An investigation disclosed this morning revealed that the leadership of the Department of Veterans' Affairs knew as far back as early 2012 that the VA facilities in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas were keeping phony appointment lists along with secret ones so that the VA could keep the vets waiting months for treatment while the managers at the VA could still get bonuses for good performance on the job.
Here is how USA Today put the main point:
Department of Veterans Affairs administrators knew two years ago that employees throughout the Southwest were manipulating data on doctor appointments and failed to stop the practice despite a national directive, according to records obtained by The Arizona Republic through a Freedom of Information Act request.
A 2012 audit by the VA's Southwest Health Care Network found that facilities in Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas chronically violated department policy and created inaccurate data on patient wait times via a host of tactics.
The practice allowed VA employees to reap bonus pay that was based in part on inaccurate data showing goals had been met to reduce delays in patient care, according to the VA Office of Inspector General. At the Phoenix medical center alone, reward checks totaled $10 million over the past three years.
So now we know that the national leadership of the Veterans' Affairs Department knew about the scandal and did nothing to stop it for two years. Hundreds of vets died during that time while awaiting treatment that they had been promised.
As usual, since the scandal first broke into the public consciousness about a month ago, president Obama has done nothing to change the practices at the VA. He did get the secretary of the Veterans' Affairs Department to resign, but there has been no changes made to affect the lives of the vets themselves. Obama has once again played the outsider, the supposed leader kept in the dark by his own administration. He announced himself mad as hell about the problems here, but that is as far as it went. The Obamacrats all followed suit and claimed that these were local problems (which just happened to affect hospitals all across the country with similar behavior). They told us that no one in Washington knew about it. Now we know that the claim was just another lie.
Will we see action now from Obama? I can almost guarantee that the answer is a resounding NO. The truth is that I know fully understand Obama's original campaign slogan of "hope and change". The truth is that Obama "hopes" for "change" but does nothing to bring it about.
Our vets deserve better than this. They always have! It's time for the average American to contact his or her congressman and senator and demand action to fix the VA system. That does not mean throwing more money at the problem. It means firing the scum who worried about their bonuses instead of caring for the vets. It means getting rid of the administrators and replacing them with more doctors who can reduce the backlog for care. If there is not sufficient fat in the system to redirect towards better care for the vets, then (and only then) America should spend more to give these men and women what they were promised.
Here is how USA Today put the main point:
Department of Veterans Affairs administrators knew two years ago that employees throughout the Southwest were manipulating data on doctor appointments and failed to stop the practice despite a national directive, according to records obtained by The Arizona Republic through a Freedom of Information Act request.
A 2012 audit by the VA's Southwest Health Care Network found that facilities in Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas chronically violated department policy and created inaccurate data on patient wait times via a host of tactics.
The practice allowed VA employees to reap bonus pay that was based in part on inaccurate data showing goals had been met to reduce delays in patient care, according to the VA Office of Inspector General. At the Phoenix medical center alone, reward checks totaled $10 million over the past three years.
So now we know that the national leadership of the Veterans' Affairs Department knew about the scandal and did nothing to stop it for two years. Hundreds of vets died during that time while awaiting treatment that they had been promised.
As usual, since the scandal first broke into the public consciousness about a month ago, president Obama has done nothing to change the practices at the VA. He did get the secretary of the Veterans' Affairs Department to resign, but there has been no changes made to affect the lives of the vets themselves. Obama has once again played the outsider, the supposed leader kept in the dark by his own administration. He announced himself mad as hell about the problems here, but that is as far as it went. The Obamacrats all followed suit and claimed that these were local problems (which just happened to affect hospitals all across the country with similar behavior). They told us that no one in Washington knew about it. Now we know that the claim was just another lie.
Will we see action now from Obama? I can almost guarantee that the answer is a resounding NO. The truth is that I know fully understand Obama's original campaign slogan of "hope and change". The truth is that Obama "hopes" for "change" but does nothing to bring it about.
Our vets deserve better than this. They always have! It's time for the average American to contact his or her congressman and senator and demand action to fix the VA system. That does not mean throwing more money at the problem. It means firing the scum who worried about their bonuses instead of caring for the vets. It means getting rid of the administrators and replacing them with more doctors who can reduce the backlog for care. If there is not sufficient fat in the system to redirect towards better care for the vets, then (and only then) America should spend more to give these men and women what they were promised.
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