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Sunday, May 25, 2014

Memorial Day. The VA. And Bernie, caring to do things with accountability, but correctly recognizing due process Constitutional norms.

Two links, here and here. The troll will perhaps offer a "he's a socialist, that's socialism" comment. It would be correct on both counts. The VA's medical coverage is an example of socialized medicine, which if off track can be put back on track, not privatized into oblivion as some would do with Medicare, Social Security, and VA benefits, under the guise of "reform."

Properly funded, those three systems work and help those less fortunate than the 1%, to feel secure and not subject to adverse whim and circumstance fueled by the greed of the 1%.

For the Memorial Day holiday, it is proper to look to substantive things, beyond waving a flag and saying, "They served and we respect that." Those words, that flag waving, it's cheap, and devoid of true substance. Any politician can pull that stunt; and many do. Put the funding and supervison where it trumps tokenism.

__________UPDATE___________
Marco No, from the party of NO, reported, here. WAPO, w/o a byline date, but likely this past week [UPDATE: reporting on earlier veteran affairs legislation; (byline Feb. 27 of this year)]; here. The Blaze, here, fails to discuss funding and coverage considerations, only Marco posturing. This link. The Senate Committee page. C-SPAN. Rollcall. While the House majority is moving as it is, Rollcall noted:

The chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee appears to be rejecting a House-passed bill that would grant authority to the VA secretary to fire a variety of senior officials.

Instead, Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., is working to develop a new piece of VA accountability bill in consultation with the White House, his office said in a statement Friday. The bill would include “expedited due-process protections” for covered VA employees, Sanders’ office said.

“In recent years, as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 1.5 million more veterans have entered the VA health care system,” Sanders said in a statement. “Congress must do everything possible to make certain that the VA has the financial resources and administrative accountability to provide the high-quality health care and timely access to care that our veterans earned and deserve.”

[...] Sanders also announced plans to reintroduce a version of broader veteran’s health legislation that failed to garner the votes needed overcome a GOP filibuster on the Senate floor.

House Republicans seem long on bluster, short on funding it; and that's fine with Marco No. Throwing stones.