LOOKING IN ON: WASHINGTON

Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006 | 7:01 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Patience is waning among Nevada's Democrats in Congress over the Veterans Affairs Department's inability to keep veterans' personal records from being lost or stolen.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, who serves on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, called for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson three months ago after the department disclosed that a laptop computer holding information for up to 26.5 million veterans and spouses had been stolen from a VA employee's home.

No sooner was the laptop returned then the department announced last week that another computer with records for up to 38,000 vets was missing from a VA subcontractor's office in Virginia.

That computer may have contained a wealth of information, from patients' Social Security numbers to medical billing information, the VA said.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said enough is enough and called for Nicholson's ouster.

"Less than a month after promising to make the VA the 'gold standard' in data security, Secretary Nicholson has again presided over loss of the personal information of thousands more veterans," Reid said in statement. "Our brave troops, who risk their lives to protect our country, should not also have to fight to protect their personal data again and again."

Republicans criticized Reid for playing partisan politics in going after President Bush's appointee. Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said Reid should support Nicholson with the tools he needs to fix problems in the agency.

Nevada Democrats got a good news-bad news report last week on their chances of turning two congressional seats from red to blue in the November elections.

CQpolitics.com , part of the venerable Washington-based Congressional Quarterly political publication, analyzed key races in its latest report on both parties' prospects for taking control of Congress in the fall.

Democrat Jill Derby got a boost when the report moved Nevada's 2nd Congressional District race from "Republican favored" category to the less-sure "leans Republican."

That's a notable shift in the Northern Nevada region where President Bush won by 57 percent in 2004, and outgoing Republican Rep. Jim Gibbons served five terms. The report cited the bruising Republican primary as three candidates - Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, former Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons and Secretary of State Dean Heller - battle in Tuesday's primary.

Across town, however, the Washington-based Cook Political report also issued a new scorecard last week, but it kept the 2nd Congressional District race in its safe category of "likely" Republican.

As for Democrat Jack Carter's chances for unseating Republican Sen. John Ensign, CQpolitics.com moved his chances further south. The report cited fewer resources for Carter and the party's attention on tighter races elsewhere in shifting the contest from "Republican favored" to "safe Republican."

The new president of the AARP is a Silver State retiree who wants to put health care reform at the top of the agenda in the 2008 presidential election.

Erik D. Olsen of Glenbrook said the nation should seize the opportunity, before Baby Boomers turn 65, to provide a medical system that meets their needs. The presidential election is a great forum to start the conversation, he said.

"I look upon the coming few years as almost a window of opportunity," he said Friday from his home near Lake Tahoe's east shore. "Hopefully they will debate this issue so we can get some action on health care reform."

He said health care is important to the organization's 297,000 members in Nevada, half of whom rely on Medicare.

Olsen had been president and chief executive of Delta Dental Plan of California before retiring in 1992. He was sworn in to the volunteer position in May, and expects to serve two years on the board that oversees the 37 million member national organization's mission and policies.

Olsen, who moved to Nevada 10 years ago, maintains an office at AARP headquarters in Washington.