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Bennet, Part Of Bi-Partisan Senators Advocating Private Sector Fix To Problems At VA

In letter to President Obama, Senators urge top-level private sector review of VA systems

Washington, DC – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined a bipartisan group of nine U.S. Senators to call on the Administration to accept private sector assistance in fixing the broken Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) scheduling system.  In a letter sent today, Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Patty Murray (D-WA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Al Franken (D-MN), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), urged the VA to follow the example of the Army, which in 2010 allowed a consortium of leading technology companies to provide expertise in designing a corrective plan, at no cost to the taxpayers, to fix widespread data management issues uncovered at the Army’s Arlington National Cemetery.

“Because of the immediacy of the many challenges at the VA, we urge you to work with us to implement a similar cost-effective, private sector initiative so we can begin restoring the trust of our veterans and the American public in the ability of the VA to meet the commitments our nation has made to our veterans.  Our military men and women, their families, and our veterans deserve nothing less.”

“Engaging the tech sector and the best minds from leading American IT firms produced a comprehensive business plan to help the Army modernize its workflow procedures and upgrade the data management systems at Arlington.  That effort, conducted at no cost to the taxpayers, represented the very best traditions of corporate citizenship,” the senators wrote.

Full text of the letter is below, and a PDF of the signed letter can be accessed here.

June 5, 2014

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. President:

Like most Americans, we are outraged at the documented misconduct at the U.S. Veterans Health Administration that has caused our military veterans to face long waits when seeking the medical care they have earned.  That some veterans actually have died while waiting for needed care adds urgency to our efforts to act immediately.  While last week’s preliminary Inspector General’s (IG) report indicated this is a systemic problem that dates back many years, it is our responsibility to take swift, decisive action now.

The IG report details widespread information technology challenges that enabled many of the unacceptable and inappropriate use of scheduling gimmicks and outright fabrication of performance metrics at the VA.  We should be able to move quickly to begin restoring confidence in the VA by addressing these technology and data management problems in the current scheduling system.

This is a crisis that requires immediate action, and we recommend enlisting the expertise of the private sector to provide an assessment and recommendations for improvements to the current IT and workflow challenges at VA.  By calling on our best minds across the private sector in a pro bono demonstration of solid corporate citizenship, we could create a blueprint for achievable action the VA should undertake within 60-to-90 days.  Our veterans deserve this quick action on these urgent issues. 

We already have an effective template that sorts through most of the legal and process issues to allow this type of private-sector assistance.  For example, a 2010 Inspector General’s investigation revealed widespread mismanagement at the U.S. Army’s Arlington National Cemetery, including misplaced and mishandled remains of our war-fighters.  The IG report also revealed that Cemetery managers continued to rely upon decades of vulnerable, hand-written paper files in managing burial records.  A consortium of technology companies operating under the auspices of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) jumped in quickly to provide their services and expertise at no cost to the taxpayer.  This task force ultimately worked with the Army to create a legal framework that enabled the Army and Arlington National Cemetery to accept their pro bono help.

Engaging the tech sector and the best minds from leading American IT firms produced a comprehensive business plan to help the Army modernize its workflow procedures and upgrade the data management systems at Arlington.  That effort, conducted at no cost to the taxpayers, represented the very best traditions of corporate citizenship.

We are confident that private sector expertise from across the country could be assembled to provide a similar pro-bono service to help fix the challenges at the VA, and we stand ready to assist the Administration in moving quickly to help empanel this group. 

Not every problem requires a government solution.  Because of the immediacy of the many challenges at the VA, we urge you to work with us to implement this cost-effective, private sector initiative so we can begin restoring the trust of our veterans and the American public in the ability of the VA to meet the commitments our nation has made to our veterans.  Our military men and women, their families, and our veterans deserve nothing less.

End

Senator Bennet has also been instrumental in passing immigration reform which remains stalled in the U.S. House of Representatives.  In the case of immigration reform, it will take not just governmental solutions to fix the problem, but more, governmental solutions at the federal instead of state level.  The State of Arizona provided it's own fix to the problem with disastrous consequences, costing the state billions of dollars in lost business.  There is a place for public-private partnerships in which the private sector aids government, as well as the role of purely governmental solutions.  Each has a place as America grows.  

Venezuela Continues Violating Free Speech

The Nicolas Maudro government continues to shatter the notion of a free press in Venezuela.  Like an ostrich, if one can't see what is going on, presumably, it can't be happening.  Yet, the protests continue, the midnight raids continue, the violation of basic human rights continues in the South American nation that was the poster-child for a vibrant society under the former leader, Hugo Chavez.

Disaffected citizens who voiced their concerns have been answered with a barrage of buck shot and clouds of tear gas.  Reporters have been silenced and thrown out of the country, as if to silence the press silences the abuses to free thinking and free talking people.  


While a government has an obligation to maintain peace, it also has an obligation to treat all citizens with respect and with dignity, even those who disagree with the government.  Citizens arrested say respect has been paid in the form of male rape via the hot barrel of a rifle, indictments against students whose real crime was to speak out, and midnight trials of people who were not advised of the charges against them sooner than minutes before they were forced to defend themselves.  This is the place where Nicolas Maduro has taken the vision Hugo Chavez left for the country.

Free speech, free press and an active opposition are signs of a free society.  Remove them, as has happened in Venezuela, and the ostrich may dip her head, but the problems and opposition continues.  Eventually, the society erupts and a change of leadership is demanded.  Embrace free thinking and opposition and all people win by an enriched dialogue, where no one gets everything they want, but no one loses everything they want, either.

Venezuela is a country that will be the poster-child of Latin America.  The only question left is whether that poster-child will be one of reform and a free society, or one of repression by a newly elected and cruel dictator.

Protests Continue In Venezuela Despite Carnival

Free Speech Free To Those Who Oppose Freedom

If you are an aficionado of Youtube it would be difficult to miss some of the best videos on the net.  Surprisingly, what appears to be well shot news stories comes from societies who would not let a Western media outlet speak as freely were they voicing their opinions from the host country.  Enter Press TV and RT, two media outlets who have learned from the Fox News model to turn supposed independent news into a point of view.

Press TV is from Iran, a country that openly eschews just about everything Western.  RT means Russian TV.  Both are full of flashy news with experts who supposedly are giving Americans, the consummate news junkies, what they lust for.  In reality, the news items are nothing short of slick propaganda designed to slide an anti-Western message under the nose of anyone who is willing to listen.

For example, recent reports from RT and Press TV both pitch the events in the Ukraine as a country simply attempting to return to it's roots.  Little is made about the invasion of the country by Russia.  Lost in the rhetoric are traditional American values in a red wrapper.

America will remain free so long as people are able to distinguish the truth from the hype.  In the old days of journalistic standards, reporters were not allowed to have a point of view, though they often did.  Then came FOX TV and Bill O'Reilly whose version of fair and balanced has made him a popular figure.  In pretending to keep journalistic standards, he always seems to give his opponents a voice and slants the article to underscore his version of the truth.  Through clever editing Bill is always right, something journalists should never be, and Americans have confidence in his diatribes.

News on a point of view without disclosing the reporter is editorializing is bad journalism.  Unfortunately, the bar continues to descend as new players use the play book to sway public opinion in the US while denying their citizens a "fair and unbiased" point of view at home.

Thugs On Motorcycles Prey On Venezuelan Citizens, Colectivos Bring Terror

In Communistic basic theory, every block in a city has a block captain who watches over the citizens in his block. The structure follows the chain up to districts and states. Those who serve to keep watch on the rest of society get special treatment as "party members". In Venezuela, they take the concept one healthy, or rather unhealthy, notch higher.


"Colectivos" are gangs of thugs, many former block party members supporting the government, mounted on motorcycles and roving Venezuelan barrios looking for victims. Any one who speaks out against a repressive regime is fair game. There is no point in calling the police or government agency for help, because these thugs are supported by the government.

Despite a press lock down, videos have been leaking out of besieged sections of major Venezuelan cities showing the absolute brutality of the Collectives. They are doing what the government, in it's supposed official capacity, has failed to do. Quelling unrest is one thing. Allowing the brutal assault and dehumanization of the opposition is another thing.

Sailors are advised to avoid Venezuela at all costs. The country has fallen into complete chaos. The government is resorting to violent methods not so unlike those used by Army Major Roberto D'Aubuisson en El Salvador. Last week, two opposition leaders, Luis Daniel Gómez, and Gustavo Giménez were found murdered in a Caracas Park. Supposedly, the leaders, friends of opposition Leopoldo López, one even having grown up in the same household. Yet, the Venezuelan government, which owns and controls the vast majority of the Nation's assets, and with all of it's investigative might, has conveniently been unable to identify or capture the assassins of the two men.

In fact, part of the unrest in Venezuela is due to the general feeling of insecurity. No one is safe in Venezuela today. Caracas now has a reputation of being one of the most dangerous places on Earth, despite considerable wealth and education. The government under Nicolás Maduro Moros, who took over after Hugo Chavez died from cancer, has been ineffective in protecting the supply of the most basic necessities of life, toilet paper, food, beverages and even the safety of the people who live under his rule.

People representing both the left and the right are fighting for basic freedom. The government is paralyzed to stop protests against it while encouraging the Colectivos to do the job the government, in full view of the limited press, prefers not to be seen as doing.  Yet, their silence and refusal to take action against unbridled thugs reminds people of other South American and Central American governments which quietly stood by while criminals did their dirty work.