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STATE OF DENIAL: VA SECRETARY NICHOLSON --
Nicholson on VA: "We are well-funded and
well-staffed..."
We do NOT need this on Veterans Day!
VA Secretary Jim Nicholson is still in a
state of denial and claiming that the VA is "well-funded and
well-staffed."
When was the last time Nicholson spent
some time in a VA hospital talking one-on-one with veterans?
When was the last time he met with any
veterans' group that wasn't "politically-friendly?"
Secretary Nicholson has isolated himself
from the veterans' community. And that isolation causes him to
believe his own press releases that paint a rosy picture of the VA
healthcare system.
With veterans waiting months, and even
years, for necessary healthcare, it is obvious that the VA is NOT
"well-funded and well-staffed."
In less than two years Nicholson has made
a shambles of the VA.
In a cruel political move he cooked the
VA's books to accept a lower budget figure from the White House...that
story here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/milcom/cookingthevasbooks.htm
Nicholson deliberately misled Congress,
claiming the VA had enough money when he knew they were drastically
underfunded...that story here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashes%20SEP%2006/newsflash09-21-2006-1.htm
Secretary Nicholson has shown himself to
be an ineffective leader at the VA.
With a new Congress being sworn in the
first of the year, it's time for Nicholson to shape-up, or else...
I prefer the "or else"...
VA Secretary Nicholson should
resign...for the good of all veterans and for the good of the country.
-----
The underlined quotes in the story below
are the latest from Nicholson.
Story here...
http://www.defenselink.mil//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2055
Story below: (emphasis is mine)
---------------
VA Secretary: Veterans Day Particularly Significant While Nation at War
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2006 – Observing Veterans Day is especially
important this year as America’s military members put their lives in
danger to protect the country and defend its freedoms, Veterans Affairs
Secretary R. James Nicholson told American Forces Press Service.
“We are a nation at war against an enemy that has openly vowed its
desire to destroy us,” Nicholson said. “They mean it; we know that
because they have taken steps to do that, attacking us in different
ways. So we have fellow citizens out there on the front lines trying to
protect our freedom and procure freedom for the people of Iraq and
Afghanistan.”
Demands on the force waging the terror war give special importance to
this year’s Veterans Day observances and a renewed national commitment
to honor and support its more than 24 million veterans, he said.
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 Armistice Day in 1919 to
commemorate the end of hostilities in World War I one year earlier.
During the early 1950s, the name was changed to Veterans Day, and the
observance was expanded to honor veterans of all wars.
Veterans Day upholds a longstanding American tradition that began when
Gen. George Washington acknowledged the “debt of gratitude” the country
owed its troops who served in the Continental Army, Nicholson said.
“And that has taken the form of our citizens compensating our
veterans for any diminution they have suffered as a result of their
service, whether physical or mental, and (that) it will provide them
with continuous health care throughout their life for having served
their country,” he said.
Abraham Lincoln underscored that commitment during his second inaugural
address, pledging to care for “him who has borne the battle, and his
widow and his orphan,” the secretary said.
Nicholson called this pledge, inscribed at the entrance to the
Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters here, “the mantra of the
VA.”
The VA fulfills that pledge every day by providing health care to more
than 7.5 million veterans, with more than 1 million visiting VA health
care facilities every week, he noted. In addition, the VA provides
benefits to more than 3.5 million veterans.
Continued support from the administration and Congress ensures that the
VA can continue providing this first-class care for veterans, including
those returning from combat, he said. He called the 70 percent growth in
the VA health-care budget since 2001 a record.
“People want our veterans to be taken care of, but especially those who
are coming back from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring
Freedom with injuries,” Nicholson said. “And we’re organized to
provide them with the very best care possible, both their physical and
mental injuries. We are well-funded and well-staffed to do that.”
During this year’s Veterans Day commemorations, Nicholson urges all
veterans to wear their service ribbons and medals to “show the pride
they take in having served our country” and ensure that other people
recognize the contributions they have made.
This demonstration of service will “add to the great patriotic fervor”
that surrounds Veterans Day, he said.
Nicholson said he encourages all Americans, and especially veterans, to
join in that fervor, as he and his staff at the VA will. “Every day is
Veterans Day here at the VA,” he said. “But the 11th day of the 11th
month is always a very special and busy day here.”
---------------
Larry Scott
