Kutner (Kal Penn) gets "killed off" on "HOUSE, MD" goes to WHO / EOP (the 'White House' to the little people)

Mr. Obama welcomes actor Kal Penn to the world of Public Affairs (hear, hear!) SHOW BIZ + POLTICS collide again - 24 x 7 x 365 ....this must have been coming for quite some time. (sure! Barack picked up the phone and said, Kal, I have a job for you, ala JFK and Edward R Murrow with USIA)....Mr. Penn has been tweeting that he has been lecturing at the University of Montana and other college venues... great gig...perhaps prepping for this. I admit I am green with envy, and more. But he is smart, a fine actor and a good communicator, which is the major need. At this level, this can,  and will,  work. -- HVCG - ABPA

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Actor Kal Penn joins White House team

By Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Actor Kal Penn of the television show 'House' and the 'Harold and Kumar' movie series is joining the staff of the White House. Here, Penn is seen with President Obama - then President-elect Obama - on the National Mall in Washington on Jan. 18 during inauguration festivities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has hired actor Kal Penn as a liaison between President Obama's administration and Hollywood.

White House spokesman Shin Inouye said Tuesday that the actor who had a recurring role on the Fox TV showHouse and has starred in several movies would join the staff as an associate director in the Office of Public Liaison. His role will be to connect Obama with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as arts and entertainment groups.

Penn starred as Kumar in the movie, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

Penn was an Obama supporter during the campaign. The White House says a start date for Penn has not been set.

The hire was first reported by Entertainment Weekly.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Barack Obama | White House |Hollywood | Guantanamo Bay | Entertainment Weekly | Fox TV |Asian-American | Harold | Kal Penn | Pacific Islander | Kumar Escape | Office of Public Liaison

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.  

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President Barack Obama, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki at VA this week

 

(President Barack Obama speaks Monday, March 16, 2009 at the G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Conference Room at the Department of Veterans Affairs to 70 seated guests and a group of 150 watching from the balcony. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, whom President Obama praised for his distinguised career in the Army and his service to men and women in uniform, listens to the President's remarks, at left. White House Photo/Chuck Kennedy) 

 

 Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 8:18 pm

A 21st Century Department of Veterans Affairs

Today President Obama helped mark the 20th anniversary of the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Cabinet-level agency with remarks in Washington, DC.

 

The President paid tribute to this department, which was formed in its first incarnation over 70 years ago under President Herbert Hoover, and today stands as the second-largest of the 15 Cabinet departments, by pointing to the original vision of Abraham Lincoln "to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan."

 

In recalling his grandfather's service in Patton's army, President Obama expressed his profound gratitude to our nation's service members on behalf of the entire nation:

 

And I think about my grandfather whenever I have the privilege of meeting the young men and women who serve in our military today. They are our best and brightest, and they're our bravest -- enlisting in a time of war; enduring tour after tour of duty; serving with honor under the most difficult circumstances; and making sacrifices that many of us cannot begin to imagine. The same can be said of their families. As my wife, Michelle, has seen firsthand during visits to military bases across this country, we don't just deploy our troops in a time of war -- we deploy their families, too.

 

The President also expressed full support of Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, who is one of our nation's finest veterans -- having served a long and distinguished career in the U.S. Army. Under the leadership of Secretary Shinseki the Department of Veterans Affairs will be transformed for the 21st century. 

 

Over the next five years, the budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs will increase byover $25 billion (pdf). These funds will be used to expand the VA health care program so that in can serve an additional 500,000 veterans by 2013; to implement a GI Bill for the 21st century; to provide better health care; and to dramatically improve services related to mental health and injuries like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. The funds will also be used for technology that will ease the transition from active duty to home for our nation's service members. (((  Since this announcement he has much improved on even this. )))

 

For the entire Administration, the 20th anniversary of the Department of Veterans Affairs is a reminder of our debt of honor to the men of women who have fought to defend our freedom and for all involved it is an honor to undergo the work of transforming the Department for the 21st century.

from THE WHITE HOUSE BLOG

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/16/A-21st-Century-Department-of-Veterans-Affairs

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MOAA "Our voices were heard" - White House scratches VA plan for private insurance

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White House caves on veterans plan, but what was it thinking?
McClatchy DC ^ | March 18, 2009 | David Goldstein

Posted on Thursday, March 19, 2009 5:40:01 AM by 2ndDivisionVet

The Obama administration on Wednesday abandoned a controversial plan to make veterans use private insurance to pay for costly treatments of combat-related injuries.

Stung by the angry reaction to the proposal, the administration made the decision after a meeting between officials from 11 veterans advocacy groups and top White House officials.

"Our voices were heard," said Norbert Ryan, the president of the Military Officers Association of America. "They made the right decision on this."

The plan would've reversed a longstanding policy of providing government health coverage for all service-related injuries. Few details emerged beyond its reported savings of $540 million, however.

Most veterans use private insurance only for health problems unrelated to their military service.

"This is a moral issue for us," said Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

What was most puzzling to experienced activists and others was that the White House floated the idea in the first place. Several said that the administration came off as politically tone deaf to the importance of the issue.

"They've grabbed hold of the 'third rail' and they shouldn't have done this," said Rick Weidman, director of government relations for Vietnam Veterans of America. "If they had asked anyone informally, we would have informed them, 'Are you kidding? All hell will break loose.'"

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that the intent of the plan had been to "maximize the resources available for veterans."

He said, however, that President Barack Obama, who met with the veterans groups on Monday in their first trip to the White House, recognized their concern that it could "under certain circumstances, affect veterans and their families' ability to access health care."

(Excerpt) Read more at mcclatchydc.com ...

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