secretary of veteran affairs. what should his first step be? how can veterans make sure eric shinseki s resignation doesn t end the pressure for reform. i ll ask a congressman and former va doctor straight ahead. [ shutter clicks ] hi there! [ laughs ] -i m flo! -i know! i m going to get you your rental car. this is so ridiculous. we re going to manage your entire repair process from paperwork to pickup, okay, little tiny baby? your car is ready, and your repairs are guaranteed for as long as you own it. the progressive service center a real place, where we really manage your claim from start to finish. really. easy as easy can be bye!
resignation might not end the firestorm. well, the distractions that rick refers to, in part, are political. reporter: house speaker john boehner warned one personnel change cannot be used. our veterans deserve better and we ll hold the president accountable until he makes things right. reporter: he tapped sloan gibson to lead the va for the time being. acknowledging gibson has been on the job for only three months. we ll need a new va secretary. so, sloan is acting. sloan, i think, would be the first to acknowledge that he is going to have a learning curve he has to deal with. reporter: obama insisted that gibson can be order to the va. i want somebody who is spending every minute of every day figuring out, have we called every single veteran that s waiting? have they gotten a schedule? are we fixing the system? what kind of new technology do we need? have we made a realistic
inevitable. there are layers of management that naturally builds a bureaucracy. in the military, the bureaucracy, orders are obeyed, things are done according to the rules, because the consequences are life are and death. in business, a bureaucracy, we obey the rule, follow orders, because the consequences can be no profit. we can go out of business. are there consequences in government? if someone underperforms, what are the consequences? so what we have now is a bureaucracy that needs to be overhauled, and if anyone were to ask my advice, my recommendation would be, first of all, we need a combat veteran heading that up. not another general? but not another general officer, in my estimation, unless he or she surrounds themselves with a number of field-grade officers, like colonels and majors, because they are closer to the surface. now, listen closely to what general shinseki said.
died. and i mean it took six months of your reporting, our reporting to finally get the administration s attention. and now the secretary of veterans affairs. and now they couldn t trust that shinseki, who was not able to recognize the problem right under his own nose. he is just not the person to lead the v.a. out of the debacle that it is in. general shinseki trusted the people that were lying to him. and ignored the many, many voices that were trying to tell him the truth. i want to mention sam foote, who you mentioned, and mr. chairman, let me start with you. earlier today you said while the person at the top may be changing the fact that there are serious systemic problems within the agency that has not changed. will shinseki s resignation, or the next person be able to address the problems in the v.a.? well, i think it is an appropriate step, whether it is the appropriate next step is up for anybody s debate.
about her radical past is invited to speak at a ucla graduation. appropriate? we will debate it caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. the president fires the v.a. chief. that is the subject of this evening s talking points memo. today president obama finally admitting that the department of veterans affairs is pretty much out of control so he fired general eric shinseki. this morning i think some of youlights heard rick take a truly remarkable action in public remarks he took responsibility for the conduct of those facilities, and apologized to his fellow veterans and to the american people. and a few minutes ago secretary shinseki offered