The Week Just Passed: 

Memorial Day – Honoring America’s War Dead 

Tragic Neglect of Our Veterans at the VA

Weak Economic Recovery Leaves Unemployed Deeply Discouraged

Obamacare Ready to Use Tax Dollars to Bailout Insurance Companies

Patient Choice a Thing of the Past Under Obamacare

Salute: Cedar Crest “Field of Honor”

Salute:  Class of 2014 at County College of Morris and Montclair State University

Salute: Picatinny Arsenal Receives Energy Efficiency Award

Salute: Bloomfield Soccer Club’s U16 Boys Bloomfield United Team

 

Memorial Day – Honoring America’s War Dead 

This coming Monday, May 26, Americans will once again mark Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor all those who gave their lives in service to our nation. 

As a grateful nation, we should always remember that the liberty we enjoy has been paid for, time and again, by the lives of the hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans who gave, in Lincoln’s words, “the last full measure of devotion” in the defense of our great country.

And, we always remember those who still serve here or abroad doing the work of freedom.

This article provides a fascinating look back at the history of Memorial Day

Tragic Neglect of Our Veterans at the VA

The growing scandal about the tragic neglect of patients at numerous Department of Veterans Affairs hospital facilities, coupled with the attempts to cover-up just how badly the system is failing our veterans, reveals a true dereliction of duty by the VA to those men and women who did their duty for us. 

Both Dana Milbank writing in the Washington Post and Major Garrett writing in the National Journal are highly critical of the President for ignoring this crisis for years.

To enable the Department of Veterans Affairs to move swiftly to replace those responsible for this disgrace, I joined a strong bipartisan majority of my colleagues in passing H.R. 4031, the 2014 VA Management Accountability Act.  This bill, if passed by the Senate and signed by the President, will make it easier for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to fire or demote senior executives who are failing at their jobs to provide the best possible care to America’s veterans.

The President has a sacred duty to fix this disgraceful state of affairs – and fix it now!

Weak Economic Recovery Leaves Unemployed Deeply Discouraged

A recent survey shows that nearly half of the nation’s unemployed have given up looking for a job.  The nation’s economy is stuck in the doldrums.  We are experiencing the slowest recovery from a recession (which ended five years ago) since the Great Depression!

The President’s economic policies have done nothing to encourage economic growth and job creation.  In fact, his administration’s policies have hindered it.  The House has passed 40 bills designed to give the economy the jump start it needs to start creating jobs.  Unfortunately, these bills are stuck in the Senate.

It’s long past time for the Senate Majority Leader to bring these bills to the Senate floor.

Obamacare Ready to Use Tax Dollars to Bailout Insurance Companies

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times earlier this week, “The Obama administration has quietly adjusted key provisions of its signature healthcare law to potentially make billions of additional taxpayer dollars available to the insurance industry if companies providing coverage through the Affordable Care Act lose money.”  According to a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), “…HHS will use appropriations as available to fill [any insurance company loss]."  Evidently, the taxes collected under the 2010 law will still not be enough to cover the costs of implementation!

This is yet another example of the underlying flaws in the Affordable Care Act.  In an effort to keep premiums from rising too far, too fast, the Obama administration is ready to use even more taxpayer dollars to cover any losses!  This is nothing more than a shell game designed to make Obamacare seem less expensive than it is.

Patient Choice a Thing of the Past Under Obamacare

We have known for some time that the President’s promise “if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor” was not true.  It turns out the situation is growing even worse, now that the open enrollment period has ended. 

Reports are coming in that some doctors and hospitals that were in certain  insurance networks during the enrollment period are beginning to withdraw from those networks.  This means that even if you selected a certain policy because your doctor was in that insurance company’s network, there’s no guarantee that doctor will stay in your network.  So what limited choice you had may also be going away.

This article from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute provides the details on this latest Obamacare bait and switch.

Salute: Cedar Crest “Field of Honor”

I salute all those at Cedar Crest in Pequannock Township for creating a stirring display of patriotism in honor of all those who have served in America’s armed forces. 

More than 250 full-size American flags are flying atop 8-foot poles along Cedar Crest Drive off Route 23.  The flags were donated by Cedar Crest residents, staff and local businesses and will be flying through Memorial Day, May 26^th. 

If you are in area, I urge you to drive past and take a moment to remember all those who have given their lives in the service of our country.

Salute:  Class of 2014 at County College of Morris and Montclair State University

Congratulations to the members of the Class of 2014 who graduated yesterday from the County College of Morris and who graduated this morning from Montclair State University!

I salute all these students and their families for their commitment to the pursuit of the knowledge and their determination to prepare themselves for a bright and rewarding future!

New Jersey’s institutions of higher education are one of the many things that make New Jersey a great place in which to live, work, and learn!

Salute: Picatinny Arsenal Receives Energy Efficiency Award

Picatinny Arsenal was awarded recently the 2013 Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Award.  This award commends the arsenal for achieving significant energy savings.

This is yet another example of Picatinny’s across-the-board commitment to excellence.  Not only is Picatinny in the forefront in developing new weaponry for our armed forces, but it also is leading the way in reducing its energy use.

Salute: Bloomfield Soccer Club’s U16 Boys Bloomfield United Team Wins NJ Cup

Congratulations to the Bloomfield Soccer Club’s U16 Boys Bloomfield United team for winning the prestigious New Jersey Cup! 

This outstanding victory in a very competitive tournament is a great credit to the hard work and teamwork of everyone affiliated with the Bloomfield Soccer Club’s U16 Boys Bloomfield United team.

Best of wishes to the team for many more victories!