Outside West Roxbury VA hospital, Lynch vows to fight White House wacko's bid to destroy VA, Ukraine

US Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-7th) joined VA and other government workers outside the VA Medical Center in West Roxbury today to denounce the Musk administration's moves to demolish the VA system, which started last week with the immediate layoffs of 1,000 VA workers across the country.

Lynch also vowed to fight the White House's lying efforts to hand Ukraine over to the Russians. "This crap that Ukraine started the war against Russia, come on, come on!" Lynch said. He said his cowardly Republican colleagues all know the truth about Ukraine because they all sat in secret briefings by the Pentagon that detailed how Russia prepared for its 2022 invasion and yet now almost none dare open their mouths. "Every Republican knows the truth ... knows that their president is a wacko," he said. "Shame on them! Shame on them!"

But Lynch, who also praised USAID for "doing God's work on behalf of the American government," concentrated on the VA and the veterans it serves in front of a crowd of 100or so people at the Spring Street entrance to the hospital.

"I've heard the president refer to them as losers and suckers," he said. "They are not losers and suckers. They are American heroes and we will not let the president disrespect their service to the country" - especially when the reason for that is not to increase government efficiency but to help pay for tax cuts for the ultra wealthy, which he said will likely be announced shortly.

If anything, the VA should be hiring more staffers for its hospitals and centers, because it was already thousands of workers short last year, just as it was seeing a new wave of would-be patients. With the new cuts, veterans seeking hospital care or even just a determination they're eligible for care could take up to eight months, he said.

"As every American knows, you don't balance the books on the backs of our veterans," he said, adding that if the US government were somehow down to its last dollar, "we'd spend that last dollar on our veterans, and justifiably so."

What Musk's minions are doing, he continued is beyond shameful, because by serving in the military, veterans more than earned their care at VA facilities. "We made a contract - we will be there for you no matter what happens during your service," he said. "They are heroes."

State Veteran Affairs Secretary Jon Santiago, himself a veteran, who gets his care at the West Roxbury VA, told the veterans, "We see you, we hear you and we're going to fight for you."

Jacqueline Rose, who has worked at the West Roxbury VA for 24 years, most of them as an RN, said the hospital now, especially after last week's cuts, is "an environment of uncertainty, confusion and fear," but said she and other workers will continue to do their best to care for the veterans they see. "We don't do this for the money, we do this because we love you," she said.

Also attending to support the VA workers: City Councilor Ed Flynn (South Boston), Boston Commissioner of Veterans Services Robert Santiago and state Sen. Mike Rush (West Roxbury), all three also veterans.