1 week Ago
VA health careRe “VA Healthcare is Improving” (Other Views, April 17): The Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins’ guest column is misleading at best and exemplifies the worst of our political nature. He accused Democrats and The Virginian-Pilot & Daily Press Editorial Board of lying and misrepresenting the current state of veteran health care.The new Chesapeake facility, which he takes credit for, will be at 30% capacity for more than a year.
The facility was years in planning and funding that he had nothing to do with. As for politicians, Sen. Tim Kaine never responded to my online query about the state of local VA care.
I got an empty response from Rep. Bobby Scott, and Collins left out Rep. Jen Kiggans, who won’t communicate with those not in her district.
Unless Collins has spent time like I have on the phone for hours trying to get an ID and appointment, the secretary has no right to make the claims he makes regarding our care. As a U.S.
Navy veteran, I have had appointments canceled without notice, waited almost a year for only one primary care appointment, and was unable to be seen by specialists. I have gotten no support from patient advocates other than “we know and are working on it.”Both parties need to own the problems and step up, act or step down.
Politicians need to stop treating the military and veterans as a soccer ball to be kicked around or a show pony to serve political purposes.Mike Vecerkauskas, NorfolkVirginia Beach votingRe “Va. Beach leaders eye ballot question on election system” (A1, April 2): In 2021, a federal judge ruled that Virginia Beach’s 7-3-1 voting system for City Council members “denies Hispanics, African Americans and Asians equal access to the electoral and political process” and that it violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
History and our own experience vividly confirm the findings. The first Black resident of Virginia arrived on a ship carrying enslaved Africans in 1619. It would be 367 years before the first Black member of the Virginia Beach City Council was elected, in 1986.
In the 2021 response to the federal ruling on the system, the Virginia legislature passed a bill outlawing Virginia Beach’s at-large system.When Virginia Beach paid to have a survey of public opinion on the issue, the results made it clear that the voters of Virginia Beach agreed (81% of respondents) that they prefer and support the 10-1 system.And according to a statement issued by Virginia Beach, “The City also received substantial information during that process which caused City Council to conclude that the 10-1 system used in the 2022 election is the only legally viable system under both federal and state law, including the Virginia Voting Rights Act.
”The current attempt by a small, anti-democratic, anti-equal rights minority to put up a ballot question with confusing language, in the hope that dark money and misinformation can once again hold sway, is thoroughly and completely contemptible. This city, this state and this democracy deserve better.Barry Nolan, Virginia BeachFlock camerasI find it interesting that some people are going to court to protest Flock cameras.
I have the perfect solution for your problem: Don’t break the law. Don’t pass a stopped school bus. Don’t speed in school zones or anywhere else.
Don’t go 10-50 mph over the speed limit. Don’t run inches from a car in front of you because they are not breaking the law.We wouldn’t even need speed cameras if all of us would consistently obey the rules of the road.
Also, please stay off your phone when driving; this makes all of us safer.Joyce Southern, Newport NewsSign up for Viewpoints, an opinion newsletter.
