Posted on 05/06/2014 12:05:59 PM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel
MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Good Government is a reflection of unselfish people who are committed to serving others; their leadership, dedication and hard work have always been key to our democracy and unique American way of live. Public Service Recognition Week-May 4-10, 2014-gives the American people the opportunity to say Thank You for a job well done and much appreciated.
United in a common pledge to serve the needs of others, public servants touch our lives in a myriad of ways. Federal employees ensure the safety of our homeland, and some put their lives on the line in Afghanistan. They work on behalf of our Nation’s young children, its students, the disadvantaged, and the elderly. They promote American exports, manage our public lands, and explore the far reaches of outer space. They ensure the safety of the food we eat and the water we drink. They safeguard our highways, waterways, airways, and railways. And they protect the innovations of our Nation’s entrepreneurs and technology pioneers.
At the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), over 340,000 civil servants have a sacred mission: to care for our country’s Veterans and families. Today, our military forces and Federal workers serve over three hundred million of their fellow citizens; the impact of their work is impossible to measure. They make a positive, productive, and often profound difference in the lives of every American, every day.
I am grateful for the opportunity to thank VA employees for all that you do on behalf of the courageous men and women, who served our Nation in uniform.
· 8.9 million of whom are enrolled for our world-class health care;
· 4.3 million Veterans and Survivors who receive compensation and pensions;
· Over 120,000 who receive final honors in one of our 131 cemeteries;
· Two million Veterans with active home loans, and more than 950 who obtain a VA housing loan each day; and
· Over 1.16 million Veterans and family members who have taken advantage of education and training opportunities in the Post-9/11 GI Bill since its inception.
Your commitment and compassion change lives for the better. Another public servant, President John Kennedy, said it best: “Let the public service be a proud and lively career. And let every man and woman who works in any area of the national government . . . be able to say with pride and with honor in future years: “I served the United States government in that hour of our nation’s need.”
Thank you for all that you have done, and continue to do so, in service to our country.
Eric K. Shinseki
Gee, I was hoping he would announce his resignation.
4.3 million Veterans and Survivors who receive compensation and pensions;
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and at least twice as many illegal aliens get larger handouts from the government of those brave patriotic veterans for just breaking into our country..
Two million Veterans with active home loans, and more than 950 who obtain a VA housing loan each day;
____________________________________________
again, illegal aliens get home loans much easier than the veterans do..
for one the veterans have to prove who they are...
Cannot get much further past this moronic line. Republic, dip sh.., not a Democracy.
Over 1.16 million Veterans and family members who have taken advantage of education and training opportunities in the Post-9/11 GI Bill since its inception.
______________________________________________
and yet again illegal aliens get free education...
and what has not been said the illegal aliens get instate tuition while the veterans have to pay full price...
This is the same dolt who forced black berets out of the Ranger units and onto every other unit. That move was as popular as typhoid. He needs to go, done enough damage across the board.
“These men (government officials), in point of fact, are seldom if ever moved by anything rationally describable as public spirit; there is actually no more public spirit among them than among so many burglars or street-walkers. Their purpose, first, last and all the time, is to promote their private advantage, and to that end, and that end alone, they exercise all the vast powers that are in their hands.... Whatever it is they seek, whether security, greater ease, more money or more power, it has to come out of the common stock, and so it diminishes the shares of all other men. Putting a new job-holder to work decreases the wages of every wage-earner in the land..”
H.L. Mencken
But But He is a MINORITY from Hawaii(like MAYBE “Hussein”)!
As a veteran I can only say: What a steaming pile of self serving shiite.
All together now! Let’s hear the VA Motto!
Delete, Delay, Deny and Hope They Die!
Go to washington dc. Most govt employees think they are better than us civilians. Its palpable there.
That pretty much stopped me in my tracks too.
All the boys wear 1000 dollar suits and the girls 400 dollar dresses, shoes, and handbags.
It’s a good life in DC. I’ve advised several bright young people to head down there, and they’ve prospered.
I shudda wore my waders.
That explains why we have such terrible government in this country.
Two key veterans groups call for VA chief Eric Shinseki to resign
Washington (CNN) — The nation’s largest veteran organization, The American Legion, and one other veterans group, Concerned Veterans for America, on Monday called for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki.
The calls for his resignation came after months of CNN exclusive reporting on U.S. veterans who have died while waiting for care at VA hospitals across the country, including in Phoenix.
“It’s not something we do lightly. But we do so today because it is our responsibility as advocate for the men and women who have worn this nation’s uniform,” said Daniel M. Dellinger, national commander of the American Legion, speaking in Indianapolis.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/05/politics/veterans-groups-seek-shinseki-resignation/
October 14, 2012
Why Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs Eric Shinseki Should Resign Immediately
The Veteran’s Administration Inspector General has released a report that absolutely destroys the department for spending a staggering amount of money on meetings, gifts, and parties over the course of the last 7 years.
Since 2005, the VA has held over 1,600 employee conferences, if you can believe it, spending an estimated 300 million dollars. That works out to a conference every one and a half days.
The most expensive meeting totaled a jaw-dropping 6.3 million dollars…In an ironic twist, the title of this conference was, “Financial Management Training.”
But wait, there’s more! Last year, the VA spent more than 6 million dollars on a pair of “Human Resources” conferences in Orlando. Indeed, the budget for the two conferences, signed off on by the Chief of Staff, actually budgeted the two events at 8 million dollars! I suppose the VA should be lauded for restraining themselves and coming in under budget.
http://sofrep.com/12322/va-shiksecki-should-resign-immediately/#ixzz30yHWjsBH
Shinseki either knew about this grotesque culture of waste, and didn’t care, or he didn’t know that the agency he was charged with running was spending more than a quarter of a billion dollars on parties. (And make no mistake: these were parties, not conferences.) If it was the first scenario, he’s unfit to head up the agency, and if it was the second, he’s incompetent.
As a good friend reminded me, this isn’t the first time General Shinseki has provoked unneeded controversy. Remember the black beret, Rangers? I know some of you still haven’t forgiven the general for that one.
General Shinseki, the buck stops with you. Do the honorable thing, sir… tender your resignation.
General Shinseki Ordered to Surrender
March 20, 2013
LOS ANGELES – General Eric K. Shinseki (Ret. USA), Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), has continuously failed our Military Veterans, including failing to file and execute disability claims in a timely manner and to provide quality healthcare and housing for disabled homeless Veterans, particularly in Los Angeles where there’s already a National Veterans Home established 125 years ago, but the buildings are vacant and rat-infested while the land is misappropriated for non-Veteran use.
It’s well-documented that nationwide the VA has a shameful back-log of over 900,000 disability claims with Veterans waiting up to 650 days to get necessary healthcare care and disability benefits.
During a recent Senate Hearing, members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee demanded the VA turn over its internal performance data to give Congressional lawmakers direct insight as to why the agency is so dysfunctional.
Consistent with the VA’s modus operandi, Allison Hickey, the VA’s undersecretary for benefits, was evasive, vague, dismissive, non-cooperative and refused to turn over requested data.
Think about it: If the VA openly and defiantly stonewalls the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and denies them pertinent information, what must it be like for lonely disabled Veterans in the isolated office of intimidating and confrontational VA bureaucrats?
Under General Shinseki’s antagonistic command, the VA’s willful neglect and bureaucratic malice has compounded the stress and depression of disabled Veterans, which can lead to homelessness.
Homelessness can lead to hopelessness and desperation, which can lead to suicide, as 22 Veterans voluntarily take their lives every day, on average, across the nation.
We have found the enemy and it is the VA.
This ruthless war against our nation’s disabled Veterans must cease!
Thus, it’s no longer the days of yore when we pleaded: “Mr. Secretary, this is to respectfully request that you to do the right thing and resign”
Now it’s an order!
General: Surrender your command, posthaste!
That’s right General, it’s over! You lost the despicable war you and your renegade bureaucrats have been waging against our nation’s disabled and homeless Veterans.
Adding Insult to Injury
While the VA’s largest National Veterans Home in the nation continues to lock out the largest homeless Veteran population in the nation (20,000), this past Sunday it opened the gates to the LA Marathon and general public so nearly 25,000 able-bodied runners from around the world could charge through these sacred grounds where disabled Veterans are trying to heal from their war injuries at the Wadsworth Hospital.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/03/20/general-shinseki-ordered-to-surrender/
On one of many other of the General’s infamous debacles, Congressman Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans‘ Affairs, and Senator Richard Burr, a ranking member on the Senate Committee on Veterans‘ Affairs, called on Secretary Shinseki to fire his Chief of Staff for approving two training conferences that involved more than $760,000 in highly questionable spending.
The Secretary ignored them.
In addition to his self-serving arrogance, stubborn defiance and many blunders over the past four years, General Shinseki shamefully bows to the political pressure of the Waxman-Feinstein Machine in West Los Angeles, which bows to the pressure of the wealth and power of neighboring homeowner groups who want Veterans property for their own fiefdom and amusement.
Veterans cannot wait any longer for things to get better under the General’s watch, as they will only decline and get worse, and that’s not the American way.
For the sake and benefit of all disabled and homeless Veterans, General Shinseki must immediately surrender his public trust and take Los Angeles VA bureaucrats Donna Beiter, Ralph Tillman and Bill Daniels with him. Tomorrow will be too late.
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