Not so green: California billionaire opposing Tom Corbett made profits on coal, oil & gas

5/24/2014

Follow The Money: Leftist billionaire slob proves that the only values he is true to is that attached to money. Where is Occupy Wall Street when you need them? 

California billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer recently announced that Pennsylvania's Tom Corbett would be one of the Republican governors he pledged to help defeat with as much as $100 million from his NextGen Climate political action committee. The plan is to make climate change a moral "wedge issue" in races around the country, targeting politicians supported by the coal, oil and gas industries.

The problem is Steyer made his billions in part by investing in coal, oil and gas industries - and may still be profiting from them.

An investigative report from Reuters titled "From black to green: U.S. billionaire's 'Road to Damascus'" details the "dirty" investments - both foreign and domestic - of Farallon Capital Management, the hedge-fund founded by Steyer, under Steyer's leadership.

According to the report:

Steyer, 56, stepped down as co-managing partner of Farallon in 2012 to devote himself to full-time activism because, as he later wrote, he "no longer felt comfortable being at a firm that was invested in every single sector of the global economy, including tar sands and oil." But he has provided few details of the extent of those fossil fuel investments or how he profited from them. He said in July 2013 that when he had left Farallon, which manages much of his estimated $1.6 billion wealth, he had instructed the fund to divest his holdings in fossil fuels. Neither he nor Farallon has said whether that process has been completed. Farallon declined to comment. A spokesman for Steyer declined to comment for this article.

Steyer has said he intends to make climate change a "wedge issue" by casting it in moral terms of right and wrong.


Many have reported that one of his main political goals is to ensure constinued Democratic control of the U.S. Senate; however, the Washington Post demonstrated yesterday that's not really the case, showing that the races Steyer intends to jump into are races in which the Democrats are already favored to win.

"Why is NextGen/Steyer worried about carrying Democrat Tom Wolf over the finish line of a gubernatorial race in Pennsylvania, when he's up by 19 percent?" asked the Post rhetorically.

"NextGen picked races it was pretty sure it was going to win. And that's it."

According to the Post analysis, Steyer's real goal appears to be to "instill a little fear":

No one is really afraid of environmentalists. What NextGen certainly wants to do is instill a little fear. To do that, they have to win. And to win — well, it doesn't hurt to pick races where the odds are pretty good that will happen.

source

YIKES!!!: If you used Google Search at any time after October 26, 2006, you may be a “Class Member” in this Lawsuit.

5/24/2014

United States District Court for the Northern District of California 

In re Google Referrer Header Privacy Litigation,
Case No. 5:10-cv-04809 EJD 

If you used Google Search at any time after October 26, 2006,
you may be a “Class Member” in this Lawsuit.


READ MORE

How America treats illegal aliens vs. veterans

5/24/2014

How America treats illegal aliens vs. veterans
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2014

A government that fails to secure its borders is guilty of dereliction of duty. A government that fails to care for our men and women on the frontlines is guilty of malpractice. A government that puts the needs of illegal aliens above U.S. veterans for political gain should be prosecuted for criminal neglect bordering on treason.

Compare, contrast and weep:

In Sacramento, Calif., lawmakers are moving forward with a budget-busting plan to extend government-funded health insurance to at least 1.5 million illegal aliens.

In Los Angeles, federal bureaucrats callously canceled an estimated 40,000 diagnostic tests and treatments for American veterans with cancer and other illnesses to cover up a decade-long backlog.

In New York, doctors report that nearly 40 percent of their patients receiving kidney dialysis are illegal aliens. A survey of nephrologists in 44 states revealed that 65 percent of them treat illegal aliens with kidney disease.

In Memphis, a VA whistleblower reported that his hospital was usingcontaminated kidney dialysis machines to treat America’s warriors. The same hospital previously had been investigated for chronic overcrowding at its emergency room, leading to six-hour waits or longer. Another watchdog probe found unconscionable delays in processing lab tests at the center. In addition, three patients died under negligent circumstances, and the hospital failed to enforce accountability measures.

In Arizona, illegal aliens incurred health care costs totaling an estimated $700 million in 2009.

In Phoenix, at least 40 veterans died waiting for VA hospitals and clinics to treat them, while government officials created secret waiting lists to cook the books and deceive the public about deadly treatment delays.

At the University of California at Berkeley, UC President Janet Napolitano (former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security) has offered $5 million in financial aid to illegal alien students. Across the country, 16 states offer in-state tuition discounts for illegal aliens: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. In addition, the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, the University of Hawaii Board of Regents and the University of Michigan Board of Regents all approved their own illegal alien tuition benefits.

In 2013, the nation’s most selective colleges and universities had enrolled just 168 American veterans, down from 232 in 2011. Anti-war activists have waged war on military recruitment offices at elite campuses for years. The huge influx of illegal aliens in state universities is shrinking the number of state-subsidized slots for vets. [And the Obama administration putmilitary tuition assistance up front on the politically-driven chopping block during the sequestration circus last spring.]

In 2013, the Obama Department of Homeland Security released 36,007 known, convicted criminal illegal aliens, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. The catch-and-release beneficiaries include thugs convicted of homicide, sexual assault, kidnapping, and thousands of drunk or drugged driving crimes.

The same Department of Homeland Security issued a report in 2009 thatidentified returning combat veterans as worrisome terrorist and criminal threats to America.

In Washington, Big Business and open-borders lobbyists are redoubling efforts to pass another massive illegal alien amnesty to flood the U.S. job market with low-wage labor.

Across the country, men and women in uniform returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan have higher jobless rates than the civilian population. The unemployment rate for new veterans has spiked to its worst levels, nearing 15 percent. For veterans ages 24 and under, the jobless rate is a whopping 29.1 percent, compared to 17.6 percent nationally for the age group. A Forbes columnist reported last year that an Air Force veteran was told: “We don’t hire your kind.”

And last December, Democrats led the charge to reduce cost-of-living increases in military pensions — while blocking GOP Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’ efforts to close a $4.2 billion loophole that allows illegal aliens to collect child tax credits from the IRS, even if they pay no taxes. Stopping the fraudulent payments to illegal aliens would have offset the cuts to veterans’ benefits.

America: medical and welfare welcome mat to the rest of the world, while leavings its best and bravest veterans to languish in hospital lounges, die waiting for appointments, and compete for jobs and educational opportunities against illegal border-crossers, document fakers, visa violators and deportation evaders. Shame on us.

source

Two Communist Regimes in the Western Hemisphere Hope to Unite

5/24/2014

Veteran of Obama Cabinet Favors Normalizing U.S.-Cuba Ties

MADRID – Former U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he favors “normalizing” relations between his country and Cuba, and expressed optimism at the chances of seeing that happen in the next few years.

Salazar, who represented Colorado in the U.S. Senate before joining President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, took part in the Tribuna EFE-Casa de America forum in Madrid.

While the main focus was on the growing strength of the Hispanic community in the United States, Salazar noted that a current of public opinion in his country favors a change in relations with Cuba, and said “I’m one of them.”

He also said that Cubans living in the United States agree on beginning “a new stage” in relations with Cuba.

Salazar was among the prominent figures who signed an open letter asking Obama to use his executive authority to enact measures that will “deepen the changes already underway” in Cuba.

The message, backed by the Cuba Study Group and the Council of the Americas, acknowledges the progress the U.S. government has made in supporting the Cuban people by opening trips to Cuban-American families and expanding remittances, but urges that another step be taken at a time when public opinion is favorable to a new approach.

But publication of the letter was roundly criticized by the Cuban exile in South Florida.

“The exile community is very pained by what has happened” but knows that times have changed, Salazar told Efe.

“We have reached a new stage and relations have to be normalized,” he said.

He appeared optimistic about the “benefits of this change for Cuba and the United States.”

source

A Giant Congratulations Going Out To Obama's Immigration Policy For The "Undocumented" Free Radicals

5/24/2014

UPDATE: Tuberculosis outbreak spreads passed Fannin

Officials told Pronews 7 that within their investigation stemming from the index case or student, those involved in original testing were boiled down to anyone who had spent more than six hours a week with the student. That is why the Department of Public Health limited their testing to those who shared a classroom with the young girl. However, officials also told Pronews 7 that there were more than the original 250 people tested, because those were limited to the investigation within Fannin.

“So there were more than 250 because that was just doing the school piece. Then there were other people that might have been church contacts or other contacts. We identified everyone we could in regard to family, church activity, social activities and other things that this contact was involved in and pursued those contacts to then test them for TB,” said Dr. Roger Smalligan, the public health authority for Potter and Randall County.

“We did identify some other people that did have a conversion of their skin TB test in the community and have also been offered and encouraged to take the free preventive medicine to keep them from developing active TB,” said Smalligan.

In April, 250 students and faculty were tested for tuberculosis at Fannin High School. That test showed 13 positive exposures to TB, which were not announced to the public, but simply remained confidential between the patients, families and doctors. Now, in a subsequent retest of that same 250 students and faculty, after an 8 week waiting period 37 people tested positive on their skin TB test.

There are still 7 remaining who need to be evaluated by physicians before determining whether or not their positive TB exposure is active or latent.

The latent form of the disease simply means the germ is inside of the patient’s body, but is not contagious and does not make the person sick. If the person does not take the medication, there is a small chance that as the person gets older, or if their immune system is compromised in any way, the tuberculosis bacteria can wake up. By taking the prescribed medication for the 9-month time period, it decreases the chances of the germ waking up within the patient’s body down to one percent.

“If you miss one dose, we are not that worried. We obviously would rather someone not miss any doses, but, missing one dose here or one dose there during the nine months is not going to make a major effect. Now if people are missing a whole month, or two, or three, then we do worry and wonder if that was effective,” said Smalligan.

The Department of Public Health and school announced yesterday that, after finding an unexpected number of people exposed to TB in this case, they would be expanding testing to the entire school, including faculty and staff. However, parents or family members of students, even those who tested positive for exposure, would not be tested.

“If the student is simply exposed, they have a positive skin TB test but a healthy chest x-ray, that student is not contagious and so their family is not at risk,” said Casie Stoughton, assistant director of the Department of Public Health.

source

Socialistic Deception Indicated: A "War On Poverty" code for destroying wealth

5/24/2014

So when backroom communists execute their income equality schemes, do more people become richer or poorer?

Kazahkstan’s Leader Urges Reducing Gap Between Rich and Poor

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Friday called for an alliance of nations to fight poverty and keep the “gap between rich and poor from growing larger every day.”

The social divide is not found only in emerging countries, he said in a speech at the conclusion of the seventh edition of the Astana Economic Forum.

“There are countries in Europe experiencing the same situation,” Nazarbayev said, pointing to Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy.

The closing session of the forum also featured comments from former Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov, UN Economic and Social Council chair Martin Sajdik and the founder of Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus.

The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, spoke with those attending the forum by means of a video conference, endorsing the idea of a crusade against poverty.

Sajdik said that nations must take both collective and individual responsibility.

We must learn to integrate, to work together. Interdependence should be understood “positively.” However, though the ideas are arrived at collectively, “each country must apply them in line with its own priorities,” he said.

The seventh edition of the Astana Economic Forum brought together for three days upwards of 10,000 participants from more than 150 countries.

source

An Unfettered Obsession with the Rape and Pillage of America's Working Class Tax Dollars: Illinois Democrat Demands Judge Delay Corruption Trial So He Can Vote For Tax Hike

5/24/2014

-By Warner Todd Huston

A judge in Illinois refused to delay the corruption trial of Democrat Derrick Smith, a Chicago-area State Representative, so he could vote yes on an upcoming tax hike bill. This will hurt the Democrats’ push to make a temporary tax hike permanent.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman didn’t say that Democrat House Speaker Michael Madigan ordered the request that she delay the trial, but Madigan said that without Smith’s vote he will have trouble passing the tax hike.

Smith made the request of a delay so that he could vote for the tax hike but he also claimed that he had a “back injury” from a recent car accident. The judge said that Smith had never complained about any injuries in the several court appearances since the accident, so she found the claim unimpressive.

Republican State Rep. Jil Tracy was disgusted by the attempt. “Only in Illinois could you present a scenario like that,” she said.

In 2011, Illinois Democrats convinced the legislature to vote for what they claimed was a temporary 63 percent tax hike but now that the tax is to sunset next year, the party is desperately trying to make the tax hike permanent.

On the same day that the still serving State Rep. was told his trial was going on as scheduled, he passed a bill out of committee that would make it easier on convicts in the state.

“The legislation, SB3267,” the Sun-Times reported, “amends the Unified Code of Corrections, including to require that multiple terms of probation imposed at the same time shall run concurrently. As introduced, the bill sought to add educational requirements and family enrichment when an individual is serving out probation.”

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Thought Provoking Post: Ideas Have Consequences

5/24/2014

There is an old saying that is more than a truism:  “Ideas have Consequences.”

Many times we simply enjoy the fruits of the creative genius – or misapplied innovation – of people who came before us.

Do we ever stop to ask ourselves:  Where did the light bulb come from?  Or what lay hold of a person to think about creating a telephone, a sewing machine, or a refrigerator?

All of the aforementioned commodities first existed as concepts in someone’s mind before they took on tangible form and expression.

Ideas do have consequences in determining the quality of life that we live.

Furthermore, when one surveys the different governmental and economic systems that are utilized around the globe it becomes readily apparent that some socio-economic systems do a better job of delivering goods and services such as liberty, freedom, the rule of law, and material abundance than others.

Where did our governmental structures originate from and what caused them to come into being?

In the United States, our country utilized a “free market” approach with reference to how goods and services – which are scarce – are allocated and appropriated within the nation.  The great Theologian and Economist Adam Smith referred to the free market as the “natural system of liberty” (it would be Karl Marx who would call the economic structure in Western Europe and the United States a “Capitalistic” economic system).

The “natural system of liberty?”  The free market?  Capitalistic or Socialistic economics?  We tend to take these systems for granted, but did they not first exist in the minds of many people before they found a place for gestation?

The United States like so many other nations of the world experiences many different twists and turns in its national history with regards to how the blessings of liberty are bestowed and shared.

What may come as a surprise to many people is that what has enabled the “natural system of liberty” along with the Constitutional framework of the United States government to thrive for more than 200 years is that the foundational structure is built on a unique prevailing “ethos” derived from the belief system of the United States citizens of previous generations.

Ideas from the past also have consequences.

To borrow a term from Edmund Burke we are affected by the “democracy of the dead” as our forbearers still speak from the grave.

The word “ethos” is a Greek word from antiquity that this writer originally heard employed by a late and profound theologian by the name of Francis A. Schaeffer more than 30 years ago.

The word “ethos” literally means the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations.

Wow, this is a mouthful of a definition is it not?

This writer believes that the United States of today suffers from a type of “collective national amnesia.”  We act and believe at times as if we are truly autonomous or self-ruled without accountability to anyone or anything.

(Philosophers and Theologians argue that by definition only an omnipotent being of some form could ever be truly autonomous.)\

Nearly 170 years before the founding of our great nation (1619 to 1776) our Pilgrim and Founding Fathers bequeathed a unique “Judeo-Christian Ethos” to the American colonists that provided the foundational structure in which our great nation could move forward and advance.

Question #1:  Do we truly believe that the current fads of today are smarter than the centuries of collected wisdom bequeathed to us by our ancestors?

Question # 2:  Do we feel and believe that we are beyond hubris or over-weening pride by thinking that our breathtaking technological pursuits mean that the old morality does not apply to us today?

Ideas do have consequences.

Over the last 80 years our culture has slowly supplanted the “Judeo-Christian” ethos with one built on naturalism (a worldview that rejects a Creator or a Supernatural origin).

Do we like the fruits of the “naturalistic worldview” with regards to family disintegration; failing schools; heavy divorce rates; falling national educational standards; high criminal recidivism rates and incarceration – and an erosion of honesty within the “public square?”

My friend, you be the judge.

This writer invites your responses – and he says, Thanks You in advance.

source: da tech guy blog

YOU LIE! CAMERA.Org Billboard In Front of NY Times Bldg. 'Tells Off' Newsroom

5/24/2014

On Friday Morning The NY Times Newsroom was greeted with a message about the Middle East bias of the paper. The message was in the form of a large billboard dominating the view of any reporter who looks out the newsroom window. Placed by Middle East media watchdog CAMERA, the billboard's headline reads, "The New York Times. Unfair To Jill Abramson? Definitely Unfair To Israel."

As soon as the billboard was legible, NY Times reporters reporters went crazy,  flooding twitter with pictures of the new sign, an example of which is below.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting (CAMERA) provided their rationale for the placing the billboard:

Our billboard highlights the newspaper's habit of misrepresenting facts, omitting key information and skewing headlines, to encourage the newspaper of record to commit itself to its own promise of ethical journalism. The New York Times consistently distorts the truth about Israel — on the news pages and on editorial pages, in the body of the article or in the headline. Below is a sampling of the misrepresentations purveyed by the publication.

CAMERA backs up its claims with extensive research which includes the video below.

As Predicted, Corruption Prevails: John Conyers can appear on Michigan ballot, judge rules

5/23/2014

Above The Law: 40 year democrat congressman exempt from constitutional law obviously designed only for those who threaten his entitlement.

A federal judge ordered that Michigan Rep. John Conyers Jr.'s name be placed on the state's primary election ballot, likely sparing the veteran Democrat the need to mount a write-in campaign.

Just hours earlier, Michigan's secretary of state agreed with a county election official's decision to disqualify Conyers, since he failed to meet the requirement of submitting 1,000 valid signatures with his candidacy filing. Conyers had submitted 2,000 signatures, but only 455 were deemed to be valid, in part because some of the individuals who collected them were not registered voters as state law requires.

Judge Matthew Leitman, who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, sided with Conyers supporters' argument that the requirement that signature gatherers be registered voters was unconstitutional, citing a 2008 appeals court decision on a similar case in Ohio. If the 765 signatures ruled invalid because of the registration issue were counted, Conyers would exceed the required total and qualify for the Aug. 5 ballot, Leitman found.

The state has the right to appeal the decision.

Conyers, first elected in 1964 to represent the Detroit area in Congress, would be the heavy favorite to stay in office if not for the petition issue. He is in line to become the longest serving member of the body, which brings the honorary title of Dean of the House, when fellow Michigan Democrat John Dingell retires at the end of his current term.

Before the court ruling, Conyers' campaign said it was prepared to wage a write-in effort if necessary.

"The situation has energized the campaign," said Conyers spokesman Ron Scott. "Mr. Conyers is ready and willing. He's more excited than he's been in 50 years."

source

What The KKK Can Only Dream About, Planned Parenthood Is Doing!

5/23/2014

Source: Klan Parenthood

KUDOS GALORE!: Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett order allows drilling below public lands. Government Media Complex has a French Conniption

5/23/2014

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett issued an executive order Friday that allows drillers to extract natural gas from rock buried deep below Pennsylvania's state forests and parks, while barring drilling-related construction that would disturb the surface of the nearly 2.5 million acres of public lands.

The order authorizes the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to negotiate leases for the gas extraction through horizontal wells drilled from adjacent, privately owned lands or from areas leased for drilling in the state forests by previous administrations.

Corbett announced that he planned to issue the order when he unveiled his 2014-15 state budget plan in February. It rescinded a 2010 order barring any new leases on public lands.

The initial leases are expected to generate $75 million for this year's budget. The state plans to seek $3,000 per acre in future rents as well as an 18 percent royalty on the sale of the gas, said Patrick Henderson, a senior aide to the Republican governor.

"We announced this three months in advance," he said.

Henderson said the process of issuing the new leases will start with an exploration company making a proposal to the department, which would conduct case-by-case reviews before entering into an agreement. Permits from the Department of Environmental Protection also are required before any underground drilling could occur under public lands.

Environmentalists and other critics expressed concern and strong opposition.

David Masur, director of PennEnvironment, said the order sets "a horrible precedent."

"We have made it so easy to drill for natural gas on private land," Masur said. "It begs the question — is any place off-limits?"

John Hanger, who as state environmental protection secretary under former Gov. Ed Rendell helped write the 2010 order, dismissed the order as a "one-time budget gimmick."

"Corbett just does not understand that we cannot drill our way to prosperity, and we cannot drill our way to a balanced budget," said Hanger, who sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination but dropped out of the race before last Tuesday's primary.

Luzerne County Sen. John Yudichak, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, said he has introduced legislation to require the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to hold at least one public hearing before any of the new leases is executed.

Said PennFuture's president Cindy Dunn: "We need to get the public voice in the room on this."

Illegal immigrants can practice law in Florida

5/23/2014

AP file photo

LEGAL BEAGLE: Jose Godinez-Samperio of Largo, who came to the U.S. as a child and stayed in the country illegally, can become a member of the Florida Bar Association.

By Marianela Toledo | Florida Watchdog

MIAMI — Undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and succeeded academically rejoice. You can become a lawyer in good standing in the state of Florida.

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed into law a bill proposed by state Rep. Gregory Steube, R Sarasota, allowing undocumented immigrants to receive a law license as long as certain conditions are met.

The law is a victory for Jose Godinez-Samperio, who lives in Largo, and other young people like him who are in the country illegally.

Godinez-Samperio’s family left Mexico when he was 9 and stayed long after their visas expired.

Godinez-Samperio was his high school’s valedictorian and graduated with honors from law school at Florida State University. He pass the state bar exam in 2011, but his illegal status prohibited him for getting his professional license.

Godinez-Samperio had a work permit, driver’s license and Social Security number thanks to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program approved by Obama in 2012.

During the recent Senate session to decide whether Godinez-Samperio should be admitted to the bar, a few members opposed the idea. State Sen. Kelly Stargel, R- Lakeland, told the Senate the law could lead to terrorists becoming officers of the court.

“We can have people coming to this country who maybe prepare themselves, who look like they’re great citizens and act like great citizens and do all those things as a child but do not have good intentions, and now we are going to give them the opportunity to practice law in our country,” she said.

Florida is the not only state where the bar association challenged federal law to give professional licenses to an undocumented graduate. In California, the court ruled Sergio Garcia, an undocumented immigrant who came to the U.S. as a child, was entitled to a professional license to practice law.

Contact Marianela Toledo at Marianela.Toledo@FloridaWatchdog.org or on Twitter @mtoledoreporter.

Veterans Affairs bureaucracy stonewalls Florida health agency

5/23/2014

By William Patrick | Florida Watchdog

DENIED: State health inspectors have been repeatedly denied access to important VA documents.

DENIED: State health inspectors have been denied access to documents at six different VA hospitals.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Ailing veterans apparently aren’t the only ones waiting to receive services from Veterans Affairs hospitals.

So is the state of Florida.

Inspectors from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration tried to conduct an onsite review at the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville this week, but were denied access to requested documents.

It’s the second time in five weeks state health officials visited the Gainesville VA. The recent attempt was prompted by the “discovery of a secret waiting list.”

According to an agency spokesperson, AHCA became aware of the waiting list from a news report published by the Gainesville Sun, “Source: 3 suspended at Gainesville VA over mental health waiting list.” The list included over 200 patients.

Liz Dudek, secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, said in a statement her staff was denied access to review VA hospital system processes Monday.

“The VA has repeatedly denied the agency access to review processes and procedures, and has yet to acknowledge receipt of the agency’s Freedom of Information Act request that was filed 20 days ago. I am shocked at the VA’s lack of urgency and expected the VA to take this issue seriously given the repeated calls for action and transparency,” Dudek said.

The Gainesville stonewalling appears to be part of a larger pattern.

Since April 3, AHCA inspectors have been denied access to documents at six VA facilities across the state: West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, Bay Pines Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Hames A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Miami VA Medical Center, Malcom Randall VA Regional Medical Center, and Lake City VA Medical Center.

“We were turned away each time we attempted to complete an onsite review,” Shelisha Coleman, press secretary for AHCA, told Watchdog.org.

Inspectors were seeking information about the risk management and quality assurance process used by the Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 hospitals. Also known as the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network, VISN 8 is the nation’s largest system of hospitals and clinics serving 1.6 million veterans across Florida, South Georgia, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

AHCA administers Florida’s Medicaid program, and licenses and regulates more than 45,000 health care facilities and 34 health maintenance organizations.

“It is time for the VA to stop hiding behind bureaucratic rhetoric and take the necessary steps to ensure our brave veterans receive the quality healthcare they deserve in a reasonable timeframe,” Dudek said.

Contact William Patrick at wpatrick@watchdog.org