Woodruff plus the story of a program bringing dance to thousands of children in new mexicos Public Schools. And teaching valuable life lessons with each and every routine. Work hard, do your best, never give up, and be healthy. We think if you do those things, whether youre learning a dance step, taking a math test, or applying for a job, thats what it takes to be successful. Woodruff those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill the u. S. Military has stepped up the s
Now, the chairmans opening remarks, he was correct. We are not here to analyze a poll that was taken about the va. But we are here rather to look at the investigations that have already taken place, and addressed certain deficiencies within the veterans system that no action was taken on, or at least not corrective action. In fiscal year 2013, the reported 93 of specialty primarycare appointments and 95 of Mental Health appointments were made within 14 days of the patients or providers desired date. At first glance, these numbers appear to demonstrate that veterans are receiving the care they want and when they want it. However, we know this is not the case. I think if va had asked hard questions regarding these statistics, we would not be here today discussing recent allegations surrounding many va facilities. More specifically, we are here to discuss when Senior Leadership in the department became aware that local va employees were manipulating wait times to show that veterans do not
And that was what prompted my direction to say we are going to overhaul the standard performance contract for Medical Center direct recent visitor directors because we are not going to have a contract with their result is aligned with the patient outcome. I think is going to take some of those kinds of structural changes as well to ensure we get people focused. The last thing i would say is this. You know, we are so focused on wait times. As we think about how we teach timeliness of that is in the future, the centerpiece of that is a much more robust focus on patient satisfaction. I think that helps us resent her back on the veteran we are serving in notley cannot wait times in the 700 other metrics that weve got people. Those types of responses should be the driving force to whether someone gets a bonus or how they are compensated. Yes. The spec or general reply to us at it is led to more layers of administrative aspect rather than actual care and that really is a concern. I had a mee
With significant bipartisan climate legislation. And after 2010, you see that heartbeat of bipartisan activity flatline. If you look at what happened in early 2010 that might explain why it suddenly ended, you find a Supreme Court decision called Citizens United that allowed unlimited corporate money, unlimited billionaire money, to bombard our politics. And what people often think about that is that, oh, they all came in and they beat up the democrats on behalf of the republicans. And this is a partisan thing. But ive heard over and over from republican colleagues, what are you complaining about . They are spending more money against us and they are spending against you. And there have been times i believe when actually the unaccountable anonymous dark money that Citizens United unleashed was being spent more in republican primaries and against republicans than it was against democrats. That i think has suppressed debate, and have a corrosive effect on our politics, what was for many,
Were learning that the post master general himself will testify friday before a Republicanled Senate committee. This will be his first chance to answer questions about those delays in service and the implications for our election come november. Meanwhile, President Trump taking his voting rhetoric even further. In just the last two hours, the president raising the possibility of redoing the election. He said universal mailin ballots would be a disaster. He called them rigged. Your daily reminder, there is no evidence of widespread fraud when it comes to mailin voting. Also on the president s mind, the Virtual Democratic National Convention and first lady, former First Lady Michelle Obama at that same event this morning to honor womens right to vote. The president calling obamas keynote speech divisive. The overarching message democrats are hammering home at this unconventional convention, only one clear choice for americans in november. That seems to be their message in d. C. Has repor