Posted on 04/13/2017 4:10:00 AM PDT by IBD editorial writer
Firing Offense: Democrats are constantly bleating about the need to better serve the nation's veterans. Yet when it comes down to it, they would rather bow to their union masters than allow the VA to fire workers who aren't doing their jobs.
The proof is the Democrats' fervent opposition to a simple reform being pushed by Republicans — the VA Accountability First Act. This bill would let the Veterans Affairs secretary fire someone and not have to wait a month for the person to actually be fired. It would also let the VA cut the pensions for those convicted of a felony, and reclaim bonuses from those fired.
The bill got some needed momentum after a VA worker was caught watching porn while with a patient. VA Secretary David Shulkin wanted him fired immediately, only to learn that the worker is entitled to spend a month — at taxpayer expense — on desk duty before being shown the door.
"I need the authority as secretary to remove these people immediately," Shulkin said.
Even so, the bill is just a tiny step toward improving this dangerously dysfunctional agency, which three years ago was embroiled in a scandal over excessively long wait times for veterans seeking health care and efforts by executives to cook the books to hide them.
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Do the people that stole $400k still have their job. Someone here said there is an EO that was signed long ago that could be rescinded to stop some of this nonsense at the VA
Republicans control Congress and the White House so why can’t we get a bill passed and signed within a week to allow any government employee to be discharged for cause on the spot—no administrative leave involved. If the employee has a valid defense, let him/her go home, hire a lawyer and plead their case on their nickel.
Woo Hoo! I love it! Let the world see whose side the Democrats are on. Fire all of them and bring in temps. I’m sure they’d do a better job than any of those ignorant and lying union cover your own butt emploees at every VA across the country. I’ll temp for free.
I’m certainly in favor of VA reform, primarily a good house cleaning. I applied for VA medical a few years ago, heard nothing. The local VA rep lied to me about certain subjects. Considering the lies and incompetence I never checked back as I did not really want a VA butcher working on me.
I never heard about the VA Choice program until a few weeks ago. I called the contractor, and found out I was eligible years ago. I will be seeing my own doctor now free of charge, paid for with VA Choice funds. Meds are free too. No copays, no deductables on anything.
I’m not a McCain fan at all, but he did get a bill passed to keep the Choice program alive.
I recommend any vet reading this to check into it. It’s a good way to bypass all the incompetence and work with a very friendly contractor. It lets the Vet go directly to a doctor downtown.
But each and every doctor visit/procedure needs to be pre-approved, correct? At least when I used it a year ago, that was the case.
“But each and every doctor visit/procedure needs to be pre-approved, correct?”
Yes, this is my belief. I’m going for my first appt set up for July.
They made my regular civilian doctor my primary VA doctor, which means bypassing the VA altogether. He writes referrals for other doctors (eye, cardiac etc). But I need to call the contractor to get them approved, which is very easy to do.
It’s a system a person needs to learn to use and get used to.
I have a friend that was notified about 3 months ago he was Choice eligible and is using it. He has no complaints, but still has to use his assigned VA doctor 300 miles away to write referrals.
Because once upon a time, government jobs were handed out as rewards for political support - the “Spoils System.”
This was changed with the Civil Service Act, to create a professional bureaucracy that would operate smoothly from administration to administration.
What was not foreseen was this professional bureaucracy would become a force on its own, un-elected, and un-answerable to the voters.
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