Obama Signs Veterans Affairs Bill

There was at least one bit of good news this week, as President Obama signed the bill addressing a funding shortfall at Veterans Affairs on Thursday. The bill, which achieved bipartisan support, allocated $16 billion for hiring more doctors and nurses, allows veterans more use of private health-care providers, and strengthens the powers of the agency’s head to clean up abuses. “If you engage in an unethical practice, if you cover up a serious problem, you should be fired. Period,” Obama said. “If you blow the whistle on an unethical practice, or bring a problem to the attention of higher-ups, you should be thanked.”