Official thread # 3---- Walter Reed neglect hearings on Cspan 1:

[rodeodance]

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Official thread # 2 Walter Reed neglect hearings on Cspan 1:
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x340919#340919
340919, Official thread # 2 Walter Reed neglect hearings on Cspan 1:
Posted by rodeodance on Mon Mar-05-07 09:50 AM



Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject House hearing on Walter Reed neglect starting on CSpan1 Now
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x340490#340490
340490,

House hearing on Walter Reed neglect starting on CSpan1 Now
Posted by Greeby on Mon Mar-05-07 08:51 AM

http://www.c-span.org/watch/cspan_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS

[maddezmom]

1. kick

[rodeodance]

k

[rodeodance]

3. k

[rodeodance]

4. very powerful and heartbreaking testimony--from the Injured and families

[Roland99]

2. Tenet gets a medal, Annette McLeod gets many crosses to bear.

[maddezmom]

5. her description of the young soldier that got nothing

really got to me. Pre-existing condition of bi-polar=$0.

[w8liftinglady]

6. me,too.beyond words

[w8liftinglady]

8. mcleod-you need to fight for the soldiers,not the"Army"

[w8liftinglady]

10. not second-guess

[rodeodance]

31. There seems to be love-hate relationship to the many of the caseworkers

[rodeodance]

9. the Disability system----or lack ot IT---will have its own scandle I predict!

[rodeodance]

7. She puts the Military to shame ---all the way up the WH!

[trof]

11. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R. NC) "It does no good to blame..."

I KNEW this woman was a repuke before c-span put her title up.
Granted, she followed the "It does no good to blame" with "unless we fix the system."

Yeah, great.
But it's funny how the repukes don't want to "blame" anybody for all the shit that happened on their watch.

[rodeodance]

16. She has not quite recognized the severity of the problem1

[w8liftinglady]

I said "F-ck you"..she has the constipated repub "look" to her

[trof]

24. You can just tell, can't you.

My repuke radar beeped immediately.

[AValdoux]

29. I loved Shannon's response

Basically, he said its about supervision. There is no accountability without supervision. Did Fox not understand that the supervision & oversight was her responsibilty?

Fox talked about accountability for people you can't fire, did she mean "privitization". Is that how the Republicans are going to pull themselves out of this mess. By saying that if we privitaize the VA care we will get more accountibilty, like with health insurance companies.

I'm amazed any republicans had the gall to show up at this hearing. They, the GOP congress, were the final accountibilty in this shameless situation. Staying in power was more important than calling the Bush administration on what was going on. Shameless bastards.


AValdoux

[trof]

49. "I'm amazed any republicans had the gall to show up..."

My feeling exactly.
Except 'gall' wasn't the word I used.

[Jack Rabbit]

33. Virginia Foxx

[kestrel91316]

82. That hairdo just SCREAMS "Rebublican" to me.

[kcass1954]

80. Same here - I'm at work, so I'm listening but not watching much.

As soon as I heard her say that, I muttered F*(%ing republican! support the troops my ass!

[rodeodance]

12. Case managers are getting dissed (yet recognized overloaded)

[flashlighter]

13. What happened to Duncan? is he blind?

[w8liftinglady]

17. ied-left eye and ear gone

[w8liftinglady]

14. how would these guys know what the other buildings have been like?

[eleny]

23. Duncan gave the Repub a good smackdown

He didn't take the bait but spoke to how things have to be fixed for the next injured soldiers. The fact that they'll be shutting down a building is no excuse for the current poor treatment. He nipped the Repub agenda in this hearing.

[rodeodance]

44. yes, he did good.

[Dhalgren]

15. Is this a "real" hearing? The reason I ask this is that it doesn't "look"

like one. It looks like the "hearings" Democrats used to hold when they were not in power. The testimony is heart-wrenching and so badly needed. I am just confused as to the "ad hoc" quality of the setting.

[w8liftinglady]

18. yes-they are holding it at walter reed for effect-a good idea,imho

[Dhalgren]

27. Ok. Good. and yes, it is a good idea.

They should start bringing soldiers up from the wards to tell their stories. This is such a shameful tableau. And that asshole who said we shouldn't blame anyone is full of shit! This is the kind of thing where you find out what is wrong and who caused it and let some real heads roll...

[trof]

19. Oh yeah. It's real.

If the repukes were still in power we wouldn't be seeing any of this.

[rodeodance]

20. Its in a conf. room at Walter Reed Hosp. Yes, it is very REAL! Sworn

in witnesses, taking testimony for the record, ect ect.

[tridim]

146. It looked and sounded odd to me when I first tuned in this morning

I think it's because of the audio not quite matching the video. It's off by a split second and gives it sort of a surreal quality.

Regardless, this is as "real" as it gets. Open government is always a good thing.

[Sydnie]

21. Kick n/t

[w8liftinglady]

22. Hollen d-md

[w8liftinglady]

26. quotes GAO-dod not adequately monitoring disability cases

[peacetalksforall]

25. Do you think we will get to the communications between the Army

and the contractor, IAP WOrldwide Services, in this hearing?

[orleans]

41. i'd be interested in finding out what they do/run at walter reed,

and a little bit of info on that company...okay--a lot of info on that company

[peacetalksforall]

105. The CEO is Neffgen, the President is Swindle, and these are other names involved in the contract - P

Peterson, Dominy, and Brostrom.

Neffgen was with Halliburton and other companies.

IAP was an honorable company that started out handling Cape Canaveral in the 60's.
They seem to acquire military contracts one after the other.
They are the ones who drove water destined to New Orleans all over the country - if you haven't seen the map and where they took the water - look it up - should find it by combining Katrina water and IAP Worldwide. (Wasn't it ice, not water? Can't quite remember.)

They have a website - one of the pages is about Job Opportunities at Walter Reed. There is a brief two item list of what they do at Walter Reed.

I just went to look for it again and found a surprising volume of links that were not there last Friday evening.

I found this (excerpt) at afterdowningstreet:

"In the letter, Waxman charged that the Army used an unusual process to award a five-year, $120 million contract to manage the center to a company owned by a former executive of Halliburton, the scandal-prone government contractor once operated by Vice President Dick Cheney.

In 2004, the Army determined that Walter Reed's federal employees could operate the medical center more efficiently than IAP Worldwide Services, which is operated by the former Halliburton executive, Al Neffgen, Waxman wrote. After IAP protested, the Army "unilaterally" increased the employees' estimated costs by $7 million, making IAP appear cheaper, Waxman said. Rules barred Walter Reed employees from appealing the decision, Waxman wrote, and in January 2006 the Army gave the contract to IAP.

According to an internal memo written by a senior Walter Reed administrator and obtained by Waxman, the decision to outsource to IAP led the center's skilled personnel to leave Walter Reed "in droves," fearing they would be laid off when the contractor took over. In the last year, Waxman found, over 250 of 300 government employees left the center. The lack of staffing put patient care "at risk of mission failure," warned an internal Army memo obtained by the congressman."

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/19172

Also, I came across this website when researching -

CSA - Contract Services Association of America - unbelievable - our taxes being 'laundered?' through the military.

http://www.csa-dc.org/

[itsmesgd]

28. is "thank you for your service" the most hollow opening comment that you can say to a wounded troop?

I want the term, "thank you for your service" to be removed from the lexicon. This is a meaningless, cover-my-ass kind of opening. People say "thanks for your service" and then they rip or put down the troops.
Many of us are thankful for their sacrifice, but we need to SHOW it and not just SAY it.

[rodeodance]

30. yes, much overused to the point that is seems faky to me.

[itsmesgd]

32. I need to turn off my computer before I type something that will get "agent mike" to my house

can the admin's at DU please market and sell some type of voodoo doll or stress ball or punching bag, or similar. I'm about to go wail on the heavy bag for a bout an hour or until I cannot lift my arms above my head. I am filled with such rage at the f'ing war pigs.

[frogcycle]

34. more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/04/AR2007030401394.html

[rodeodance]

35. I wonder-------just Caring enough would seem to at least Begin to 'fix

the system!

[rodeodance]

37. saying there seems to be loyality to the System Rather than to the Soldier.

[w8liftinglady]

36. does there need to be an independent agency to oversee

[flashlighter]

38. Don't forget....they volunteered for this...

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[w8liftinglady]

40. after shannon's picture appeared on wp-ordered to appear at formation daily

[w8liftinglady]

42. did you consider that retribution

[w8liftinglady]

46. duncan-the moving a million times-I just wanted my room fixed

[rodeodance]

52. this flurry of activity by officials-makes it seem like lots being done---maybe

so.

Perhaps!

[w8liftinglady]

56. yeah-this week,until the next celebrity dies

[flashlighter]

43. I just follow orders...

[flashlighter]

48. heh..they were afraid to retalliate to Mrs. McLeod...

[Sonicmedusa]

39. OMG

I don't know if I can stand to watch this....But I want to.

Will CSPAN be repeating this this evening?

Just the post make me cry!

[w8liftinglady]

47. I had to pour a drink.Is this America?

[Sydnie]

45. How appropriate - Comcast broke in for a test of the

Emergency Broadcast System! Damn, talk about a reminder to be afraid!

[w8liftinglady]

50. Cummings up-on armed services committee

[w8liftinglady]

51. lack of mental health care

[w8liftinglady]

53. poor tbi diagnosis

[w8liftinglady]

54. shannon obviously has cognitive/impulse control problems post tbi

[rodeodance]

55. saying basically that Tests used are for Severe brain injured which does

not pick up on the subtle problems.

[w8liftinglady]

57. mcleod-they said it was a "transition problem"

[w8liftinglady]

58. husband never offered psychiatric help

[w8liftinglady]

59. norton d-DC

[w8liftinglady]

60. "to say thank you for your service sounds so shallow"

[w8liftinglady]

62. my son informed me of his injury-as he was loaded on a helicopter and

doped up.I was NEVER informed

[flashlighter]

63. Jesus. So the image of a marine showing up at your house with

the news is just bunk???

[Sydnie]

64. They only show up when they are dead

If they don't have a phone card to call home, how are they going to know that they were injured? :shrug:

[w8liftinglady]

65. um-yeah-I never heard from a CO,nothing-just my kid,calling me

granted,he wasn't hurt too badly-tore ligaments in his knee-he waited 6 months for surgery due to the huge influx of orthopedic injuries.so,yeah-i'm pissed.the reason for my activism in this

[flashlighter]

61. Walter Reed is a "crown jewel"?? WTF??

[itsmesgd]

66. pityful fucking applause

thanks for coming here to meet with us followed by applause???

wtf???

thanks for the show?

[w8liftinglady]

67. Oh,goodie-second panel up-Weightman and KIley(i think)

[flashlighter]

69. Spin, spin, spin!!!

[eleny]

70. now, the brass

nice to see them sworn in. let the lying under oath begin.

[trof]

73. This should be GOOD. New thread time?

[trof]

68. Republicans on this committee should be deeply ashamed.

But then they know no shame.
bastards

[Vinca]

71. I just caught the tail end of this panel. What a sad, sad state of affairs.

It makes me furious. I nearly burst into tears when I realized that guy didn't have an ear.

[eleny]

75. do catch the replay when you can

and keep a handkerchief handy.

[Vinca]

81. My husband taped it for me. nt

[w8liftinglady]

72. kiley issuing a statement

[w8liftinglady]

74. he is a little more humble than when he blamed the soldiers

[w8liftinglady]

76. we're slapping a coat of paint on the walls-quit your bitching

[flashlighter]

78. Well, it's their fault for gettin injured, doncha know!

[malaise]

77. Trying to keep his cushy position

Fugg him too.

[w8liftinglady]

79. flame away-I think Gates is holding these guys accountable.

[Az_lefty]

87. Hope your right, as an Iraqi veteran...

there needs to be some serious accountability all the way to the top, including those cheer leading F@$king politicians!

[w8liftinglady]

95. exactly-I want their balls on a plate.

[w8liftinglady]

83. weightman up

[w8liftinglady]

84. weightman seems like a man of character.."I failed these soldiers"

[eleny]

88. wasn't he there for only several months?

seems like he's the most recent officer to inherit the problems and was the first one to get fired.

[w8liftinglady]

91. I can't help it-I respect him

[malaise]

126. You knew there were these problems

Of course he knew.

[flashlighter]

85. wow. taking responsabilty....the republicans must be cofunsed

[w8liftinglady]

86. maybe he's a closet Democrat..it can happen..

[w8liftinglady]

89. we missed the big picture-I failed.

[flashlighter]

90. Whatever, It took WaPo to make him own up.

[w8liftinglady]

93. true.

[Sydnie]

92. FORMER Commander at Walter Reed

He has already lost his position, so he can say he failed and get another good positin at some other military facility, quietly and with out much notice.

[Cameron27]

96. Why are they still in uniform?

This was a dereliction of duty, no?

[Sydnie]

113. They were relieved from this post not drummed out

all together. They are still in the military, just not at WR.

[w8liftinglady]

94. bascetta-GAO discussing problems with their audits

[w8liftinglady]

97. disability programs on high-risk list

[w8liftinglady]

98. could affect dod retention rates

[w8liftinglady]

100. 22% ptsd at risk had been referred for treatment

[trof]

99. Bascetta makes the same point I have been making re wounded.

Due to great strides in battlefield triage and rapid evac, many of this 'war's wounded would have been KIA during Viet Nam.
Better immediate medical care is creating way more disabled as opposed to dead.
That's good, but the long term ramifications are something we have to deal with.

[w8liftinglady]

101. hundreds of soldiers pursued for debt through no fault of their own

[w8liftinglady]

102. credit bureau reporting by DOD

[Stinky The Clown]

103. Paraphrase of Bascetta's testimony:

Bushco to Injured Soldiers: Fuck You

[w8liftinglady]

104. exactly

[w8liftinglady]

107. bringing up the contractors

[w8liftinglady]

108. we passed that memo up to our higher ups-

[w8liftinglady]

109. CONTRACT HAD BEEN GIVEN TO OUTSIDE CONTRACTOR...

IAP

[w8liftinglady]

110. personnel declined after award of private contract..began on kiley's watch

[w8liftinglady]

111. looking for general farmer

[w8liftinglady]

112. those decisions are made by the army,not by us

[eleny]

114. get the hip waders on

not on their watch. but they'd have to know about the contracts as they would have to work within the terms.

they're in the realm of utter bull.

[Sydnie]

120. Include this article in the research - Brac closings from 2005

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/13/AR2005051300216.html
And make sure not to miss the PDF linked from that page as well.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/base_list051305.pdf This shows the changes in staff clearly.

[eleny]

106. hi husb

[Stinky The Clown]

117. Hi eleny

:hug:

I'm having a really hard time listening to this crap.

Kiley is a fine example of why we have brigs. Surely there's a mold and rat infested cell with his name on it.

[eleny]

133. the first panel was heartbreaking

so these bastards are very hard to take. passing the buck, data sharing issues - what utter crap.

[w8liftinglady]

115. davis "we've known about these problems for years"

[w8liftinglady]

116. you knew these were problems..the WP article was secondary

[w8liftinglady]

118. "kiley-you assured us corrections were being made in the process in 2005"

[w8liftinglady]

119. um,um-walter reed not my only command

[w8liftinglady]

121. my concern-the # of soldiers we were able to heal and rtd

[Roland99]

124. Well, that absolves him of all responsibility, eh?

:eyes:

[Sydnie]

129. He's using the "Libby" offense

I was busy and I forgot to get this cleaned up!

[Roland99]

122. Is this carried on another C-SPAN? Just when Kiley kicks the spin into high gear.

[eleny]

123. C-Span going to House morning business - but CNN is covering it live

[Sydnie]

125. Thank you! n/t

[eleny]

128. It's also on the web

The first thread here at DU has the link.

[eleny]

136. oops - here's the link on the web from the first posting

http://www.c-span.org/watch/cspan_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS

carried live right now.

[Sydnie]

138. Thank you again

:hug:

[POAS]

127. Thanks for that It is also on

cspan radio (available on XM)

[w8liftinglady]

130. I strongly dislike kiley-he is doing everything to get the monkey off his back

[w8liftinglady]

134. waxman-re :contracting out-the memo warned about mission failure

[w8liftinglady]

135. goddammit-just when waxman was putting the screws to kiley

[Cameron27]

131. It's back on C-Span

[eleny]

139. thank goodness! waxman is just now holding feet to the fire

[mikelgb]

132. house adjourned!

back to the hearing!

[w8liftinglady]

137. yes!

[w8liftinglady]

140. i sincerely believe the contractor issue will be blown wide open

[eleny]

147. i agree

[Cameron27]

141. Their going to take up contracting out

in later hearings...damn.

[w8liftinglady]

142. oh,c'mon,shays-your party is at fault here,you bastard

[Stinky The Clown]

152. Shays can be such a sanctimonious asshole.

"cluck cluck cluck"

[Sydnie]

143. Can we get a new thread now please rodeodance?

I don't want to start it since you have done all of them so far. Could you start us a new one now please?

[Roland99]

145. We could use this one >>>

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x341622

[POAS]

149. Rodeo may be gone

anyone could start a new thread. I did that a couple weeks ago whena thread got too long!

[eleny]

144. kiley is a master of smarm

his false sincerity drips too easily from his lips.

[Cameron27]

148. Yep.

Trying to covering his ass.

[eleny]

150. even the peer review isn't indpependent

they're "army to the core", too. so it's an ass-covering system at the top.

[Sydnie]

151. ~~~ New thread HERE ~~~

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=342080&mesg_id=342080