Title : HOW CITIZEN'S UNITED WARPS OUR POLITICS EVERY DAY OF OUR LIVES
link : HOW CITIZEN'S UNITED WARPS OUR POLITICS EVERY DAY OF OUR LIVES
HOW CITIZEN'S UNITED WARPS OUR POLITICS EVERY DAY OF OUR LIVES
CONCERNED VETERANS FOR AMERICA: THE KOCH FUNDED ARM OF VETERANS ADMINISTRATION PRIVATIZATION
I never quite understood what it was the Department of Veterans Affairs, head, David Shulkin's transgressions were at the VA to plunge him into so much hot water with Trump. He is a doctor. He has experience since he was a VA deputy director and headed up large medical institutions, including CEO of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and Chief Medical Officer of the University of Pennsylvania's Health System, before becoming VA Director. Nobody made any claims that he was personally abusing the public trust like EPA's Scott Pruitt who has made living uber-large off the taxpayer dole into finely tuned Mozart masterpiece. Maybe Shulkin got too much publicity - a definite grounds for firing in Trump World. But I hadn't seen any. Nowhere did I see a list of Shulkin-linked improprieties like Pruitt, Zinke and half a dozen other Trump cabinet appointees one hears about every day. Somehow, Shulkin had just run afoul of the Trump brand but nowhere did I see any factual information about what Shulkin had exactly done to earn Trump's enmity.
Today: Mystery Solved. The one point that ex-VA Director Shulkin has been making as he made the rounds of the media just after his firing, is that he was against privatizing the VA and he was working against "forces" that were hell bent on making this happen. In the end, for whatever reasons, Trump wanted him out. He was fired through Trump's classic method (No, not an across the desk "You're Fired!" as with a normal human being, but via a Twitter tweet.) Well, I thought, sure maybe we should have s discussion about whether privatizing the VA or parts of it or allowing war veterans in its care more flexibility in choosing who they see for their medical care. All reasonable propositions thought naive me. And, after all, I can't remember a time in our history when the VA wasn't in the headlines for some bad reason or another. Was Shulkin just another casualty of a broken Veterans Administration? Sounded like it. To me, at least.
But today, once again thanks to the Washington Post's newly energized investigative journalistic activities, comes the revelation that it is a group called "Concerned Veterans For America" who has been lobbying for the privatization of the Veterans Administration since the group's founding in 2011. And guess who's funding them?
The Koch Brothers!
Sure, the libertarian Koch Brothers have every right to finance Concerned Veterans For America and, indeed, they fund any number of other groups that push their uber-conservative agenda thanks to the Supreme Court's "Citizen United" decision back in 2010. But we the people, us regular folks, don't often turn our thoughts to what this landmark decision actually means for us or how it directly impacts both our national agenda and public opinion. The Koch Brothers funded Concerned Veterans For America is a pretty clear and typical example of how the secret funding of such organizations actually warps our political discussions and influences public opinion. (Like mine.) I'm no expert when it comes to the services the Veterans Administration delivers, the structure of the organization nor how our veterans grade the quality of its services. This is why I pay attention to the media and their reporting. I don't know very much about this particular topic but I'm willing to educate myself.
So when I read in the press or see on television that the head of the VA is fired by the President I want to know why. I want the facts. But if it hadn't been for Secretary Shulkin making the media rounds immediately following his firing voicing his claims that he was fired because he resisted efforts to Privatize the VA, I and we would have remained ignorant of the real reason(s) and forces behind his departure. And we still would be - not knowing much about the "efforts" and "forces" Shulkin spoke about - if it hadn't been for the Post's exposure of both the group who's pushing for privatization and who's funding them.
I was aware of the Concerned Veteran's For America, knew that such an organization existed. I thought, naively, once again, that they were a bunch of ex-soldiers who were pushing for improved services at the Veterans Administration, a perfectly rational and legitimate purpose. But once you learn that they were founded and funded by the Koch Brothers - just the same modus operandi as the founding and funding of the "spontaneous grass roots" Tea Party - this puts the entire enterprise in an entirely different light.
And, of course, the $52 million that Concerned Veterans For America has poured into legislative and policy efforts over the past seven years did not come from veterans of our wars in Iraq or Afghanistan or Syria sending in their personal donation checks to CVFA headquarters. But what are the aims of Concerned Veterans For America? Below is the CVFA's "Mission Statement" I've copied from their website:
Sounds like your basic "Mom and Apple Pie" organization battling on behalf of our freedom, always a patriotic endeavor. And who would know better the cost of this fight than war veterans, right? But there is scant mention of medical care or the Veterans Administration or how veterans are bring failed by the "system." Concerned Veterans is a 501(c)4 charitable organization so they are permitted to engage in political activities and do not have to disclose the identities of their donors. One would think, however, that this is an organization dedicated to the improvement of the lives of veterans. They are not. Their activities are unabashedly partisan and reflect the goals and objectives of the Koch Brothers exclusively and not the goals and objectives of our veterans. Here's some examples of the kind of political propaganda Concerned Veterans For America actually produced:
I never quite understood what it was the Department of Veterans Affairs, head, David Shulkin's transgressions were at the VA to plunge him into so much hot water with Trump. He is a doctor. He has experience since he was a VA deputy director and headed up large medical institutions, including CEO of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and Chief Medical Officer of the University of Pennsylvania's Health System, before becoming VA Director. Nobody made any claims that he was personally abusing the public trust like EPA's Scott Pruitt who has made living uber-large off the taxpayer dole into finely tuned Mozart masterpiece. Maybe Shulkin got too much publicity - a definite grounds for firing in Trump World. But I hadn't seen any. Nowhere did I see a list of Shulkin-linked improprieties like Pruitt, Zinke and half a dozen other Trump cabinet appointees one hears about every day. Somehow, Shulkin had just run afoul of the Trump brand but nowhere did I see any factual information about what Shulkin had exactly done to earn Trump's enmity.
Today: Mystery Solved. The one point that ex-VA Director Shulkin has been making as he made the rounds of the media just after his firing, is that he was against privatizing the VA and he was working against "forces" that were hell bent on making this happen. In the end, for whatever reasons, Trump wanted him out. He was fired through Trump's classic method (No, not an across the desk "You're Fired!" as with a normal human being, but via a Twitter tweet.) Well, I thought, sure maybe we should have s discussion about whether privatizing the VA or parts of it or allowing war veterans in its care more flexibility in choosing who they see for their medical care. All reasonable propositions thought naive me. And, after all, I can't remember a time in our history when the VA wasn't in the headlines for some bad reason or another. Was Shulkin just another casualty of a broken Veterans Administration? Sounded like it. To me, at least.
But today, once again thanks to the Washington Post's newly energized investigative journalistic activities, comes the revelation that it is a group called "Concerned Veterans For America" who has been lobbying for the privatization of the Veterans Administration since the group's founding in 2011. And guess who's funding them?
The Koch Brothers!
Sure, the libertarian Koch Brothers have every right to finance Concerned Veterans For America and, indeed, they fund any number of other groups that push their uber-conservative agenda thanks to the Supreme Court's "Citizen United" decision back in 2010. But we the people, us regular folks, don't often turn our thoughts to what this landmark decision actually means for us or how it directly impacts both our national agenda and public opinion. The Koch Brothers funded Concerned Veterans For America is a pretty clear and typical example of how the secret funding of such organizations actually warps our political discussions and influences public opinion. (Like mine.) I'm no expert when it comes to the services the Veterans Administration delivers, the structure of the organization nor how our veterans grade the quality of its services. This is why I pay attention to the media and their reporting. I don't know very much about this particular topic but I'm willing to educate myself.
So when I read in the press or see on television that the head of the VA is fired by the President I want to know why. I want the facts. But if it hadn't been for Secretary Shulkin making the media rounds immediately following his firing voicing his claims that he was fired because he resisted efforts to Privatize the VA, I and we would have remained ignorant of the real reason(s) and forces behind his departure. And we still would be - not knowing much about the "efforts" and "forces" Shulkin spoke about - if it hadn't been for the Post's exposure of both the group who's pushing for privatization and who's funding them.
I was aware of the Concerned Veteran's For America, knew that such an organization existed. I thought, naively, once again, that they were a bunch of ex-soldiers who were pushing for improved services at the Veterans Administration, a perfectly rational and legitimate purpose. But once you learn that they were founded and funded by the Koch Brothers - just the same modus operandi as the founding and funding of the "spontaneous grass roots" Tea Party - this puts the entire enterprise in an entirely different light.
And, of course, the $52 million that Concerned Veterans For America has poured into legislative and policy efforts over the past seven years did not come from veterans of our wars in Iraq or Afghanistan or Syria sending in their personal donation checks to CVFA headquarters. But what are the aims of Concerned Veterans For America? Below is the CVFA's "Mission Statement" I've copied from their website:
We are veterans from every branch of uniformed services and every conflict from World War II to the Global War on Terror. We are the family members of those who have proudly worn the uniform. We are freedom-loving citizens who value America’s heroes and are concerned about the fate of our country. We come from all walks of life and live in every community across America.
We all share a strong belief that the freedoms we have defended – that our friends and loved ones suffered and died for – are being threatened by the irresponsibility, broken promises, and misguided priorities of our leaders in Washington. We know that veterans, service members and their families are, and will continue to be, disproportionately affected by the current economic crisis. For this reason, we must rally again to serve as active citizens, just as we fought as soldiers.
Throughout our years of service and many deployments around the world, we have seen firsthand what happens when freedom and free markets are interfered with and fail. We know all too well that freedoms surrendered are rarely – if ever – regained. And we watch as our elected leaders continue to shrink from challenges and betray the trust placed in them. The truth is, the ideals and freedoms that have defined America since its founding are dissolving before our eyes.
We are committed to the historical promise of our nation: that all Americans have an equal opportunity to pursue prosperity. We affirm this commitment by working to return to the tradition of limited, effective government so that those men and women who have given the most in service to this nation will not be denied their chance to enjoy that prosperity.
We are resolved that it is our sacred duty to stand as one – veterans, family members and active citizens alike – in defense of the fundamental ideals of liberty that are the soil from which opportunity for prosperity grows.Sounds like your basic "Mom and Apple Pie" organization battling on behalf of our freedom, always a patriotic endeavor. And who would know better the cost of this fight than war veterans, right? But there is scant mention of medical care or the Veterans Administration or how veterans are bring failed by the "system." Concerned Veterans is a 501(c)4 charitable organization so they are permitted to engage in political activities and do not have to disclose the identities of their donors. One would think, however, that this is an organization dedicated to the improvement of the lives of veterans. They are not. Their activities are unabashedly partisan and reflect the goals and objectives of the Koch Brothers exclusively and not the goals and objectives of our veterans. Here's some examples of the kind of political propaganda Concerned Veterans For America actually produced:
Concerned Veterans For America is not a veterans organization. It is a partisan right wing political organization funded by the Koch Brothers.
Back to Secretary Shulkin. Remember when he made the media rounds immediately after his firing by President Trump? Remember what he "claimed" was the reason for his firing? Yes. He had the audacity to push back against the privatization of the Veterans Administration. But I'm wondering if he knew that he was pushing back against not a spontaneous organization of veterans but against the billionaire Koch Brothers? But what's clear is that Concerned Veterans For America and the Koch Brothers succeeded in ousting a well qualified, deeply experienced, Veterans Department Administrator who was clearly fighting on behalf of the 9 millions veterans enrolled in the VA, the 170 VA hospitals run by the VA, and the 1,061 outpatient clinics operated by the VA.
And what about us? Where was our voice in this effort? What we have just witnessed is the power of the right wing, libertarian, anti-democratic, billionaire Koch Brothers who have just engineered a political coup. Yes, a coup on a small scale but a coup nonetheless. What we don't know - and never will until Citizens United is voided - is how many other such successes the Koch Brothers and their right wing groups have achieved behind our backs. Why? Citizens United which allows unlimited secret money to influence our politics is not unlike what the Russians did with our 2016 Presidential Election.
And what do actual veterans think about the care they receive from the Veterans Administration?
The 60% favorable opinion of the Veterans Administration among veterans is pretty consistent across legitimate polling organizations. Not, of course, among those Koch Brother's funded polls and propaganda where you find that veterans are crying out for the privatization of the VA.
And there you have it: Why David Shulkin was fired by Trump and how the Koch Brothers engineered this coup.
NOTE: The full Washington Post article from which this piece is drawn is here:
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