VA Blocks Voter Registration at Vets' Hospitals

HarperLee · 08-15-2008, 07:34 PM

By Paul Rieckhoff, Huffington Post, August 15, 2008

When it comes to making profoundly stupid bureaucratic decisions, the Department of Veterans Affairs is often in a class by itself. When VA bureaucrats aren't losing laptops with millions of veterans' personal data or forgetting to include Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in their budget calculations, they are giving themselves obscene raises. For all the hard working doctors and nurses in VA hospitals and clinics across the country, it's a real shame that some top level VA officials are dragging the VA name through the mud.

Today we have one more bureaucratic blunder to add to the list. The VA has banned voter registration at veterans' nursing homes and homeless shelters. The irony is almost too great. Disabled veterans, who have made such tremendous sacrifices in defense of democracy, are now being denied assistance in voting.

The VA is claiming that voter registration drives are partisan, and would interfere with the functioning of their facilities. But hundreds of nonpartisan organizations regularly participate in voter registration drives -everyone from the League of Women Voters to the Elks Club. Helping people vote is a civic duty, not a partisan activity.

And if voter registration drives interfere with an institution's functioning, someone should tell the Texas Hospital Association and the American Medical Student Association, both of whom run voter registration campaigns at hospitals and clinics. The "Rx: Vote Campaign," run by the National Physicians Alliance, argues:

"Without exercising the right to vote, patients and those who care for them lack the power to improve the health of their communities. As a result, patients' health, and the health of our democracy, suffer. The nation's community health centers, clinics, and hospitals have a unique ability and responsibility to empower patients to participate in the democratic process."
If doctors believe voter registration drives can and should be happening at their hospitals, why can't the VA accept voter registration at their facilities?

The VA doesn't have a leg to stand on morally or legally. But if the VA refuses to budge, Congress will have to act quickly to overrule the VA, before veterans start missing their states' voter registration deadlines.

It should not take an act of Congress for the VA to admit they made a mistake. But until they do, hospitalized veterans like Martin O'Nieal, "a 92-year-old man who lost a leg while fighting the Nazis in the mountains of Northern Italy," will have to struggle to exercise the very rights they helped defend on the field of battle.

How can you help protect the voting rights of our veterans? Keep an eye on IAVA.org. In the meantime, make sure that you are registered to vote. It only takes a second.

Shake · 08-15-2008, 08:28 PM

The VA is an executive agency. The vets who use VA facilities tend to be poorer and sicker than the general populace, with greater need for services.

What party holds the White House?

julia · 08-15-2008, 09:44 PM

Righto, because veterans have been in combat while the "general populace" have not.

ibex · 08-18-2008, 08:06 AM

Want another layer of irony? Just wait for a rightie to respond to this thread as more proof that "government doesn't work." That's the old tactic perfected by President Fucktard and Dickhead Cheney. Sabotage a functioning government program and then blame the opposition as addicted to "big government." If McLame becomes Prez, don't be a bit surprised if the entire VA, not just hospitals, becomes privatized in the crony capitalist tradition to a corporation with deep pockets who also happens to be a major contributor to a neo con 527.

HarperLee · 08-18-2008, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibex

Want another layer of irony? Just wait for a rightie to respond to this thread as more proof that "government doesn't work." That's the old tactic perfected by President Fucktard and Dickhead Cheney. Sabotage a functioning government program and then blame the opposition as addicted to "big government." If McLame becomes Prez, don't be a bit surprised if the entire VA, not just hospitals, becomes privatized in the crony capitalist tradition to a corporation with deep pockets who also happens to be a major contributor to a neo con 527.

I agree.

Saturday night McCain was babbling about volunteerism, reminiscent of Bush 41's "thousand points of light." Maybe the VA hospitals will
be run by volunteers. Doctors Without Borders will be needed right
here in the US of A.

08-15-2008, 07:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
HarperLee Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 4,732 Thanks: 1,686 Thanked 598 Times in 380 Posts	VA Blocks Voter Registration at Vets' Hospitals By Paul Rieckhoff, Huffington Post, August 15, 2008 When it comes to making profoundly stupid bureaucratic decisions, the Department of Veterans Affairs is often in a class by itself. When VA bureaucrats aren't losing laptops with millions of veterans' personal data or forgetting to include Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in their budget calculations, they are giving themselves obscene raises. For all the hard working doctors and nurses in VA hospitals and clinics across the country, it's a real shame that some top level VA officials are dragging the VA name through the mud. Today we have one more bureaucratic blunder to add to the list. The VA has banned voter registration at veterans' nursing homes and homeless shelters. The irony is almost too great. Disabled veterans, who have made such tremendous sacrifices in defense of democracy, are now being denied assistance in voting. The VA is claiming that voter registration drives are partisan, and would interfere with the functioning of their facilities. But hundreds of nonpartisan organizations regularly participate in voter registration drives -everyone from the League of Women Voters to the Elks Club. Helping people vote is a civic duty, not a partisan activity. And if voter registration drives interfere with an institution's functioning, someone should tell the Texas Hospital Association and the American Medical Student Association, both of whom run voter registration campaigns at hospitals and clinics. The "Rx: Vote Campaign," run by the National Physicians Alliance, argues: "Without exercising the right to vote, patients and those who care for them lack the power to improve the health of their communities. As a result, patients' health, and the health of our democracy, suffer. The nation's community health centers, clinics, and hospitals have a unique ability and responsibility to empower patients to participate in the democratic process." If doctors believe voter registration drives can and should be happening at their hospitals, why can't the VA accept voter registration at their facilities? The VA doesn't have a leg to stand on morally or legally. But if the VA refuses to budge, Congress will have to act quickly to overrule the VA, before veterans start missing their states' voter registration deadlines. It should not take an act of Congress for the VA to admit they made a mistake. But until they do, hospitalized veterans like Martin O'Nieal, "a 92-year-old man who lost a leg while fighting the Nazis in the mountains of Northern Italy," will have to struggle to exercise the very rights they helped defend on the field of battle. How can you help protect the voting rights of our veterans? Keep an eye on IAVA.org. In the meantime, make sure that you are registered to vote. It only takes a second. __________________ Oliver Stone on George W. Bush: "the banality of evil" http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home
	Top

08-15-2008, 08:28 PM	#2 (permalink)
Shake That just happened! Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: STL Posts: 127 My Mood: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The VA is an executive agency. The vets who use VA facilities tend to be poorer and sicker than the general populace, with greater need for services. What party holds the White House?
	Top

08-15-2008, 09:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
julia Sassy Lipstick Maverick Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 3,795 Blog Entries: 7 Thanks: 271 Thanked 272 Times in 164 Posts	Righto, because veterans have been in combat while the "general populace" have not. __________________ The candidate does not speak for the campaign.
	Top

08-18-2008, 08:06 AM	#4 (permalink)
ibex Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,471 My Mood: Thanks: 245 Thanked 267 Times in 180 Posts	Want another layer of irony? Just wait for a rightie to respond to this thread as more proof that "government doesn't work." That's the old tactic perfected by President Fucktard and Dickhead Cheney. Sabotage a functioning government program and then blame the opposition as addicted to "big government." If McLame becomes Prez, don't be a bit surprised if the entire VA, not just hospitals, becomes privatized in the crony capitalist tradition to a corporation with deep pockets who also happens to be a major contributor to a neo con 527.
	Top

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