CONFIRMED: Top House Spending Official Knew Of Walter Reed Squalor
CONFIRMED: Top House Spending Official Knew Of Walter Reed Squalor
Congressional Quarterly confirms today that senior House conservatives, including the chairmen of the appropriations and oversight committees, knew about the neglect and deplorable conditions at Walter Reed years before they were exposed by the Washington Post.
Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-FL), former chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said he stopped short of going public with the hospital’s problems “to avoid embarrassing the Army while it was fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan”:
“We got in Gen. Kiley’s face on a regular basis,” Young said, adding that he even contacted the commander of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda in the hopes of getting better care there for the patient with the aneurysm, though doctors at Walter Reed declined to transfer him. …
“We did not go public with these concerns, because we did not want to undermine the confidence of the patients and their families and give the Army a black eye while fighting a war,” Young said.
Young claims he regularly “got in Gen. Kiley’s face.” But Kiley never responded to Young’s complaints. Nevertheless, as ThinkProgress noted last week, Young was publicly praising Kiley during a congressional hearing as recently as January:
YOUNG: Well, Mr. Chairman, I want to join you in welcoming our guests and our witnesses today, having known especially Don Arthur and General Kiley very, very well over the years. I thought they’d get tired of seeing us in their hospitals. And we haven’t had as much opportunity to visit with the Air Force, General. But I know that these gentlemen are committed to providing our war heroes with the very, very best medical care that is possible.
Also, while Young claims he didn’t want to go public with the problems at Walter Reed, he was more than willing to use wounded veterans publicly as a political cudgel. Here is Young on the House floor on 11/18/05, speaking against Rep. John Murtha’s (D-PA) redeployment plan:
YOUNG: So tonight, Mr. Speaker, we need to send a strong message to our troops and to their families. For those families who are dealing with the loss of a loved one, for those families who are dealing with a seriously wounded soldier or marine who might be at Walter Reed Hospital or at Bethesda Hospital or at Landsthul in Germany, we need to let them know that we are here to support them. (CR, p. H11009)
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The GOPer Congressman must resign immediately in shame!
March 8th, 2007 at 10:42 amAnd Bill Clinton was impeached for a blowjob. Go figure.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:45 amSo what about the other members of the committee? I don’t recall hearing anything from them, either. Did Young work alone? Were the Democrats locked out?
March 8th, 2007 at 10:47 amIt’s amazing all the things you can’t do while a war is going on. You can’t criticize the Army when they’re treating wounded soldiers like shit. You can’t criticize the president for lying us into the war and not managing it with any competence whatsoever. You can’t criticize the Secretary of Defense for not providing the troops with proper equipment. My goodness, I never realized what a sensitive thing it was to be in a war. I probably shouldn’t even be writing this. I could be srewing up the war effort.
Of all the things you can’t do during a war, isn’t it comforting to know that we can at least give the top 1% of our wealthy citizens hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks while we shortchange the soldiers?
March 8th, 2007 at 10:48 amYoung was wrong plain and simple. While I understand he internal debate, providing proper medical care was the primary concern. Sure it would have giving the Army a “Black Eye” but do we care in this case? When the Army is failing at it’s duty, we need to call them on it publicly so the Army fixes it’s problems. Now that the situation has come to light, I hope the army starts to repair. The Dems from TP’s previous post seem to be on track and have a bill ready to add the needed money to our military budget to help with vet healthcare. Now we just need to monitor the Army to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Obviously those in the Army in charge of this all need to be gone as they failed our Vets. I hope the Dems continue to monitor this situation and stay on top of the Army to make sure they don’t fail again.
What congressmen Young did was unacceptable. He let the army continue to fail simply because he didn’t want to give them a “black eye” during a war. That is wrong. He knew it was the armies fault years ago and he didn’t demand they fix their problems.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:50 amWe just need more camaras…the GOP seems only to be willing to support the troops when the camaras are on
March 8th, 2007 at 10:50 amEverybody must flood Rep. Young’s office with phone calls and faxes to resign from the Congress. Covering up neglect of wounded soldiers is despicable conduct.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:51 amdisgusting… shamefull… and sadly, par for the course.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:51 amAnother g.o.p.er who refuses to protect the troops, while attacking anyone who dares question our fearless leader.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:54 amSubstitute Army with “Bush Administration” in CW Young’s quote and you’ve got a true statement –
“..to avoid embarrassing the Army while it was fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan..”
March 8th, 2007 at 10:54 amI support the troops. See, I even have the T-Shirt.
Friggin moron.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:56 amBill.Young@mail.house.gov
Be civil, be firm.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:57 amIs it just me, or does R_R seem sane at times, recently?
March 8th, 2007 at 10:58 amWhen a parent doesnt provide for a child in its care its called neglect and is a crime for which most go to jail. Our vets are being neglected by the very administration who claims to be thier biggest supporter and is charged with overseeing thier well being. Solution……long prison terms for all involved. Since this will never happen,maybe a disgruntled vet will confront Kiley in a manner that cant be brushed aside.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:01 amPost 13 > Roger_Roger seems to be very rational today.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:02 amBobcat,
It’s not you. Perhaps reality asserted itself (finally).
Goes to show there is still hope.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:03 amAs for General Kiley: He must be court-martialed, and reduced in rank to private, then forced to clean bed-pans at Walter Reed hospital for his punishment till that facility is closed down.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:05 amProtect your party not the country or those who died for it. Republicans are scum!!!!!
March 8th, 2007 at 11:06 amI think of all public officials as stewards and caretakers of our government. When they fall short, they deserve to be removed from office immediately and be denied thier pensions. There should be no second chances for something as serious as leadership failure. There’s no excuse for it.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:10 amHere is contact numbers for Rep. Young in DC:
Phone: 202-225-5961
FAX: 202-225-9764
Call him or fax him a letter to force him to resign from Congress.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:15 amSo Rep. Young wanted to “avoid embarrassing the Army while it was fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistanâ€, eh?
Apparently saving face is more important than giving sound health care to the returning wounded veterans -as if the conditions at Walter Reed weren’t an embarrasment already.
At least we know where some people’s priorities are… and convering for the Bush administration seems to be always at the top.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:15 amShame on them all.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:17 amHeckuva job supporting the troops, Republican dirtbags, heckuva job…
Good comment #4, Trip.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:19 amRepublicans need to change the name of their party
March 8th, 2007 at 11:28 amHypocrites-R-US
or maybe
CRIME INC.
would be more apropriate.
Good comment #4, Trip.
Oops! Sorry chimpeach. Good comment, though.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:30 amPlease remember that although the Army has lots of ’splainin’ to do, Walter Reed was being privatized (golly, whaddya know? Halliburton!) beginning in 2000.
Quelle surprise.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:31 amCongressman Young needs to spend more time with his family — effective immediately.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:33 amOh guys, call the mf locally. His St. Pete number is 727-893-3191. Let his hometown know how gross Young and his wife are.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:37 amFloridaMom,
How gross are they? Seriously.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:43 amRepublicanism is a failed ideology.
You can not run a government if you hate government.
Would you hire a person who hated plants to be your gardener?
Republican governance is an existential threat to the lives of every american, if not the world.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:44 amWow. Can’t give the Army a “black eye.”
Can’t give the soldiers the treatment they need.
But, hey, IOKIYAR.
Shouldn’t the media be trumpeting loud and long that these investigations are only coming to light, to public attention, now that an opposition party is in control of Congress?
Oh, yeah…our media is the MCM (Mainstream Corporate Media). However, the NPR did cover horrible conditions at a Southern VA/Army medical facility, it was written about on the blogs–but the MCM just kept their heads down (the better to suck up?) so they could maintain access to the perpetrators of these wretched conditions our wounded soldiers had to endure.
Wow.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:45 am4. Of all the things you can’t do during a war, isn’t it comforting to know that we can at least give the top 1% of our wealthy citizens hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks while we shortchange the soldiers?
Comment by chimpeach
Amen. You found the one thing never before done during wartime this administration felt bold enough to deal with.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:59 am13. Is it just me, or does R_R seem sane at times, recently?
Comment by bobcat_grad
March 8th, 2007 at 12:05 pmIt’s all facade. Just the Spin Master Troll’s way of making us think he’s got a legitimate argument. But if you read between the lines you see the neocon within popping through. I don’t think he even know he’s doing it.
Wonder who pays for his all day every day propaganda.
nothing undermines the troops and their families more than stuff that makes republican’ts look bad – that’s the real danger here – if those proud fighting men and women were to discover that something looked bad for republican’ts, they’d just lose their will to go on, they’d be so distracted by their empathy and concern for bill nelson.
HFS!!!
March 8th, 2007 at 12:07 pmChimpeach, as you know, that is one of the reasons war was started, they knew it meant that they would be beyond reproach.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:07 pmCan anyone tell me if the Wall Street Journal leans to the right?
I have been approached by a journalist who wants to do a story on one of my cases(I’m a social worker). I want to have some idea of how an article might be spun – just part of my decision making process.
I know this is off topic but I thought that left minded bloggers would be a more reliable sounding board than trying to decipher standard and often biased online information on this subject.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:14 pmWall Street Journal has been right winged since Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. They criticized Carter’s deficeits and let Reagan’s bigger deficeits slide.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:24 pmThe Democrats have called for a withdrawal from Iraq. When? Right before the elections. Just like the withdrawal the Pentagon ordered.
The Democrats don’t care about our troops, they only care about their political power, same as the Republicans.
Time for a third party and I don’t mean vote for somebody else next election. I mean a serious shift in the political landscape of this country. We are being used by two parties that don’t want anything that the people want.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:29 pmIn Florida we’re trying to get Young to retire and not run again in 2008. He’s been in since 1971 and would be hard to beat, even with this. But, if we make a big enough stink about it he might get tired of defending himself and call it quits. The district is definitely winnable.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:29 pmWhy has the dem majority in Congress failed to fix the Walter Reed problem? What are they waiting for?
Oh, that’s right, they’re too busy voting on non-binding war resolutions…
March 8th, 2007 at 12:30 pmUNCONSCIONABLE!!!! How on earth do these people sleep at night???
March 8th, 2007 at 12:32 pmThe Democrats don’t care about our troops, they only care about their political power, same as the Republicans.
Comment by Spudge_Boy
Wow, Spudge and I agree on something. Very strange…
March 8th, 2007 at 12:37 pmCynicon Implant,
I’ll bet that if we met in person it would be a lot different than it is here in the battle grounds. I have lots of conservative friends.
Here are two other things we probably agree on. The second amendment and the death penalty.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:46 pm#5-R2,
The army did not fail. Such a statement is a grossly over-simplified generalization that is factually incorrect and attempts to put the blame on the victim. Such a claim is shameful, to say the least, in that it is akin to blaming the “army†for losing a battle after sending them into the battle armed only with blanks.
The facts of this particular situation are very straight forward. The conditions at WR and the horrific mistreatment of wounded American service members are caused by a failure in leadership/oversight and “privatizationâ€. Compassionate care and healing always come second to profit in a privatized environment. So that means that when facing a choice of making a dollar or providing the best treatment for the patient, business logic dictates that you go for the buck. That’s called “capitalismâ€, great for widgets but antithesis to the concepts of healthcare. Please read the Hippocratic oath in its entirety.
The current “leadership†in Washington DC continually doles out empty rhetoric of “supporting the troops†just to satisfy and manipulate the public. This point is hammered home by Mr. Young. He had no genuine concern for the troops nor does he support them. He said so himself when he admitted to not addressing a known SERIOUS and horrific problem of abuse and neglect of wounded US troops, the most vulnerable of all troops and those whose life and well being absolutely depend upon “supportâ€. Instead of supporting the troops Mr. Young, when the time came, chose to support his party first. This is how the administration and the current republican party operate. No matter how anyone tries to spin this, that is the truth.
Blaming the victims is both wrong and sick. Your disingenuousness is also revealed in that you never mention the head of the armed services, the commander in chief, when discussing responsibility. Do you see the disconnect there? Blaming the army, and then by extension the very victims of this crime, is a cowards approach and literally, in this case, adding insult to injury.
Shame on you.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:47 pm#40-CI,
You’re right, heads should roll on this one. Where does the buck stop? Who is ultimately in charge of ALL OF THE ARMED SERVICES, say, a “commander in chief”?
March 8th, 2007 at 12:50 pm“And Bill Clinton was impeached for a blowjob. Go figure.”
I think o’l BJ bill was impeached for lying under oath.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:14 pmDoes Young really expect anyone to believe his outrage over conditions at Walter Reed when he had the power to change those conditions through funding and yet all he did was “get in Kiley’s face”? Why didn’t he go to the WH with his complaints and outrage. His concern was not for the troops but only for the “face” of the Republican party. If he is that inept and powerless to “do” anything but blame then what good is he? We don’t need people like this in congress and certainly not as head of committees whose business is to provide oversight to prevent such conditions from existing. He should be embarrassed for comments praising Kiley while knowing of these conditions at Walter Reed. He demonstrated a genuine lack of concern or motivation to help the injured troops despite knowing of their deplorable treatment until it was exposed by the media, so now he wants us to believe he was trying all along to change it. He was and is a large part of the problem and should be put out of the way for being so loudly ineffective.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:20 pmGreat post’s Tuber, I agree and thank you for taking the time to submit here for all to read…Blessings
March 8th, 2007 at 1:20 pmCan we just call Rep. Young a Whistle Swallower?
March 8th, 2007 at 1:30 pm“We did not go public with these concerns, because we did not want to undermine the confidence of the patients and their families…”
How screwed up is that! Not only did they not go public, they didn’t do anything to fix the problem. Morons.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:33 pm#49-John,
I like that. Thanks for the chuckle.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:37 pmCan anyone tell me if the Wall Street Journal leans to the right?
I have been approached by a journalist who wants to do a story on one of my cases(I’m a social worker). I want to have some idea of how an article might be spun – just part of my decision making process.
WSJ editorial pages are about as far to the Right as you can go without falling off the flat world’s edge, but their journalists appear to be pretty well insulated from the editorial weirdos and produce solid journalism.
At any rate, this used to be true. I admit to not having read the paper for several years.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:39 pmOne little observation I aquired in the TV viewing last week was the showing of painter’s scraping and painting over the black mold at Walter Reed…..Now I’m no authority on this but from what I have read and seen on the mold subject the black mold is deadly to many and need’s to be delt with by has mat crew’s..Paint, clorox and minor clean up are no good….Was told by a expert (contractor) last week that the surface board’s down to the stud’s must be removed and if the stud’s are involved all must be removed and handled by a certafied team in cover gear….Looked like, to me, all they were doing was surface clean up and a bandaid on a huge leak in the dam…..Blessings
March 8th, 2007 at 1:44 pmThe most importanr thing is: never declare war like the Constitution says! That’ll tip the enemy off to your plans.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:53 pmThe right only support the troops as a cudgel with which to bash liberals. In other words, in the abstract — in reality they are just the hired help in Gooper eyes — there for the photo ops, and the magnetic car decals, but once that’s done they should keep their mouths shut and be thankful for what we give them.
The Republicans have become the equivalent of a Leninist party over the last 15-20 years. Loyalty to the party and dear leader come first before everything. There is no objective truth, only contingent, tactical truths. That which advances the party must be true. Things that would embarrass the party are bad. If it hurts the troops, well, they should have gone into the private sector.
March 8th, 2007 at 2:04 pm“We did not go public with these concerns, because we did not want to undermine the confidence of the patients and their families and give the Army a black eye while fighting a war,†Young said.
yessir, patriotism is more important than the truth…
March 8th, 2007 at 2:08 pmRepublicanism is a failed ideology.
Comment by feckless — March 8, 2007 @ 11:44 am
No, Republicanism is not a failed ideology. REPUBLICANS have failed the Republican ideology. they have gone too far away from how it was meant to be.
Comment by Spudge_Boy — March 8, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
Thank you for noticing the exact same thing that I did. The Dem controlled Congress wants an immediate withdraw 1 1/2 years from now, right in the heart of election season.
Go Figure
March 8th, 2007 at 2:39 pm#57 Saying you want to immediatly bring the troops home in 1 1/2 years doesn’t make sense. You are either in support of the war and wish to extend it another 1 1/2 years or you wish to bring the troops home now. You can’t have both as it logically doesn’t make sense. Sounds like the Dems have made their choice and now support the war effort. While it doesn’t sit well with me that they broke their campaign promise, I do agree that we need to clean up out mistake and help the Iraqi’s secure their country.
March 8th, 2007 at 2:56 pm#44 I wasn’t blaming the troops for the armies failure. I agree that this failure is the fault of the commanders in charge of the hospital. I also believe this failure rests with Bush and the 109th for reducing budgets and not properly funding the military.
Luckily it sounds like the Dems are in the process of increasing the militaries budget to provide them with whatever they need. This is how it should be in a time for war. The Dems have really stepped up. The are now supporting the Iraq war and extending it at least another 1 1/2 years and are also increasing Military budgets to provide our troops with whatever they need and fullfill all their wishes. Kinda a role reversal. military spending used to be a repug thing while the Dems always wanted to reduce and destroy out military. Now it reverses and the repugs start reducing spending and mismanage a war to the point we almost had to stop. The Dems stepped up and now do what old time repugs used to. They turned this around.
We have no one to thank but the Dems controlling the 110th. They refused to let the Iraq war stop and realized the importance of cleaning up our mistake. Without their vote of yes to all the Iraq war money this war would have ended. They were smart enough to give our military the green light to continue the war at least another 1 1/2 years. Furthermore, they realized that our troops needed more general funding and TP has reported they are planning to increase military funding dramatically. Keep it up Dems and I may have to start labeling myself a Dem.
March 8th, 2007 at 3:03 pmComment by Roger_Roger — March 8, 2007 @ 2:56 pm
Rogerx2, you caught exactly what I was pointing out. The Dems SAY they oppose the war, but they are willing to extend it for 1 1/2 more years. So, they actually support the war, not oppose it.
Sounds a little like doublespeak to me.
While the Dems continue to “oppose” the war until Aug 2008, we can look for 1190 more troops to die as well as countless Iraqis.
Oppose the war while continuing to support the war. Someone, please, explain the logic in this.
March 8th, 2007 at 3:06 pm“We did not go public with these concerns, because we did not want to undermine the confidence of the patients and their families and give the Army a black eye while fighting a war,†Young said.
Is our Army so wussified that they can’t handle a little verbal criticism? How are they ever going to defeat a bunch of crazed insurgents on the other side of the if they can’t even deal with constructive criticism?
So all this poor treatment must be bolstering (not undermining) their confidence. What a crock!
March 8th, 2007 at 3:33 pmOppose the war while continuing to support the war. Someone, please, explain the logic in this.
Comment by hacker bob
All politicians are idiots.
March 8th, 2007 at 3:36 pmAll politicians are idiots.
Comment by Zooey — March 8, 2007 @ 3:36 pm
OK, other than the obvious…
March 8th, 2007 at 3:44 pmHe wouldn’t have lied if he wasn’t asked about something as personal as a blowjob. What the blow job has to do with anything in politics is beyond me. The man gave missile technology to the Chinese and you bust him for a blowjob. Uh huh, whatever.
March 8th, 2007 at 4:23 pmRummy’s wife knew what was going on also. The Wash Post article said her friend took her to Walter Reed. Surely she went home and told Mr. Rummy. So why the heck didn’t they do anything???
March 8th, 2007 at 4:58 pmhttp://www.peace-action.org/
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At Peace Action we believe…
…that war is not a suitable response to conflict.
For nearly 50 years Peace Action has worked for an environment where all are free from violence and war. We understand that long standing global conflicts require long-term solutions, and that US foreign policy has a lasting effect on the world. We are working to promote a new US foreign policy that is based on peaceful support for human rights and democracy, reducing the threat from weapons of mass destruction, and cooperation with the world community. We are against pre-emptive war, and call for a full withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.
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There are still over 30,000 nuclear weapons in the world. The US and Russia still have thousands of nuclear weapons, on hair trigger alert—ready to launch in minutes. While the Cold War may have ended, the nuclear threat has not. The only way to ensure that nuclear weapons will never be used – whether purposefully, or accidentally – is global abolition. The U.S. must lead the way to a safer world by taking our weapons off hair trigger alert, halting our research and development of new nuclear weapons and disarming and demilitarizing our warhead stockpile of over 10,000 nuclear warheads. We can reduce the threat to the world posed by nuclear weapons, but we must start by getting serious about getting rid of our own weapons of mass destruction.
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March 8th, 2007 at 5:38 pmOK, other than the obvious…
Comment by hacker bob
Dude, are you never satisfied? :)
March 8th, 2007 at 6:36 pmrachel kinnardi – Be gone!
March 8th, 2007 at 7:37 pmNot one of you even sees the greatest problem of all!!! Somewhere at Walter Reed, is a senior sergeant (probably a Command Sergeant Major) whose most important job is looking out for the welfare of all his troops. That is an NCOs most solemn obligation and this clown has blown it all away.
I’ve been screwed over by more politicians and officers than I care to remember im my 35 years association with the the US military (that’s ho it works, suckers), but when I was in need, I could always depend on a good sergeant to take care of me. Now it looks like that is gone too! The rot really is deeper that any of you know!
March 8th, 2007 at 9:09 pmComment by T Bone — March 8, 2007 @ 9:09 pm
WOW, you are 100% right.
How did we get so caught up that we didn’t think of that. That is so obvious. I feel like an idiot.
Where was the Command Sergeant Major in all of this? His or her job is to be the one that takes care of the enlisted guys.
T Bone, seriously, thank you.
March 8th, 2007 at 9:58 pmThe SM has been stared down by the officer corps. Rumsfeld split the military into two factions – enlisted and officers. Now we have commanders, like Kiley, who are more concerned about their rose gardens then their charges.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:46 pmC.W. Bill Young and Kiley ARE BOTH F*CKING LIARS, AND YOU ALL CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT–EVERY WORD THESE TWO repugant-repub rightwingnut crank fudge-pachyderms SPOUT FROM THEIR FOUL MAWS IS A LIE, INCLUDING “I”, “AND” and “THE”!!!!!
March 8th, 2007 at 10:49 pmAll these great patriotic Republicans who have given us the greatest examples of theft, lack of concern and inhumanity concerning our wounded, and absolute incompetence, should be put on the front lines in Iraq to give them some understanding of how unforgivable their actions have been.
March 9th, 2007 at 11:09 amIf a regiment doesn’t have a Medical Officer (Doctor ), it’s considered unfit for war. Here, we are spending a billion dollars a day on war, and the Army can’t provide decent healthcare for it’s soldiers. What hypocrites– right under their nose in Washington DC. We are the laughing stock of the world.
March 9th, 2007 at 11:41 amThe SM has been stared down by the officer corps. Rumsfeld split the military into two factions – enlisted and officers. Now we have commanders, like Kiley, who are more concerned about their rose gardens then their charges.
Comment by WaltTheMan — March 8, 2007 @ 10:46 pm
Walt, the military has always had the two faction you mentioned. Remember, the Officers are supposed to be the ones in charge, but the Enlisted guys usually know what the hell is going on. Not in this case. Guess the SgtMaj was asleep at the switch.
March 9th, 2007 at 12:40 pmNote carefully in the article the 350 experience people who were repalced by 100 contractor employees…That is called A76. A76 is a congressionally mandated program where DOD military or civilian positions. Usually support types like civil engineers or housekeeping services (even doctors, nurses, or medical service support types in some cases) are phased out and replaced with contract employees, the game is letting a contract to the the lowest qualified bidder.
Little or no transition period may be contracted for, so this new crew may have rolled in and started so far behind the power curve that ther was no way to be able to meethe needs of the patients. It is all a game to show the American people how we can same so much money. It’s all just a great big fraud and this time real people with treal nees got in rammed up there behinds.
Command and the senior NCO corps should have been raising hell but all to often the tendency is too “salute smartly and step off with pride” into the jaws of hell? I think a lot of good people are getting screwed over for things that they barely had any control over as well as the Peoplewe hav already it the pavement. Note that every Military man sacked to date has stated “it was on my watch and I take responsibility”
Not so, the Congressmen…. on both sides of the aisle, by God! Sorry “F”ing bastards basically create (then, ignore) the problem, by their own admission, and THEN run off at the mouth without end!! Disgusting, shameless, pandering as I see it!!!
Worthless bastards!
March 9th, 2007 at 9:35 pm[...] they would get the medical care they needed. A grateful nation promised them what they had earned. Medical care that includes falling down rooms, leaking ceilings, mold, unwashed linens. We discharge our veterans with medical injuries and then lose them to followup, or flat out deny [...]
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:47 pm