Marvel Head And Two Others Direct The Operation Of The VA From Mar-A-Lago

[Rational Poster]

OH NO!!!! Evil Billionaire Businessman Club Members are trying to help the VA!!!

You think they are doing it for free drinks? Maybe an extra towel at the gym?

And the HORROR!!!! They wanted those working at the VA to actually get things done, and done quickly!!!

OMG! THIS CAN NOT STAND! THIS SHIT MIST BE STOPPED!!!

If you actually believe your drain the swamp rhetoric you wouldn't condone this sort of activity.

It's that simple.

 

[JadeOwl]

Over here, this kind of thing is a felony called "usurpation of public functions". I just looked it up in the Peruvian Penal Code, and translating as the legalese as best I can:

Usurpation of public function
Article 361 °.- He who, without title or appointment, usurps a public function, or the the power to give military or police orders, or the one that being dismissed, ceased, suspended or subrogated from his position continues to exercise it, or the one that exercises functions corresponding to a different position from the one he has, will be repressed with a prison sentence of not less than four nor more than seven years, and disqualification from one to two years according to Article 36, paragraphs 1 and 2.
If to perpetrate the commission of the offense, the agent lends resistance or faces the Forces of Order, the penalty shall be imprisonment of not less than five nor more than eight years

I am seriously surprised that there doesn't seem to exist a similar statute in the US.

 

[ultramanhyata]

trump really cares about vets. He says it himself.

Trump has requested that the VA set up a new facility dedicated specifically to the research and treatment of bone spurs.

He feels like he was denied the chance to be a war hero due to this crippling affliction and wants to do all he can to ensure that no other young men suffer the same, terrible fate.

It's pretty commendable.

 

[zebby23]

Trump has requested that the VA set up a new facility dedicated specifically to the research and treatment of bone spurs.

He feels like he was denied the chance to be a war hero due to this crippling affliction and wants to do all he can to ensure that no other young men suffer the same, terrible fate.

It's pretty commendable.

If true (which I'm sure it is) I'm doing a complete 180 and will now support Trump in everything he does. When he says, "believe me" I will simply believe

 

[SBJJ]

If you actually believe your drain the swamp rhetoric you wouldn't condone this sort of activity.

It's that simple.

Now private citizens donating their time and efforts to help a failing agency is considered the swamp

Gotcha

So far the only concrete thing given that you bobble heads have quoted that is pissing u off is Spider-Man was at the NYSE

You guys need help

 

[Rational Poster]

Now private citizens donating their time and efforts to help a failing agency is considered the swamp

Gotcha

So far the only concrete thing given that you bobble heads have quoted that is pissing u off is Spider-Man was at the NYSE

You guys need help

 

[SBJJ]

Concession accepted

If Obama had done this with Spielberg or Bezos in an attempt to help the VA you’d be screaming how heroic it is. Lol

And again. You drones who ate up this slanted piece now think private citizens helping the government voluntarily is the swamp.

My favorite part of this biased piece was how the evil billionaires were trying to get the VA to solve problems quickly. OMG!! It must stop!!

 

[Higus]

I just want to add... I have no idea if the VA is running better or worse now..To me, that's the most important factor.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/us/politics/veterans-affairs-trump-orourke.html

Amid high-level turnover at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Trump administration critics are expressing alarm over whether politics is playing a role in the recent wave of removals, reassignments and retirements.

The department is currently run by Acting Secretary Peter O’Rourke and has been without a Senate-confirmed leader for months. Robert Wilkie, a former acting secretary who also served as the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, has been nominated for the top job by President Trump. If confirmed, Mr. Wilkie would take over the second-largest department in the federal government, overseeing a 360,000-person work force.

But he would be without several longtime employees who have recently left the department. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that several unnamed current and former employees had raised alarms over what appeared to be a purge or reassignment of more than a dozen officials who were not loyal to the Trump administration.

“It’s been 112 days since the V.A. had a Senate-confirmed secretary in place, and many talented people have departed leadership positions within the V.A. over the past four months,” Joe Plenzler, a spokesman for the American Legion, a veterans service organization, said in an email on Wednesday.

“During your tenure, our committee has been made aware of a significant number of career employees who have served under multiple secretaries,” she said. “These employees have been removed, demoted or reassigned, or they’ve resigned or retired after being made aware of adverse actions coming their way.”

In response, Mr. O’Rourke referred to a few people who had either retired or moved into a different position.

“We’re not on a path to just move things randomly,” he said. “These are all very well-planned and designed moves to better make efficiency and effectiveness at our level.” He added that he had not communicated with Mr. Wilkie regarding these changes.

Officials at the Veterans Affairs Department have been working for years to update outdated computer systems and simplify its approach to private health care. But some say morale has suffered amid turmoil under the current administration; the agency is one of several dealing with vacancies and high staff turnover.

The last Senate-confirmed Veterans Affairs secretary, Dr. David J. Shulkin, had supporters from both parties during the early days of the Trump administration. But his reputation suffered after a scathing agency reportin February about money the government had spent on a 10-day business trip he took to Europe with his wife. Mr. Trump fired Dr. Shulkin with a tweet in March and sought to replace him with his White House physician, Dr. Ronny L. Jackson.

That nomination fell through, and Mr. Wilkie took over as acting secretary. When his nomination was announced in May, Mr. Wilkie stepped aside to begin his confirmation process, and Mr. O’Rourke took the helm.

Right now, the department is working to revamp its health care system after President Trump last month signed a legislative overhaul bill to consolidate programs and make it easier for veterans to take their benefits to private doctors for care. Critics of the plan, including Democrats and some large veterans groups and moderate Republicans, say that it would be a boon to private medicine while starving the agency’s budget.

Because of the major changes on the table at the Veterans Affairs Department, the high-level staff changes have been of particular concern.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, Ms. Esty said that in the past month, she had seen “three high-level career retirements of key positions” at the V.A., an unusual number considering the short time span — and the fact that the departures happened under an acting secretary who had not gone through the Senate confirmation process.

“That combination does raise concern,” Ms. Esty said, since the department will be making important decisions on issues including health care privatization, disability appeals reform and an expansion of caregiver support for veterans.

“It is concerning not to have that institutional knowledge there,” she said.

Curt Cashour, the agency’s press secretary, said employees were “absolutely not” being moved for political reasons.

He said the V.A. had “made groundbreaking progress, particularly in the areas of accountability, transparency and efficiency across the department” during the Trump administration.

“This has understandably shaken up V.A.’s Washington bureaucracy,” Mr. Cashour added, “and in many cases, employees who were wedded to the status quo and not on board with this administration’s policies have departed V.A. — some willingly, some against their will as they were about to be fired.”

 

[The Diplomat]

No. They are not in any official position, and have merely volunteered their advice on occasion. This is not controversial, nor illegal, nor anything.

Hope that helps.

Are you disputing the article, or are you saying that what is in the article is no big deal?

"According to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with former officials, the trio speak with higher-ups at the V.A. on a daily basis, “reviewing all manner of policy and personnel decisions.” When former V.A. chief David Shulkin, whom the troika installed in 2017, was preparing to make a presentation to the president about a research effort on suicide prevention, officials had to get approval from the “Mar-a-Lago Crowd” first. “Everything needs to be run by them,” a former official told ProPublica. “They view themselves as making the decisions.”

 

[Rational Poster]

Concession accepted

If Obama had done this with Spielberg or Bezos in an attempt to help the VA you’d be screaming how heroic it is. Lol

And again. You drones who ate up this slanted piece now think private citizens helping the government voluntarily is the swamp.

My favorite part of this biased piece was how the evil billionaires were trying to get the VA to solve problems quickly. OMG!! It must stop!!

Obama wouldn't let his club members run a government department in the first place.

 

[SBJJ]

Obama wouldn't let his club members run a government department in the first place.

No. He’d run it the same way it was run before. A complete failure

Thanks for making my point

 

[Rational Poster]

No. He’d run it the same way it was run before. A complete failure

Thanks for making my point

No I didn't.

And you have no point.

Just blatant hypocrisy and obfuscation.

 

[Rational Poster]

Over here, this kind of thing is a felony called "usurpation of public functions". I just looked it up in the Peruvian Penal Code, and translating as the legalese as best I can:



I am seriously surprised that there doesn't seem to exist a similar statute in the US.

I think they probably assumed no one would be that corrupt and still manage to get elected.

 

[JadeOwl]

I think they probably assumed no one would be that corrupt and still manage to get elected.

But this goes beyond elected officials.

Are there really no laws in your books making it a felony for a private citizen to give orders to public sector employees without appointment or standing in any public institution?

@panamaican & @alanb you guys are lawyers. Is this the case?

 

[panamaican]

But this goes beyond elected officials.

Are there really no laws in your books making it a felony for a private citizen to give orders to public sector employees without appointment or standing in any public institution?

@panamaican & @alanb you guys are lawyers. Is this the case?

They're not technically giving orders. They're providing advice, at least that's how they'll frame it. And there's nothing illegal about taking advice from people in the private sector.

It's ethically obscene if the VA head was doing this on his own. But it's beyond the pale if it's happening because the POTUS is pushing it down the throat of the VA head. It's crazy the extent to which this administration finds novel ways to corrupt the system.

 

[JadeOwl]

They're not technically giving orders. They're providing advice, at least that's how they'll frame it. And there's nothing illegal about taking advice from people in the private sector.

It's ethically obscene if the VA head was doing this on his own. But it's beyond the pale if it's happening because the POTUS is pushing it down the throat of the VA head. It's crazy the extent to which this administration finds novel ways to corrupt the system.

I understand. But please bear with me.

Going beyond this specific case. If it was discovered with verifiable evidence that Mr. John Private Citizen was giving orders to public sector employees without appointment or standing in any public institution, and that those public employees were following those orders. Would that be a crime according to US federal law? Could he be charged with anything?

 

[panamaican]

I understand. But please bear with me.

Going beyond this specific case. If it was discovered with verifiable evidence that Mr. John Private Citizen was giving orders to public sector employees without appointment or standing in any public institution, and that those public employees were following those orders. Would that be a crime according to US federal law? Could he be charged with anything?

It really depends. That's not a satisfying answer I realize. If there was some of formal agreement in place where the government official agreed to only follow orders from the private citizen then he'd be agreeing to not follow the orders of the President. I'd imagine that would cross a line into criminal behavior. But I don't know what the specific charge would be, maybe some kind of conspiracy charge? Also, the crime is more likely to be by the government official, not the private citizen.

 

[HereticBD]

I understand. But please bear with me.

Going beyond this specific case. If it was discovered with verifiable evidence that Mr. John Private Citizen was giving orders to public sector employees without appointment or standing in any public institution, and that those public employees were following those orders. Would that be a crime according to US federal law? Could he be charged with anything?

You'd have to prove some kid of pay to play scheme, placing them on some kind of unofficial payroll. Otherwise, it's just advice from a citizen. No different than a prominent minority figure of big business consulting on what can be done to improve a certain community. It's not an "order" unless it's official, or something conspiratorial can be proven

Make no mistake, shady shit like this happens all the time with business people parading around as simple messengers, using their leverage to line their pockets, but you have to actually prove official wrongdoing. You can't just presume. Like they say, there has to be a "there there". If there isn't, it's just advice.

 

[Strychnine]

If you have any ambiguity about what's going on.

This is pay-to-play, pure and simple.

Become members of Mar-A-Lago ($200,000)

Donate HEAVILY to President Trump's "Charity" ($1M)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/marvel-ceo-perlmutter-donates-trump-veterans-1.3425308

Become an "Advisor" to the Veteran's Administration

Profit.