Scapegoating Congress Style

(Cartoon by Jim Morin, published 5/31/14 and featured at McClatchy DC.  Click on image to enlarge and then hustle back.)


Congress has promised to take yet another look at the troubled system at various Veteran's Administrations, and our congress critters are trying to impress us by calling for a (wait for it) Blue Ribbon Commission.  Oh, wow!  That'll get it, eh?

In the mean time, after the last set of hearings, the heat was turned up enough that Gen, Shinseki, who was in charge of the VA during the period that the troubles were finally disclosed, has been forced to resign.

From the L.A. Times:

In Arizona, where allegations first surfaced of secret waiting lists at the Phoenix VA and ultimately led to Friday's resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, reaction was swift and pointed.

Shortly after President Obama accepted Shinseki's offer to step down, veterans and their relatives who had experiences with the Phoenix facility said that they expected the departure but that the agency had a long way to go. ...

 

Sally Barnes-Breen, whose father-in-law died while waiting for a follow-up appointment, said Shinseki’s resignation was not enough.

"People are still dying," she said from her home in San Tan Valley, Ariz.   [Emphasis added]

Of course they are ... and will continue to die for lack of timely evaluations and follow-up treatment.  Booting a respected and devoted general, one who served this country well for decades in war and in peace, isn't going to change anything in Arizona, or California, or Wisconsin, or anywhere else until this nation keeps its promise to our service men and women and adequately funds this important department.

And that is the job of Congress and the President.  All in panels and investigations and commissions in the world won't make up for that basic need:  funding.  And both sides know it.

Shameless morons ... the lot of them.