Kuhl, reactive instead of proactive
So, Randy Kuhl started a Congressional bipartisan caucus to help returning veterans adjust to civilian life.
Seems what is lost in the story of the Kuhl’s press conference at the Canandaigua VA hospital is where the heck has Randy Kuhl been on Veteran’s issues? Remember, Randy has been an enabler of his party’s polices.
The answer to the “why now” question is easy - the November Election .
But when you carry water for the GOP that is what to expect. Act surprised when the policies of your party result in things like breaking the military.
Which points to an underlying difference between Progressives, such as myself and Conservatives, such as Congressman Kuhl.
Proaction, as opposed to Reaction. Congressman Kuhl is reacting to a situation his party caused that could be easily avoided.
I wrote this paragraph in March 2007 (the links take you back even further). The signs that our soldiers were stressed have been visible for anyone who actually looked for a really long time.
Our system is stressed by our returning soldiers. Walter Reed is but a single example. Homelessness, Divorce rates, Suicides, PTSD and, of course, stop loss all await our soldiers.
So Congressman Kuhl - None of this is a surprise - IS IT? That the need for increased Veteran care based on policies of this administration has gone unattended and now you are reacting to it ahead of November?
So when people interviewed by the D&C and WXXI make these points - don’t act surprised..
Paulette Swartzfager works at the Rochester Institue of Technology, and is a local activist. She says veterans advocates have been clamoring for attention from Kuhl for ages, but that Kuhl’s current efforts to form a bipartisan caucus are hardly satisfying.
“It’s just more of the same thing, they’re gonna be more hearings. It makes people look good in an election year, frankly.”
Swartzfager says it’s clear that there needs to be more funding, and that hearings aren’t needed to establish that. She says with the war now five years old, no one should be surprised at the levels of post-traumatic stress disorder and its impact on the veteran suicide rate.
Or
“What took you so long?” Howland said after Kuhl’s speech. “For those that we’ve already lost, it’s already too late.”
Check below the fold to see who is in this bipartisan Caucus
Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Co-Chair
Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU)
Michael Castle (R-DE)
Michael Arcuri (D-NY)
Jim Ramstad (R-MN)
Chris Shays (R-CT)
Dave Reichert (R-WA)
Shelley Berkley (D-NV)
Jason Altmire (D-PA)
Chris Carney (D-PA)
Robert Aderholt (R-AL)
Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
Mark Souder (R-IN)
Bob Filner (D-CA)
Ray LaHood (R-IL)
Don Young (R-AK)
Bobby Scott (D-VA)
Donald Manzullo (R-IL)
Jeff Miller (R-FL)
Jerry McNerney (D-CA)
Betty Sutton (D-OH)
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
James Walsh (R-NY)
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I am unimpressed with anyone “forming a caucus”. The only thing I would be impressed with is actual proposed (and then passed) legislation that would affect matters positively. Instead of “forming a caucus”, John R. Kuhl could have introduced legislation that might actually help. Naturally, we don’t see anything like that happening.
And of course, as you point out, these are not new problems. Kuhl and his other Bush enablers could have been working on this years ago.
[...] press over the VA charade that passed for a press conference where the big solution to problems Randy Kuhl has helped enable specific to Veterans are going to be solved by a caucus. Here is some video of the press conference [...]