I am shocked...SHOCKED I SAY! Eric Holder: No Plans at DOJ to Investigate Secret Waiting Lists and Veteran Deaths at VA Hospitals

I am shocked, SHOCKED I SAY!

Of course, can we expect anyone being held responsible for ANYTHING in this administration?

Eric Holder: No Plans at DOJ to Investigate Secret Waiting Lists and Veteran Deaths at VA Hospitals
3:07 PM, May 13, 2014 • By JOHN MCCORMACK

Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that the Department of Justice doesn't have any plans to investigate allegations that veterans placed on secret waiting lists at VA hospitals died while waiting for care.

"Well, obviously these reports if they're true are unacceptable, and the allegations are being taken very seriously by the administration. But I don't have any announcements at this time with regard to anything that the Justice Department is doing," Holder told reporters at a press conference.

"This is something on our radar screen at this point, but there is an investigation being done by the [VA] inspector general, and we'll see what happens as a result of that inquiry and other information that comes to light in some form or fashion," Holder added.

According to CNN, at least 40 veterans died while waiting for treatment at one VA hospital in Phoenix. Members of Congress have said in recent weeks that the inspector general investigation is inadequate and have called on the DOJ to launch its own investigation.

Read more: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/eric-holder-no-plans-doj-investigate-secret-waiting-lists-and-veteran-deaths-va-hospitals_792719.html

It's a travesty that he's still in govt. He's a blatant ideologic activist. From gunrunning to media wiretapping to lying... etc.

http://m.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/exposures-by-va-whistleblowers-shake-agency-reveal-serious-patient-issues/2014/05/15/b633c430-dc50-11e3-bda1-9b46b2066796_story.html

Just as it was VA employees who allegedly cooked the books in Phoenix, it was VA employees who blew the whistle.

Once again, whistleblowers have demonstrated their importance in keeping Uncle Sam honest. But does he deal honestly with them?

The Office of Special Counsel, which works with whistleblowers across the government, has 63 open cases involving VA health, safety, or scheduling violations. That’s a lot even for a big agency like the VA.

Are so many employees turning to OSC because they fear retaliation if they make those reports to the VA? It’s a question worth asking given the actions of two non-governmental groups.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has denounced “the culture of fear that has plagued the agency and negatively impacted veterans’ care.”

AFGE President J. David Cox Sr., who was a VA nurse, issued a statement saying “our members have paid a heavy price for voicing concerns, submitting letters, raising issues in labor management meetings, and testifying before Congress on wait time issues and veterans’ access to care. When they have sounded the alarm our members faced retaliation and intimidation. No one should have to choose between keeping their job and speaking out about threats to patient care. It is time for the VA to take swift action to end this culture of fear and cover-ups.”

Just before the hearing began, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America announced a Web site designed to help employees who want to anonymously report fraud, mismanagement and abuse and “help bring accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

The Web site provides a form where employees can explain their allegations. In bold caps, the site warns: “FOR YOUR PROTECTION, DO NOT USE A GOVERNMENT OR CONTRACTOR PHONE, FAX, OR COMPUTER TO CONTACT POGO.”

Like cancer warnings on a pack of smokes, POGO makes the danger of management retaliation against federal whistleblowers plain: “we usually do not recommend coming forward publicly and exposing yourself to the many risks associated with doing so.”

Shinseki said “veterans deserve to have full faith in their VA.”

So do VA employees.

ZVUGKTUBM wrote:Whenever Markle is "SHOCKED" in his posts, it must be because he is mostly just generating spin.

PLEASE, step up and explain how disclosing secret, off the books waiting lists and Veterans DYING before they could be treated is...SPIN.

http://m.newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2014/05/06/censorship-nbc-continues-hide-obamas-scandal-impacting-veterans

In another example of censoring a Barack Obama scandal, NBC has ignored the brewing controversy impacting American veterans and a shocking lack of access to hospital care.

Though the news of up to 40 patients dying in Arizona has been going on for months, ABC finally covered the story on Tuesday's Good Morning America, offering a scant 29 seconds. Reporter Amy Robach informed that the President is "standing by his Secretary of Veterans Affairs," despite a call by the American Legion on Monday for his ouster.

CBS This Morning gave it 18 seconds.

Robach explained that the nation's largest veterans group has accused "Secretary Eric Shinseki and his top aides of, quote, 'poor oversight and failed leadership,' after reports that as many as 40 patients in Phoenix may have died because of delays in care and allegations that hospitals have tried to cover up other delays." Despite the controversy, this was the first time Shinseki's name has been uttered on ABC since his nomination on December 6, 2008.

Fox News and CNN have both covered the scandal, but NBC has avoided it.

In the very brief report on ABC, Robach managed to note: "President Obama says he has full confidence in the VA's leadership."

On CBS This Morning, Charlie Rose reassured, "The White House says its confident Shinseki will take appropriate action."

Although GMA's hosts allowed 29 seconds to this scandal, they managed to devote four minutes and 40 seconds to rehashing Beverly Hills 90210, a program that left the airwaves 14 years ago. For four minutes and 20 seconds, NBC's Today informed viewers on "five things you didn't know about" actor Bryan Greenberg.

CBS This Morning donated three minutes and 30 seconds to the deeply irrelevant subject of a costume gala at the Metropolitan Opera.

NBC last mentioned Shinseki's name on December 6, 2008. CBS mentioned him on April 17, 2006.

Clearly, the networks have other priorities and a scandal involving the Obama administration and taking care of veterans doesn't measure up.

ZVUGKTUBM wrote:Whenever Markle is "SHOCKED" in his posts, it must be because he is mostly just generating spin.

You're awfully quiet ZVUGKTUBM. Why are you afraid to answer another simple question?

PLEASE, step up and explain how disclosing secret, off the books waiting lists and Veterans DYING before they could be treated is...SPIN.

Have you NOT seen or have you hidden your eyes from the worsening of this deplorable scandal? ANOTHER scandal.

" Just before the hearing began, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America announced a Web site designed to help employees who want to anonymously report fraud, mismanagement and abuse and “help bring accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

The Web site provides a form where employees can explain their allegations. In bold caps, the site warns: “FOR YOUR PROTECTION, DO NOT USE A GOVERNMENT OR CONTRACTOR PHONE, FAX, OR COMPUTER TO CONTACT POGO.”

Like cancer warnings on a pack of smokes, POGO makes the danger of management retaliation against federal whistleblowers plain: “we usually do not recommend coming forward publicly and exposing yourself to the many risks associated with doing so.”

The government can't even take care of their veterans adequately...

Then we should buy into how the government should be responsible for everyone's healthcare and that government will take care of us all in a supposedly enlightened progressive liberal utopia of unicorns?

*****SMILE*****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5uamDMoW4o