Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review cheer National Review’s Eliana Johnson for breaking the story of Michelle Nunn’s internal memos in the Georgia U.S. Senate race and how much the contents could damage Nunn’s campaign. They also groan as Libyan lawlessness forces the U.S. to evacuate our embassy there. They skewer Hillary Clinton for suggesting Hamas stores rockets in civilian areas because they just don’t have a lot of space. And they honor the passing of a key actor in one of their favorite movies.
A Win for Vets
A leading veterans group is hailing two key provisions of the proposed Veterans Affairs reform bill as critical to improving care for our nation’s heroes but warns that spending needs to be controlled and oversight must be even more intense to make sure positive changes are really happening.
Over the weekend, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernard Sanders (I-Vermont) and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Florida) announced they agreed on a framework for reforms to accelerate care for veterans and address the bureaucratic mess that led to veterans waiting months or even years to see a doctor.
The plan would cost a minimum of $17 billion. The majority of that money would be set aside for veterans to seek medical care outside of the VA system if they cannot get an appointment within the promised window of 14 days. In addition, the bill contains the major GOP priority of granting the secretary of Veterans’ Affairs the power to fire bureaucrats who are simply not doing their jobs.
“The two principles, particularly the expanded firing authority and the expanded access to private care are the two most important reforms in this bill. We feel they will lay the groundwork for future VA reform in fundamentally transforming how the VA delivers care and benefits to our veterans,” said Dan Caldwell, issues and legislative campaign manager at Concerned Veterans for America.
While he believes both of those components are essential to any meaningful reform, Caldwell says the greater choice in health care options for veterans is the most important reform.
“We think that allowing veterans more health care choices will improve their overall well-being, will get veterans out of this failing single-payer health care system at the VA and ultimately reduce wait time,” said Caldwell, who believes transferring more and more of veterans’ medical needs to the private sector is a worthy goal.
“We think that a lot of these health care services, particularly on the primary care front, could probably be better served within the private sector at a family doctor or primary care physician. We don’t think this is really a mission change from what VA’s original intent was. We think this was a mission intent change from where the VA’s mission has expanded in recent decades,” said Caldwell.
Concerned Veterans for America is also cheering the plan to give more latitude to the secretary of Veterans’ Affairs to remove personnel at the upper levels for incompetence or non-performance. It’s a power he hopes the incoming secretary will use widely.
“You’ll probably have fire thousands of managers throughout the VA. The rot at that institution is just so widespread. It is just so ingrained, culturally, within that institution that you’re going to need to remove a lot of people from the VA and then fundamentally transform the culture,” said Caldwell.
Sen. Sanders insisted on including a 21-day window for any dismissed employees to challenge their firing. Caldwell says this will make it harder to clean house and we’re already seeing that problem take shape.
“What you’re seeing often with these employees is that it takes two years to fire someone. We’re not talking about low-level employees. We’re talking about senior managers. It should be very easy to remove those people from their positions,” he said, noting the problem removing one of the most infamous people associated with this scandal.
“Out in Phoenix, Arizona, where the scandal broke, Sharon Helman is the hospital director that was responsible directly or indirectly for the deaths of up to 40 veterans as the result of manipulated wait lists. The process to fire her began the day (former Veterans’ Affairs Secretary Gen. Eric) Shinseki resigned. she’s still on the payroll,” said Caldwell.
“Two other people that started to be fired are still on the payroll. They’ve been receiving pay now for close to two months as employees of the VA. They’re going to drag it out as long as they can because they have the incentive to. I think that this new accountability reform will remove that attempt to drag it out, said Caldwell, noting that government unions will likely challenge the new policy but ultimately lose in court.
Caldwell says Concerned Veterans for America is very worried about the spending associated with the legislation, not only the amounts designated for the key reforms but also for what he considers unnecessary add-ons. Ultimately, he says there will need to be very close oversight from Congress, the media and many others because the VA still hasn’t learned its lessons.
“They’re still not being forthcoming with Congress. They’re not being forthcoming with the media. They’re not providing requested information. The VA conference committee needed detailed accounting information from the VA to give to the Congressional Budget Office. The VA gave them complete information. It’s going to require a lot of continued focus…to make sure this organization is transformed,” said Caldwell.
Three Martini Lunch 7/28/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Andrew Johnson of National Review are cautiously optimistic about the VA reform bill. They also rip John Kerry for failing miserably in the Middle East and not for not even trying to be an honest broker. And they laugh as liberal media fall for a parody story suggesting Rep. Michele Bachmann wants to put immigrant kids in work camps.
Homebuying has more hidden costs than young people expect
“So essentially we bought our house but had a 30-year lease on our land,” said Harris.
‘We’re at the Tipping Point Right Now’
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-California) is slamming the Obama administration for refusing to enforce federal immigration laws, saying our nation is already at the tipping point of disaster from failing to secure our borders and warning that any special refugee status for illegal entrants will result in a fierce response from Congress.
On Thursday, McClintock took to the House floor and delivered a blistering attack on the Obama administration for what he said was its deliberate neglect of its duty to protect our nation’s borders.
“If we are not willing to enforce our current laws, there is no reason to believe that any future laws will be enforced. And until we enforce them, we really can’t accurately assess what changes may be needed,” said McClintock in his floor speech.
In a follow-up interview, McClintock says Obama is abdicating what should be his top priority.
“Border security is the single most important responsibility of the federal government. If it cannot discharge that responsibility, all of its others become meaningless,” he said. “They have completely abandoned the responsibility the federal government has to defend our borders. As the chief executive, the president is responsible for that. He is required to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. He’s done exactly the opposite.”
In his House speech, McClintock also warned that history is littered with nations that failed to protect themselves.
“History is shouting its warning at us: nations that either cannot or will not defend their borders aren’t around very long,” he said Thursday.
McClintock elaborated on that statement later, saying the U.S. is perilously close to becoming one of those nations.
“I think we’re at the tipping point right now. A majority of Americans have awakened to the fact that we face an unprecedented crisis on our southern border. For the first time in American history, that border, as a practical matter, is completely undefended and wide open and is being crossed by thousands and thousands of illegal immigrants,” said McClintock.
The congressman says this entire border cris would have been avoided if the Obama administration simply enforced existing laws or even just some of them.
“What we really need to do is enforce is enforce the existing immigration law, which provides for serious sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrants and completion of the border fence. Also, we’ve got to deport illegal immigrants who come into contact with law enforcement or who apply illegally for government assistance. Current law provides for their deportation. If we are not willing to deport such illegal immigrants, then our immigration laws become meaningless,” said McClintock.
On Friday, the White House announced it was considering granting special refugee status to minors in Honduras because of the country’s high crime rate. No decision has been made, but McClintock is outraged at the mere mention of such a policy.
“Think about what they’re actually saying. They’re saying, ‘This wave of illegal immigration is not arriving here fast enough so we want to fly them to America,’. That’s what they’re saying” said McClintock, noting that such an approach to refugees would quickly lead to a very slippery slope.
“If they’re conferred refugee status for simply fearing violence, that makes eligible every person in every part of the world, including the south side of Chicago and most parts of Detroit. Refugee status, by the way, entitles them to welfare benefits and legal residency,” he said.
“Hopefully, (Congress) won’t have to address that. If we do, I believe that Congress would have no choice but to exercise the full power of the purse and seriously consider other options,” said McClintock.
As for the current border emergency, McClintock believes House Republicans are largely in lockstep on what needs to happen next.
“We need to detain all new arrivals rather than releasing them into the general population, expedite deportation hearings, provide unrestricted access for law enforcement to all federal lands at the border. Right now, they’re severely restricted over which lands they can even access,” said McClintock, who also wants to see the National Guard activated in whatever capacity it is needed to secure the border.
With Democrats controlling the Senate and Obama in the White House, Republicans have their work cut out for them. However, McClintock says conservatives have a crucial ally that just needs to get engaged.
“I think the American people are going to need to weigh in on this,” he said. “I think these are all measures the American people recognize are desperately needed and which they would overwhelmingly support. I think if the Senate were to stand in the way of such emergency action, there would be hell to pay.”
McClintock says the devastating impact of unchecked illegal immigration is not hypothetical. He says California is living through it right now.
“The impact goes to every part of our social service structure. If we’re going to provide free food and clothing and housing and medical care and transportation and legal representation and relocation, the implications are overwhelming. We’re already seeing our schools, our hospitals, our courts, our law enforcement, our prisons all being overwhelmed by this flood of illegal immigration. Local and state budgets are being stretched to the max,” said McClintock.
Perhaps of even greater concern, he says, is that the current episode on our border could permanently damage the rule of law in this country when it comes to immigration.
“We’re also going to watch our legal immigration laws simply become irrelevant. Why would anyone go to all the trouble of obeying our immigration laws when they can reap the same benefits by ignoring them?” said McClintock.
Get Out, Joe!
Hillary Clinton’s disastrous book tour has more high-profile Democrats contemplating a run for the White House in 2016. That includes Vice President Joe Biden. In their latest parody, the Capitol Steps bring Clinton and Biden together. Listen as Hillary tries to force Biden out of the race while Biden vows to run.
Three Martini Lunch 7/25/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review have fun with Michelle Obama telling Democratic donors that special interest money is ruining politics right before she asks them to write the biggest checks they’ve ever given. We discuss Charles Krauthammer declaring that the world is going to hell and President Obama is playing golf. And they enjoy discussing former HHS official Jonathan Gruber’s 2012 insistence that health care tax credits can only be obtained through state health care exchanges.
Israel Halfway to Victory Against Hamas ‘Cowards’
Retired Israeli Brigadier Gen. Elihu Ben-Onn says Israeli Defense Forces have reduced the Hamas rocket arsenal by about 50 percent and he says the military operation will continue until Hamas has no rockets remaining and its tunnel system is eradicated.
“These bloody terrorist had more than 9,000 rockets. We believe we destroyed half of it, that means more than 4,000 rockets. So the mission is not accomplished yet,” said Ben-Onn, who is disgusted as the tactics employed by Hamas to maximize civilian casualties.
“They protect themselves with children and women and hospitals and mosques. They believe that if they hide behind them, (Israel) will not go there,” he said. “They want them to get the bullets first. They don’t fight like soldiers (but) like cowards.”
“We still have to go forward in order to stop all of them. They still have thousands of rockets,” said Ben-Onn.
In addition to the threat posed by relentless rockets fired from Gaza, Israel is also committed to the arduous task of destroying the elaborate system of tunnels that allows Hamas to slip into Israel underground.
“Israel has to move inside and actually go to all basements, all the shelters, all the underground cities Hamas built under the civilians,” said Ben-Onn, who described how the tunnel system works.
“They were dug in the last couple of years. They start in the living room or the kitchen or in the bedroom of the children. They start it from that kitchen down to the ground and then one or two kilometers, all the way to the border,” he said.
Ben-Onn admits discovering all the tunnels is a painstaking task.
“It’s very complicated. you have to go from house to house, from building to building. You need a lot of information, a lot of intelligence. Of course, when you find those terrorists, it’s sad they don’t go out and fight. They prefer to be behind human shelters,” said Ben-Onn.
Several media reports have explained that Hamas regularly fires rockets and stations known military targets in areas of high civilian populations, such as schools, hospitals and even United Nations relief shelters. However, the majority of international reports simply point to the civilian deaths occurring when those sites are attacked by Israel and those reports lead to growing international cries for a cease-fire.
“Well, we are used to that. Unfortunately, for many years, some international media prefer to take the propaganda point of view of the terrorists. I always explain it as simple as it is. If you have a daylight robbery in a bank and terrorists are holding a hostage with a pistol on their head, if you are a police officer you must shoot him before he kills all the hostages,” said Ben-Onn.
The United States government played a key role in two stories connected to the Middle East conflict. On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced a halt to all U.S. flights into Tel Aviv. Many European nations and airlines followed suit. The U.S. allowed flights to resume late Wednesday night.
“We were a little bit surprised because British Airways from London didn’t stop the flights to Tel Aviv. I’m very glad they decided to cancel this wrong decision,” said Ben-Onn, explaining that Bengurion Airport is the most secure in the world and Hamas rockets aren’t even a threat to aircraft.
On Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry was caught on a live television microphone saying he needed to head to the Middle East to broker a truce and he seemed to be mocking the notion that the Israeli military actions were part of a pinpoint operation.
Nonetheless, Ben-Onn believes the Obama administration remains a strong ally of Israel. He’s also touched by the outpouring of support from the American people.
“We would like to thank the United States of America, the people. We have thousands of supporters. People are calling my radio station, sending emails, faxes and Facebook (messages). They say, ‘We support the state of Israel. We understand your struggle, your efforts,” said Ben-Onn.
For those who believe Israel’s response to the rocket attacks from Hamas is no proportionate, Ben-Onn suggests Americans consider how they would react if Washington, D.C. were attacked day after day by rockets from a neighboring country.
Ultimately, he says, Israel must defend itself.
“We have an enemy. Our enemy doesn’t recognize our right to exist in this area. The enemy is attacking Israel by missiles and rockets, especially our civilians. They are war criminals and we have to protect ourselves,” he said.
Why Millennials Should Care About Social Security Now
By Ryan Brown
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935, it’s possible he didn’t understand the huge effect his social welfare plan would have. In 2014, over 59 million Americans will receive almost $863 billion in Social Security benefits. 9 out of 10 individuals over the age of 65 receive benefits and among those, half of elderly married beneficiaries rely on Social Security for 50% of their income. 47% of single, elderly beneficiaries rely on Social Security for 90% of their income. These numbers are in addition to the disabled workers and dependent family members of deceased workers who also receive benefits.
In a word, Social Security is huge.
Unfortunately, the system is in dire need of repair, and that spells bad news for young people.
Andrew Biggs is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC, and he’s also worked as deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration. When asked if Social Security will be around for millennials, his answer isn’t reassuring.
“The answer to that is yes and no,” he says.
Biggs says that the program isn’t going anywhere, but what a young person receives will vary.
“The idea that you’re not going to get a penny from Social Security, I really think is false. On the other hand, what are the chances I’m going to get everything I’ve been promised from Social Security? And I think those chances are pretty slim,” he says.
If that isn’t depressing enough, Biggs goes on to say that postponing the problem isn’t helping anyone either.
“The Sooner you fix it the easier it is. For every year that goes by, we’re essentially putting off the problem and so it gets to be harder to solve,” says Biggs.
A solution to the problem isn’t going to come easily, and that shouldn’t surprise anyone. Economists each seem to have their own ideas of how to create solvency, and they fiercely debate one another over the pros and cons of their plans.
Melissa Favreault is a Senior Fellow in the Urban Institute’s Income and Benefits Policy Center. She says that even if economists can’t come to an agreement, though, almost all the proposed solutions include some mix of adjustments on the tax or revenue side, and adjustments to benefits.
“Some of the proposals that are most common are things like lifting the cap on earnings that are taxable for Social Security. There’s also some talk about increasing the taxation of benefits, or broadening the base, for example, to include things like health insurance benefits that are currently not taxed for Social Security purposes,” she says.
The proposed benefits adjustments are equally varied.
“One that we hear a lot about are things like increasing the full retirement age, or increasing the early retirement age. We also hear about things like reducing the cost of living adjustment. Among proposals that we’ve seen in a lot of recent plans are adjustments in the rate of growth for benefits,” says Favreault.
Though a solution will likely entail a combination of changes, Biggs says the most likely change he sees is the retirement age.
“The retirement age currently is slowly shifting from 65 up to 67. It’s something that is not an easy change to make, but I think encouraging people to work longer is really the best way to address these issues,” he says.
But some are disappointed with any and all attempts at fixing Social Security. When the system was designed, it was based on a three-legged stool of retirement: private pension benefits, private savings, and Social Security. Many see a decline in private pensions and savings and an increasing reliance on the third leg, Social Security. For young people, this means they should start saving for retirement now. For other advocates, the increasing reliance on Social Security is the beginning of a downward trend, and they want the freedom to take their retirement savings into their own hands—to privatize the system.
While privatization models of retirement savings have shown huge gains for savings invested in the stock market, Biggs is quick to point out that the biggest issue in privatizing the system is something called “transition cost.”
“If you take the money that you’re currently paying into Social Security and you put it into a personal account on your own, that’s money the system doesn’t have to pay out benefits to your grandparents. So during that time, you have to come up with additional money to cover this transition,” says Biggs.
It’s that transition cost, and the fact that the current system needs money flowing in to function, that necessitates a multifaceted, well-thought-out solution to Social Security’s solvency issues.
For Favreault, the most important thing for young people to understand, is that Social Security requires a group perspective.
“We’re kind of all in this together, and we’re saying that as a society, we want people of retirement age and people who become disabled, or the children of workers who die before retirement, that they’re protected,” she says.
Biggs admits that, for a lot of young people, that can be hard to swallow.
“Is it fair to say that a lot of younger folks are kind of getting ripped of? Well, that’s kind of what the numbers show. So you want to find some solution that smooths things out and makes the system sustainable, not just in a financial sense, but sustainable in that people feel it’s something they can really support,” he says.
For a lot of millennials, Social Security is something that they see having little effect on their day-to-day lives. For a solution to the rapidly approaching solvency crisis, though, millennials and other young Americans will have to decide this is an issue they want to fix. Otherwise, they’ll bear the financial consequences.
Three Martini Lunch 7/24/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Andrew Johnson of National Review are glad to see already vulnerable Montana Democratic Senator John Walsh get caught for his recent plagiarism on a master’s thesis. They also bite their nails as a new Marquette University poll shows Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker now losing to his Democratic opponent. And they react to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s odd rant against CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.