The Washington Post has published AFGE’s response on the dismantling of the VA column by Charles Lane. The following is AFGE’s letter-to-the editor:
“In his April 23 op-ed column, “Why vets’ health care never works,” Charles Lane suggested that there is support among veterans for his proposal to dismantle and privatize Veterans Affairs health care. It should be known that the organization he describes as a “market-oriented policy group” is nothing of the kind. Concerned Veterans for America is a Koch brothers “Astroturf” creation, as much a Koch Industries product as Brawny paper towels or Angel Soft toilet paper and just as representative of the views and interests of veterans.
Readers deserve more transparency and better reporting than Mr. Lane’s complicity with the Kochs in destroying an agency that enjoys broad and deep support among America’s heroes. Our nation’s veterans and their families deserve a dedicated, comprehensive system for managing their unique and often serious medical ailments. Abolishing VA is not in the interest of veterans.”