Posted on 05/21/2014 4:12:01 AM PDT by IBD editorial writer
As soon as the mushrooming scandal at the Veterans Affairs Department erupted, blame focused on budget shortfalls for chronic delays in treatment.
Several VA hospitals have been accused of falsifying records to cover up delays in treating patients in desperate need. In Phoenix, as many as 40 veterans may have died as a result.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., argued that the main cause of the delays is money: "If the VA does not have enough doctors to see these patients, then these problems are a result of a lack of funding." [snip]
It sounds good. And it would seem to make sense. But it's far from true.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Bureaucracies exist to preserve the existence of bureaucracies. They have no other prime directives.
If incidentally they also happen to provide services to the constituency for which they were created, then that is just a happy accident. But never to be taken for granted.
It’s not from lack of funding.
It’s from lack of accountability.
Just like with everything else in this Administration.
I meant to add, under Obamacare, insurance companies and hospitals have to spend 85% of every dollar on actual medical care for their customers; only 15% is allowed to be used for administrative/management costs.
Who wants to bet that in the VA system, less than 60% of every dollar actually goes to the medical care of veterans?!?
The bonus money should have gone to the vets.
It strains credulity to think that this fiasco is a result of budget shortfalls.
Much more likely that it springs from lack of measurable accountability on the part of mid-level and senior managers who are more interested in the their own ‘image’ than in delivering quality services to ALL veterans in need.
Start with the schedules and appointment books of the service providers, the direct care physicians and other professionals. How do those stack up against the private sector?
Next, move to the bureaucrats responsible for oversight. How does their reporting tally against the care givers?
Then, do the roll-up. Move up the chain and burn every damn one of them with a hand in this major THEFT; theft of taxpayer money, squandered senselessly with no regard for the people who provide it, and no concern for the needs of the veterans who require services.
A travesty beyond words. Benghazi is a huge scandal. This is bigger, by far.
The entire 0bama administration should be in prison.
>>Bureaucracies exist to preserve the existence of bureaucracies. They have no other prime directives
Jerry Pournelle codified this some time ago as the Iron Law of Bureaucracy: In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control and those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.
It appears that those working in this administration are taking a killing money-wise for themselves. High benefits, pay, etc. The next president needs to examine EVERY salary and benefit paid and place them back at real market values. We really need reform on all levels.
What’s the problem? The Veterans should be happy that there are such nice lawns at VA’s throughout the country. The furniture is nice in the offices, also. What’s not to like? A nice setting in which to gradually die from neglect.
Not just this administration, but many past, dems have controlled congress for what all of 2 yrs over the past nearly 50 yrs?
HERE is the real problem PALM GREASING DONORS!
Military Waste and Fraud Continue In the Middle of the Government Shutdown
HERE IS YOUR PROBLEM : lots of links, PALM GREASING
Washington’s Blog
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/wasted-military.html
I’ll bet if someone checked, they would find the additional spending went for buildings, furniture, etc, NOT to treat Vets
And didn’t the VA just spend 500 million dollars on new office furniture. They have more than enough money, they just choose, like most bureaucracies, to spend it on the bureaucrats first, their primary mission second.
EXACTLY!
They probably remodeled lobbies and paid $250,000.00 for a luminaire that was worth $300! This happened in the Ft. Worth VA clinic (it wasn’t even a hospital), they went over budget on light fixtures and art because they wanted the building to be “inviting.”
This is a VA clinic! These people KNOW how un-inviting government buildings, government bureaucracies, and definitely government employees truly are! HELLO? They spent time in the military!
So, why in the hell would you spend extra money to try and BULLSHIT these ailing people with an inviting “feel”? These people are fully aware of what they are going to get from you VA idiots; trying to make it look pretty around them doesn’t change the complete lack of care they will receive or how they will feel about that piss-poor care!
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