful

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


FAT F**K JEFFREY C. BILLMAN WAS INSISTING IN 2013 THAT HIS BEING NAMED THE EDITOR OF FLORIDA'S TOILET PAPER AKA FOLIO WEEKLY WOULD MEANT HE WOULD "GIVE VOICE TO THE VOICELESS."

FATTY FORGOT.  FATTY SQUATS ON THE VOICELESS AND INSTEAD ACTS AS A RINGER FOR THE WHITE HOUSE.

THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE IN BENGHAZI INSISTS THE FAT MAN WHO HASN'T SEEN HIS OWN PENIS IN YEARS (THAT BIG BELLY BLOCKS HIS VIEW).  FATTY WANTS YOU TO KNOW THAT

Worth noting: What Rice said about that anti-Islam YouTube video, in fact, reflected what the CIA believed at the time; the evidence still suggests the video played a role, and that the Benghazi attacks were opportunistic, rather than planned weeks out.



NO, FAT FATTY.  THAT'S WRONG.  STOP STUFFING YOUR FACE FOR A MINUTE, FATTY, AND PAY ATTENTION.

FATTY F**K, FATTY F**K, FATTY F**K, OH, FATTY, FATTY F**K.

OH, IT MUST BE HARD TO BE SO STUPID, WHEN YOU'RE FAT AND UGLY TOO.

WHEN YOU'RE FAT.

AND UGLY TOO.

FATTY F**K, FATTY F**K, FATTY F**K, OH, FATTY, FATTY F**K.

POOR FATTY, AFTER HIS BIG, TOILET CLOGGING, MEMORIAL DAY DUMP AT A MEN'S ROOM AT ROTH'S GAS STATION AND GARAGE, HE'S BEEN BANNED FROM ALL FLORIDA BATHROOMS.




FROM THE TCI WIRE:


Major news breaks in the US today.  Wyatt Andrews (CBS News -- link is text and video) reports the latest on the never-ending VA scandals. Similar to the wait lists at the Phoenix VA -- two sets, the real one and the cover one to make it look like vets are getting timely treatment -- Chicago steps into the spotlight.  Whistle-blower Germaine Clarno has stepped forward.

Wyatt Andrews:  Germaine Clarno is a VA social worker and employee representative in Chicago.  She alleges there are multiple waiting lists for veterans kept here at the Hines VA Medical Center.  Which divisions of the hospital kept these secret waiting lists

Germaine Clarno:  Well employees are coming to me from all over the hospital -- from outpatient, inpatient, surgery, radiology.  

Wyatt Andrews:  Clarno says veterans were put on a secret waiting lists when they called for an appointment but wouldn't formally get an appointment booked in the computer until one came up within the VA's goal of 14 day The purpose of the list, she says, was to hide how often veterans were not being seen on time.  Is it too strong to call this fraud?

Germaine Clarno: No.

Wyatt Andrews:  To what purpose 

Germaine Clarno:  To make the numbers look better for their own recognition and for bonuses

Wyatt Andrews:  The VA grants bonuses to executives and doctors partly based on wait times.  Whistle-blowers, including Dr. Sam Foote who revealed the scandal in Phoenix where up to 40 veterans may have died, believe that bonuses give an incentive to conceal delays in care. Clarno says it's easier for bosses to claim short wait time and collect the reward than it is to explain the targets cannot be met. And you think, throughout the VA, people were faking these numbers to get bonuses? 

Germaine Clarno:  Yes.

Wyatt Andrews:  And never mind how long veterans truly waited for care?

Germaine Clarno:  Correct.


And this is when Eric Shinseki needs to go.

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs needed to resign in the fall of 2009.

That's when many veterans attempting to attend college were suffering.

The VA lied.

They flat out lied in every damn way possible and, in a functioning administration, Shinskei wouldn't have resigned, he would have been fired.

'We care about veterans, support the blah, blah, we'll do a parade . . .'

Save all your b.s.

When you let veterans suffer, when some aren't able to provide their children Christmas because of your screw up that you don't fix month after damn month, stop pretending you give a damn.

Veterans were waiting for fall tuition checks.  Many didn't get them.

For those who've forgotten, VA tried to blame colleges and universities.

They lied.  The outright lied.

They knew it wasn't the colleges.

What's even worse, they knew months ahead of time the new program wouldn't work for all veterans.  And they didn't inform veterans and they didn't inform Congress.

From the October 14, 2009 snapshot, reporting on that day's House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing:

Erick Shinseki: A plan was written, very quickly put together, uh, very short timelines, I'm looking at the certificates of eligibility uh being processed on 1 May and  enrollments 6 July, checks having to flow through August.  A very compressed timeframe. And in order to do that, we essentially began as I arrived in January, uh, putting together the  plan -- reviewing the plan that was there and trying to validate it. I'll be frank, when I arrived, uh, there were a number of people telling me this was simply not executable. It wasn't going to happen. Three August was going to be here before we could have everything in place. Uh, to the credit of the folks in uh VA, I, uh, I consulted an outside consultant, brought in an independent view, same kind of assessment.  'Unless you do some big things here, this is not possible.'  To the credit of the folks, the good folks in VBA, they took it on and they went at it hard. We hired 530 people to do this and had to train them. We had a manual system that was computer assisted. Not very helpful but that's what they inherited. And we realized in about May that the 530 were probably a little short so we went and hired 230 more people. So in excess of 700 people were trained to use the tools that were coming together even as certificates were being executed.  


He came and was told of a serious problem and didn't alert Congress.  He hired an outsider to evaluate and was told the plan in place "was simply not executable."  He still didn't inform Congress.  He tried training additional employees but, if you remember, that wasn't the problem.  And maybe if he'd been honest with Congress about what was looming, the issue could be addressed.

Instead, veterans had to take out loans.  They had to work with landlords on delaying rent.  Even after lying to Congress -- and he lied -- in October that this was going to be wrapped up quick, as late as December, some veterans had to delay Christmas for their kids because they still were waiting for the check that shouldn't have come months ago.

Shinseki should have been fired.

There has been one scandal after another including the backlog which has not been fixed, which is a shell game and VSOs are only now starting to grasp this due to complaints from their members.

It's only going to get worse.

And Barack Obama doesn't have another term as president of the United States.  This is it.  He's in the second year of his second term.

Through one scandal after another, he's allowed Shinseki to continue as VA Secretary.

How does Barack think that will look in the history books?  His infamous paragraph that he's spoken of?


It's not going to look good at all.  VA and DoD still aren't integrated so that they can produce the one electronic record -- a record which would be created for a service member and, when the service member became a veteran, the record would follow the veteran into the VA.  This would help with claims, this would reduce paperwork, you name it.

While Shinseki's been VA Secretary for Barack's full first term and now into his second, the Secretary of Defense was Robert Gates, then it was Leon Panetta, then it was Chuck Hagel (who remains in the position today).  Shinseki wasted Gates' time with a plan for the electronic record.  He never implemented it.  Then Shinseki wanted to start at square one when Panetta came in.  He'd probably still be delaying if he hadn't pissed off Hagel by lying to Congress and insisting the delay was Hagel's fault.

Hagel hit the roof (and had every reason to) and went to the White House.  That's the only reason there's been any movement (finally) on this issue.

May 5th, the American Legion called for the resignations of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, VA's Dr. Robert Petzel and the VA's Allison Hickey.







In front of local media and a live Internet audience, American Legion National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger today called for the resignations of Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, Under Secretary of Health Robert Petzel and Under Secretary of Benefits Allison Hickey.
Dellinger cited poor oversight and failed leadership as the reason for calling for the resignations – something The American Legion hasn’t done regarding a public official in more than 30 years.
“Gen. Eric Shinseki has served his country well,” Dellinger said. “His patriotism and sacrifice for this nation are above reproach. However, his record as the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs tells a different story. The existing leadership has exhibited a pattern of bureaucratic incompetence and failed leadership that has been amplified in recent weeks.”
Dellinger pointed to allegations from multiple whistleblowers of a secret waiting list at the Phoenix VA Health Care System that may have resulted in the death of approximately 40 veterans, that VA previously had acknowledged that 23 veterans throughout the health-care system have died as a result of delayed care in recent years, and a the findings of an investigation by VA’s Office of Medical Inspector that clerks at the VA clinic in Fort Collins, Colo., were instructed last year how to falsify appointment records so it appeared the small staff of doctors was seeing patients within the agency's goal of 14 days, according to the investigation.
“These disturbing reports are part of what appear to be a pattern of scandals that has infected the entire system,” said Dellinger, noting issues that have come up in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Augusta, Ga. “Those problems need addressed at the highest level – starting with new leadership. The existing leadership has exhibited a pattern of bureaucratic incompetence and failed leadership that has been amplified in recent weeks.”
Dellinger said that the failure to disclose safety information or to cover up mistakes is unforgivable – as is fostering a culture of nondisclosure. “VA leadership has demonstrated its incompetence through preventable deaths of veterans, long wait times for medical care, a benefits claims backlog numbering in excess of 596,000, and the awarding of bonuses to senior executives who have overseen such operations,” he said. “Some veterans have waited years to have their claims decided. That same leadership has failed to provide answers to why these issues continue to occur.”
Dellinger said that while errors and lapses can occur in any system, “The American Legion expects when such errors and lapses are discovered, that they are dealt with swiftly and that the responsible parties are held accountable. This has not happened at the Department of Veterans Affairs. There needs to be a change, and that change needs to occur at the top. “
When asked by media what the Legion would do if the trio didn’t resign, Dellinger said a draft of the request was being sent to the White House. “This is a very serious situation,” he said. “The administration needs to take steps now. It’s long overdue. Whenever you’re talking about a patient’s life – a veteran’s life – in jeopardy, it’s always serious.”



Dellinger also wrote an op-ed piece calling for the resignations. Read it here


It needs to happen.

The latest scandal?

If true, there's nothing that ties it to Eric Shinseki . . .

except lack of leadership.

One scandal after another indicates he's not leading and he's certainly not demanding accountability.

If the worst that can be said is that Shinseki may have encouraged fudging of the numbers, the best that can be said is he's incompetent, unable to properly review those employees under him and completely unaware of what's taking place in the department he heads.

US House Rep Jeff Miller is the Chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.  His office issued the following:




May 13, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. --  Today, Chairman Jeff Miller wrote President Obama to request that he establish a bipartisan commission on VA medical care access. Afterwards, he released the following statement:
“Judging by the throngs of veterans, families and whistleblowers who keep courageously stepping forward, VA’s delays in care problem is growing in size and scope by the day. That’s why I am asking for President Obama’s personal involvement in helping fix this crisis. For nearly a year, we have been pleading with top Department of Veterans Affairs leaders and the president to take immediate steps to stop the growing pattern of preventable veteran deaths and hold accountable any and all VA employees who have allowed patients to slip through the cracks. In response, we’ve received disturbing silence from the White House and one excuse after another from VA. Right now, President Obama is faced with a stark choice: take immediate action to help us end the culture of complacency that is engulfing the Veterans Health Administration and compromising patient safety, or explain to the American people and America’s veterans why we should tolerate the status quo.”  – Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
Related
Chairman Miller letter to President Obama
May 13, 2014
Chairman Miller letter to President Obama
May 21, 2013

The scandal plagued VA is not a star on Barack's record and Shinseki's excuses/failures/both are now apparently costing lives.  It's past time this issue was addressed.





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