Veterans: Congress right to derail cuts to health care

Members of Congress appear to have banded together to get at least one thing right, as they announced this week they have brought a halt to plans to close and downsize rural veterans’ hospitals across the country. They did so by choosing not to vote on a slate of nominees for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission.

“I’ve got the whole committee on board, so we’re just shutting down everything,” said U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. “No appointments. No confirmations. So, they’re dead in the water.”

In a bipartisan effort, elected officials used the tools at their disposal to derail a plan that would have done not just a disservice, but real harm to those who had been promised their country would take care of them.

“As senators, we share a commitment to expanding and strengthening modern VA infrastructure in a way that upholds our obligations to America’s veterans,” said U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

It is mind-boggling that bureaucrats at the VA would have so little understanding of the damage their plan would have done to the very people they are meant to serve. But, then again, even in the case of our military veterans, bureaucracy tends to exist only to serve itself.

“Anyone who puts on a uniform and is willing to give their life for you and I for the freedoms we have should be at the front of the line getting the best of services,” Manchin said.

It should have gone without saying.

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