Clinton outlines proposals to improve Veterans Affairs

Associated Press

DERRY, N.H.

Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined steps to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday, casting herself as a protector against proposals to privatize the sprawling health care system for those who have served in the military.

In a pre-Veterans Day event, the Democratic presidential candidate said she would seek to improve veterans’ health care, modernize veterans’ benefits system and address an unwieldy bureaucracy that was exposed in a scandal involving chronic delays for those seeking medical care or to have their claims processed.

“These problems are serious, systemic and unacceptable. They need to be fixed,” Clinton said at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. She added: “Privatization is a betrayal, plain and simple, and I am not going to let it happen.”

Clinton’s town-hall meeting included questions about how she might tackle the threat posed by Islamic State militants if she becomes commander in chief. Clinton said in response to a question that she does not currently support a declaration of war against the Islamic State given the diffuse nature of the group and the potential costs. “If you have a declaration of war, you better have a budget that backs it up,” she said.

At another point, a man who once worked for Hewlett-Packard told Clinton that when he sees Republican candidate Carly Fiorina, a former HP chief executive, on television, he wants to reach in and “strangle her.”

Clinton laughed along with the audience as the man said, “I know that doesn’t sound very nice.” Clinton told him, “I wouldn’t mess with you.”

Republicans National Committee spokeswoman Allison Moore said that the joke was in poor taste and that Clinton and Democrats had “lost all credibility claiming to be a party that stands up for women.”