AG Sessions: U.S. Govt. Prosecuting Elderly Army Vet for “Posting” American Flags in VA Facility

Tags

american flag, Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, prosecution, Veterans, Veterans Administration

Robert Rosebrock, a 74-year-old U.S. Army veteran who goes on trial next month for, wait for it…posting two-six inch American flags on the fence of a Veterans Administration facility in southern California last fall needs Attorney General, Jeff Sessions’ help.

Judicial Watch

Will Jeff Sessions’ Department of Justice (DOJ) continue wasting taxpayer dollars to criminally prosecute a 74-year-old U.S. Army veteran for posting two American Flags in a southern California Veterans Administration facility? The absurd case was initiated under President Obama, but is set to go to trial in federal court next month under new DOJ leadership. The military veteran faces up to six months in jail for the ghastly offense of affixing Old Glory at a site honoring those who served their country. Judicial Watch reached out to Sessions’ office but has not heard back from the new Attorney General after various attempts via telephone and electronic mail with the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs.

Here’s some background; U.S. Army veteran Robert Rosebrock posted a pair of four-by-six-inch American Flags on the outside fence of a VA facility in West Los Angeles on Memorial Day in 2016. The fence is part of the “Great Lawn Gate” and marks the entrance to the Los Angeles National Veterans Park. The public facility is part of a larger, 388-acre parcel that includes the Veterans Home of West Los Angeles. Since 2008, Rosebrock and a group of fellow veterans have assembled at the gate weekly and on Memorial Day to protest the VA’s failure to make full use of the property to benefit veterans, particularly those who are homeless.

The parcel was deeded to the federal government in 1888 for the specific purpose of caring for disabled veterans. Though it includes the veterans’ homey, the property is also used for a number of unrelated causes. Among them is a stadium for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) baseball team, an athletic complex for a nearby private high school, laundry facilities for a local hotel, storage and maintenance of production sets for 20th Century Fox Television, the Brentwood Theatre, soccer practice and match fields for a private girls’ soccer club, a dog park, and a farmer’s market.

Rosebrock and his veterans group were previously advised by VA officials a federal regulation allowed the hanging of the American Flag and the POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) flag on the “Great Lawn Gate” fence and dozens of full-size American Flags appeared on the fence at once without incident. But the VA later claimed that it erred in allowing the flags because it incorrectly interpreted the applicable regulation. Since then, the VA has cited Rosebrock for violating the provision on more than 15 occasions, but the charges were always dropped until now. Read the flag citation here. The feds are also criminally prosecuting Rosebrock for taking pictures of a VA Police officer while the officer detained and cited him for posting the two small American Flags on the fence. A separate count charges him with taking photos of a conservative African-American activist, dressed as Uncle Sam, being handcuffed for hanging a large American Flag on the same fence. The activist, Ted Hayes, was not charged with any wrongdoing though he was detained and cuffed like a criminal[…]

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This is the insanity that was ignored and allowed to unfold under Barack Obama’s tenure.  Please help this veteran by are asking AG Jeff Sessions to right the wrongs.  Please share.

 

 

 

$143 Million in Bonuses at the VA, Even for Some Under Investigation

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bonuses, dereliction of duty, federal employees, Government corruption, government incompetency, Labor unions, Neglect, Veterans Administration

Independent Sentinel by S. Noble

Almost two-thirds of 1.6 million civilian full-time federal employees receive merit bonuses. Agency officials claim it’s to attract talent but it’s really just another union giveaway. They are being rewarded for merely showing up to work. They haven’t brought in new clients, sold more products, or improved productivity. They’ve appeared.

There is no way 60% of the government employees excel to the point of earning bonuses. It’s just not possible.

The VA paid out $143 million in performance bonuses to employees in 2014 — even though several of them were under investigation or accused of mismanagement, according to Jeff Miller, Chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee where the information was collected[…]

Click Here To Read The Rest of: $143 Million in Bonuses at the VA, Even for Some Under Investigation

 

We have these blasted dog and pony shows and STILL NOTHING CHANGES with the VA except that even more veterans are being neglected and dying. Talk about a dereliction of duty – when is enough TOO MUCH?

How about Congress, Veterans Administration employees and federal workers as a whole receiving the same benefits, medical treatment and lack thereof as is being doled out to our vets.  Moreover, eliminate all incentives and bonuses.  Would things change then?

LINK:
http://www.independentsentinel.com/143-million-in-bonuses-at-the-va-even-for-some-under-investigation/

 

 

BREAKING: VA Scandal worse than imagined – New Senate Report Reveals Besides Waiting List, a Culture of Crime, Cover-Up and Coercion within VA

Tags

coercion, coverup, crime, criminal activity, Government Waste, Murder, Scandal, Veterans Administration, Wait Lists

“This reports shows the problems at the VA are worse than anyone imagined. The scope of the VA’s incompetence – and Congress’ indifferent oversight – is breathtaking and disturbing. This investigation found the problems at the VA are far deeper than just scheduling. Over the past decade, more than 1,000 veterans may have died as a result of the VA’s misconduct and the VA has paid out nearly $1 billion to veterans and their families for its medical malpractice. As is typical with any bureaucracy, the excuse for not being able to meet goals is a lack of resources. But this is not the case at the VA where spending has increased rapidly in recent years” Senator Tom Coburn.

Tom Coburn, M.D., Senator Press Room

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator and doctor Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK), today released his new oversight report “Friendly Fire: Death, Delay, and Dismay at the VA.” The report is based on a year-long investigation of VA hospitals around the nation that chronicled the inappropriate conduct and incompetence within the VA that led to well-documented deaths and delays. The report also exposes the inept congressional and agency oversight that allowed rampant misconduct to grow unchecked….

‘The Administration and Congress have failed to ensure our nation is living up to the promises we have made to our veterans,” Dr. Coburn added. “As a physician who has personally cared for hundreds of Oklahoma veterans, this is intolerable. As a senator, I’m determined to address the structural challenges of the Department of Veterans Affairs so we can end this national disgrace and improve quality and access to health care for our veterans. But make no mistake. Whatever bill Congress passes cannot ignore the findings of this report. While it is good that Congress feels a sense of urgency we are at this point because Congress has ignored or glossed over too many similar warnings in the past. Our sense of urgency should come from the scope of the problem, not our proximity to an election.’

Key findings in the report include:

A CULTURE OF MANIPULATION PERMEATES THE DEPARTMENT.

• The cover up of waiting lists for doctor’s appointments at the VA is just the tip of the iceberg, reflecting a perverse culture within the department where veterans are not always the priority and data and employees are manipulated to maintain an appearance that all is well.
• Bad employees are rewarded with bonuses and paid leave while whistleblowers, health care providers, and even veterans and their families are subjected to bullying, sexual harassment, abuse, and neglect. For example, female patients received unnecessary pelvic and breast exams from a sex offender, a noose was left on the desk of a minority employee by a co-worker, and a nurse who murdered a veteran harassed the family of the deceased to get them to admit guilt for the death.
• The care at more centers is getting worse and some VA health care providers have lost their medical licenses, and the VA is hiding this information from patients.
• Delays exist for more than just doctors’ appointments—disability claims, construction, urgent care, and registries are also slow or behind schedule.
• Despite a nursing shortage, many VA nurses spend their days conducting union activities to advocate for better conditions for themselves rather than veterans.

VA MADE WAITING LISTS WORSE.

• As waiting lines were growing, the VA expanded eligibility in 2009 to those who already had insurance without any service related injuries, making the delays longer.
• Despite having the authority to do so, the VA was reluctant to let vets off the waiting lists by freeing them go to doctors outside of its system while sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars intended for health care that went unspent year to year.
• VA doctors are seeing far fewer patients than private doctors and some even leave work early.

VA EMPLOYEES BEHAVE AS IF THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW.

• Criminal activity at the department is pervasive, including drug dealing, theft, and even murder. A VA police chief even conspired to kidnap, rape and murder women and children.
• Many VA doctors and staff are overpaid and underworked, some are paid not to work and more and more employees are not even showing up for work.

THE VA WASTES AND MISMANAGES BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

• The report identifies $20 billion in waste and mismanagement that could have been better spent providing health care to veterans.
• The federal government has paid out $845 million for VA medical malpractice since 2001.
• Most VA construction projects are over budget and behind schedule, inflating costs by billions of dollars.

THE SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE HAS BEEN AWOL WHEN IT COMES TO KEEPING PROMISES MADE TO VETERANS.

• The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee largely ignored the warnings about delays and dysfunction at the VA for decades, abdicating its oversight responsibilities and choosing to make new promises to veterans rather than making sure those promises already made were being kept.
• This report details how Congress was repeatedly alerted and warned of the problems plaguing the VA over decades.
• The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has only held two oversight hearings the last four years, and was even profiled in Wastebook 2012 for being among the committees in Congress holding the fewest number of hearings.

Click here to read the entire report or here for a summary.

View this document on Scribd

 

LINK:
http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2014/6/beyond-the-waiting-lists-new-senate-report-reveals-a-culture-of-crime-cover-up-and-coercion-within-the-va

VA Scandal Grows as 18 More Veterans Left Off “Official” VA Waiting List Die; Obama’s VA nominee withdraws

Tags

Barack Obama, Big Government, Jeffrey Murawsky, malpractice, Secret Waiting List, us-senate, Veterans, Veterans Administration

 

As information continues to surface regarding secret waiting lists, the news gets worse.

Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson reported that 18 additional veterans left off of the Veterans Affairs’ “official” waiting list died last month. Gibson is not sure if the deaths are relating to the long waiting times for appointments.

TheBlaze

…The 18 veterans who died were among 1,700 veterans identified in a report last week by the VA’s inspector general as being “at risk of being lost or forgotten.” The investigation also found broad and deep-seated problems with delays in patient care and manipulation of waiting lists throughout the sprawling VA health care system, which provides medical care to about 9 million veterans and family members….

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The 18 new deaths are in addition to the deaths of 17 veterans reported last month by the Veterans Affairs Inspector General.

A bipartisan deal to expand options enabling veterans to ascertain healthcare services through other venues outside of the scandal plagued Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics was reached Thursday in the Senate.

Fox News

….The bill would allow veterans who experience waits of 30 days or more for VA appointments or who live at least 40 miles from a VA hospital or clinic to use private doctors enrolled as providers for Medicare, military TRICARE or other government health care programs.

It would let the VA immediately fire as many as 450 senior regional executives and hospital administrators for poor performance. The bill resembles a measure passed last month by the House, but includes a 28-day appeal process omitted by the House legislation.

The bill also authorizes the VA to lease 26 new health facilities in 18 states and spend $500 million to hire more doctors and nurses….

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Expect the 28-day appeal process provision to backfire defeating the purpose of termination. Bernie Sanders, protecting big government, is the plan all as admitted yesterday on the Ed Show, ‘We want to improve the VA, not dismantle it.’

In other words, what is being proposed is lipstick on a pig. Nothing will change.

Speaking of which, in follow up to an earlier post entitled, “Obama’s VA nominee supervised hospital linked to waiting lists scandal,” Obama’s Veterans Affair nominee,Dr. Jeffrey Murawsky, Associate Manager Medicine and Neurology Services, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital Illinois yesterday withdrew his nomination.

Murawsky selected by Obama to succeed Robert Petzel as undersecretary of Veterans Affairs oversees Veterans Hospitals and 30 clinics in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, some of which are themselves mired in the secret VA waiting list and malpractice scandal.

Chicago’s VA hospital under Murawsky’s reign used a secret waiting list to hide the long wait time of veterans.

In addition and as not reported by the mainstream media, VA hospitals under Murawsky’s charge were among hospitals mentioned in a $200 million settlement that involved (since September 11, 2001) over 1,000 wrongful death cases.

Everyday another shoe drops, so if Barack Obama thought that last week’s prisoner’s swap would distract Americans from the Veterans Affairs scandal he could not be more wrong.

 

LINKS:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/05/we-have-a-crisis-on-our-hands-18-vets-left-off-waiting-list-have-reportedly-died/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/05/senators-reach-deal-on-bipartisan-bill-to-expand-veterans-health-care-options/
http://viewpointsofasagittarian.com/obamas-va-nominee-supervised-hospital-linked-to-waiting-lists-scandal/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/05/va-health-care-nominee-withdraws-amid-concern-over-confirmation-fight/

Rep. Jeff Miller wants Veterans Affairs’ ‘official time’ employees doing union work back on their regular jobs

Tags

House Committee on Veterans Affairs, labor union, VA wait list, Veterans Administration

 

Washington Examiner

…Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., asked Sloan Gibson, acting Veterans Affairs secretary, in a letter to issue an emergency directive requiring those released on “official time” to return to their regular jobs….

Miller cited 174 veterans’ health officials whose only job is to serve as union representatives. Official time allows civil servants who are also federal employee union officials to do union work full-time while drawing regular government pay and benefits….

‘I respectfully request that you act without delay to issue an emergency directive requiring the immediate reassignment of all VA health care workers currently on official time to health care positions within the department where the need is greatest,’ Miller said in his letter to Gibson.

‘If you are limited in your authority to act on this request by current union rules, contracts or collective bargaining agreements, I ask that you take the request directly to the heads of the unions of jurisdiction,’ Miller said….

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Miller also requested a full accounting of federal employees in the Veterans Administration working full-time on union business.

Federal employees who serve as union representatives can be found away from the job they were hired to do in every federal agency.

 

Too Big to Manage: Taxpayers fund top-dollar federal employee union reps through official time

Phil Barbarello insists his federal salary has nothing to do with his job as a top union official. What matters, he says, is his experience as an air traffic controller.

But it has been years since Barbarello, eastern regional vice president for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, spent much time monitoring flights in a control tower.

His full-time job with the Federal Aviation Administration is working for the NATCA union, and has been since at least 2009.

As for his salary, $166,362 in 2012, that and his lucrative federal benefits are all paid by taxpayers.

Barbarello and hundreds of other federal employees are released from their regular jobs to do union work under what is known as “official time.”

Allowed in federal law since 1978, official time cost American taxpayers an estimated $155.6 million in 2011, the most recent available year, according to the federal Office of Personnel Management, which manages the government workplace.

Union representatives spent about 3.4 million hours doing union work while drawing their regular paychecks from the government.

Barbarello refused to discuss his job with the union or his paycheck from the government….

Read full article

If unions feel that these representatives are needed full-time then they should pay their salaries. Otherwise, send them back to their jobs. To do otherwise is abusive to taxpayers.

Finally, as in the case of Phil Barbarello who insists that “his federal salary has nothing to do with his job as a top union official. What matters, he says, is his experience as an air traffic controller,” it should be required that any employee who has been away from his or her job for a significant amount of time prove that they are still qualified to hold their jobs.

 

LINKS:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2543204
http://washingtonexaminer.com/jeff-miller-wants-veterans-affairs-official-time-workers-helping-patients/article/2549221

 

Non-Veteran VA Supervisor: Older Veterans Should be “Shot in the Head” to Save Money; “Shuffling the Books” Underway

Tags

Barack Obama, coverup, death panels, file purge, Obama Administration, over medication, shuffling the books, suicide, VA scandal, Veterans, Veterans Administration

 

Wake Up America

InfoWars SSG Joe Briggs interviews a Veteran Affairs whistleblower that believes Americans need to know what is going on in the VA hospitals across America as he describes the mad dash cover up occurring right now as well as the atrocious conditions and care, death panels and more that initially caused the scandal to explode when the secret VA death list was exposed recently….

The whistleblower can be heard in the video (09:25) further down in this post recounting how a non-veteran supervisor at the VA hospital expressing his disdain for older veterans asserted that they “should be taken outside and shot in the head because they’re worthless. The individual still works at the hospital and was not disciplined for his comments.”

In addition, the whistleblower also reveals that there is a massive purge and reshuffling of files presently taking place.

Prison Planet

… ‘Recently there’s been a very rapid race to move records, boxes, change labels, whatever it may be, they’re putting them in rooms that nobody would look in….and there’s multiple times that I have seen in the past week or so them moving boxes….so apparently they’re hiding their tracks somewhere,’ stated the VA employee, adding that the activity preceded an inspection of the facility, suggesting it was part of an effort to conceal evidence in the aftermath of the secret waiting list scandal….

Shuffling the books, changing the records, etc.: (04:21 of video)
Threat: (06:04)
Nepotism/favoritism of hirees: (08:18)

 

Clearly, Barack Obama who finally broke his silence this morning thinks that the American people are stupid.

 

It was evident that Obama had no intention of stepping before the cameras until he was confident that a cover up was well underway, that his foot soldiers have by now instilled fear in VA employees silencing them just as they did the CIA with Benghazi and that the White House could control the message.

While preparing this post, I clicked on the television just in time to hear the liar-in-chief say, “So if these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable. It is disgraceful. And I will not tolerate it, period.” Yada, yada, yada.

What freaking “allegations”? Since when is malpractice, the ill-treatment of and dead veterans “allegations”? Thank goodness for “mute” on the remote control.

Always on Obama, the malignant narcissist wasted no time patting himself on the back. This sob had the audacity (of course, he did) to regurgitate the same cold speech he spewed for the Benghazi, IRS, and Fast & Furious scandals, etc.

Should we be surprised? No. After all, Obama who lost all credibility years ago is a creature of habit. H/t Before Its News.

As an American and one who appreciates the service of our men and women, it is despicable that our heroes should left to the mercy of those who hold nothing but disdain for them starting with Barack Obama.

 

 

LINK:
http://beforeitsnews.com/u-s-politics/2014/05/whistleblower-coverup-happening-now-files-being-moved-names-changed-more-2469760.html
http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2014/05/whistleblower-coverup-happening-now.html#.U3y5DSjk21k
http://www.prisonplanet.com/exclusive-whistleblower-reveals-new-va-scandal.html
http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/05/21/obama-finds-va-scandal-allegations-disgraceful-dishonorable-vows-not-tolerate-it-will