Veterans Issues

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GSA and VA team to waste money on artwork

“These artworks enhance the civic meaning of federal architecture and showcase the vibrancy of American visual arts.” – GSA website.

Just when you think you have heard everything about the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals with the mishandling of cases involving our warriors who put their lives on the line for us, new scandals have surfaced.

Rock Sculpture

This sculpture, “Aggregate,” by Phillip K. Smith, was purchased for $483,000 for the courtyard of the VA hospital in Palo Alto, California. (Rep. Jeff Miller/Wash. Post)

Thanks to Rep. Jeff Miller(R-FL), the story of rampant wasteful spending on artwork for VA facilities, has been uncovered.

A $483,000 rock sculpture, meant to evoke “a sense of transformation, rebuilding and self-investigation,” has become part of a $1.3 million courtyard at the VA’s Palo Alto, Calif. Hospital.

At least $6.3 million has been spent on art and consulting services in the Palo Alto Health Care System, including $4, 190, 356 at the Palo Alto Medical Center, $1, 879,521 at the Monterey Health Care Center, and $280, 000 in other budgeted projects. Continue reading →

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When a national scandal hits close to home

I’ve often wondered why people I know and meet do not seem to be as outraged as I am when it comes to the scandals emanating from the Obama administration.

One view might be that some of them have soured on politics, and see the scandals of one kind or another as common no matter what the political party.  Others are simply oblivious to the news and have become part of the low-information crowd, like the Iowa Democrats who see Hillary Clinton as honest and trustworthy.

132544_600(Cagle.com)

Cartoon courtesy of cagle.com

After considerable thought, I don’t believe there is a single answer, but I wonder if it’s because they are so removed from the events that they falsely believe those scandals don’t affect them personally.  They just cannot relate to the Benghazi lies, the IRS targeting of conservative groups, the $6 billion unaccounted for in the State Department, the Lerner and Clinton e-mails, and the executive orders on illegal immigrants. Continue reading →

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Hilton book-signing a memorable event

I just returned from a book-signing for Col. Richard Hilton’s memoir, There Are No Sundays, held at the lovely home of Karen Palmer, a longtime friend of the Hilton’s in California.

It was a warm gathering of Colonel Hilton’s former Hughes Aircraft Company colleagues and family friends, and my wife, Janet, and I had the privilege of attending the event.… read more

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Did you hear the one about no scandals in the Obama White House?

   “I’m proud of the fact that basically you’ve had an administration that’s been in place for six years in which there hasn’t been a major scandal … and I think that says a lot about the ethical strictures of this administration.” – David Axelrod, former advisor to President Obama

Those were the words of Axelrod during a session at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. … read more

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You got us into this mess, Mr. President, with your 2008 grand plan to fundamentally transform the United States of America.

Now, if you are as smart as your people say you are, you’ll drop the “I’ve got a veto pen arrogance” and allow Republicans to help you salvage your last two years.

… read more
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It can all be traced back to President Obama

You may be shocked by the current revelations of security screw ups by the Secret Service, but you shouldn’t be surprised, because it can easily be traced back to the culture in the White House.

Obama (abcnews.go.com)

Evidence of a culture of “whatever” in the Obama White House continues to mount. (abcnews.go.com)

We have a president who regularly flouts the rule-of-law. He has made changes and waivers to existing law; he was found guilty by the Supreme Court for making illegal recess appointments; he traded five Guantanamo prisoners for Sergeant Bergdahl without Congressional approval; and he’s set to implement a broad amnesty on his own following the mid-terms.

On the morally unethical side, President Obama flew to a fundraiser in Las Vegas after our ambassador and three other Americans were killed in the Benghazi attack and, he was on the golf course just minutes after “grieving” with the parents of James Foley, who was beheaded by ISIS.

What kind of respect can government employees in our various departments and agencies have for a president who laughs off inefficiencies and in some cases criminal activities, as “phony scandals.” Continue reading →

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An unusual request for help at the UN

  “In a summer marked by instability in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, I know the world also took notice of the small American city of Ferguson, Missouri – where a young man was killed, and a community was divided.”

Unbelievably, those were the words of President Obama as he brought to a close his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday intended to seek support for the war against – my words – Islamic extremists.

“So yes, we have our own racial tensions,” he went on to say, “And like every country, we have our racial and ethnic tensions.”

Can you believe it? Comparing the Ferguson shooting to the beheading and mass killings by ISIL, al Qaeda and other Islamist extremist spin-offs?

Courtesy elektroka

(Poster courtesy elektroka)

Nine paragraphs into his speech, he finally gets to the point. “There is much to be done to meet the tests of this moment. But today I’d like to focus on two defining questions at the root of many our challenges – whether the nations here today will be able to renew the purpose of the UN’s founding (he’s dreaming); and whether we will come together to reject the cancer of extremism (not likely).”  He left them with this less than memorable quote, “For America, the choice is clear.  We choose hope over fear.”  “Hope,” where have we heard that before?

We are facing the most barbaric, evil terrorists we could have imagined, and our president is talking “hope?”

I was also taken aback by an earlier statement in his speech. “I have made it clear that America will not base our entire foreign policy on reacting to terrorism. Rather, we have waged a focused campaign against al Qaeda and its associated forces – taking out their leaders, and denying them the safe havens they rely upon.”  Then he said, “At the same time, we have reaffirmed that the United States is not and never will be at war with Islam.  Islam teaches peace.  Muslims the world over aspire to live with dignity and a sense of justice.  And when it comes to America and Islam, there is no us and them – there is only us, because millions of Muslim Americans are part of the fabric of our country.”  Really, Mr. President?  How do you think Americans would respond to a poll on that? Continue reading →

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Obama has full confidence in lying CIA director

When the shoe is on their foot, Democrats want you to look the other way and pretend it didn’t happen.

Take the case of CIA spying on the Senate.  “As far as the allegations of CIA hacking into Senate computers, nothing could be further from the truth,” said CIA Director John Brennan, appearing before the Council on Foreign Relations on March 11, 2014.… read more

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“Phony scandals, Mr. President? Really?

Over the years since Barrack Obama was elected president and the press almost totally signed on to his agenda, I have been writing about news that isn’t getting reported by the so-called mainstream media.

If it wasn’t for Fox News, conservative publications, blogs and radio talk shows, most of us wouldn’t know about the culture of corruption in the Obama administration.… read more

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Will GOP learn from Brat win?

First, let’s get it straight.  It wasn’t Tea Party financial support that enabled Dave Brat to beat GOP Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the Virginia primary last night as the media has been saying.

Putting it simply, Brat did campaign on principles Tea Partiers and true Republicans stand for – primarily adherence to the Constitution –   not moves to be Democrat-lite, to appear more moderate.… read more