Isakson is following through on VA reform
It should come as no surprise, because repairing the most badly broken parts of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — most notably, its health care system — has been a priority for U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., for some time now. But Isakson and others have advanced the mission in the form of proposed reform legislation.
The push for reform has been more than lip service for the state’s senior member of the upper chamber. Last year, he visited VA facilities here in Georgia, and expressed outrage about the appalling state of affairs with regard to unresponsive bureaucracy and long waiting times for medical care or even an appointment. Such shoddy treatment of those who have been willing to put their health and their very lives on the line in defense of this country is not, sad to say, breaking news. But revelations about VA shortcomings (to put it kindly) have been far too prominent in the news over the last few years.
“As chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, comprehensive reform of the VA has always been and remains my highest priority,” Isakson said in a statement issued last week. “I have been working for weeks to craft bipartisan legislation that I believe can pass the Senate that would require significant improvements in the way the VA treats our veterans and holds its employees accountable.”
The bipartisan proposals would increase accountability for VA employees, expand access to care and increase the kinds of care available, and require the agency to pay local physicians for providing care that VA facilities, for whatever reasons, could not or would not provide.
This is an effort that should, and almost certainly will, continue to get broad bipartisan support in both houses and get the quick signature of the president. And the sooner the better.
“Anything less than that,” Isakson said, “is failing those who served us.”
Hitting Wall Street with a Splat
In this dismal start to what many fans already consider a dismal season regardless of on-field results (and few expect those to get much better, either) the Atlanta Braves’ stock is falling fast.
That’s not a metaphor.
Liberty Media, the franchise’s absentee ownership group in Colorado, announced last year that it would create a tracking stock for the Braves. “Liberty Braves” opened Monday on Wall Street at $36 a share … and closed at $19.95.
In other words, it dropped faster than a batted ball hit into a 2016 Braves glove.
As is the case with a 162-game baseball season, one bad day doesn’t give you the whole picture.
What it does suggest is that despite all the PR pouring from the Braves’ marketing department spinners about “rebuilding” for the future in a brand-new ball park fans weren’t clamoring for in the first place, the public isn’t exactly buying into it.
Literally.
This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Isakson is following through on VA reform."