Thursday, May 22, 2014
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HEALTH CARE
Obama vows to fix veterans’ troubles Houses approves measure to give official more power to fire, demote WASHINGTON (AP) – With outrage mounting over veterans’ health care, President Barack Obama declared Wednesday that allegations of misconduct at VA hospitals will not be tolerated, and he left open the possibility that Secretary Eric Shinseki, a disabled war veteran, could be held to account. “I will not stand for it – not as commander in chief, but also not as an American,� Obama said following an Oval Office meeting with the embattled Shinseki. Congress moved to keep up the pressure on the administration, with the House easily approving a measure Wednesday evening that would give the VA secretary more authority to fire or
demote the 450 senior career employees who serve as hospital directors or executives in the agency’s 21 regions. The vote was 390 to 33. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, sponsored the measure, saying VA officials who have presided over mismanagement or negligence are more likely to receive bonuses or glowing performance reviews than any sort of punishment. He declared that a “widespread and systemic lack of accountability is exacerbating� the department’s problems. The White House said it supported the goal of seeking greater accountability at the VA but had unspecified concerns about the legislation.
AP
President Barack Obama listens to a question as he speaks to reporters Wednesday in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, after he met with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors. The growing furor surrounding the Department of Veterans Affairs centers on allegations of treatment delays and preventable deaths at VA hospitals. The department’s inspector general’s office says 26 facilities
are being investigated nationwide, including a Phoenix hospital facing allegations that 40 people died while waiting for treatment and staff kept a secret list of patients in order to hide delays in care.
NIGERIA
The allegations have raised fresh concerns about the Obama administration’s management of a department that has been struggling to keep up with the influx of new veterans returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama’s comments Wednesday – his first on the matter in more than 3 weeks –signaled a greater urgency by the White House to keep the matter from spiraling into a deeper political problem in a midterm election year. “We are going to fix whatever is wrong, and so long as I have the privilege of serving as commander in chief, I’m going to keep on fighting to deliver the care and the benefits and the opportunities that you and your families deserve, now and for decades to come,� Obama said.
Yet the president’s remarks did little to quell the criticism of both the VA troubles and his own handling of the matter. Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war, said Obama’s comments were “wholly insufficient in addressing the fundamental, systemic problems plaguing our veterans’ health care system.� And the American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans service organization, said Obama was making an “unfortunate� decision by keeping Shinseki at the helm of the VA. “Words are nice, and even somewhat comforting, but when will the VA’s house be cleansed of those who are soiling it and dishonoring the system?� American Legion National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger said in a statement.
WASHINGTON
Extremists strike villages; 48 dead Senate races get Twin bombings heated up quickly claim 130 lives in central city JOS, Nigeria (AP) – Islamic militants killed 48 villagers in northeastern Nigeria near the town where they kidnapped 300 schoolgirls, and the U.S. said Wednesday it was sending in 80 military personnel to expand the drone search for the captives. The developments came hours after twin car bombings claimed at least 130 lives in this central city – an escalating campaign of violence blamed on the Boko Haram terrorist network and its drive to impose an Islamic state on Nigeria. The three villages attacked overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday are near the town of Chibok, where the girls were abducted from their boarding school in a brazen April 15 assault that has ignited a global movement to secure their freedom. First lady Michelle Obama is among those who have joined a viral social media campaign under the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, tweeting earlier this month, “Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and
AP
Red Cross personnel search for remains Wednesday at the site of one of Tuesday’s car bomb in Jos, Nigeria. Two car bombs exploded at a bustling bus terminal and market in Nigeria’s central city of Jos, killing more than 100 people, wounding dozens and leaving bloodied bodies amid the flaming debris. their families. It’s time to The U.S. mission will was not authorized to dis#BringBackOurGirls.� help expand drone cuss the matter publicly. On Wednesday, Presi- searches of the region, The government of dent Barack Obama said Lt. Col. Myles Cag- Nigerian President Goodannounced that the U.S. gins, adding that this lat- luck Jonathan has come was sending in 80 mili- est deployment will not under intense national tary personnel to help in be involved in ground and international critithe search for the miss- searches. cism for its lack of proging schoolgirls. In a letter The drone – a Preda- ress in rescuing the 276 to House Speaker John tor – will be in addition schoolgirls. Besides the Boehner and the Senate, to the unarmed Global United States, Britain, Obama said the service Hawks already being Israel and several other members were being used, a senior U.S. offi- nations have offered sent to Chad, which bor- cial said. The new flights assistance in the hunt for ders northeastern Nige- will be based out of Chad the girls, amid fears they ria, to help with intelli- and allow the military to would be sold into slavgence, surveillance and expand its search effort, ery, married off to fightreconnaissance aircraft said the official, who ers or worse, following missions over Nigeria spoke on condition of repeated threats by Boko and the nearby region. anonymity because he Haram’s leader.
IRAN
‘Happy’ video arrests highlight tensions TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – An Internet video of six young Iranian men and women dancing to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy� has led to their arrests, showing how far Tehran will go to halt what it deems to be decadent Western behavior – despite the views of its moderate president. Criticism outside Iran was predictably swift
Wednesday, with calls for freedom for the jailed youths zipping around social media. Williams tweeted: “It’s beyond sad these kids were arrested for trying to spread happiness.� A tweet posted Wednesday evening on President Hassan Rouhani’s account seemed to address the controversy, even if it stopped short of mentioning
the video or the arrests directly. “#Happiness is our people’s right,� it said. “We shouldn’t be too hard on behaviors caused by joy.� The widely followed account appears to reflect Rouhani’s positions. Iranian media in the past quoted Rouhani as saying the account is authentic. At the same time, a senior Rouhani
adviser said last year that the president had such an account only during the presidential campaign, and that Rouhani’s views are represented by his official website. Other social media posts suggested at least some of the dancers had already been released, although there was no independent confirmation from authorities.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Instantly on the attack, allies of Republican leader Mitch McConnell launched a televised barrage against newly minted Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky’s high-stakes Senate race Wednesday, a day after several states’ primaries also set up a Republican runoff in Georgia and left tea party insurgents still scratching for a breakthrough triumph. Grimes countered with a new ad of her own, promising Kentucky’s voters, “no matter who the president is, I won’t answer to him, I’ll only answer to you.� It marked a quick attempt to neutralize McConnell’s assertion that she would serve as a rubber stamp for President Barack Obama. The exchange underscored the president’s unpopularity in Kentucky, where a recent CourierJournal Bluegrass poll of registered voters found that only 29 percent of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of him and 57 percent had an unfavorable one. McConnell’s ratings after 30 years in office are almost as bad, the poll said, 29 percent favorable and 49 percent unfavorable. Kentucky and Georgia stand out as two of the most competitive races in the country this fall, at the center of a nationwide campaign in which
Republicans are mounting a strong effort to gain six Senate seats and win a majority. Somewhat improbably, given the states’ strong Republican leanings, they also are the two where Democrats have their strongest hopes of winning seats currently in GOP hands and offsetting inevitable losses elsewhere. Michelle Nunn, the easy winner of the Georgia Democratic nomination, campaigned in Atlanta on Wednesday and predicted the Republican runoff would be a “race to extremes and represents the acrimony and inflexibility that people are tired of already in Washington.� Republicans David Perdue, a businessman, and veteran Rep. Jack Kingston, rivals in the 10-week runoff, previewed themes for their race as they looked for support from voters who backed former Secretary of State Karen Handel and Reps. Phil Gingrey and Paul Broun in the primary. “’If you like what’s going on in Washington, you’ve got a perfectly good politician to vote for,� Perdue said disparagingly of his runoff rival. “We got to this position because we presented an alternative to a career politician.� Responded Kingston: “I think people would rather have a tested conservative than a moderate outsider,� a disparaging reference to Perdue.
AP
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