Katrina vanden Heuvel has, for almost 20 years, been the editor of The Nation magazine (she also publishes it and has an equity stake in the magazine). Politically, she is a take-no-prisoners hard leftist who can find a way to blame Republicans and, more generally, the right, for every problem this country has – including problems which come to light in Democrat administrations.
Like, for example the Veterans Administration hospital scandal.
Here is part of what Ms. vanden Heuvel said about this scandal on yesterday\’s Face The Nation show:
It\’san outrage. Those who are involved in these longer wait times must beheld accountable, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But Ithink we need to step back. Bob, Congress has cut funding, hasslashed funding, for veterans\’ benefits over these last years.
Ifanyone should be offering their resignation, maybe the Congressshould. General Shinseki, by the way, who was relieved of his duty asArmy Chief of Staff by President Bush because he told the truth abouthow many troops would be needed in Iraq, has tried to institutereform. Shorter waiting periods, bringing on more vets from Vietnam,fewer homeless vets. I think we need to look hard at the fundingissue. And finally, I would add I think we need to look hard…andthose people have not been held accountable for the economics of ourcountry…that,in many ways, is the broad scandal.
I do think the V.A.has been the most effective, efficient health care system in thiscountry over these last decades. And it was nickel and dimed underthe Bush administration. They felt they needed to spend more ondefense than on veterans\’ benefits…The question is, what do you dowith Congress? The Republican Congress has slashed benefits.
There you have it, folks. The VA scandal is all Bush and Republicans all the time. Eric Sincheki is absolved of any blame, because he was “fired” for telling the truth about Iraq, and in any event the Republican congress has slashed Veterans\’ benefits.
Helluva story. Too bad it is all fiction.
Let\’s start with this idea that Bush “nickeled and dimed” Veterans.
Here, straight from Veterans Affairs, is a chart of how much money was budgeted for the Department of Veterans Affairs over the past 20 years (2012 is the latest for which there are data). Let\’s see what the actual facts are:
FiscalYear Current $ Constant $ (FY2011)
1993 35,154.7 54,535.8
1994 36,780.1 55,613.3
1995 37,466.1 55,071.8
1996 38,634.9 55,286.0
1997 40,054.4 55,727.2
1998 41,686.6 56,982.0
1999 43,137.8 57,962.3
2000 44,818.9 58,531.5
2001 48,665.2 61,449.3
2002 53,495.0 66,372.7
2003 59,673.1 72,445.7
2004 63,824.8 75,827.4
2005 69,436.4 80,084.3
2006 73,736.8 81,924.4
2007 82,013.8 88,823.3
2008 90,525.5 94,538.6
2009 99,447.3 102,425.9
2010 112,694.6 114,957.6
2011 124,383.5 124,383.5
2012 125,304.3 125,304.3
Well, well, well. Look at that:
-Under President Clinton (1994 – 2001*) the Veterans Affairs budget went from $35.154.7 – the last “Bush 41” budget – to $48.665.2: a rise of 38%.
-Under President Bush (2002-2009*) it went from $48.665.2 – the last Clinton budget – to $99,447.3: a rise of 104%. Does that look like President Bush was nickel and diming veterans to you?
-And then there is President Obama, whose numbers are obviously not complete. But let\’s look at what we do have. In Mr. Obama\’s three years (2010 – 2012) the budget has gone from $99.447.3 – the last “Bush 43” budget – to $125.304.3: a rise of 26%. If you multiply that out to 8 years, it comes to a rise over Mr. Obama\’s full two terms of 65%.
In other words, President Bush far outdistanced both his predecessor, Bill Clinton, and his successor, Barack Obama, in providing money for Veterans Affairs.
Next we have the claim that General Eric Shinseki (a very honorable man, with a sterling military record, by the way) was fired for “telling the truth” about how many troops we needed in Iraq. While Shinseki did turn out to be right about too few troops being deployed, his assignment was not curtailed at all. President Bush replaced Gen. Shinseki after he had completed his entire term as Army Chief of Staff – every day of it.
And regarding Ms. vanden Heuvel\’s comment that “The Republican congress has slashed benefits”….is she aware that congress consists of the House of Representatives AND the Senate? Is she aware that, for the first two years of the Obama administration both houses of congress were controlled by Democrats? Is she aware that Democrats have controlled the Senate for every day of the Obama administration?
From this I conclude that, when Katrina vanden Heuvel made these comments, she was either:
-lying outright, or
-ignorant but shooting her mouth off anyway, or
-just so used to being able to attack Republicans on shows like this without being challenged, that she doesn\’t even bother to check facts anymore.
You pick…and let me know which of these choices is the good one.
==========================================
* The federal budget starts in the fourth quarter of each year. Therefore, although President Clinton took office on January 20, 1993, the first 9 months of his Presidency was under Bush 41\’s budget, and the first day of Clinton\’s first budget was October 1. For that reason, I assign 1993 to Bush 41, 2001 to Clinton, and 2009 to Bush 43. But if you feel like dividing each of the “changeover” years by quarters, then giving 3/4 to the previous President and 1/4 to the new one, be my guest. The numbers will remain virtually the same.
