This election season in Colorado was…busy, so maybe Mark Matthews just forgot about a decision made in October that is now impacting 1,000 construction workers right before Christmas. In mid-October, the Democratic Brass in Washington, D.C. decided to scrap a bill authored by Republican Rep. Mike Coffman that would have reinvigorated construction of the VA hospital. Why? Democrats were afraid the passage of the bill would help Coffman win his election. Here’s what The Denver Post said back in October:
“When Congressman Mike Coffman last month pitched an idea to reform how the government builds veterans hospitals, the U.S. House barely noticed — approving his proposal after just 20 minutes of debate. Indeed, the chamber did away with the usual recorded vote and instead passed it with a chorus of “ayes.” …But underneath, this fight is pure politics, with each side accusing the other of using the issue to gain an advantage. At stake is a potential edge in the Coffman-Romanoff contest, as well as the health of thousands of Colorado veterans who have waited for years for the VA to build a new clinic in Aurora.”
“Let’s hug it out. That’s the message that members of Colorado’s congressional delegation sent Thursday to warring factions at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Kiewit-Turner, the contractor hired by the VA to build a new hospital in Aurora.”
But strangely, Mathews didn’t say a peep about the hatchet job he did on Coffman’s VA push just before the election. White-washed is the fact that Democrats, in an obvious election year stunt, killed the bill that months ago that would have alleviated this VA mess to begin with. As we pointed out yesterday, this mess was bought and paid for Colorado Democrats. Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, then the Congressman for Aurora, carried the bill, then watched idly while President Obama’s corrupt VA bungled its construction.