Tammy Baldwin’s gross mismanagement of the Tomah VA scandal is taking center stage again in Wisconsin after Leah Vukmir turned up the heat on Baldwin at a roundtable where veterans shared stories about their struggles with getting the care they need.
Vukmir slammed Baldwin for letting Wisconsin veterans down and failing to act after a whistleblower repeatedly warned her office about the overpresciption of opioids at a local VA health care facility. “To have sat on a report, to have been the only person in this congressional delegation to have known that a doctor was over-prescribing opioids, a veteran died and many others became addicted, to me, it’s unconscionable,” Vukmir said.
Turns out even hiring the Clinton’s go-to fixer and attorney hasn’t been enough to make Wisconsin forget about Baldwin’s stunning incompetence or her willful decision to leave Wisconsin veterans behind.
Here’s what they are saying…
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Leah Vukmir and Tammy Baldwin exchange barbs on Tomah VA scandal and health care
“There are two things that voters are going to hear a lot about in the race for U.S. Senate: Tomah and health care.
On Monday, those two subjects were front and center in the battle between Republican Leah Vukmir and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Vukmir met with veterans in Franklin, heard their concerns and then criticized Baldwin over her response to the opioid scandal at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center…
‘Make no mistake about it: Tammy Baldwin let our veterans down at the Tomah VA,’ said Vukmir, a state senator from Brookfield. ‘To have sat on a report, to have been the only person in this congressional delegation to have known that a doctor was over-prescribing opioids, a veteran died and many others became addicted, to me, it’s unconscionable.’
The Tomah VA was wracked several years ago by a scandal involving over-prescription of opioids.
Fox 6 Milwaukee: Baldwin, Vukmir attack each other over care for veterans
“At Vukmir’s event, the veterans said they were looking to the candidate — whose son is a U.S. Army ranger — to push changes that would allow them to more easily get private medical care.
‘I’m thrilled we have the opportunity to send someone to go fight these fights, who has actual skin in the game,’ said Sam Rogers, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and is now a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student.
‘You have my commitment. Don’t worry about that,’ Vukmir them.During the nearly 90-minute discussion, Vukmir never mentioned Baldwin. But while talking with reporters afterward, Vukmir slammed Baldwin’s handling of the opioid prescribing scandal at the Tomah VA.
‘To be the only person on this Congressional delegation to have known that a doctor was over-prescribing opioids, a veteran died, and many others became addicted — to me, it’s unconscionable,’ Vukmir said.
Republicans have said Baldwin should have responded more urgently to a whistleblower’s concerns about opioid overprescribing.”