It is no mystery to many that the Mercatus Center at George Mason University belongs to the libertarian Koch brothers, who have worked since 1980 to clandestinely dismantle all government-funded health care, including Medicare, Medicaid, and VA health care.

President Donald Trump and his cabal are making every effort to privatize the VA. For that reason I was shocked this newspaper would give any legitimacy to a column from a research fellow at the Mercatus Center (“Commentary: Veterans Affairs to the forefront,” July 27).

As a service-connected, disabled military retiree who has received a variety of health care services from the VA, nowhere have I received more prompt, welcoming and professional medical attention than the VA. I have never had to wait for an appointment, or more than 10 minutes to be seen, and down to the receptionists everybody treated me with kindness and respect.

Further I have a lot of comrades who are, like me, in receipt of VA services and not one has had anything but praise to say about the VA system. I would urge the newspaper to be more selective in preventing this kind of garbage from getting coverage. If the paper wants to know about VA health care, ask a veteran.

Patrick Eisenhart

Augusta