Cantor Ousted By Tea Party + Extreme Wait Times At VA Hospitals – Wingin’ It Wednesday

This week on "Wingin' It Wednesday", panelist Mike Stagg and Carol Ross joined "Nathan and Bernie in the Morning" to discuss House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's shock upset as well as trouble at the Veterans Affairs Department.

Here's what the panel had to say:

1. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor suffered a stunning defeat in Virginia's Republican primary. Cantor lost out to Tea Party challenger Dave Brat. Your thoughts?

Mike Stagg started us off:

One of the theme’s that Mr. Brat ran on was that Cantor was not in contact with his district.He was all about Washington. That’s a pretty common refrain that a lot of candidates can use for a lot of incumbents.
It’s clearly a stunning defeat. It should send pretty powerful shockwaves across broad spectrum of political leaders both parties.

Carol Ross posited:

I was very impressed with how he stuck to the fiscal issues. Cantor obviously did not pay attention to constituent concerns. Mr. Brat was a very credible candidate, and that’s what people want. He’s an economics professor and if theres anything that will stand out in the upcoming election, it is the economy

2. The Veteran Affairs Department has released data showing the average wait time for a new patient at Louisiana's three major VA medical centers.  The information shows wait times run anywhere from 30 to 51 days depending on the hospital and type of care needed. Your thoughts?

Carol started us off:

It’s a symptom of a government completely broken There are so many people so invested in making themselves look good that they’re willing to falsify wait times. It’s symptomatic of every area of government. Just bloated and unresponsive.To see our veterans being treated this way it does not inspire confidence in the government. This will play into a lot of elections coming up.

Mike concluded:

There is not a veterans hospital in New Orleans right now. A lot of them are being bussed to Jackson, Mississippi, depending on what the need is.
It was House and Senate Republicans who blocked the bill for veterans benefits this year. It’s typical hypocrisy. Senator Bernie Sanders had a package of bills that were supposed to address these issues, including accountability for the people who were accused and were found to be fixing the numbers, and also expanding the veterans clinic in places like that gets the funding

Click the play button below for a full audio replay of the show:

Now it’s your turn to tell us what you think about today’s Wingin’ It Wednesday topics. Who got it right, who got it wrong, and who was way off? Let us know in the comment section.