FACT: ANGLE HAS HAD MORE THAN THREE MONTHS TO WALK BACK THIS STANCE AND CLARIFY THAT SHE DOESN’T WANT TO PRIVATIZE THE VA, BUT HASN’T
6/14: The Washington Post's Plum Line Ran A Post With This Headline, "Sharron Angle suggested we should privatize Dept of Veterans Affairs" [Washington Post, Plum Line, 6/14/10]
6/15: Politico Repeated The Claim, Made It Clear The Reid Campaign Would Be Focusing On It. “After accusing her of wanting to ‘wipe out’ Social Security and Medicare, Reid’s team is zeroing in on comments Angle made about wanting to privatize veterans’ health care — as well as her suggestion that there could be an armed revolution, depending on how things turn out in November.” [Politico, 6/15/10]
6/17: The Los Angeles Times Reported That The Reid Campaign Highlighted The Claim In An Attack On Angle. “Reid also posted Wednesday that National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn said Angle won’t be speaking to the media ‘for a few weeks’ – or until she can be prepped on the latest talking points to assuage concerns about her record (which includes sympathizing with a secretive right-wing organization known as the Oath Keepers, advocating that the U.S. leave the United Nations, opposing Wall Street reform, privatizing Social Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and shuttering the federal departments of Education and Energy).” [Los Angeles Times, 6/17/10]
8/7: Reid Spokesman Zac Petkanas Repeated The Charge To The RGJ. “Further, unlike Sharron Angle who wants to privatize the VA and eliminate Social Security, Sen. Reid has a long record of delivering for those who have served our country and he will always do so. Finally, given that Sharron Angle is attacking Senator Reid regarding the border the same week he delivered more than $600 million to secure it just further proves she has no idea what she’s talking about.” [Reno Gazette-Journal, 8/7/10]
8/25: Ralston Reported Harry Reid Himself Leveling The Charge At A Campaign Event. “On veterans: Reid expressed sympathy for a Vietnam veteran who had to go through the VA bureaucracy, then pivoted and said he wanted to say ‘a word about my opponent. She wants to privatize the veterans’ administration. Think about it!’” [Las Vegas Sun, Ralston’s Flash, 8/25/10]
8/28: The Elko Daily Free Press Reported That Senator Jon Tester, On Behalf Of The Campaign, Criticized Angle For Wanting To Privatize The VA In Elko. “[Senator Tester], who is on the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, said a large percentage of veterans in the West appreciate the VA clinics and veterans benefits have gotten better ‘under Harry’s watch.’ ‘It’s critically important to keep our heads on straight, and privatizing the VA is no way to do that,’ Tester said. He said one of the recent changes was to raise the mileage for veterans traveling for medical care from 11 cents a mile to 43 cents.” [Elko Daily Free Press, 8/28/10]
9/6: Reid Repeated The Claim To CNN. “It's a little hard to take out of context somebody who said they want to phase out Social Security, get rid of Medicare, privatize the VA Administration, do away with the Department of Energy, do away with the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, that all Presidential Executive Orders are unconstitutional, I like Emancipation Proclamation. Her words are what she is. My words are what I am. So I don't think you can run from what you say and what you do.” [CNN, 9/6/10]
9/7: Reid Repeated The Claim To Fox News. "Someone that wants to phase out Medicare, get rid of Social Security. Someone that wants to privatize the Veterans Administration, someone that wants to get rid of the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency. Someone who says that we didn't need to get more money for teachers.” [Fox News, 9/7/10]
9/17: Fox News’ Bret Baier Played Senator Reid Repeating This Charge During A Nationally Televised Interview With Angle, And Yet She Declined To Address It. [Friends of Sharron Angle YouTube Page, 9/17/10]
9/7: Reid Repeated The Claim To ABC. "I think it’s looking pretty good. I feel comfortable where we are. Certainly there's no dispute about the contrast. She's somebody who's against the Department of Energy, Department of Education. Wants to phase out Social Security, Medicare, privatize Veterans’ Administration, get rid of the Department of Energy, I mean Department of Education. She’s got a long list of negative hits." [ABC TopLine, 9/7/10]
9/12: Reid Spokesman Jon Summers Highlighted Wanting To Privatize The VA As One Reason Team Angle Abruptly Pulled Out Of A Debate On Face To Face. "There is a reason Angle pulled out of a statewide public debate: because she knows her extreme agenda to kill Social Security, store nuclear waste 90 miles away from the Strip, and privatize the Veterans Administration are not only bad economic policies, they are out of step with Nevada voters." [RJ, 9/12/10]