The myth that Patty Murray is all that for Veterans.

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Murray's vet position is, perhaps, the biggest scam I've ever seen in politics.

Murray takes credit for doing things that, well, she doesn't deserve.

Unfortunately, if she has juice for Vets, she won't use it. For example, the clinic closure issue.

Some of the more ignorant Vets actually believe that Murray had anything to do with keeping some clinics open and expanding others here in Washington State.

She actually spent more time paying off campaign donors with earmarks then she did having anything to do with that.

See, the question Murray never answers about that is this:

If you had so much muscle, Murray.... then why did they even look at closing those clinics? The GREAT Patty Murray?

Well, if you were all that, they'd have never even looked at closing clinics here. The mere thought of angering Patty Murray by looking at closing VA facilities in WA State would have been immediately rejected, and IF Murray had all that muscle... or even concern.... then no Clinics in this state would have been reviewed.

What kept the clinics open was the system. That is, at the hearings I attended, the evidence was overwhelming that the facilities needed to be kept open, so they were. Murray had zero impact on that.

And, in fact, here's my Murray question, asked repeatedly but unanswered with equal frequency: Why is it that drugs I buy at WalMart, KMart, Fred Meyers, Costco, etc, cost 40% of what the VA charges?

Common drugs, like hydrochlorothiazide... cost $27 for a quarter (3 months) at the VA... and $10 a quarter at any of those stores.

My repeated question to Murray's office? Why is it that civilians who never served get a much better deal paying for their medications then us Veterans? Why is it that with the 5 medications I take, if I could get the script to get them from a store instead of from the VA, I'd save 5 X 17 X 4 ($340) per year? For those Veterans on a fixed income, this kind of expense can be devastating. And you won't even address the issue.

Her answer?

A deafening silence.

That begs the question as to why Veterans have to pay ANYTHING for our medical care... because that damned sure wasn't the deal when I enlisted in 72.

Nevertheless, if you can fix that, Patty, I might think, first, that you give a damn instead of using veterans as a political tool, and second, that you actually DO have some political muscle.

Meanwhile, this veteran ain't voting for you. This veteran is sick of you scamming Vets into believing that you either care, or that you've ever done anything for us, except use us.
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