Hillary Clinton is out of touch when it comes to veterans' issues
Clinton claimed in an MSNBC interview the VA problems are not as 'widespread' as they are made out to be
by Rachel Engel
October 28, 2015
Hillary Clinton is out of touch when it comes to veterans' issues
ISAF Joint Command photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Logan Tuttle/Flickr
By Rachel Engel
M1 Staff
It’s hard not to wonder how out-of-touch Hillary Clinton has to be to make a comment like the one she made about the state of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
According to an article on CNN, Clinton said the problems in the VA are “not as widespread as it has been made out to be.”
She is referring to the revelation of ‘secret’ lists that led to the deaths of veterans waiting for healthcare at a VA center in Phoenix, Arizona. An investigation following the scandal found scheduling problems to be “systemic” at VA’s around the country.
If anything, the problem is getting worse as more and more veterans seek treatment for injuries related to the past 14 years of constant war.
Clinton, on the other hand, insisted that surveys of veterans conclude many are satisfied with the quality of healthcare from the VA, adding, “Nobody would believe from the coverage that you see, and the constant berating of the VA that comes from Republicans, in part in pursuit of this ideological agenda they have.”
This is, quite honestly, mind boggling. The red tape, waiting times and general bureaucracy that plague VA clinics is a top complaint of veterans. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, says that kind of rhetoric is what allowed those problems to grow in the first place.
"The VA scandal was caused by dishonest bureaucrats who chose to whitewash the department's problems rather than solve them,” he said. “Those who repeat that same shameful pattern of behavior are only shortchanging veterans."
Military families have taken punch after punch the last few years as the wars have raged on, first being forced to accept cutbacks in benefits and pay allowances, and then swallow the news that the war in Afghanistan will not be ending when they were originally told it would be. Now, the Democratic front runner makes the claim that the concern over quality and timely healthcare at the VA is all blown out of proportion; just smoke to distract the country.
It’s insulting.
As veterans return home from over a decade of war that has no end in sight, yet, they are rewarded with a few American flag, a yellow ribbon magnetic bumper sticker or two, and enough medical paperwork to last the m a lifetime. They sat in dusty, lonely countries for weeks and months on end, only to come home and sit in dusty, lonely VA clinics for weeks and months on end.
They deserve better, Mrs. Clinton. Don’t tell them it’s not happening.
https://www.military1.com/health-care/article/1554797014-hillary-clinton-is-out-of-touch-when-it-comes-to-veterans-issues
