The Patriot Post® · VA Hospitals & the Dumbo Ride

By Gary Bauer ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/42798-va-hospitals-and-the-dumbo-ride-2016-05-25

That’s a headline you don’t see very often and with good reason. No one would confuse the two — except a high-ranking bureaucrat.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald was talking to reporters [Monday] and attempted to explain the ongoing problems our veterans are confronting with long wait times for treatment. Here’s what McDonald said:

“When you go to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? Or what’s important? What’s important is, what’s your satisfaction with the experience? And what I would like to move to, eventually, is that kind of measure.”

I don’t know what Secretary McDonald was thinking. That comparison just falls apart at every level.

I don’t think there is one veteran who would compare a trip to the VA clinic to waiting in line for a ride at Disney World. When you go to Disney, you’re not waiting in line for cancer treatment or surgery. Waiting in Disney’s lines is not a matter of life and death.

Sadly, and inexcusably, the VA continues to be a scandal-plagued department years after the first shocking reports of corruption and incompetence made headlines. McDonald was brought in to clean up this mess, but he is clearly not up to the task. McDonald should be fired.

Big Government Is Broken

In the past few days, there has been a confluence of events signaling the corruption and complete incompetence of big government.

Yesterday, I reported that a judge had ordered “deceptive” Justice Department lawyers to take ethics classes. I think they will need a full, four-year program.

The head of the VA has failed to improve conditions, just grossly insulted our veterans and is refusing to apologize.

Here’s more:

  • A top TSA official, who received $90,000 in bonuses in a 13-month period, was removed from his job yesterday. How on earth did he qualify for these bonuses? Have you been to an airport lately? The TSA has routinely failed security inspections. In fact, a senior TSA official was sacked last year, too!

  • According to a recent inspector general’s report, “The IRS estimates that 23.8 percent ($15.6 billion) of Earned Income Tax Credit payments were issued improperly in Fiscal Year 2015.” So the government admits that more than $15 billion in refunds went to criminals and illegal immigrants exploiting the system, yet it refuses to do anything about it.




Planned Parenthood Evacuated



A Planned Parenthood facility in Sarasota, Florida, was evacuated [Monday] by hazmat teams responding to an emergency call. Apparently there was some improperly stored cleaning supplies and during their removal, a powdery substance got spilled causing a panic among the workers. A nearby school was also put on lockdown.



According to police, the powdery substance turned out be … baby food. Apparently none of the workers had ever seen rice cereal before. Don’t worry — everything is okay. No one at the clinic ended up being in any danger except for the babies aborted there when business resumed this morning.