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Sharron Angle wants to 'personalize' the VA; what does that mean?

Rarely has a Nevada senatorial race received the nationwide attention this year’s has. Of course, there’s the old pro versus the new pro — Harry Reid and Sharron Angle. Both have been around the barn a number of times, she in the Nevada Legislature and Harry in all kinds of jobs, most currently, of course, Senate majority leader.

Seems a lot of Nevadans are unhappy with Harry, mostly because he is now an insider, carrying out President Obama’s programs as any majority leader would be forced to do if it’s his party in the White House.

The ads have been flowing endlessly from both candidates, seemingly without changing the near dead heat the two candidates had from primary time on. Lots of outside money flowing into the state, much of it unidentified, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling that anyone can kick in a million or two without being identified.

Reid has not come up with any startling charges against Angle, other that she is bonkers and outside the main stream. She has accused him of 300 pro-tax votes, living in the Ritz Carlton in Washington, causing the real estate disaster and probably not stopping at traffic stop signs. Who knows?

Well, many of Angle’s ideas are buggy — privatize Social Security, kill Medicaid and Medicare, do away with the federal departments of education and energy. For her Tea Party backers, that’s raw meat, of course. And so one can see why she espouses such fantasy.

She’s welcome to those quirky ideas, but when she came out for privatizing the VA, she went too far this veteran who is delighted to use that superior facility in Reno, where appointments are kept to the minute and it’s one-stop shopping as all but vision clinics are in the same building.

Oh, yeah, she’s changed the idea a little. She wants to “personalize” the VA. How she does that she can’t explain. More than 8 million service folk use the VA and every time I go the Reno VA I see hundreds of one-time service people obviously down on their luck getting a nation’s thanks for their sacrifice.

These are not free-loaders. They gave up part of their lives for the nation (and sometimes parts of their bodies) and the nation promised them care as they age. VA service is not all free — I pay for a lot of things there happily.

So what would she do with the VA? Hand it over to some HMO which would install fees and charges beyond many vets’ capabilities? Yep, that’s about all she could.

Angle has a long reputation of being a blockade when it comes to getting anything done in the Legislature. One right-wing pol I know says she would be fine in the Senate — she’s so far off base that she couldn’t get anything done. Can’t do much damage there, he says.

On the other hand, she would be teamed up with our other senator, Horse Doctor, admitted adulterer and liar John Ensign. He’s Typhoid Mary these days as he is under investigation about helping his mistress’ husband get a lobbying job. That would be a dynamic duo for Nevada in the Senate. Kiss any federal monies goodbye with those two seated.

And incidentally, what ever happened to Ensign? Haven’t heard much from him during this election. Maybe he’s found a nice rock to hide behind.
Well, anyhow, Sharron, if you could explain what “personalization” of the VA means, please do so. Just send your Republican National committee explanation to me. You know, the guys who have tried to tame you down with a couple of handlers.

And oh yes, see that you have a medical plan and pension. Congratulations!

— Sam Bauman

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