Nothing has changed at the Veterans Administration . . . A year after Americans recoiled at new revelations that sick veterans were getting sicker while languishing on waiting lists — and months after the Department of Veterans Affairs instituted major reforms — government data shows that the number of patients facing long waits at VA facilities has not dropped at all. No one expected that the VA mess could be fixed overnight. But The Associated Press has found that since the summer, the number of medical appointments delayed 30 to 90 days has largely stayed flat. The number of appointments that take longer than 90 days to complete has nearly doubled. Associated Press

Yup. Looks like Obama got right on it. ​

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Marie Harf thinks you are really stupid . . . State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf thinks you’re an idiot, because she thinks you will buy her line that President Obama was not saying something he clearly was saying. Harf said Obama wasn’t talking about the Iran deal when he said that “in year 13, 14, 15, they have advanced centrifuges that enrich uranium fairly rapidly, and at that point the breakout times would have shrunk almost down to zero.” White House Dossier

Harf to Kissinger: Such big words you have! . . . Acting State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf on Wednesday dismissed a critique of the Iran nuclear agreement from former secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, by saying their comments amount to “big words” and that the two secretaries don’t live in the real world. The Blaze

White House mocks Netanyahu . . . The White House has employed a graphic first used by Benjamin Netanyahu to push its case for a nuclear deal with Iran that the Israeli Prime Minister opposes. Bloomberg

Obama slow walks naming of envoy for persecuted Christians . . . President Obama is in no hurry to name a special envoy for Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East after Pope Francis pressed the international community over the Easter holiday to do more to draw attention to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's slaughter of Christians. Washington Examiner

White House backs ban on gay conversion therapy . . . In a statement late Wednesday, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said the administration supports banning so-called conversion therapy treatments for minors. "We share your concern about its potentially devastating effects on the lives of transgender as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual and queer youth," Jarrett said. Fox News

White House opens gender-neutral restroom . . . President Barack Obama’s staff and visitors now have the option of using a gender-neutral restroom, a White House spokesman said Wednesday — the latest in a series of symbolic steps the Obama administration has taken to work the priorities of the LGBT community into its broader themes of inclusiveness and tolerance. Politico

Secret Service supervisor accused of assault . . . The Secret Service has put a senior supervisor on leave and suspended his security clearance after a female employee accused him of assaulting her after-hours at agency headquarters last week, the agency said Wednesday. Washington Post

Documentary pulls back curtain on WH correspondents' dinner . . . The dinner remains, but the “nerd prom” weekend is now a five-day event with other dinners, brunches, cocktail hours, after-parties, “selfie-squads,” pre-parties and even a fundraising event for pets. Politico​

Two famous doctors have accused Obama of psychopathology . . . Okay, they’re both Republicans. And one of them is running for president, probably. But come on, play along here. White House Dossier

History Repeats

Obama Schedule || Thursday, April 9, 2015

Iran says sanctions must come off immediately . . . Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday demanded that all sanctions on Iran be lifted at the same time as any final agreement with world powers on curbing Tehran's nuclear program is concluded. Reuters

Uhh, I thought they had a deal.

Key nuclear site left out of Iran deal . . . The international framework nuclear agreement reached in Switzerland last week makes no specific mention of Iran’s Parchin military facility—a key location of suspected nuclear weapons work. The omission of Parchin in the formal statements released by negotiators after the deal was reached is raising questions about whether Iran will agree to disclose all details of its work on building nuclear arms. Washington Free Beacon

White House warns Iran on Houthi support . . . Washington warned Thursday it would not "stand by" while Iran supports rebels in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition pounded anti-government forces at the start of a third week of bombings. AFP

Another red line maybe? I'm sure Tehran is having a good laugh over this.

Tsarnaev guilty on all counts . . .  A jury on Wednesday found Dzokhar Tsarnaev guilty of killing three people and injuring 264 in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, as well as fatally shooting a police officer four days later. Tsarnaev, 21, was found guilty of all 30 counts against him, with 17 of the charges carrying the death penalty. The same U.S. District Court jury will now decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison without possibility of parole. Reuters

Tsarnaev mother calls Americans "terrorists" . . . Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s mother, Zubeidat, bashed Americans as “terrorists” Wednesday on social media for convicting her son — “the best of the best” — of 30 federal counts for the Boston Marathon bombing. A jury is now contemplating whether he will get the death penalty. Washington Times

Carson speaks at Sharpton event . . . Ben Carson, the black Republican and potential presidential candidate who once told Barack Obama his health-insurance plan was the worst U.S. policy since slavery, was an unlikely guest speaker Wednesday at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. "We need to talk about stuff we don’t talk about; we need to talk about the fact that 73 percent of our babies are born out of wedlock," Carson told the mostly black audience. "And that baby is four times as likely to grow up in poverty. Unless we talk about it, nobody else is going to talk about it." Bloomberg

This is very brave, and very necessary. African Americans need to hear this message, not the rhetoric of victimization. It's the only way the dire condition of the black community will improve. Republicans should do much more of this, both because it's the right thing to do and because moving even a small number of blacks into the Republican column can make a huge difference.

Cruz rakes in massive cash . . . Supporters of Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas have been able to raise an "unbelievable" $31 million for his presidential campaign over the past several days, with the money being funneled through four newly established super PACs, according to news reports. The magnitude of the war chest caught political observers by surprise, The New York Times said. Newsmax

Paul beats Clinton in swing states . . . 
COLORADO: Paul 44 - Clinton 41
IOWA: Paul 43 - Clinton 42
VIRGINIA: Clinton 47 - Paul 43
Quinnipaic

Media attack Paul as sexist after Guthrie interview . . . Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., became the target of media criticism Wednesday after he accused NBC News' Savannah Guthrie during an interview of "editorializing" her questions. "Politico's Ben White tweeted, "Politicians mansplaining to female journos how to conduct an interview is just, well, it's just very bad." Washington Examiner

"Rand Paul’s problem with female interviewers just cropped up again," headlines the Washington Post. All because he got in arguments with two female interviewers, one yesterday and another weeks ago. Because everything has to be about gender and race. Especially for Republicans. What if they were just doing their jobs better than their male counterparts and got under his skin?

Huckabee to Paul: This is the big leagues . . . “I think the questions are fair,” the former Fox News host and Republican presidential contender said on “Fox and Friends” on Thursday morning. “When you’re running for president, all is fair in love and war. This is war. This is the big leagues.” Politico

Paul only GOP hopeful supportive of Obama Iran approach . . . Paul has downplayed Iran as a national security threat in the past and in recent months voiced support for Obama's negotiations. Now, the Kentucky senator, who announced his presidential bid on Tuesday, is criticizing Obama as a weak negotiator and casting doubt on Iran's trustworthiness, but he is reserving his right to support the administration in the end. Washington Examiner

Should Republicans really pursue the Jewish vote? . . . Jews as an ethnic group are not Jews as a philosophic or religious group. Jews as an ethnic group have been largely secular for generations. They are highly educated with above-average income and live in major urban areas. Other than their ethnicity, there is precisely zero reason such a descriptor would fit a large mass of conservatives. Ben Shapiro

Work requirements in Maine reduce food stamp rolls . . . More than 9,000 Maine residents have been removed from the state's food stamp program since Republican Gov. Paul LePage's administration began enforcing work and volunteer requirements late last year, officials said. About 12,000 adults who aren't disabled and don't have children were in the program before Jan. 1. That number has dropped to 2,680 this month, David Sorensen, spokesman for the Department of Health and Services, told The Associated Press.

Record number of voters say taxes too high . . . The latest Fox News poll shows by a 67-18 percent margin, voters agree that the assessment by Ronald Reagan of the nation’s woes in 1981 applies today as well: That government is not the solution to our problems -- government is the problem. The portion seeing government “as the problem” is up 14 points from 53 percent in 2008. Fox News

Bob Schieffer to retire . . . Bob Schieffer, the veteran CBS News journalist and host of "Face The Nation," announced late Wednesday night that he intends to retire this summer, bringing an end to a journalistic career that has spanned more than five decades. He's 78. Politico

Protestors insist Catholic school hire gay teacher . . . Students and alumni of a Catholic high school in Iowa held a rally on Wednesday afternoon to protest a decision by school officials not to hire a gay teacher. Daily Caller

Should they have to hire Satan worshippers too? And no, I'm not comparing homosexuality to Satan worship.

​

Keith Koffler
Editor
White House Dossier