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VA voting ... 'Cow power' no bull ... Packing in D.C.
Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 07/25/2008 - 13:53.
WASHINGTON -- Pressure is mounting on the Department of Veterans Affairs to let nonpartisan groups hold voter-registration drives in VA facilities, including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and homeless shelters.
The League of Women Voters, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Common Cause, along with a growing number of Capitol Hill lawmakers, say it's indefensible that the VA would not allow its facilities to be designated as official voter-registration sites to make it easier for those who once served in uniform to vote.
The VA counters that it has always helped its charges sign up to vote, but that opening its doors to such drives would mean too much disruption, at least partly because a facility would be required to allow in the general public to register, not just VA clients. VA chief James Peake also is wary of having VA personnel vetting groups to make sure they are truly nonpartisan.
But, given the many political points to be gained by standing up for veterans against the uncaring, odds are Congress will make Peake back down.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is creating a ranking system for the nation's nursing homes to help consumers judge the quality of care provided when they are choosing a facility for themselves or their loved ones. The agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says it is creating a five-star system that will evaluate the levels of patient satisfaction, medical care and cost, among other things, at every nursing home that takes Medicare funds. Look for the ratings to be published in December.
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Converting livestock manure into a renewable fuel source could generate enough electricity to meet up to 3 percent of all North America's needs while also keeping millions of tons of planet-warming methane out of the atmosphere, according to a new report titled "Cow Power" by University of Texas-Austin researchers, who say their findings are not BS.
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Don't expect to see a lot of folks packing handguns on the streets of D.C. anytime soon, despite the Supreme Court's recent blessing on the right of Washington residents to bear arms. In response to the historic ruling in Heller v. D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty and the city council have come up with a new law so peppered with restrictions and bureaucratic hoops that anyone but the most determined to register and keep a handgun will likely decide it's not worth it.
The city's attorney general expects the new law to draw legal challenges that could drag on for years. John Snyder, of the Citizens Committee to Keep and Bear Arms, does not disagree, saying, "D.C. politicians have treated the Supreme Court with contempt."
Meanwhile, House and Senate lawmakers have come up with a bill that would repeal all the restrictions in the city's new law.
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Good news for female Marines. Commandant James Conway has loosened a rule that barred women leathernecks from wearing dress shoes with heels higher than 2-1/2 inches. The limit's now been upped to 3 inches because it was hard to find the shorter shoes in stores, the newspaper Stars and Stripes reports.
(Contact Lisa Hoffman at hoffmanl(at)shns.com. SHNS correspondent Lee Bowman contributed to this column.)
Protect this new generation of veterans
There is already a small fire burning at the VA and you want to add fuel/politics to it?
Please do not refer to this as partisan politics. Veterans are of different race, color, creed, religions and political parties.
If the veteran is not already registered he or she can do so upon their release, if they are registered they can use the absentee ballot.
Can anyone see how the VA is actually protecting the rights of these injured veterans while they are hospitalized in their care? After an out-patient operation or just a mild sedation to have teeth extracted the patient beforehand has to sign a paper which tells them not to sign their name to any documentation, make any financial decision or even drive a vehicle for the next twenty-four hours.
These injured patients at the VA are more than likely on many various medications, which in turn would allow them to be more easily persuaded to sign their name to something they would normally not agree with. So in essence the VA is protecting the rights of the disabled and medicated veterans staying at the VA under their care and protection.
Look at how heated an argument on politics can get just on-line. Face to face in person I have watched actual fights break out, and right or wrong the security police at the VA has better things to do than stop an actual fight over someone's political opinion. At times there is enough bickering going on at the VA, why would anyone want to add politics to the fire?
I just wish that over medicated outpatient veterans had the same protection when it comes to signing loans from predatory lenders and car salesmen/politicians.
Why is it that at election time many are suddenly worried about the veterans in the nursing home not being able to vote? When I was able to volunteer there I was worried by some of the conditions there and said how many deserved to die with much more dignity.
The same applies to the 200 thousand or more homeless veterans, let’s get them a real address (home) first then register them to vote. Also think of the somewhat already tense working environment of the VA employees – nurses, doctors, management etc watching over the patients – and many individuals do have an inclination to express their political beliefs especially during an election – politics does not belong in a working environment, especially one as diverse as the VA and one where many are on various medications. All the employees especially in a MEDICAL facility need to focus on their job which is the patients care and well-being not politics.
After the Gulf war as a political science major I participated in a few voter registration drives and it was never the students doing the registering that caused the problems. The stress of a very heated over-heard or worst yet witnessed argument over politics can contribute to a life altering mistake by an otherwise good employee.
Something easier to consistently be worked for (even after this election) would be for something more simple and bi partisan like a voter registration card to always be placed in the patients room like the bible use to be and can then be made a part of the normal cleaning ritual after each patient is released and the room is then readied for the next new patient. Simple, consistent and bi partisan.
As a disabled female veteran I used my VA benefits to obtain a BA in the BS of political science. I am compelled to help our new veterans receive a comfortable, productive future they so rightly deserve.
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