Tuesday Open Thread | Did You Know That 3 Non-Government Employees Are Running the Veterans Administration?

Posted on August 14, 2018 by rikyrah

Yes.
Three people who ARE NOT Government Employees are running one of the largest parts of the Government – The Veterans Administration.

We have Pro Publica to thank for informing us of this absolutely outrageous situation.

You know a veteran?
You know a veteran that gets their healthcare from the VA?
Maybe you should let them know that the decisions for their healthcare are being made by three people that they’ve never heard of. Three people whose only qualifications is that they pay dues at Mar-a-Lago.

Yeah, you read right.

 

The Shadow Rulers of the VA
How Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter and two other Mar-a-Lago cronies are secretly shaping the Trump administration’s veterans policies.
by Isaac Arnsdorf
Aug. 7, 6:29 p.m. EDT

Last February, shortly after Peter O’Rourke became chief of staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, he received an email from Bruce Moskowitz with his input on a new mental health initiative for the VA. “Received,” O’Rourke replied. “I will begin a project plan and develop a timeline for action.”

O’Rourke treated the email as an order, but Moskowitz is not his boss. In fact, he is not even a government official. Moskowitz is a Palm Beach doctor who helps wealthy people obtain high-service “concierge” medical care.

More to the point, he is one-third of an informal council that is exerting sweeping influence on the VA from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida. The troika is led by Ike Perlmutter, the reclusive chairman of Marvel Entertainment, who is a longtime acquaintance of President Trump’s. The third member is a lawyer named Marc Sherman. None of them has ever served in the U.S. military or government.

Yet from a thousand miles away, they have leaned on VA officials and steered policies affecting millions of Americans. They have remained hidden except to a few VA insiders, who have come to call them “the Mar-a-Lago Crowd.”

Perlmutter, Moskowitz and Sherman declined to be interviewed and fielded questions through a crisis-communications consultant. In a statement, they downplayed their influence, insisting that nobody is obligated to act on their counsel. “At all times, we offered our help and advice on a voluntary basis, seeking nothing at all in return,” they said. “While we were always willing to share our thoughts, we did not make or implement any type of policy, possess any authority over agency decisions, or direct government officials to take any actions… To the extent anyone thought our role was anything other than that, we don’t believe it was the result of anything we said or did.”

VA spokesman Curt Cashour did not answer specific questions but said a “broad range of input from individuals both inside and outside VA has helped us immensely over the last year and a half.” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters also did not answer specific questions and said Perlmutter, Sherman and Moskowitz “have no direct influence over the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

But hundreds of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with former administration officials tell a different story — of a previously unknown triumvirate that hovered over public servants without any transparency, accountability or oversight. The Mar-a-Lago Crowd spoke with VA officials daily, the documents show, reviewing all manner of policy and personnel decisions. They prodded the VA to start new programs, and officials travelled to Mar-a-Lago at taxpayer expense to hear their views. “Everyone has to go down and kiss the ring,” a former administration official said.

Kiss the ring?
WHAT THE PHUCK?

Three people, with no experience whatsoever, outside of being able to sign a check for dues at a PRIVATE CLUB, have say over what happens to the largest medical service in the country? The VA directly serves more people than any other healthcare system in the government.
Like with Jared, and Ivanka, once again, we have people who are unaccountable running policy for this country.

How many veterans have been hurt because of their policy decisions?
How many have been killed?

Why aren’t their policy plans being discussed? Being debated?
Why aren’t these men being called before Congress to justify what they’re doing?

Once again, here is ANOTHER point for why you should vote in November.

MILLIONS of Veterans are having their healthcare affected, and NOTHING from Congressional Republicans.
We MUST have accountability.

VOTE IN NOVEMBER 2018.
TAKE BACK CONGRESS.

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62 Responses to Tuesday Open Thread | Did You Know That 3 Non-Government Employees Are Running the Veterans Administration?

  1. rikyrah says:
    August 14, 2018 at 10:25 pm

    This movie looks like it is going to be crazy.

    https://youtu.be/HmsuC5AAR7s

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      August 14, 2018 at 11:51 pm

      https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/98590277723369472?s=20

      Amy Siskind .. she’s just another one of those Beckies of the Lynn de Rothschild persuasion..

      Just being against the treasonous buffoon these days is a pretty low bar in my opinion…

      The times call for constantly keeping ones guard up – now more than ever… there are far too many impostors ..far too many who make up the ‘resistance’ who are still not our friends.. and still not on our side..

      These folks may despise the buffoon now* …and not for the greater good, but just for their own personal, non-altruistic reasons and purposes —but beyond those, our goals, vision and values vastly differ – sharply.. And deep down, far too many still hold on to their racial biases and hostilities..

      They are not on our team..

      And many are still as covertly* racist and as vile as they come..

      Heck, for those slating Omarosa, truth is, she was – and is still – infinitely more respectful of our historic black First Couple than so many who now make up the Democratic ‘aliance’ …including the so-called ‘progressives’ and so-called ‘resistance’… There are some of ‘top’ people/beneficiaries of these groups who were bosom buddies with the treason buffoon …and who actually might still be firmly in the treasonous buffoon’s corner today, had they not been the direct target of his Vlad-engineered coup …and had he and Vlad not toppled their ambitions, and had the buffoon and them not had lovers’ spats at Mar la lago on New Year’s eve …or squabbled over the ‘direction’ of his treasonous ‘administration’ and who gets to puppet him (Bannon, Hannity or them), and who gets to control the overall narrative..

      The ‘respect’ of some in the ‘resistance’ is self-servingly and transactionally conditional and fleeting …and begins and ends with how it serves their specific political purposes.. for the short and long-term…

      Hoping to conveniently exploit the current ‘resistance Kumbayah’ mix to confuse, deceive, butter up and soften up folks, to deviously infiltrate otherwise righteously cautious groups …mostly to corral support and rally for their various preferred future candidates..

      The 2-term historic former President who cannot run again, is no longer considered a danger to them, or competition or a threat to theirs or their preferred candidate’s Oval Office ambitions …by those who once flamed him… So they now loudly cheer him – their cheers of him also does double duty to taunt and irritate the treasonous buffoon who desperately craves adulation too… But more importantly, the ‘resistance’ desperately need the historic President and his supporters to get behind their* preferred 2020 candidate… already picked-out by them…

      The historic black First Lady.. now, she’s quite a different matter… They worry that she ‘might still run’.. and worry about the calls for her ‘to run’ …calls that they’ve steadfastly done their best to overtake with talks of look, there’s Oprah – who ironically interviewed her and asked her about it ….they’ve poo-pooh-ed again and again with all their might these calls that they’ve tried their darndest to tamp down since late 2016… when they realized just how popular she was… But how can that be..? She’s just ‘the wife’…and not ‘mixed race’…and hasn’t been propelled to some Senate seat – which had she, they’d still use against her as having ‘rode her husband’s coattails’…

      Can’t possibly have that..

      With her immense popularity – and her powerful showing following the last elections, there was hand-wringing galore, and serious concerns that her supporters and those who believe in her and want her to run, will not be as enthused about any other candidate… so, quick, kill all that talk now! And send her away… far, far away …until they need her out on the campaign trail again, effusively vouching for their preferred person*…

      So paranoid are these politicos, their supporters and henchmen/women, that even her recent invaluable and good-faith effort to help register voters, is freaking out those same politicos who stand to greatly benefit from it …and should be grateful for it …but are terrified …they complain when she stays away, and freak out when she shows up…scared to death that without even trying, she might steal their thunder…

      And so they are keen to ‘curtail’ her, and determined to literally ‘black’ her out… even as they all now endlessly kiss her now termed-out hubby’s behind.. And are keen to post photos and videos of him with them or their preferred candidate ..candidates already gearing up to run, and those who have signed on and stand to personally and politically benefit from the slate of ‘active’ candidates..

      Those are the ones now typically charged in the outsourced attacks …

      It’s fascinating to track and watch some of these so-called ‘progressives’ and the ‘resistance’ folks on social media… The progressives cum Berni-bros and Libertarians outrightly attack her and her husband, while some in the ‘resistance’ do a not so delicate dubious dance of navigating keeping her at bay … making sure she’s not too popular or too relevant …but popular and relevant enough to be exploited for their* purposes still…trying to ‘mute’ her, ‘black’ her out, subtly and not so subtly continue to trivialize and dismiss and discredit her …all while hoping she can be scooped up and effectively deployed when the time comes, to have her help get their* preferred candidate elected..

      I’m holding my fire, and keeping my powder dry at this time – only because it is important that we all focus on thwart and permanently eject the treasonous red buffoon in the room, from the room … but, if these folks think they’re so slick, and get to get away with their crap again, they have another think coming…

      Reply
  4. Liza says:
    August 14, 2018 at 8:49 pm

    I miss Bo and Sunny. I wonder how they’ve been.
    https://twitter.com/PeteSouza/status/1029378225347149825

    Reply
  5. Ametia says:
    August 14, 2018 at 5:29 pm

    SPOTLIGHT

    More than 300 accused Catholic priests listed in sex abuse report in Pa.

    State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said that more than 1,000 child victims were identified, but the grand jury believes there are more.

    By Michelle Boorstein •

    Read more » https://s2.washingtonpost.com/951417/5b7342dafe1ff65581f0cd80/YXdhcmVvZjQxMUBnbWFpbC5jb20%3D/7/54/3a569220054ddfca9b49a25bb24a75b5

    Reply
  10. Ametia says:
    August 14, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    Let’s hear trump say “NIGGER” Won’t that make his supporters, even the ones dressed in Brooks Brothers suits REAL PROUD?

    Reply
    • majiir says:
      August 14, 2018 at 6:37 pm

      When I read that Trump was “embarrassed” about saying the word, my BS detector went into overload. Trump embarrassed? No way, no how. This is a man who apologizes for nothing even when he’s clearly in the wrong.

      Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    August 14, 2018 at 12:19 pm

    I have seen Black person upon Black person say the following:

    ” I have no use for Omarosa. She’s still not invited to the cookout. But, that doesn’t mean that I can’t sit, with my beverage and popcorn and watch her gather up these folks. ”

    That’s me.

    Reply
  19. rikyrah says:
    August 14, 2018 at 12:18 pm

    They keep on thinking that she is Nancy Smash from San Francisco.
    Naw, Son
    She LIVES in San Francisco..
    She will always BE Nancy from Baltimore, where she got her education about politics at her Daddy’s knee. They keep on underestimating Nancy from Baltimore.
    I will say it again.
    Nancy Smash raised $70 million for Democrats this election cycle.
    You want a shot at her?
    Show YOUR $70 MILLION..
    And get the phucking votes.
    These whiny azz muthaphuckas 😠 want someone to hand them a leadership position 😠

    Reply
  20. Ametia says:
    August 14, 2018 at 11:20 am

    I voted this morning in the Minn–apple. And Keith Ellison’s name was on the ballot for MN AG.

    Stevie Wonder can see the last ditch efforts to smear him weeks before the election.

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      August 14, 2018 at 11:23 am

      This is why 45’s calling her a dog.

      She’s using the same tactics straight out of his reality show playbook

      JUST KEEP SPILLING THAT TEA. his supporters will cling to him like velcro, and history will illustrate the ignorant racist P O. SHITS they all are.

      Reply
  26. SouthernGirl2 says:
    August 14, 2018 at 9:56 am

    The thug MOFO calling a Black woman a “dog” is code for “N*gger bitch”. When will the GOP remove this gutter filth from our sacred Oval Office?

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    August 14, 2018 at 8:18 am

    Mueller gets ‘protective order’ on George Papadopoulos evidence

    Rachel Maddow wonders out loud for anyone who might know the answer, why Robert Mueller got a protective order on evidence in the George Papadopoulos case just days before making a sentencing recommendation.

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    August 14, 2018 at 8:17 am

    Banker loaned millions to Manafort, sought Trump admin ‘rolls’

    Rachel Maddow shares an exhibit from the trial of Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort in which banker Stephen Calk, who gave Manafort $16 million in loans, lists in a poorly spelled e-mail “perspective rolls” he would like to have in the Trump administration.

    Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    August 14, 2018 at 8:16 am

    Trump team destroying careers of Comey witnesses one by one

    Rachel Maddow points out that six of the seven people James Comey told about his meetings with Donald Trump are gone or leaving the FBI, with the one who hasn’t been made into a political punching bag, David Bowdich, firing Peter Strzok, contrary to FBI personnel office guidance.

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    August 14, 2018 at 8:15 am

    Another Mueller opponent fails in challenge to special counsel

    Rachel Maddow reports on a ruling by a Trump-appointed judge against Concord Management and Consulting, whose lawyers tried to challenge the legitimacy of the special counsel as a means of getting rid of charges against the social media propagandists.

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    August 14, 2018 at 8:13 am

    Just a reminder that he has NO CHARACTER.

    ………………..

    What Trump’s McCain snub tells us about his character
    08/14/18 08:00 AM
    By Steve Benen
    Donald Trump seems to enjoy headlining campaign rallies, and nearly all of his recent events have one thing in common: the Republican president sets aside time to whine about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Just from the last couple of months, there’s video evidence here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

    Yesterday, however, Trump had an opportunity to be gracious toward the ailing GOP senator of his own party. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

    Congress wanted to honor the ailing Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. President Donald Trump did not.

    In extended remarks during a visit to Fort Drum in upstate New York to sign the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 – this year’s version of an annual bill that sets defense policy – Trump chose not to mention the former prisoner of war and Senate Armed Services Committee chairman who is battling brain cancer. He even omitted McCain’s name when citing the title of the bill.

    It would have been easy for Trump to show some class. He could’ve at least acknowledged the name of the legislation, which honored McCain and his priorities. It would’ve taken very little effort for the president to mention the Republican senator in some perfunctory way.

    But, no. Trump made no reference to McCain while signing the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019.

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    August 14, 2018 at 7:59 am

    Republican lawmakers see FBI firings though a curious lens
    08/14/18 08:40 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Donald Trump and his allies have been relentless in targeting their perceived foes in federal law enforcement. Among those who’ve been fired are FBI Director James Comey, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, and as we learned yesterday, Peter Strzok, who led the FBI’s counterintelligence division.
    Among those who were reassigned, before ultimately quitting under pressure, are FBI Chief of Staff Jim Rybicki and FBI General Counsel James Baker.

    It’s against this backdrop that some of the White House’s allies have come up with a striking new observation. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), a Republican gubernatorial hopeful who’s been described as the president’s “mini-me,” published a fascinating Twitter thread yesterday.

    “The firing of anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok is welcome, if overdue. By exhibiting such rampant bias, Strzok did enormous damage to the FBI and to the country.

    “Accountability has not always been quick or easy. But the fact that so many of 2016’s key players … have seen adverse actions taken against them shows that these matters were mishandled.”

    ……………….

    With this in mind, folks like DeSantis and Jordan are effectively arguing, “Our concerns about the FBI must’ve been right after all. Just look at all of those firings and demotions!”

    A more reality-based approach points in the opposite direction. The president and his allies, eager to undermine an ongoing investigation, have launched a partisan crusade against federal law enforcement. The purge of leading FBI officials isn’t proof of widespread wrongdoing at the bureau; it’s more likely evidence of a political vendetta against those the White House considers disloyal, problematic, or both.

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      August 14, 2018 at 10:28 am

      Nancy knows how to wield that GAVEL. She’s always known how to use it, wisely.

      And it’s rendered all the previous male Speakers IMPOTENT. That”s why they spew muck and garbage. These men are threatened by a woman, especially Nancy holding that kind of power. They see that speaker gavel as an extension of their TEENY, TINY, peenies!

      And the gall of her even holding it makes their heads explode!

      <

      Reply
  43. rikyrah says:
    August 14, 2018 at 3:22 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

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