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I don't know the specifics of the bonus stuff and suspect you don't either. But, I have seen the rapid demand growth and it is reasonable to assume that due to budget constraints, some of the administrators are not being paid what an non Govt administrator might be paid. Perhaps the VA is trying keep those they feel are doing well. If they are doing well because of false reporting, I strongly think there will be repercussions. I think that kind of stuff is what the investigation is intended to find out. Jumping the gun without the facts is a John McCain thing to do. We sure don't need that.
First, let me congratulate you on your lottery win at the VA - 20% are now falling into the category of 'no care'. You are among the lucky 80% and don't care about the others as long as you are doing OK.
How many "reports" will be enough? There were two that were issued just last year on these problems.
One by the VA Inspector General ..... and by the way - is everybody aware that the VA doesn't have a permanent IG? They have had an "acting IG since Obama took office. Those "acting IG's" are hoping for permanent appointment recommendations by the Secretary of their Department (in this case it's Shinseki) and have more loyalty to the politicians than to the Inspector General's Office.
The other report is from the office of Inspections of VA Medical Inspections - it was also a damning report. We can add the Investigative reports from CNN and other news organizations AND all the lawsuits that the VA has to settle every year in the Millions of Dollars over delays and medical map-practice ...... but hey, Obama says we can't do anything at all until we get another REPORT (internal of course by his Deputy Chief of Staff and Secretary Shinseki) of the VA facilities in 26 States. I wonder how many decades it's going to take to get those reports. Links to these reports are in the CNN article. I've already posted the letter that the Chairman of the House Committee sent to Obama earlier this year about these delays and lack of care - Jeff Miller got zero acknowledgment of his letter. There is really no excuse for that.
About those bonuses - lot's of news reports about the amounts of some of these bonuses and it didn't take me long to find the Bonus Structure at the VA (also works for other Federal Organizations) - there is a limit of $10,000 per year in cash, but that can be over-ridden by the signature of the Secretary - which must be happening because of the reports of some bonuses in the $50,000+ range.
The House passed a bill last night to give Secretary Shinseki the authority to start firing people and go after whoever is ordering these memos (leaked to the press now) that document how they are cooking the books .... Shinseki is on record as opposing this legislation, Obama has made no comment about it and now we will see what Harry Reid and the Senate do with this Bill.
Even the Democrats are not going to like the idea of stonewalling a Bill that authorizes firings for policies that result in needless death for War Veterans. Some are already speaking out on it. CNN is reporting this morning that what we have learned so far is nothing compared to new information coming forward now with the whistle-blowers all over the country.
Obama blew it yesterday in his speech, just as Shinseki blew it in his testimony and is now resisting the subpoena for his records. The Prez heads off today for another pair of Fund Raisers (the 10th in the last 3 weeks) - he is totally disengaged on the growing VA Scandal and can't do more than give an empty speech where he touts how much money he has given to the VA (too late to blame Congress for no funding) and that he has order a REPORT ..... yet again, while ignoring all the other Reports on record.
This puts Harry Reid on the Hot Seat. It's also interesting that Secretary Shinseki does not want this extra authority to fire the bad apples in the VA Administration. President Obama has "no comment" about the bill.
The President is in charge and can fire any of his appointees.
This president has NEVER worked anywhere where employees could be fired so how can we expect him to know how to handle this situation or the numerous other incompetents he should have fired? He is a clueless man.
if you hire new people, and they must operate by the same byzantine rules set by congress, then what's the point? This may just be "treating the symptoms", so to speak.
The President is in charge and can fire any of his appointees.
It's not the "appointees" which are the problem. It's the department employees ... ones which are, largely, vets themselves who get preference in hiring. Fire them all, and hire people who care about veterans.
As an aside, but on-topic: I listened to an NPR news report last evening in which it was said that, speculated ...that ... as a result of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars the daily patient visits at VA hospitals/facilities has risen by 50% ... but the VA has hired only 6-8% more physicians to attend to them. Further commentary was that the goal of seeing a patent within 14 days of a requested visit is virtually impossible to meet ... because of the inbalance between patient/physician. I hadn't heard those statistics previously.
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Make it Easier to Fire VA Duds
