The devil is in the details.....that's what they say.
I like it better when Longfellow wrote it:
"Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem."
They sure aren't.
Take the McCain/Sanders bill that, supposedly smooths the way for veterans left to the tender mercies of the VA.....
1. ".... the VAs own internal investigation disclosed that 57,436 newly enrolled veterans are facing wait times of at least 90 days for a first appointment, and 63,869 vets who signed up with the VA in the past decade never got an appointment. At least 23 vets died while waiting.
2. .... the bill creates a new Choice Card permitting veterans to access civilian care if they either live 40 miles or more from a VA hospital or cant get an appointment within the VAs definition of an acceptable wait time.
3. ...Sanders opposed the Choice Card until the final negotiations, and in the actual bill he got language that will make it almost impossible to use the card.
[Sanders.....the communist who formed the Progressive Caucus]
4. Section 301 says vets seeking civilian care have to get a letter from the VA secretary confirming that a VA appointment isnt available. Good luck getting that letter. Some vets have called and e-mailed their local VA for six months or more without getting any response.
5. Hurdle No. 2 comes at the non-VA doctors office. The Choice Card tells the doctor: Please call the Department of Veterans Affairs phone number specified on this card to ensure that treatment has been authorized. Good luck getting that call answered.
6. ....the Sanders/McCain bill stipulates that the choice-card program will end in two years probably only a few hours after the VA finally gets the hotline set up and issues the cards.
7. ...the bill also requires the VA to publish wait times on its Web site. Thats a white flag, not a reform. Britons and Canadians are used to seeing hospital wait times in the newspaper. But most Americans dont have to cope with long waits, and so why should our vets?
[Note the reference to Britain/Canada wait times! This is what ObamaCare is about to bring you! Don't forget how the ObamaCare proponents trumpeted Canada and the UK as their model.]
8. [Watch this escape clause] Sec. 408 says that any employee caught falsifying data about wait times or the quality of care vets get will be subject to a penalty the secretary considers appropriate after notice and opportunity for a hearing.
9. Sen. Johnny Isakson asked the VAs top deputy, Robert Petzel (now resigned), whether someone caught lying about wait times should be fired. Mr. Petzel replied I dont know whether thats the appropriate level of punishment or not. ....Current civil-service protections make that nearly impossible.
10. Federal Managers Association President Patricia Niehaus insists that it is unacceptable for anyone in Congress to call for a streamlining of firing high-level, or any level of federal employee, based simply on appearances or uninvestigated accusations.
Uninvestigated?"
McCain, Sanders Veterans Bill Would Backfire on Veterans, Leaving Them to Mercy of VA - The New York Sun
Don't I recall the argument in favor of ObamaCare something along the lines of "look how well the government runs the VA..."
Who are the simpletons who bought it?
Oh...right....the same ones how put the community organizer back in office.
I like it better when Longfellow wrote it:
"Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem."
They sure aren't.
Take the McCain/Sanders bill that, supposedly smooths the way for veterans left to the tender mercies of the VA.....
1. ".... the VAs own internal investigation disclosed that 57,436 newly enrolled veterans are facing wait times of at least 90 days for a first appointment, and 63,869 vets who signed up with the VA in the past decade never got an appointment. At least 23 vets died while waiting.
2. .... the bill creates a new Choice Card permitting veterans to access civilian care if they either live 40 miles or more from a VA hospital or cant get an appointment within the VAs definition of an acceptable wait time.
3. ...Sanders opposed the Choice Card until the final negotiations, and in the actual bill he got language that will make it almost impossible to use the card.
[Sanders.....the communist who formed the Progressive Caucus]
4. Section 301 says vets seeking civilian care have to get a letter from the VA secretary confirming that a VA appointment isnt available. Good luck getting that letter. Some vets have called and e-mailed their local VA for six months or more without getting any response.
5. Hurdle No. 2 comes at the non-VA doctors office. The Choice Card tells the doctor: Please call the Department of Veterans Affairs phone number specified on this card to ensure that treatment has been authorized. Good luck getting that call answered.
6. ....the Sanders/McCain bill stipulates that the choice-card program will end in two years probably only a few hours after the VA finally gets the hotline set up and issues the cards.
7. ...the bill also requires the VA to publish wait times on its Web site. Thats a white flag, not a reform. Britons and Canadians are used to seeing hospital wait times in the newspaper. But most Americans dont have to cope with long waits, and so why should our vets?
[Note the reference to Britain/Canada wait times! This is what ObamaCare is about to bring you! Don't forget how the ObamaCare proponents trumpeted Canada and the UK as their model.]
8. [Watch this escape clause] Sec. 408 says that any employee caught falsifying data about wait times or the quality of care vets get will be subject to a penalty the secretary considers appropriate after notice and opportunity for a hearing.
9. Sen. Johnny Isakson asked the VAs top deputy, Robert Petzel (now resigned), whether someone caught lying about wait times should be fired. Mr. Petzel replied I dont know whether thats the appropriate level of punishment or not. ....Current civil-service protections make that nearly impossible.
10. Federal Managers Association President Patricia Niehaus insists that it is unacceptable for anyone in Congress to call for a streamlining of firing high-level, or any level of federal employee, based simply on appearances or uninvestigated accusations.
Uninvestigated?"
McCain, Sanders Veterans Bill Would Backfire on Veterans, Leaving Them to Mercy of VA - The New York Sun
Don't I recall the argument in favor of ObamaCare something along the lines of "look how well the government runs the VA..."
Who are the simpletons who bought it?
Oh...right....the same ones how put the community organizer back in office.
