OMG. Bernie says he wants us to take care of Vets.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

What an asshole this Crenshaw pig is.

Link to tweet

[George II]

1. Wasn't BS the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs for years?

[NurseJackie]

10. I believe that's right.

That doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence.

These are fair questions and observations.

[murielm99]

13. Yes.

And there were unconscionably long waits for vets to receive care.

[Autumn]

21. Six years. Two years as the Chairman, 2013 to 2015. The VA scandal had been ongoing.

• Early 2012: Dr. Katherine Mitchell, a Veterans Affairs emergency-room physician, warns Sharon Helman, incoming director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System, that the Phoenix ER is overwhelmed and dangerous. Mitchell now alleges she was told within days by senior administrators that she had deficient communication skills and was transferred out of the ER.

• Later in 2012: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs orders implementation of electronic wait-time tracking and makes improved patient access a top priority. In December, the Government Accountability Office tells the Veterans Health Administration that its reporting of outpatient medical-appointment wait times is "unreliable."

• March 2013: The GAO's Debra Draper tells a House subcommittee: "Although access to timely medical appointments is critical to ensuring that veterans obtain needed medical care, long wait times and inadequate scheduling processes at VAMCs (medical centers) have been persistent problems."

July 2013: In an e-mail exchange among employees at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix, an employee questions whether administrators are improperly touting their Wildly Important Goals program. "I think it's unfair to call any of this a success when veterans are waiting six weeks on an electronic waiting list before they're called to schedule their first PCP (primary-care provider) appointment," program analyst Damian Reese complains.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/21/veterans-healthcare-scandal-shinseki-timeline/9373227/

In spite of—or perhaps because of—his aversion to war, Sanders has a long history of committed service to veterans. He became chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee in 2013, and that is how he wound up at the negotiating table with Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida.

They were driven there by scandal. Veterans across the country were waiting months on end for appointments and the wait times were being hidden. Up to 40 veterans in Phoenix died while waiting for appointments. Hundreds never even got onto a list. And retaliation was the order of the day for those who tried to blow the whistle.

From the moment the long-gathering scandal broke into public view in April 2014, it took Congress less than four months to produce a new law—a split second by Capitol Hill standards. That it happened at all, and so fast, was a testament to the determination of Sanders and his partners to surmount the red-blue divide in American politics. It speaks volumes in particular about Sanders, who pushes for a single-payer government health system in every speech, that the law introduced a private-care option for veterans.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/how-bernie-sanders-fought-for-our-veterans-119708

[demmiblue]

18. "I see where Mr. Crenshaw is coming from."

Totally not surprised.

[melman]

19. +1

[wasupaloopa]

3. So what is he going to do to take care of me?

Maybe pay my house off or buy me a new car every other year?

[NYMinute]

5. Wait ..

There will be a "free automobile plan" costing $3.8 trillion soon -- geared to save the auto industry and autoworkers plus Americans who need a new car.

[brooklynite]

7. I'm due for a new iPhone...

[George II]

12. I'm glad that when we bought a new car two weeks ago we decided to take out a loan...

...instead of paying cash, just in case!!

[Mr.Bill]

9. You can go to college until you are 40.

For free.

[NYMinute]

4. lol

In the last 100+ years, there has not been a single candidate of either party who did not want to take care of the veterans.

Mr. Crenshaw is probably upset that nothing was done when the candidate was the chair and ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs committee .. and suddenly, come election time, there is a new proclamation.

[dewsgirl]

6. What a Dbag that Crenshaw guy is.

[ritapria]

8. 60% of Americans live Paycheck to Paychek

Stagnant wages for 45 years …. Life expectancy falling …. People want the Universal Healthcare they get in "Communist" Canada …..Sound like spoiled brats to me

[George II]

14. It took decades to get to the point where the Canadians are today. We have a universal...

...healthcare insurance coverage* program today - it's called the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare&quot If we proceed in getting it implemented the way it was intended we could be there long before the decades it took Canada to accomplish it.

*Reminder - "universal healthcare insurance" is completely different from "universal health care".

[thesquanderer]

11. Discouraging that so many replies here echo the Republican talking point...

...about how our candidates are about free stuff for everyone.

The stuff Sanders suggest are not frivolous giveaways, and he has always put forth how things could be paid for.

[melman]

15. It's expected at this point

It's just what they do.

[George II]

25. Who are "they"?

[melman]

26. The ones that do that

Obviously.

[George II]

27. As I asked, who are "they"?

[melman]

28. The ones that do that

As I answered.

[George II]

31. No you didn't, but that's okay.

[melman]

33. Yeah I actually did

it's right here

As you can see it quite clearly says "the ones that do that"

[George II]

34. That doesn't say who at all, it merely classifies those that do that.

But that's okay.

[melman]

35. But it does

"they" are the ones that do that. If you spot someone doing that in a thread...then you know that's them.

[George II]

16. He has put forth how things could be paid for "if"......

That's not putting forth how things could be paid for.

[thesquanderer]

17. I don't understand the distinction you're making.

All proposals from all candidates--both what they do and how they are paid for--are contingent on "ifs"

[Hassin Bin Sober]

20. Du is one-stop shopping these days

[George II]

32. I've been on this site for 15 years, never shopped here. I shop on Amazon, Ebay, and other sites.

[demmiblue]

22. I can only see eight posts (7, if post removed doesn't count).

DU is much more enjoyable without the constant drama.

[thesquanderer]

23. LOL, yeah, I did a lot of blocking 4 years ago. Haven't started yet this time. ;-) nt

[demmiblue]

24. I emptied my list years ago, and a lot of the same folks almost immediately made it back on.

Now they can stay there!

[Kurt V.]

29. what do you gain by that?

[lunasun]

30. And they will take the lead from a TX republican house member tweet and run with it . Sad.