Larry Craig and his war with veterans

In light of this situation, the actions of toe-tapping Larry Craig deserve a quick look.

Senator Larry "I have a wide stance" Craig, R-Idaho, has garnered a great deal of attention for his solicitation of an undercover cop in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. But, aside from the hypocrisy, his sexual orientation is quite frankly, irrelevant.

No, Larry Craig had it in for the Veterans Administration. Craig was chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee when he tried to have the ban on competitive outsourcing at VA health and hospital facilities lifted.

Craig would have had veterans' health care go to HMOs and private care operators, the lowest bidders in most cases. He claimed it was fiscally responsible and that the VA needed to be measured against the US private health care system. He pointed out that the VA's performance indicators were low.

I guess they were. When the chairman of the committee responsible for oversight allows the person responsible for ensuring efficiency and good management to play missionary while drawing a large government salary, I would agree - there is indeed a performance problem.

(Hat tip - Chris)