Posted on Sep 15, 2015
Remember Ben Carson's comment on closing the VA? Would you believe he just doubled down?
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"Carson: Shutter VA healthcare system"
Think it is a re-post?
This is from Mr. Carson's Monday comment!
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GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson said on Monday that military veteran care requires such a drastic overhaul, he’ll end the Veterans Health Administration if he wins the White House.
“When it comes to veterans’ care, Americans are rightfully outraged, and can no longer be content with business as usual,” Carson wrote in a USA Today op-ed.
“The VA is like the federal version of the Department of Motor Vehicles: inefficient, incompetent and infuriating,” he said. “Except the VA is much worse: at least the DMV’s long wait times do not kill its applicants.”
Carson said his background as a neurosurgeon makes him skeptical that Veteran Affairs can rehabilitate its ailing healthcare system.
“These failures cannot stand,” Carson added. “At a minimum, the Veterans Health Administration should be eliminated to forge a 21st Century veterans health care solution.”
Carson said he is outraged by the agency’s delays, corruption and poor service for former military personnel.
“The astonishing findings of public and private audits have turned out to be much worse than anyone suspected,” Carson wrote.
“Decades of effort and billions of taxpayer dollars have been thrown at ‘fixing’ the VA, and the results have been abysmal,” he said. “The backlog of veterans waiting for treatment or even disability classification is stupendous, and drives them to frustration and even desperation.”
Carson argued on Monday that the VA must increase its speed and efficiency in dealing with veterans’ medical needs.
It must also improve its programs for helping veterans re-enter civilian life, he said.
Carson’s remarks come amid surging enthusiasm for the retired doctor across multiple national polls.
He currently ranks second in the race for next year’s GOP presidential nomination with 16.8 percent, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/253615-carson-shutter-va-healthcare-system
Think it is a re-post?
This is from Mr. Carson's Monday comment!
----------------------------------------------------------------
GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson said on Monday that military veteran care requires such a drastic overhaul, he’ll end the Veterans Health Administration if he wins the White House.
“When it comes to veterans’ care, Americans are rightfully outraged, and can no longer be content with business as usual,” Carson wrote in a USA Today op-ed.
“The VA is like the federal version of the Department of Motor Vehicles: inefficient, incompetent and infuriating,” he said. “Except the VA is much worse: at least the DMV’s long wait times do not kill its applicants.”
Carson said his background as a neurosurgeon makes him skeptical that Veteran Affairs can rehabilitate its ailing healthcare system.
“These failures cannot stand,” Carson added. “At a minimum, the Veterans Health Administration should be eliminated to forge a 21st Century veterans health care solution.”
Carson said he is outraged by the agency’s delays, corruption and poor service for former military personnel.
“The astonishing findings of public and private audits have turned out to be much worse than anyone suspected,” Carson wrote.
“Decades of effort and billions of taxpayer dollars have been thrown at ‘fixing’ the VA, and the results have been abysmal,” he said. “The backlog of veterans waiting for treatment or even disability classification is stupendous, and drives them to frustration and even desperation.”
Carson argued on Monday that the VA must increase its speed and efficiency in dealing with veterans’ medical needs.
It must also improve its programs for helping veterans re-enter civilian life, he said.
Carson’s remarks come amid surging enthusiasm for the retired doctor across multiple national polls.
He currently ranks second in the race for next year’s GOP presidential nomination with 16.8 percent, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/253615-carson-shutter-va-healthcare-system
Election 2016
Republicans
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 24
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Think about it. A private physican would love to see the VA shut down so that all his private physican pals can get that income from the government to provide services at ten times the cost. Of course he is doubling down.
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Totally agree with Dr. Carson who interned in and therefore personally experienced the VA healthcare system firsthand, unlike current administration bureaucrats. The turnovers are exceeded only by Pepperidge Farms.
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I actually think this could be a very viable option.
To be very clear, what he is stating is that we don't need a separate VA, NOT that we shouldn't take care of our veterans. I think the DoD could easily incorporate Veteran care and perhaps things would run more smoothly. At the very least, administrative costs would be saved by combination. Also access to specialists for both sides would increase as the providers were pooled.
To be very clear, what he is stating is that we don't need a separate VA, NOT that we shouldn't take care of our veterans. I think the DoD could easily incorporate Veteran care and perhaps things would run more smoothly. At the very least, administrative costs would be saved by combination. Also access to specialists for both sides would increase as the providers were pooled.
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Suspended Profile
What does he know about the military?
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Sounds like he wants improvements and without improvements, closing the VA down would be best for Vets. Nothing he said implies getting rid any VA programs. Diverting VA programs to people that can manage it effectively will be better than what is going on right now.
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If any of you think your service will take care of you, I got some swamp land to sell you. All of you are forgetting the VA normally does a better job than your service does when it comes for Comp and Pen. Take care of troops= x billions of dollars, screw them over and I get a shiny new XM57 Flying Tank Submarine Assault vehicle. Tough choice here...Let's look at history, 3 famous Generals: McArthur, Patton and Eisenhower were all involved in the 1932 bonus fiasco, and what happened to them? Nothing
Same DoD who told us no such thing as Agent Orange problems, no such thing as radiation problems from above ground nuclear testing, burn pit problems, PTSD is all in our minds, Gulf War Syndrome. Yeah I want these guys to take care of me, said no veteran ever.
Same DoD who told us no such thing as Agent Orange problems, no such thing as radiation problems from above ground nuclear testing, burn pit problems, PTSD is all in our minds, Gulf War Syndrome. Yeah I want these guys to take care of me, said no veteran ever.
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The VA is as screwed up as Hogan's goat. The doctors, nurses and bureaucratic staff work incredibly hard. They are dedicated and caring people. There just aren't enough of them, and leadership doesn't care.
Eliminate the VA and send me to Kaiser!
Eliminate the VA and send me to Kaiser!
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What many of these candidates either refuse to acknowledge or care about is that just because you are the POTUS does not give you the ability to just up and abolish a secretary level shop. What would be prudent to any candidate would to have a possible solution that is feasible and long lasting; something I haven't heard from any other than "shut down the VA". I don't think for one second the American public doesn't already know of the issues plaguing us, but what we want/need to hear are solutions to these problems that will not break the bank, cost unessicary lives, provide actionable accountability, and can be adapted within short order. Shutting down the VA is NOT something any future president could do in one term. The study groups, the mando congressional hearings and investigations, the litigation both on actually shutting it down, and what to do with the workers would burn much needed time. I would recommend ANY candidate admit that VA needs an overhaul and admit that it won't be done "on my first day in office". And let's not forget that in order to take a dump, we have to ask our allies, so if Bibi, King of Saudi, PM of England, et al, don't approve it's not going to happen.
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Yes, dump it and go to a single payer system for veterans. The money saved would be better put to use in education, energy, etc. Rather than government provided AND paid, let's just go to paid.
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See when you see or hear this statement it makes some sense.
We all know that the VA is broken and needs serious reform to be more effective. But moving the VA to fall under a different department in the government is only moving the slackers and overpaid bureaucrats to a new department head where business will be conducted as usual and instead of the VA being the target, it will be some other department.
I fail to see why so many politicians think that reorganizing a failing department under a new one and renaming it makes it any better.
I know some will take offense to what I say next but its a good image to think of.
If you take a homeless person off the street, clean them up and put them in a $1000 dollar outfit but don't offer anything else in the way of change what do you have? You have an extremely well dressed homeless person that is not going to change because all that was done is to clean them up and put them in nice clothes.
The VA and the rest of our government needs to be overhauled, get rid of career politicians, stop duplicating work in several departments, get rid of contractors who cannot do a job within budget. I am certain there are many more changes that need to be done but lets fix things instead of trying to make new ones that will only add more confusion to an already confused system.
We all know that the VA is broken and needs serious reform to be more effective. But moving the VA to fall under a different department in the government is only moving the slackers and overpaid bureaucrats to a new department head where business will be conducted as usual and instead of the VA being the target, it will be some other department.
I fail to see why so many politicians think that reorganizing a failing department under a new one and renaming it makes it any better.
I know some will take offense to what I say next but its a good image to think of.
If you take a homeless person off the street, clean them up and put them in a $1000 dollar outfit but don't offer anything else in the way of change what do you have? You have an extremely well dressed homeless person that is not going to change because all that was done is to clean them up and put them in nice clothes.
The VA and the rest of our government needs to be overhauled, get rid of career politicians, stop duplicating work in several departments, get rid of contractors who cannot do a job within budget. I am certain there are many more changes that need to be done but lets fix things instead of trying to make new ones that will only add more confusion to an already confused system.
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