Tag Archives: Veterans Affairs

Veterans Administration Strikes Again

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Now we have a decorated WWII veteran, a Purple Heart winner from injuries he suffered while in a Philippines foxhole, the attack on which killed two of his fellow soldiers and wounded a third badly enough to require a leg to be amputated. He was patched up and returned to duty; over the course of his tour, he earned two Bronze Stars.

This man has never asked for any help from the Veterans Administration until now: he and his wife are in their 90s, they’re living in an assisted living facility, they’ve sold most of their possessions to pay for the facility, and they need his VA benefits.

No dice. Despite having

his discharge papers, a roster of those injured in the attack, and the X-ray taken of his leg after he returned home [and that Purple Heart and those Bronze Stars]

The VA is claiming it has no record of his having served. Discharge papers. That x-ray (taken at a VA hospital shortly after his discharge, pursuant to having some remaining shrapnel from that attack removed). No, these official records aren’t good enough for the VA.

The VA wants affidavits from his fellow soldiers, most of whom at this late date are dead; and proof of treatment from the hospital where he was treated in the Philippines, a field medic station that existed, as such facilities do, on a strictly ad hoc basis.

The VA is still refusing him and his wife his benefits.

Veteranos administratio delende est.

Veterans Affairs, Yet Again

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Screen shots from a leak inside VA show Secretary Bob McDonald is diverting emails from whistleblowers into a special account within VA Central Office. The lists of names on the screen shot are titled “Sec Divert Internal.” The IT worker turned whistleblower told Washington Examiner that he/she believes the emails from those workers are being sent right to DC.

After Congress initiated the probe, VA admitted it was monitoring some emails that were flagged and diverted to DC.

Of course, the VA is saying the diversions are entirely innocuous.

Here’s the perspective of one of those whistleblowers, Scott Davis:

Instead of diverting the emails to ensure the matters are resolved, Davis’ emails are being diverted to his superiors.

Plainly, he’s already been to his superiors; that’s why he’s having to blow whistles. There is no legitimate reason to divert his whistleblowing communications back to those superiors who’ve done nothing about the problem already or given no rational answer for why they were unable.

And, it seems to be occurring without the whistleblower’s knowledge, and certainly without his permission. This is what SOFREP has on the matter:

A congressional investigation has been opened over allegations that the Department of Veterans Affairs has been diverting the emails of whistleblowers in an effort to spy on them. It does not appear to be a question of if they were, it is a matter of why they were, since the VA has admitted to the flagging of the emails. In an ethical matter like this, it is very difficult for the VA to justify their actions, particularly when email rules such as “Sec Divert Internal” are used. The VA wasn’t just spying, they were redirecting those emails without the sender being aware.

Veteranos administratio delende est.

Malfeasance

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It’s rampant at the Veterans Administration. And “leadership” there and in the White House plainly don’t care, as their decision to be inactive demonstrates. Here are some examples, from The Wall Street Journal.

  • After the biggest scandal in VA history, in which 110 VA medical facilities across the country maintained secret lists to hide long waits for care, only three low-level VA employees have been fired for wait-time manipulation.
  • In September the VA’s Office of Inspector General revealed that two VA senior executives inappropriately used their authority to game the agency’s hiring system, allowing them to benefit from more than $400,000 in taxpayer-funded relocation expenses. [The VA reassigned them at their existing salary rather than terminating them for cause.]
  • In December the public learned of two internal VA investigations that found whistleblowers at the Phoenix VA Hospital were retaliated against by two senior managers…. More than a year after…the VA has refused to hold them accountable.

Robert McDonald, VA Secretary, promised to fix this sort of thing when he was handed the job 16 months ago. These failures are demonstrations of his decision not to rock the boat. That his decisions have been allowed to stand unchallenged are clear demonstrations of President Barrack Obama’s lack of concern for the welfare of our veterans.

veteranos administratio delende est

Why Aren’t They

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…fired for cause?

The Department of Veterans Affairs said Friday two high-ranking officials were finally demoted in response to a federal probe that found they manipulated the agency’s personnel system for their own gain, but a key lawmaker is asking why they weren’t prosecuted.

The two high-ranking officials are Diana Rubens, director of VBA’s Philadelphia regional office, and Kimberly Graves, director of VBA’s St Paul regional office. The behavior of these two women (I won’t call them “ladies;” their behavior has established what they are, and they’ve already named their price) warrants termination for cause.

Congressman Jeff Miller’s (R, FL) question—he’s the “key lawmaker”—is an entirely valid one, too. Their behavior seems criminal enough to warrant that type of investigation, too.

And my own question: what has taken the VA so long to do even this trivial hand-slap? Even the original October move (allegedly having to be redone due to “administrative error”) was far too slow in coming. What’s the VA’s excuse [sic] here?

Veteranos administratio delende est

Democrats and the VA

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I’ve written a number of times about the Veterans Administration and the need to get rid of this dysfunctional government entity.

Now we get Democratic Party Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton doubling down on this failed VA and on her desire to expand Big Government further and to extend crony capitalism to a new arena.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is offering her vision for veterans’ health care, promising to fight full-fledged privatization while proposing the government contract with private providers for a range of health services.

Government has shown its incompetence in matters of health (among others), so her answer—the typical Progressive Democrat answer—is to have more of it. Crony capitalism has shown its profitability for politicians of any stripe, so this Progress Democrat wants more of that pie for herself. She wants Big Government to stay involved in the health care of our nation’s veterans, but she wants to shift that involvement to the health providers her administration will favor.

This would be foolishness if it weren’t dishonesty.

Veteranos administratio delende est.