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Editorial Comment

  

Category:  Photography & Art

By:  a-macarthur  •  6 years ago  •  20 comments

Editorial Comment

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© A. Mac/A.G.

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© A.Mac/A.G. (Restored Photograph, c.1915)


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A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
1  author  A. Macarthur    6 years ago

Trump signed a law with a provision to establish a commission charged with conducting a nationwide “asset review” of VA infrastructure. If the commission is stacked with advocates of dismantling the VA and privatizing most care, the results could be disastrous. 

 
 
 
Greg Jones
Professor Participates
2  Greg Jones    6 years ago

Who came up with the foolish idea that Trump wants to dismantle the VA and privatize the care for Vets?

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
3  author  A. Macarthur    6 years ago

Who came up with the foolish idea that Trump wants to dismantle the VA and privatize the care for Vets?

Calling something a "foolish idea" when you apparently have no knowledge of that which you call a "foolish idea" … id foolish on your part. If you're going to come to the defense of Trump, try to avoid defending the indefensible.

If you can't viably refute what I posted below, please don't double down on your zeal-without-knowledge incredulity.

First adverse action.

Trump Has Reportedly Handed Over Control of the VA to His Rich Mar-a-Lago Cronies

Throughout both his   campaign   and his   presidency , Donald Trump has insisted that reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs is a   top priority . But according to a   bombshell new report   from ProPublica, the White House has essentially ceded control of the VA to a trio of the president’s rich buddies who he knows from his resort in Mar-a-Lago—none of whom are government employees.

The triumvirate of extra-governmental shot callers consists of Palm Beach doctor Bruce Moskowitz, attorney Marc Sherman, and, perhaps most notably, Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter. None of the three have ever served in the U.S. armed forces, although Perlmutter is an Israeli army veteran who fought in the 1967 Six Day War. What they do all possess, however, is expertise at giving Trump money; all three pay   thousands of dollars a year   to be Mar-a-Lago members.

ProPublica wrote that the group has been dubbed “the Mar-a-Lago crowd” and has reportedly helped shape both VA policy as well as staffing decisions throughout the Trump administration, all while flouting normal governmental procedure and rules. The result, ProPublica explained, is an agency in which officials must “kiss the ring” of this shadow trio to move on certain decisions.

President Trump Signs Bill to Expand Privatization of VA Healthcare

The new law expands the privatization of VA healthcare and build greater investment in community physician systems.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
3.2  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  A. Macarthur @3    6 years ago

IMO privatization just leads to disaster - look at the prisons as an example. 

 
 
 
PJ
Masters Quiet
3.2.1  PJ  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @3.2    6 years ago

Exactly.  It's more profitable to keep people in then it is to let people out.   

I wonder how that would be applied to Veterans.  It's more profitable to keep them sick then to help them.

The current system needs to be fixed.  Most of the problem lies on the administrative and policy side not with the doctors and health care providers.  The VA has some of the most brightest and brilliant healthcare professionals but many times their hands are tied because of policies and procedures that are outdated and inefficient.  

 
 
 
PJ
Masters Quiet
4  PJ    6 years ago

He wants to privatize it so the rich can run it or invest in it and syphon money from the government just like prison's do.  

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
5  author  A. Macarthur    6 years ago

You nailed it, PJ,

Veterans Affairs is being shaped by Trump’s Mar-a-Lago cronies. 

ProPublica is   reporting   that a trio of the President Donald Trump’s friends, who meet at his members-only Florida club, are acting as informal cabinet members helping shaping policy at Veteran’s Affairs. This shadow cabinet consists of   Bruce Moskowitz, a doctor who specializes in rich patients, Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, and  Marc Sherman, an attorney.

This group claims to only be offering informal advice. As ProPublica notes:

But hundreds of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with former administration officials tell a different story — of a previously unknown triumvirate that hovered over public servants without any transparency, accountability or oversight. The Mar-a-Lago Crowd spoke with VA officials daily, the documents show, reviewing all manner of policy and personnel decisions. They prodded the VA to start new programs, and officials travelled to Mar-a-Lago at taxpayer expense to hear their views. “Everyone has to go down and kiss the ring,” a former administration official said.

Access to VA policymaking allowed Perlmutter to use public events to promote his private interest. Thus in February 2017, David   Shulkin, at the time secretary of the VA, participated in a Veterans Day event at the New York Stock Exchange that saw him “ standing   near a preening and flexing Captain America , with Spider-Man waving from the trading pit, and Marvel swag distributed to some of the attendees.”

A head of a veterans advocacy group told ProPublica, “Generally the VA secretary or defense secretary don’t shill for companies.”

On another occasion, ProPublica notes,  Moskowitz “wanted Apple and the VA to develop an app for veterans to find nearby medical services. Who did he bring in to advise them on the project? His son, Aaron, who had built a similar app. The proposal made Apple and VA officials uncomfortable, according to two people familiar with the matter, but Moskowitz’s clout kept it alive for months. The VA finally killed the project because Moskowitz was the only one who supported it.”

Moskowitz has also worked to stall a $10 billion contract for the VA to buy new record-keeping software from a firm called Cerner “because he used a different Cerner product and didn’t like it.”

 
 

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