One year ago, The Center for Investigative Journalism exposed the tragic results of a failing VA system in Tomah, Wisconsin – which Senator Russ Feingold knew about and failed to act upon years earlier.
As Gannett reported back in October, the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center’s union president sought the help of Senator Feingold as early as 2009 – five years before the death of a Marine:
"The union president at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center tried to alert congressional Democrats about the over-prescription of opiates at the facility as early as 2009 — five years before a 35-year-old Marine died there when doctors prescribed him a fatal mixture of drugs…Lin Ellinghuysen, president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees that represents Tomah employees, outlined the issues in an April 2009 memo that is marked as having been "hand-delivered" to Rep. Ron Kind, then-congressman Dave Obey and then-Sen. Russ Feingold."
These are the hand-delivered memos that Senator Feingold denies having recollection of:
As a Tomah VA whistleblower said of Ellinghuysen’s efforts:
"Every elected official had ignored her"
Perhaps the only thing worse than what Russ Feingold didn’t do for our veterans while in Washington for two decades is what he did do:
- Voting at least 7 times against funding for veterans benefits;
- Voting at least 12 times against pay raises for members of the military;
- Voting to cut funding for the construction of new VA inpatient facilities;
- Opposing an amendment to ensure veterans have similar access to care regardless of where they live.
As an Afghanistan war vet recently explained to Wisconsin Watchdog:
Feingold’s legacy is leaving veterans ‘high and dry’
Years after he was fired by the people of Wisconsin, Feingold’s legacy of leaving veterans ‘high and dry’ continues with the fallout of the Tomah VA.
Unlike Senator Feingold, Wisconsinites will not ignore that shameful legacy.