President of the United States, Barrack Obama, despite his statements that American veterans were important to him only met once, one on one, with then Secretary of the VA, Eric Shinseki during the VA scandal.
The records, provided through a Freedom of Information Act request, showed they met on May 30, the day Shinseki resigned.
VA records show Shinseki also attended Cabinet meetings on Jan. 14 and Jan. 22.
The revelation comes as lawmakers, on the heels of passing the bill that Obama signed Thursday, press the president to commit his administration to fixing the department.
The VA has confirmed that at least 35 veterans died while awaiting appointments at VA facilities in the Phoenix area, while 24 died at other locations blamed on delays in care.
Now that Shinseki is gone, there is pressure on new VA Secretary Robert McDonald to fix the systemic problems there.
To help, the president signed the $17 billion bipartisan compromise legislation designed to address some of the issues revealed during the scandal.
Obama, during the signing ceremony, noted in addition to hiring new doctors and nurses, and allowing some veterans the ability to see private doctors, it will allow McDonald to fire incompetent senior executives.
Such changes are cosmetic in nature and the usual solution of politicians, especially progressive politicians. Increasing the budget does little but increase the bloat. Token privatization will allow relief for some vets, but most will not be allowed to seek treatment outside the system lest it be abandoned.
Worst of all, it is laughable that anyone might be subject to firing for incompetence in the federal government. The government hasn’t fired anyone since Reagan booted the Air Traffic Controllers out, and you know how that went over.
The bottom line is that no one is surprised that Mr. Obama failed to meet with a key leader during a particularly outrageous scandal. He could care less about veterans or their service and sacrifice. What is new? What is a surprise is that anyone would notice the president’s lack of leadership at all.
