Phony "Bridgegate" Gets More Air Time in Four Days Than VA In One Month

[Edgetho]

It's hard to believe, isn't it folks?

I mean, who in here would believe for one second that our Media, protected by the Constitution, given special privileges not afforded to ANY OTHER entity, INCLUDING THE GOVERNMENT, afforded special Shield Laws by Statute Law and Court Rulings.....

Who would believe that a group of people given all those SPECIAL RIGHTS would abuse their place in America Society just for a few political points, to protect THEIR boy, to push THEIR agenda.

Who would believe it?

Now That's Some Good Bias: Networks Devote More Time to Christie's "Bridgegate" Pseudoscandal in Four Days Than They Devote to the VA Scandal In an Entire Month
Ace of Spades HQ

The stopwatch doesn't lie, but reporters do.

Once again a big shout-out to ABCNews, the organization that is actually the most biased of the network newscasts. NBC is less biased, frequently, as hard as that is to believe.

In this case, while NBC devoted a paltry 44 minutes to the VA scandal, ABCNews devoted just sixteen and some seconds.

And I have a feeling I know how the networks will be playing the story in the coming weeks:\

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., repeatedly put the blame for the Veterans Affairs scandal on former President George W. Bush, while arguing that her party has worked hard for veterans in recent years.

Pelosi took a shot at Bush while saying that the scandal is a high priority for Obama. "He sees the ramifications of some seeds that were sown a long time ago, when you have two wars over a long period of time and many, many more, millions more veterans," she told reporters during her Thursday press briefing. "And so, I know that he is upset about it."

Gabe mentioned this spinline in the podcast. Sounds good. Seems plausible.

The fact that it's simply not true will not discomfit the media Palace Guard.

Some will argue that the increase in health spending was the direct result of all those wounded warriors coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. But these vets aren't driving VA costs higher.

A Congressional Budget Office report found that they cost $4,800, on average, in 2010 compared with $8,800 for other veterans who used the system.

It also found that while these Iraq and Afghan vets account for 7% of those treated, they were responsible for only 4% of its health costs.

Iraq and Afghan vets, the report found, "are typically younger and healthier than the average VHA patient and as a result are less expensive to treat."

In fact, what's driving VA costs is the same thing that's driving Medicare and Social Security spending: A big population swell called the Baby Boom generation and the many veterans of the Vietnam War, which is coming into its very costly late-in-life years.

Now, it will probably be the case that thirty years from now, this big swell of military personnel seeking treatment from the VA will create a big swell of new costs.

But that's... thirty years from now. That cannot excuse the VA now.

In addition, care for veterans has soared 27% from 2008-2012, while average health care costs for the nation generally have only risen 13% over the same period.

So, shockingly enough, it appears yet again that things get very expensive indeed when they're "free."

By the way, this particular spin directly contradicts the other liberal spin.

Rachel Maddow claims the VA scandal is not a "scandal" at all, but rather just a "problem in progress" which we've known about for years and years -- that is, that the VA has long been a dysfunctional agency.

Incidentally, Maddow was pretty sure the Walter Reed scandal was in fact a scandal.

But this one? A "problem in progress."

So which is it? Is this, per the drooling Nancy Pelosi, a problem that just snuck up on us in the last couple of years as veterans have returned from Afghanistan and thus a scandal to be laid at the feet of George W. Bush, or is this, per the frothing Rachel Maddow, a problem that's been going on forever and therefore no scandal at all?

It can't be both, Progressives.


The Progressive Philosophy

Oh yes it can be both, or neither, or one or the other, or the other or the one, as current political needs might dictate, and our position may change on this six times by Sunday.

Edge:

dimocraps are....... Well, you know what they are

 

[JoeB131]

Well, you had Christy's lackies caught red handed plotting Bridgegate.

The VA thing didn't start with Obama and probably won't end with him. It's what happens when you don't have universal health care and then have guys come back from wars with damage that no one wants to be responsible for.

 

[Edgetho]

Well, you had Christy's lackies caught red handed plotting Bridgegate.

The VA thing didn't start with Obama and probably won't end with him. It's what happens when you don't have universal health care and then have guys come back from wars with damage that no one wants to be responsible for.

Yeah. Because so many people died due to Bridgegate.

Because over 150 Veterans died waiting for treatments while the bureaucrats padded the numbers and ran two sets of books in order to get MILLIONS of dollars in bonuses.

That's what makes them so similar.

BTW, Christie IMMEDIATELY FIRED the morons responsible.

But the Lying Cocksucker won't.

Know why?

I'll tell you why.

So the people responsible for the debacles can stay there and threaten/intimidate any potential (or real) Whistle Blowers that might emerge. It's being done at the VA, at the IRS and it's being done at the State Department.

THAT is why heads aren't rolling.

It's how criminal organizations work.

And the dimocrap party is the chief criminal organization on Earth

 

[JoeB131]

guy, it's too bad you aren't a Veteran, you could avail yourself of some of their wonderful mental health programs.

The VA handles millions of veterans, and for the vast majority of them, does the job very well.

Of course, the real problem is we fought a pointless war for a decade and didn't plan for the influx of veterans it would create.

Probably a lot of people are going to lose their jobs over this, and some of them won't deserve it, but will get dinged because they didn't fill out Block 45 on DD Form 8947. Because, sadly, that's how bureaucracies work. (Not just Government ones, but corporate ones as well.)

 

[Edgetho]

guy, it's too bad you aren't a Veteran, you could avail yourself of some of their wonderful mental health programs.

The VA handles millions of veterans, and for the vast majority of them, does the job very well.

Of course, the real problem is we fought a pointless war for a decade and didn't plan for the influx of veterans it would create.

Probably a lot of people are going to lose their jobs over this, and some of them won't deserve it, but will get dinged because they didn't fill out Block 45 on DD Form 8947. Because, sadly, that's how bureaucracies work. (Not just Government ones, but corporate ones as well.)

Cut and run, huh REMF?

Figures.

 

[Sallow]

Christie's scandal was the real deal. I got caught and that traffic, it was a nightmare. And being that I had just started my present job and was under a probation period, I really hope Christie's career is over for this.

The VA?

It's a real scandal that has had decades in the making. And it's a travesty people that have fought and died for this country have trouble getting medical care when they come back.

That said, it's not like conservatives really give a fuck.

This is yet another road to impeachment for you folks.

President Obama has actually done quite a bit of good for the vets. But that's not in your radar.

Neither are the vets.

 

[Sallow]

Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect of being the last casualty in a war he had started and lost. To spare himself, he agreed to disarm of all weapons of mass destruction.

For the next 12 years, he systematically violated that agreement. He pursued chemical, biological and nuclear weapons even while inspectors were in his country.

Nothing to date has restrained him from his pursuit of these weapons: not economic sanctions, not isolation from the civilized world, not even cruise missile strikes on his military facilities.

Almost three months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He has shown instead utter contempt for the United Nations and for the opinion of the world.

The 108 U.N. inspectors were sent to conduct -- were not sent to conduct a scavenger hunt for hidden materials across a country the size of California. The job of the inspectors is to verify that Iraq's regime is disarming.

It is up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its banned weapons, lay those weapons out for the world to see and destroy them as directed. Nothing like this has happened.

The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons materials sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax; enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for that material. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin; enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He hasn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands. He's not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors recently turned up 16 of them, despite Iraq's recent declaration denying their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to produce germ warfare agents and can be moved from place to a place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb.

The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production.
CNN.com - Bush's State of the Union speech - Jan. 29, 2003

Where's Issa?

 

[JoeB131]

guy, it's too bad you aren't a Veteran, you could avail yourself of some of their wonderful mental health programs.

The VA handles millions of veterans, and for the vast majority of them, does the job very well.

Of course, the real problem is we fought a pointless war for a decade and didn't plan for the influx of veterans it would create.

Probably a lot of people are going to lose their jobs over this, and some of them won't deserve it, but will get dinged because they didn't fill out Block 45 on DD Form 8947. Because, sadly, that's how bureaucracies work. (Not just Government ones, but corporate ones as well.)

Cut and run, huh REMF?

Figures.

So you didn't have an answer, then?

I blame both parties for the war, because no one had the guts to keep it from happening. The least we can do now is try to do right by the guys who fought it.

If you are a vet, I would honestly suggest mental health counselling, it seems like you have pretty serious mental issues.