re: Nancy Pelosi blames George W. Bush for Veterans Affairs scandal

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Why is it that Republicans are only now blaming the president for a system that has been in trouble for so long?

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Not blaming him for it being a mess, but he deserves blame for campaigning to change the VA and it has only gotten worse. I hold him responsible for being dishonest about not knowing until hearing news reports.

I hold the left just as responsible as they held power in both the senate and the house the last two years of Bush's presidency and not doing anything. I hold the left responsible because they had super majority power in Obama's first two years and did nothing to help change the course of the VA.

If you are good with all that and don't see the issues or responsibility the left has in problems of the VA. Enjoy life as a sheep following blindly.

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I hold the left responsible because they had super majority power in Obama's first two years and did nothing to help change the course of the VA.

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Why start there when the problem has been going on for decades?

Why not hold the Right responsible because they held both houses and the executive for 6 years from 2000-2006? And after all, wasn't it the Right's idea to swell the number of veterans needing medical assistance with their war of choice back in 2003? Didn't they tell us that oil revenue from Iraq was going to pay for all that - including VA care? Did it?

It just looks like partisan hackery in a mid-term election year to me. Don't fall for it.

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Why start there when the problem has been going on for decades?

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Say you're going to sell your house, as is. One corner of the roof has a sag in it needing to be repaired. The buyer says okay, I'll take it anyway and repair it myself. Six years later it still has not been repaired.

Are you at fault for not fixing it before selling or is the buyer at fault for not repairing it himself and saying he would now that the roof has fallen in?

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I'm a firm believer that the only way to fix the VA is to require that every member of Congress has to use it for all of their medical needs for as long as they are in office.

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Agreed. This would also be an ideal way to fix Obamacare.

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Say you're going to sell your house, as is. One corner of the roof has a sag in it needing to be repaired. The buyer says okay, I'll take it anyway and repair it myself. Six years later it still has not been repaired. Are you at fault for not fixing it before selling or is the buyer at fault for not repairing it himself and saying he would now that the roof has fallen in?

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I think I see your point...

It's kind of like the brewing housing collapse that Bush inherited from Clinton. Clinton didn't fix the roof, Bush didn't fix the roof and it collapsed in on him, and now we blame Obama for the condition of the roof because well, it's a mid-term election cycle.

Truth

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Bush didn't fix the roof and it collapsed in on him, and now we blame Obama for the condition of the roof because well, it's a mid-term election cycle.

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It's your opinion that it collapsed under Bush. The collapse appears to have happened more recently with the scandal that has reared its head. To blame Obama for the collapse is the right thing to do. He promised to fix it and he hasn't.

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it's a mid-term election cycle

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With the way this has gone down over the last couple of months you really don't think we would be hearing as much about it even if there was no election in Nov.? The govt. is messing with veterans here. I've heard just as much harsh criticism coming from the left as the right concerning the situation. Obama has egg on his face and no doubt he will try to do a 180 as to who is to blame. More than a majority of people have gotten tired of shtick and excuses.

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Why start there when the problem has been going on for decades?

Why not hold the Right responsible because they held both houses and the executive for 6 years from 2000-2006? And after all, wasn't it the Right's idea to swell the number of veterans needing medical assistance with their war of choice back in 2003? Didn't they tell us that oil revenue from Iraq was going to pay for all that - including VA care? Did it?

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Breakdown of Congress since 2000 elections:
2001-2002
1/2001=WH R, Senate R (50-50), House R
6/2001=WR R, Senate D, House R
2003-2004: WH R, Senate R, House R
2005-2006: WH R, Senate R, House R
2007-2008: WH R, Senate D, House D
2009-2010: WH D, Senate D, House D
2011-2012: WH D, Senate D, House R
2013-2014:WH D, Senate D, House R

Since Bush was elected, the Rs had majority in both houses and WH for 4 years, the Ds had it for 2 with a Super Majority, something Rs never had.

That said, the VA issue, as said before, should be assumed that neither side is 100% to blame and has been going on for some time so either side which blames it entirely on a president or party is disingenuous.

That said, it's overly simplistic to say Rs were against the VA bills. They come in many forms, authorizations and appropriations. The talking heads lump everything together to fool the simple. The annual funding (appropriations) bill for VA is paired with MILCON, which contains a ton of shite. Saying either side held up funding is ridiculous given the budget games that take place. Admin sends a budget, blames congress for changing it, even though they put shite in there to look good and knew would never pass, etc.

Digging deeper the VA issue is not simply about funding. Same argument for education, if only we threw money at something it would improve. The VA mistreatment is about management and administration, the boring part of governing. That has little to do with Congress. Obama's people are now the appointed officials leading and administering the department and the Sec has been there since 2009, that's about as much continuity as you can ask for. If they needed money it's their job to ask for it. If Docs are working 3 hours a day, the managers need to deal with it.

Considering Obama's previous statements and acknowledgments of issues going back nearly a decade, he has no room to pass the buck.

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It just looks like partisan hackery in a mid-term election year to me

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So the whistlblowers were Republican operatives, not career doctors who risked a great deal to tell their stories?

Her days are numbered. She and Harry Reid both need to be put out of their misery.

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The problem with the VA is not funding. It is leadership.

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I say they go hand in hand.

I've done a lot of work with the VA, ending in 2011, consulting in a contractor capacity. Their wage scales are lackluster and their organizational structure is weak. There is nothing harmonious, information flows poorly, and it is seemingly by design.

When you're trying to get top talent to come in house, you're only going to get a few that sacrifice wealth for the philanthropically steeped intrinsic value, especially in a winner take all market. When you can make $1M as a surgeon, are you going to take the quarter million VA gig?

They addressed this back in the 50s, 60s, through research institutions and resource Sharing, it clearly hasn't had lasting effects. Many VA departments, especially ED, Radiology, RadOnc, et al., are virtually sole sourced under management contracts to universities who put low-mid tier labor talent in place at mid to top tier rates. Almost all residents rotate through VA. Back to the leadership side, when nobody is really in charge in each department, and contractors are supplying much of the labor, pay scales will vary amongst those working side by side. VA employees naturally despise making less, so they leave, often returning through a contractor. Privatization, it's real.