After my nice chat with Boyda's office (see below) regarding the National Park Service (which, btw, really is full of a group of hard-working good people in my direct personal experience developing staff rides) I sent Doug this note regarding the extension of the Internet Tax Moratorium:
A pat on the back for Nancy and her legislative director...Castle Argghhh! and its author appreciate the extension of the internet tax moratorium... now, if we could *just* get some spending bills done... before we go back to that 4-day work week that your lot dumped because there was so much work to do when you took over...
Ah, the irony.
Cheers,
John
Part of Doug's response was... unprintable in a family blog... let's just say the first four words rhymed with the title of that woman from First Samuel who was from Endor.
☺ Trust me, we’d all like this to be done and not come back after Thanksgiving … but that’s just not in the cards.
Heh. Just, heh.
C'mon Congress - President Bush finally got a nominee out for the Veteran's Administration (emphasis in original):
Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________For Immediate Release October 30, 2007
Lt. Gen. James B. Peake (Ret.), M.D.: The Best Choice For Our Nation's Veterans
President Bush To Nominate Former Army Surgeon General With Lifetime Of Military Medical Experience To Serve As VA Secretary
Today, President Bush announced his intention to nominate Lieutenant General James B. Peake (Ret.), M.D., to serve as our Nation's Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Peake is a highly decorated veteran who has dedicated his life to caring for the wounded. As he said in remarks praising senior noncommissioned officers before his 2004 Army retirement: "All my life I've been with Army medicine. My father was a medical services officer, and my mother was an Army nurse." His distinguished military career began in 1966 with service as an infantry officer in Vietnam, for which he received the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster for wounds sustained in battle. He retired from the Army in 2004, following service as lead commander in several medical posts, including four years as the U.S. Army Surgeon General.
Dr. Peake's Career Spans Over 40 Years In The Field Of Military Medicine, During Which Time He Helped Develop Many Of Today's Lifesaving Battlefield Medical Techniques
Dr. Peake was awarded the Silver Star, a Bronze Star with 'V' device and oak leaf cluster, and Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster for his service in Vietnam as a platoon leader with the 101st Airborne Division.
Ø Dr. Peake was wounded twice in battle and received his acceptance letter to Cornell University Medical College while in the hospital recovering from injury. He attended medical school through an Army scholarship and then returned to the Army for his medical internships and residencies.
Ø As Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) noted, Dr. Peake's "time as an infantry officer gave [him] a unique warrior's perspective on how our wounded should be cared for." (Committee On Appropriations, Subcommittee On Defense, Hearing, U.S. Senate, 4/8/04)
From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Peake served as the 40th Surgeon General of the United States Army. In this position, he commanded 50,000 medical personnel and 187 army medical facilities worldwide with an operating budget of almost $5 billion.
Dr. Peake was also commander in several medical posts, and is credited with improving the training and techniques of the Army medical force. Notably, Dr. Peake served as Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School – the largest medical training facility in the world, with over 30,000 students.
Ø Military.com's Tom Philpott: "[I]mproved training, now being used to great effect in Iraq and Afghanistan, was largely the vision of retired Lt. Gen. James Peake … in the late 1990s [as Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School] and during his tour as Army surgeon general from 2000 through 2004." (Tom Philpott, "Military Update," The Honolulu Advertiser, 11/14/05)
Dr. Peake has been honored with the Order of Military Medical Merit; the "A" Professional Designator; and the Medallion, Surgeon General of the United States. His awards and decorations also include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and an Air Medal. Dr. Peake wears the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Dr. Peake's Private Sector Experience Managing Medical Examinations For Veterans And Separating Soldiers Further Qualifies Him To Serve As VA Secretary
Dr. Peake now serves as the Chief Medical Director and Chief Operating Officer of QTC Management, Inc. QTC serves veterans and separating soldiers by providing timely medical examination and electronic medical record services to help government agencies manage medical data and information in a cost-effective manner.
From 2004 to 2006, Dr. Peake was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Project HOPE, a non-profit international health foundation with offices and programs in more than 30 different countries on five continents. While at Project HOPE, Dr. Peake helped to orchestrate the use of civilian volunteers aboard the Navy Hospital Ship Mercy as it responded to the tsunami in Indonesia and aboard the Hospital Ship Comfort as part of the Hurricane Katrina response.
Perhaps, just perhaps, we could give him a budget to work with, too? And I know *this* is a radical idea... but since the problems with the VA are endemic and systemic, and have been set in place for decades... perhaps this is a job that would call for some stability in the position... i.e., whoever the next President is, regardless of party, if Dr. Peake is getting things done - let's just leave him in place to see it through, rather than toss over the traces 18 months from now. Because if he wants to do anything broad-reaching that will take time to do - let's face it, the bureaucrats and apparatchiks who like things as they are will simply wait him out.
Just sayin'. If we're serious, let's be serious.
Because we'd *hate* to see this level of cynicism amongst the Congressional Leadership...
President Bush Says "Spending Is Skyrocketing" Under The Democrats' Leadership In Congress. "The legislation, he said, would move two million people from private insurance plans into SCHIP and cost more than Congress's first attempt to extend the program, which he vetoed earlier this month. After going alone and going nowhere, Congress should instead work with the administration on a bill that puts poor children first,' Mr. Bush said.The president also ripped lawmakers for failing to send him any of the 12 annual spending bills for the fiscal year that began at the start of October. … 'An important responsibility of the Congress is to pass appropriations bills, and yet the leadership on the Hill now cannot get that done,' Mr. Bush said. 'Spending is skyrocketing under their leadership.' … ''It's hard to imagine a more cynical political strategy than trying to hold hostage funding for our troops in combat and our wounded warriors in order to extract $11 billion in additional social spending,' Mr. Bush said. 'I hope media reports about such a strategy are wrong, I really do. If they're not, if the reports of this strategy are true, I will veto such a three-bill pile up.' According to the Journal, the combined legislation would total almost $675 billion in discretionary spending for fiscal 2008. Mr. Bush wants the bills to arrive one at a time, however." (Henry J. Pulizzi, "Bush Blasts Lawmakers On Spending Legislation," The Wall Street Journal, 10/31/07)
