Now, by the way, Mr. [US House Rep Timothy] Walz -- now, Mr.
Walz, she [VA Under Secretary Allison Hickey] doesn't need your defense
here for her past accomplishments. And I don't need a lecture from you
of her past. We're talking about what she's going to do for the VA now.
I'll stipulate any accomplishments that she's had. I respect her
service. But if she can't do this job, I don't care what she has done
in the past. Okay? So don't lecture me about how I don't have respect
for someone's past. She's talking about the future -- the present and
the future. And she didn't give one answer or one recognition that
there was any problem -- in all her testimony, in every answer. This
Chairman [Marlin Stutzman] asked her a number of things. She talked for
three-and-a-half minutes and didn't give the answer and still doesn't
know the answer. So let's talk about what she's doing right here and
right now. And I said if one of your veterans -- And she didn't answer
your question, your very good questions, Mr. Walz, about the time period
of what's going on in Minneapolis? She just said, 'Oh, from time to
time we have surges.' You asked are we heading toward a lowest common
denominator and she never answered that. So don't -- I mean be a little
more critical of the kind of answers we're getting. We don't have a
plan. This whole hearing was about a plan. If I were her, I would have
given out the plan. But we still don't have one. Again, Ms. Hickey, if
I were you, leadership comes from the top. The top is saying, "There is
no problem." You ask any veteran in my district, in Mr. Walz'
district, in Mr. [Mike] Michaud's district, in Mr. Stutzman's district:
Is there a problem? Every one will say, "Yes." Now you can say, 'They
don't understand fully. Their perception is wrong, we've had a surge
of this. We did this. We had the Vietnam era.' I don't care what --
you have not either acknowledged the problem or say how we're going to
get out of it. You gave us an assurance of a date. And Mr. Walz asked
-- I know it's not a very bright question -- 'Are you committed? Is it
going to happen?' What is she going to say? "No"? We've had these
questions, we've had these committments for years and years and years
and years. And Mr. Walz asked you another softball question: 'Has
anything been tried as this big before? We have tried every single
thing that you have as your initiatives -- has been tried. Every one
of them at some point. In fact, we've had far more comprehensive plans
than your forty initiatives lumped together. Nothing has worked. It's
gotten worse. And you refuse to admit it. You refuse to acknowledge
it. And you don't give us a plan to fix it. What am I to think? 'Well,
she was an Air Force General that did great things.' If it doesn't
happen by 2015, are you going to say I resign or what's going to happen
if you're at the top? And it's always two or three years out. It's
never, "I'm going to do this tomorrow." You've been working on this.
Your predecessor's been working on this. I don't have any assurance.
You can't even correct a date on the computer for a year-and-a-half and
you call it a "glitch." What confidence do I have that you can do
anything if it took a year-and-a-half to fix a "glitch?" The simplest
thing. Put a date in. You could have done it by hand in a few months.
It took you a year-and-a-half. You still haven't done it. I'm sure
we'll get a memo from you -- I just bet, you want to make a bet right
now -- that you'll ask for another extension. I just bet. When's that
going to be done? Why should we have any confidence in 2015 that a
system of a million backlog is going to be fixed when we can't even get a
"glitch" fixed in a year-and-a-half? What gives me the confidence?
That you were an Air Force General? Sorry, it doesn't work. Give me
some confidence. What has worked so far? Everything has been a
problem.
--- Ranking Member Bob Filner in Tuesday's House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on the VBA (see the Wednesday snapshot).
Texas has qualified. New Mexico is 3/4 of the way. Oregon is close behind, along with Arizona,
D.C., Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio,
Virginia and then also Indiana, Missouri, Maine, South Carolina and
Tennessee! The ice is breaking in our Double Your Green campaign to win federal matching funds, we are really moving, and a good thing too, because . . .We have 8 days, until June 30th, in which to succeed.
With just days left, we need you to take 3 steps right now:
1. See a fundraising letter from Jill Stein. She needs you to forward that letter to at least 10 people you know -- 100 or 1000 is even better -- letting them in on the urgency of this moment.
2. Make a donation so that when you send that letter out, your message arrives with conviction. You did your part; so can they.
3. Contact us if you have lists of people you think would want to know about the campaign.
We've posted the latest progress reports on our matching funds campaign here. Please click here or read on for the letter from Dr. Stein, and please copy and forward that letter to everyone you know . . .
URGENT: Eight days to ensure that your voice is heard in 2012!
Dear Friends,What you do with this letter in the next few hours could change the direction of the 2012 presidential campaign.
The big money forces think that they've bought this election and that they can frighten people into meekly endorsing one of the two establishment candidates. But thanks to a breathtaking outpouring of support from across the nation, our campaign is poised to shake up the political establishment and answer this politics of fear with the politics of courage.
My campaign for president is within striking distance of qualifying for federal matching funds that will allow us to launch a people's campaign for economic justice, peace, and an end to Wall Street rule in Washington. We need to raise only about $24,000 more by June 30th to apply for FEC matching funds that will DOUBLE the value of contributions received so far. Please donate here. This will not only give our campaign the enhanced credibility that comes with qualifying for public funding, it would mean that we can finish our ballot access drives and burst onto the national scene with an adequately funded campaign.
Last fall, the Occupy movement took to the streets and changed the national political dialogue. This fall, our campaign -- based on Madison, Wisconsin’s Capitol Square -- is poised to show that millions of Americans will vote for real change instead of more of the same.
You know that neither of the establishment candidates will speak for you in this election. They will continue to promote their failing strategies for propping up Wall Street and the status quo, while our society and the planet move ever closer to disintegration. I am prepared to provide a clear voice for justice, civil liberties, environmental rescue, and an economy that works for everyone. But I need your help.
Victory is in sight! Please pitch in NOW by donating on our web page - http://www.jillstein.org/donate. Then forward this note to 10 friends who might be willing to join you in contributing. We will file for matching funds on July 1, so quick action is essential. Help push us over the top!
Forward!
Dr. Jill Stein
P.S. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar (up to donations as big as $250) by federal funds once we qualify.
P.P.S. While all donations are valuable, we especially need donations from the following key states to help us reach the required $5000 per state threshold. If you know anyone in these states, please ask them to make a donation of up to $250: AZ, CO, CT, DC, FL, ME, MI, MO, NC, NM, OH, OR, SC, TN and VA -- read all the nitty gritty details and updates here: http://www.jillstein.org/funding
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