The Republican Party only offering $10,000.00 to save themselves, what a bunch of cheap bastards. That kind of money is not even worth lifting a finger to type a single letter. Here Republicans want someone to save them and that will not even pay what that would really be worth. That must be desperation turned into total stupidity.

Is Bill giving us the finger, that's not very nice!!!

It's cool you could get Aaron on. It is absurd what is going on at the VA.

Whoa, just saw the clock! It's way past show time.

I think Prez Bush would not have gone to war unless he was pressured from too many sides. I think one is the revenge for SCUD attacks. Israelis do not and cannot forget, being a tiny country. They are ruthless and take $40 billion(?) from US. Part of that flows back to god knows who. One day, I heard Bush saying at a meeting (CNN) 'He tried to kill my Daddy'. Note: 'daddy'. He has great respect to his father, the true gentleman.

I distinctly remember that in the 2000 election, Israeli lobby was on the side of the Democratic party. We even had a very popular car talk guy in Texas trying to pacify people about injustice to Palestinians. He was flamed down. That was just before 9/11 attack. That completely changed Bush and perhaps he ended up in a feeling of betrayal by those whom he was going to finally help (the Arabs).

Of course, journalists have to show that they are either on this or the other side. They have bosses and audiences to please.

Rachel you missed the point of the Tiger Woods round of Golf.

The "other two guys" in the foursome are the story. They are oil men from Texas and the news completely missed it because they knew the big name would be Tiger Woods

Get it out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a plan to make Veterans care a priority, do the same thing to War-Making that Congress did to the Post Office ... you CAN NOT START A WAR UNTIL YOU HAVE MONEY TO PAY FOR IT AND THE VETERAN CARE, and CONGRESSIONAL SuperMajority and the backing of at least 3/4 American people vote for it.

So, get the CIA, DOD et al OUT of Syria, Yemen, Libya et al.

Bob

Can we not demonize George W Bush, Dick Cheney and the Republican Party anymore than MSNBC already has?

So not surprising about the VA- my husband is a surgeon that rotates at a VA hospital occasionally- more than once he has needed the radiology people to come in on weekends to get some emergency X-rays- he was told "give them a break- it's Saturday". He is constantly frustrated with the crappy treatment the patients get from the entire staff, including doctors and nurses. The whole system is so messed up! This is not how we should be treating our vets!

Rachel, Follow the money and you will figure out quickly why the Bush Administration went to war.

Thank you for doing the story about the VA. It is such a shame that our vets must wait for over a year just to be told no. If you think the wait for just basic benefits is long. Look into the wait for an appealed decision. You are looking at 2 to 3 years on top of the over the year they waited the first time. I believe that the military should have separation program that explains to vets what benefits or programs they are entitled to including mental health treatment and school loans instead of just patting them on the back and send them on their way.

Since it's Internet that is providing the hard-hitting journalistic questions for the President and VP, and not the beltway press core, it's only fitting that Internet has a word for how the press core feels about not being allowed to stalk the President and Tiger Woods around a golf course:

"Butthurt."

Has the VA done much for the Vietnam vets? My husband's first ID card stated he was exposed to Agent Orange. That was deleted from his last one. He was only given money for a bus ticket home and had no exit interview. He was an innocent 18 year old when he went into the Army, but came out an alcoholic, violent, had a fascination with firearms, and had nightmares. He was physically and emotionally abusive. I was 17 when I met him, grew up in a rural area, and had no knowledge of any emotional problems. Family members told me females were lucky to have a husband. There was no place for abused women to go in the 60's.

He had a loaded gun in our house, started beating me again, and dropped the gun on the floor. My 13 year old daughter picked it up, screaming, "Leave her alone." The gun discharged, stricking him in th e neck. He is a paraplegic. That was in the 80's. I had to let people think I did it, (to protect my daughter), for the last 30 years. I'm in my 60's, quit a job to care for him after he had necrotising facitis, and lost myhealth insurance.

We have been trying to get service connected disability for a pension and better healthcare for years with no luck. The VA wants him to remember the names of those in the same foxhole, specific incidents, (which he described), and states he was not in a combat zone. He told them about going on patrols and having to kill Viet Cong.

His brother and sisters talked about him not eating meat when he got back, (cat, dog, and rat meat there), how he had changed from a quiet person to a loud, violent drunk, and how his personality completely changed. Soldiers could not travel in uniform to avoid being spit on, to avoid confrontations, and to avoid anti-wa demonstrators.

Why is the VA disregarding those who served in Viet Nam? My understanding is that ALL of Viet Nam was a combat zone. I'm not asking you to solve my problems. I'm asking why these men are still being mistreated by the VA? The only help offered is to put him in a nursing home since his injury is considered non-service connectd. I'm sure there are thousands being as ignored as my husband. Is there any way you can do a documentary on Viet Nam vets and how the VA is not taking responsibility for the lives of these men and women?

thank you rachel for your very important story on V.A. disability benefits. i am a veteran from the mid 70s who has a claim for partial disability for my legs and my back. i was a paratrooper with the 82nd airborne who now needs a hip and knee replacement. i have been waiting 3+ years for my operation. today i can barely walk, but still i wait patienly in line because i know i have brothers in arms with more needs then mine. but here is my little hitch to my story... i filed my case in september of 2011 through the Veterans Service Board. i waited for any response for 11 months. i made some phone inquiries, checked back with my service rep, then finally got my first response saying that my case was filed and is being reveiwed. funny thing though, it said my case was filed Sept. 18th, 2012. 1 year after i actually filed. so thats the new way the V.A. is holding up benefits. just eracing the first year of your wait. ive heard from other Vets in my area,(Ohio) that they have had the same thing happen. sorry i think i blathered on a little hear. my main point is this. THANK YOU for the story. PLEASE stay with it. hell even let big Eddie in on the poop. (my fav) love you and the whole gang at MSNBC! BTW...F the NRA!!!

just wanted to include this. all my medical right now goes through my local V.A. med center. they are great, along with the V.A. hospital in Cleveland! they rock and take very good care of us Vets. but alot of times their hands r tied by red tape.

The Hamilton County Board of Elections has issued subpoenas to 19 suspects and 9 witnesses for further questioning as a result of months of investigation into potential voter fraud, ABC affiliate WCPO 9 reported on February 6. More than 80 individuals in Hamilton County allegedly voted multiple times in the November 2012 election, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported weeks after election day.

Madisonville resident and long-time poll worker Melowese Richardson

According to local media, the Hamilton County Board of Elections winnowed the number of suspected fraud cases down as official investigators determined most of the double votes were cast due to misunderstandings, mostly made by elderly voters who voted absentee and voted again by provisional ballot at their polling places.

Section 3599.15 of the Ohio Revised Code dictates that “no person shall […] vote or attempt to vote more than once at the same election by any means, including voting or attempting to vote both by absent voter’s ballots […] and by regular ballot at the polls at the same election, or voting or attempting to vote both by absent voter’s ballots.”

In what may be the most visible of the voter fraud cases being investigated by authorities, Melowese Richardson, a Madisonville resident and long-time elections volunteer, allegedly voted up to six times for Barack Obama.

According to records, Richardson voted using an absentee ballot on November 1, and then voted again on Election Day. Richardson also forged ballots in the names of family members, casting ballots for grand-daughter India Richardson, Montez Richardson, Joseph Jones and Markus Barron.

Witnesses recalled that Richardson “was disruptive and hid things from the [poll] workers on elections,” adding that the “supplemental list” of voters who have already voted absentee in the precinct is missing and that workers at the polling place in question, the Madisonsville Recreation Center, failed to note which voters on the list had already voted.

Richardson explained to WCPO-TV 9 reporters that she thought that what she did was legal, vowing to “fight it for Mr. Obama and for Mr. Obama’s right to sit as president of the United States.”

Several other investigations are pending, as the board must meet to determine which cases should be submitted to the county prosecutor.

The cases include those of a Tennessee woman who voted in Ohio’s elections while she was visiting her mother in Cincinnati, multiple voters who provided vacant or nonexistent addresses, and an unknown individual falsely signing into the polling place and casting a ballot under a registered voter’s name.

In another case being investigated, an individual allegedly voted in the name of a dead voter during in-person absentee voting prior to election day. During the 2012 campaign season, the Ohio Democratic Party, President Obama’s re-election campaign, and progressive activist groups successfully lobbied for more permissive early voting rules and procedures.

bqhatevwr

Ever noticed that the "bing it on" guy with the microphone is the one who gets to decide on what they're searching on? It's pretty hard to be wrong if you only answer your own questions.

Dear Wolff and yes, Julia, you are both guilty of being humans. Not good. That is why we, as a society, invented Supermen and John Galt. You guys are, well, to common. And yes, you would probably make really good neighbors and all, but I want to fly thru the air defying reality. What do you mean, do I ever watch the show? Well, yah ! And yes, I do not take notes!!? Look, if there is no quiz at the end, what is the point?….just…saying….

Great piece on waiting for the VA to make a decision, Rachel. Thanks for going to bat for us.

Here's a rich one for you. I filed a claim for PTSD in 2002 after two suicide attempts in 2001, one on 9/11 and one when we invaded Afghanistan. It felt like Vietnam all over again.

I was denied without an offer of help. I have the Vietnam Service ribbon with two stars and was a gunner in a Marine medivac squadron. We were the most highly decorated Marine squadron in Vietnam.

In 2010 I reopened my claim and it was finalized in 2012. But they did not pay back to 2002 so I am now awaiting an appeal. I have no idea how long I'll have to wait now.

I've been homeless twice and had three failed marriages. I have no idea how many jobs I've had after graduating from college in 1972.

I feel all alone out here but there is no number at the VA I can call to talk to anyone.

Perhaps your focus on this problem will help all of us out here who are finding life a bit much to bear. Thank you again for calling attention to those of us who feel abandoned by our government.

Jim Kelly

HMM-163
Vietnam 1966-67

Regarding VA disability claims:

My wife, not a veteran, is disabled. It took her approximately three years, including two appeals, to get her disability claims approved by the Social Security Administration. This is important to your story for two reasons:

1. It suggests the problem is not limited to vets; it seems to be a bigger problem related to the way the federal government as a whole regards the disabled, vets or not.

2. Surely it also means that our nation's contemptuous treatment of the disabled who are NOT veterans deserves serious attention from TRMS and the nation as a whole. Veterans should be treated much better than they are ... but the same is true of ordinary citizens.

Regarding the V.A. backlog for benefits, when are you, Rachel, going to interview or do some investigation of the head of the V.A. and what they think. Who is the cabinet member responsible for the V.A.? Whom defunded the V.A. to allow this to happen?

Dear Ms. Maddow:

Saw your show last night and just wanted to comment boutthe guy from the investigative section. As a homeless veteran I can tell you countless stories of how the VA programs and especially the Homeless programs are biggest scam there is. These people justify their positions by keeping you homeless for as long as possible. When it comes to programs like their Drug and Alcohol 30 day programs a lot of guys end up in worse shape than they were before taking all those physco meds they put them on. They make entries in your records that are incorrect just to make themselves look good but they really don't perform any work or blow you off whenever possible. This whole system is set up on favortism, they take care of and find benefits for white veterans here while they only helping a select few black veterans from select programs such as Interlink here in Louisville, Kentucky. If you given the ooportunity I would love to tell how I came into the Homeless sytem here and the lenghts that I have gone to to try to get out. I've applied for jobs that I know I was over qualified for and finally figured it out the metro-govt. here has no intention of you getting out prior to seven to ten years of homelessness that way they continue to receive all those federal grants and it creates job security for the ever emerging Drug and Alcohol programs here and continual hiring of case managers and social workers. If you know any social workers or case managers looking for work teel themto make a bee-line to Louisville, KY work is plentiful working with the non-profits. If you would consider allowing me to share my story with your audience my cell phone# is (502) 795-9329 and my e-mail address is bipayton_05@yahoo.com. If that investigative reporter could be reached through you please tell him I would love to talk with him. I used to be an administrative specialist while on active duty and I have documentation, names and phone numbers. You would not believe the things that go on in this state in 2013. My mom has also been a victim she suffered a slip and fall accident at hospital due to know negligence of her own because the staff ther didn't put the safety belts on her when they got ready to to get her from her wheelchair to the bed. The nursing stated they would help her to rehab so she could return home, but they were really only interested in stealing her check which is exactly what they did after 100 days, they can do they legally without your consent. That was almost two years ago and her health has stedidly declined since that time, now I am a prisoner of the Homeless program here and she is a prisoner of the nursing home there. It's really sad because everybody deserves good health care even in a nursing home that's taking all your money and neglects you wihen they feel like it. I had attempted to contact all the organizations you are supposed to avoid this calamity before it happened but all my requests feel on deaf ears at the local, state and federal level. The reason other people don't here about the autrocities that are committed here is because they keep anything that will show them in a bad light under tight wraps. They sweep all their dirt uder the rug and it's easy to do here because you have to many people/organizations in bed with one another all for the sake of profit off someone else's misery while claiming to be in compliance with state and federal regulations, what a croc. My offer still stands, once again I say you would be shocked at what goes on in these shelters,nursing homes etc. Please contact me.