Report: VA's Internal 'Watchdog' Ignored Complaints, Downplayed Problems

Guy Benson  / Townhall Tipsheet

A new independent investigation charges that internal watchers at the corrupt Veterans Affairs agency sanitized and manipulated their reports to protect the bureaucracy, betraying the current and former service members they're charged with protecting. In a parade of horribles -- from the original Phoenix outrage, to endemic abuses to protect administrators' performance bonuses, to tales of systemic whistle-blower retaliation, to egregious standards of care, to discarded warning signs -- this may be one of the most depressing stories to emerge from the VA saga. It's somewhat akin to numerous crime victims calling 911 and running into a brick wall of crooked cops at the other end. The Wall Street Journal reports:

A Department of Veterans Affairs internal watchdog created to safeguard the medical care provided to former service members instead routinely plays down the impact of treatment errors and appointment delays, a federal special counsel alleged on Monday. In a letter to President Barack Obama, U.S. Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner said the VA Office of the Medical Inspector has repeatedly undermined legitimate whistleblowers by confirming their allegations of wrongdoing, only to then dismiss them as having no impact on patient care. The strongly worded critique adds a new layer to the veterans-care scandal that has rocked the VA and President Obama's administration in recent months...The special counsel's allegations are the latest blow to the VA, which was rocked this spring by revelations that some employees doctored records to make appointment wait-times appear far shorter than they really were.

The agency's self-policing mechanism would quasi-confirm whistleblowers' complaints, only to assess that the resulting abuse didn't have any impact. Thus, problems would remain unaddressed, poor practices would remain intact, and (based on last week's Times story), whistleblowers would stand exposed. Click through to read the Office of Special Counsel's withering five-page report on the VA's Office of the Medical Inspector (OMI). The document includes a number of specific incidents, including an instance wherein a patient was "admitted to the facility in 2003, with significant and chronic mental health issues. Yet, his first comprehensive psychiatric evaluation did not occur until 2011, more than eight years after he was admitted." Eight years. CNN's Drew Griffin, who has owned this story, cited that extraordinary example in a segment that aired on Monday and was flagged by Noah Rothman. Be sure to watch through the end. Here's a guy who's followed this scandal as closely as anyone, and he's utterly unconvinced that the VA's toxic culture can be "surgically" reformed. It needs gutting:

Witness: No, the IRS Didn’t "Follow" the Law

Daniel Doherty / Townhall Columnist

 

A somewhat testy and revealing exchange happened today between Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and star witness David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), at today’s IRS hearing regarding the disappearance of Lois Lerner’s “missing” emails.

The House Republican asked if the IRS’s refusal to inform Mr. Ferriero's department immediately about the missing documents broke the Federal Records Act -- which, according to the witness's own sworn testimony, states that “when an agency becomes aware of an incident of unauthorized destruction, they must report the incident to us.” Ferriero, for his part, also testified that he learned about the "alleged unauthorized disposal [of emails]" in a letter from the Senate Committee on Finance, which was sent to NARA on June 13, 2014.

“Any agency is required to notify us when they realize they have a problem,” Ferriero claimed, reiterating what he had said in his opening statement.

“But they didn’t do that?” Rep. Walberg asked.
 
“That’s right,” Ferriero said.

Rep. Walberg then asked if the agency broke federal law.

“I’m not a lawyer,” Ferriero replied.

“Can we safely assume they broke the law?” he asked.

”They did not follow the law,” Ferriero said.

Trey Gowdy Goes Off on IRS Commish for Claiming No Criminal Actions at IRS: ‘You Don’t Even Know What Statutes Are at Play’

 Pete Kasperowicz / The Blaze

 

 

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) late Monday criticized IRS Commissioner John Koskinen for claiming there’s no evidence of criminal misconduct at the IRS over the targeting scandal, even though he hasn’t bothered to examine the criminal code.

“You have already said multiple times today that there was no evidence that you found of any criminal wrongdoing,” Gowdy said. “I want you to tell me what criminal statutes you’ve evaluated.”

Click on link and see the video of Trey in action:  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/23/watch-gowdy-slams-koskinen-for-claiming-no-criminal-actions-at-irs/

“I have not looked at any,” Koskinen replied.

“Well then how can you possibly tell our fellow citizens that there’s not criminal wrongdoing if you don’t even know what statutes to look at?” Gowdy shot back.

Koskinen said several times that he’s seen no evidence that anyone consciously acted inappropriately, but Gowdy said that’s not the same as trying to examine whether a crime was committed.

“How would you know what elements of the crime existed?” Gowdy asked. “You don’t even know what statutes are in play.”

Koskinen said he believes he can rely on common sense, but Gowdy blasted that answer out of the water before Koskinen could finish his thought.

“Common sense? Instead of the criminal code, you want to rely on common sense?” Gowdy said as Koskinen shook his head at the table.

“You can shake your head all you want to, Commissioner. You have said today that there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, and I’m asking you what criminal statutes you have reviewed to reach that conclusion.” Gowdy concluded that Koskinen had “no idea” whether any crimes have been committed.

Koskinen then tried to close out his argument saying enough evidence is in to dismiss the idea that the IRS scandal was a coverup directed from the White House. But Gowdy rejected that idea, and said it’s Democrats who are trying to say the GOP is “obsessed” with the White House when it was the White House that first intervened.

“It was Jay Carney that perpetuated the myth that it was two rogue agents in Ohio, it wasn’t any of us. Was that accurate?” Gowdy asked.

“Not that I know of,” Koskinen replied.

“So that was inaccurate and that came from the White House. Who said there’s not a smidgen of corruption?”

“My understanding is that was the president,” the commissioner answered.

“So that’s Jay Carney and the president both inserting themselves into the IRS scandal,” Gowdy said.

“And you want to blame us for bringing the White house into it?”

“I haven’t blamed you at all,” Koskinen said.

“You just did, commissioner. You just did.”

L.A. City Council Adopts Muslim American Heritage Month

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

Muslim American Heritage — what is that? The first foreign war, which was fought against the jihadists on the Barbary coast, or the second foreign war, which was also fought against the jihadists?

There was no significant Muslim presence in this country until post-9/11: as the number of mosques in the US rose from 1,209 in 2000 to 2,106 in 2010.

September 11 should be Muslim American Heritage Day.

Stay on top of what’s really happening. Follow me on Twitter here. Like me on Facebook here.

“L.A. City Council Adopts Muslim American Heritage Month,” by Monica Luhar, KCET, June 20, 2014 (thanks to Creeping Sharia):

Every year, Los Angeles celebrates a number of heritage months: Latino, American Indian, African American, Asian and Pacific Islander American, and LGBT. Now you can add one more to that list this year.

The Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution on Wednesday recognizing the contributions and activism of the Muslim American community and declared July 2014 as Muslim American Heritage Month.

Council member Curren D. Price, who introduced the resolution, represents one of the largest and longest-standing Muslim community centers in South LA — the Bilal Islamic Center.

“Residents from my community approached me to commemorate the Muslim community and culture, and I felt it was only appropriate to celebrate this culture as we do dozens of others in our city,” said Price. “Our city’s diversity, and our acceptance and tolerance of our different beliefs, is part of what makes our city great.”

Earlier this year, Project Islamic Hope, an L.A.-based civil rights activist group, collaborated with council staff to work on an initial draft that would later be introduced to the council.

“It’s a very important resolution. It’s historic,” Najee Ali, the project’s founder, told KCET. “It will help bring Los Angeles Muslims closer to the mainstream and civic life and affairs of our city where we will have a chance every year to highlight the various cultural traditions of the Muslim community.”

“We can share understanding for many of our fellow Angelenos who know very little of the Muslim community, except for what they see on TV and the media, which is mostly negative,” he added.

California currently has the largest Muslim community in the U.S. — with a majority residing in Southern California, according to USC’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture. The Golden State is also home to the largest number of religious mosques in the U.S.

Los Angeles is the second city to officially have a Muslim Heritage Month, according to Ali. Washington, D.C. is one of the first cities to have adopted Muslim Heritage Month.

Muslim Americans will account for an estimated 1.7 percent of the population in the U.S. by 2030., according to the Pew Research Center. Currently, almost 3 million Muslims live in the United States today.

The resolution notes that the celebration “will promote and encourage awareness of the significant contributions made by the city’s Muslim population in culture, social services, education, politics, business, technology, and the arts.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations says the resolution is a celebration of diversity.

“We hope that this resolution will serve to expand the bridge between the Muslims of Los Angeles and the larger community by providing an opportunity to learn of the numerous contributions that Muslim Angelenos have made to this great city in the past, as well the impact of their current efforts,” said Yasmin Nouh, CAIR-LA’s communications coordinator.

The city council’s adoption of this resolution has also sparked an example for other institutions to potentially adopt similar resolutions, Nouh added. “In our current political sphere, it has unfortunately become acceptable to attack one’s political opponent on the basis of their relations with the Muslim community or incite fear of Muslims to garner support. In passing the resolution, the L.A. City Council has implicitly made a statement rejecting such fear tactics, and set an example for all public officials and institutions to aspire to.”

The post L.A. City Council Adopts Muslim American Heritage Month appeared first on Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs.

Op-ed: 

Egypt, Iraq, and John 'Swiftboat' Kerry...a disaster in the making
By: Diane Sori

“We do not share the view of the Egyptian government about links between the Muslim Brothers and terrorist groups like ISIS [the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq]. [Egyptian leaders] need to include, and find ways to reach out to, the Muslim Brothers…With regard to the challenge that the Muslim Brothers pose, I would characterize it more as a political challenge than a security challenge.”
- Secretary of State John 'Swiftboat' Kerry's words while in Egypt a few days ago

This man clearly does NOT get that NO foreign government wants him butting into their business either in his capacity as Obama mouthpiece or just bloviating on his own, yet this man is now back in the Middle East stirring up trouble in both Egypt and Iraq.

Starting in Egypt, the very country who just went through hell ridding itself of the Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohamed Morsi, now in waltz's Kerry...a stop-off on his way to screw up Iraq even more than it already is...who tells Egyptian leaders that they basically must make nice-nice with those who turned their country upside down...with those who murdered their citizens...with those who turned Egypt into a bloodbath the likes of which had NOT been seen in decades.

So of course on behalf of Muslim Brotherhood supporting Barack HUSSEIN Obama, Kerry pleaded for the release of the three al-Jazeera journalists (Cairo bureau chief, Mohamed Fahmy, who holds dual Canadian/Egyptian citizenship, Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed, and Australian correspondent Peter Greste) who were arrested in a raid at a Cairo hotel last December and who have been held at Cairo's Tora prison ever since. Held, tried, and just recently convicted on terrorism charges relating to their conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood and for falsifying their coverage of last year's Egyptian protests to make it seem like the country was sliding into civil war, President al-Sisi felt they endangered Egyptian national security by doing what they did.

And Kerry failed to plead Obama's case...as each journalist was given a sentence of seven years in prison and with each (of course) claiming innocence. Kerry's failure in swaying the Egyptian court sends a message to Obama that Egypt will NOT forgive nor forget how he slammed their human rights record...taking sides with Morsi...after former general and now president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and the Egyptian Army joined together with 33 million Egyptians and took to the streets to help oust former Muslim Brotherhood puppet President Mohamed Morsi...the very man elected under lies in the name of taqiyya...who once elected tried to impose sharia law on this once secular nation who still wants NO part of strict islamic rule.

And as they say, 'payback' for Obama is indeed a b*tch.

And so Kerry left Egypt with another failure to his name, and is now in Iraq to work more of his 'magic' as he's vowed on Obama's behalf "intense and sustained support" for Iraq.

But pray tell how can that be as Obama has vowed there will be NO American 'boots on the ground' save for the 300 military advisers he's sending over...sending over piecemeal as they will NOT be deployed at one time. And what will these advisers actually do...the first group deployed will focus on assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Iraqi security forces, will assess what Iraqi military equipment and weapons are now in the hands of ISIS, and will try to get better intel on ISIS strategy, weapons, and movements of its members.

Notice they are NOT being deployed to fight if need be.

And now Kerry's intrusion...and YES that is what it is...comes as ISIS...stretched thin yet garnering support in the Sunni areas... continues to take control of NOT only towns across Iraq's north and west provinces, but also has taken control of the so-important border crossings to Syria and Jordan, including one at Qaim, a town in the province that borders Syria. ISIS has also taken the border posts of Walid, on the Syrian frontier, and Traybil, on the Jordanian border important logistically as its location could aid ISIS in the transport of weapons and other equipment to other soon-to-be battlefields. Also in their bounty is the airport in the northern town of Tal Afar from which the Iraqi army had hoped to launch an attack to take back the city of Mosul...a city being slowly turned towards sharia law as ISIS fighters have started spewing over loudspeakers that they've decided islamic sharia courts will be formed in Mosul...a harbinger that burka garbage bags will soon be the mandatory dress for women...or else.

Meeting yesterday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and with key Shi'ite and Sunni politicians of note, Kerry played like a fiddle the Obama excuse card of 'oh dear we can't have any collateral damage' for when al-Maliki asked for at least targeted US air strikes against the rebels, Kerry's true allegiances shown through as he expressed concern about possible civilian casualties being caused by our airstrikes, but he showed NO concern whatsoever about all the civilian casualties ISIS is inflicting on the population. Guess those deaths NOT count when one's allegiances lie with the enemy or when one does NOT realize that war kills civilians as well as those who fight.

And while Kerry pretends that he knows how to prevent Iraq from being broken-apart along Sunni vs. Shi'ite lines, his epic record of failure in regards to Middle East politics and policies stands as witness that he is in way over his head. And if he even had an inkling of knowing what to do or of what actually needs to be done, especially with al-Maliki already having agreed to a July 1st deadline to start forming a new government...an Obama insisted must do if Iraq is to get any U.S. assistance in the fighting...Kerry would just keep his big mouth shut and stop butting into things everyone knows he will just screw up.

So as al-Maliki's Shiite-led government loses more ground to ISIS as his troops simply lay down their weapons and run, Kerry keeps bloviating that al-Maliki needs to rise above "sectarian motivations" to become more inclusive...translation in liberal speak: the Iraqi government needs to be more representative of Iraq's population. Now isn't that kind of the same thing Obama is saying as our southern border is overrun by those with "sectarian motivations" of their own.

Sure sounds like it and sure sounds like John 'Swiftboat' Kerry will NOT accomplish a damn thing in Iraq, and that will add to his failure with the Israeli/Palestinian so-called 'peace talks' and with his failure in stopping the Iranians from moving forward with their nuclear ambitions.

Seriously, just tell me what the hell this man doing over there except to make a bad situation even worse, but maybe that is the plan after all.

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As many of you know my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOT partner and friend, Craig Andresen, is in facebook jail until June 26th, so I have been posting his articles for him. Please click this link: http://www.thenationalpatriot.com/2014/06/23/the-scandals-are-real-obamas-the-phony/ to go directly to Craig's blog 'The National Patriot' to read his newest article. 

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REMINDER!!!

As we continue to work towards forcing this regime to answer to 'We the People' for high crimes and misdemeanors, we ask that you SIGN AND SHARE OUR PETITION BY CLICKING HERE... https://www.change.org/petitions/sen-ted-cruz-impeach-and-arrest-barack-hussein-obama-on-the-grounds-of-aiding-and-abetting-the-enemy-as-per-18-u-s-code-2339a  All we need is 100,000 signatures to force this regime to address our concerns!!!