Just when you think the sad story of the VA can’t get worse, a new more depressing chapter is unveiled. FoxNews’ Elizabeth Harrington reports that while a thousand veterans were dying, the VA was spending $20 million on artworks. Lack of prioritization is a death knell to any privately run business, but in government, it […]
Two Years Later a Still Dysfunctional VA
It has been two years since the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal broke in April 2014, and what restructuring and reform has taken place? Almost nothing has changed, writes Pete Hegseth, an Army veteran. “VA officials have kept their jobs, and veterans continue to be treated like second-class citizens inside their own system. But after […]
A Simple Fix for the VA
The VA system is still chugging along, “pretending to provide care, quality managers pretending to review such care, and supervisors harassing the providers about the care provided elsewhere. Meanwhile, veterans wait and wait to get care they need,” writes Dr. Nasser Gayed in the WSJ Read here from Dr. Gayed, recently retired after 25 years […]
Notes from Babylon
In the August issue of The Crane Report, our friend Ed Crane, founder and president emeritus of the Cato Institute, focuses on Washington’s “growing bureaucratic disdain for the American people.” Touching also on the shenanigans in Congress this summer, Ed writes, Raise your hand if you think the Veteran’s Affairs scandal/fiasco is due to a […]
Sticking It to Veterans and Taxpayers
Ah, summer recess, and Congress can go home and feel good about itself. The just-passed massive $16+ billion bill to address problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs is now on its way to the White House for President Obama’s signature. But why did three Republican senators—Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Bob Corker of Tennessee and […]
Happy 4th of July Veterans and Taxpayers
As Robert A. McDonald prepares for confirmation hearings as successor to Eric K. Shinseki, he must also prepare for wrenching stories like this: Typical of the outrages he will confront is the story of the Vietnam veteran who tried two years ago to make an appointment at a Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Mass. Last month, […]
VA Bonuses for the Criminally Negligent
Working for the government is not like working for the private sector, says Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large of National Review Online. Unlike the private sector, where people lose their jobs for incompetence, redundancy or obsolescence, government employees essentially cannot be fired. Worse yet, as veterans seeking medical care waited and waited until some even died, VA […]
More Government Dole/Less Accountability
The VA is a behemoth example of government failure, yet what is the fix from Washington? Thanks to the McCain-Sanders bill, throw more taxpayer money at it–to the tune of perhaps $50 billion more a year. But the bigger tragedy is that veterans will be no better off than they were before the bill was […]
Veterans Benefits in Advance
All veterans would be winners and could escape the death hold of the politicians and the VA boondoggle. Force Congress to increase military pay to fund competitive, private health insurance for our military. My friends at Cato Institute, Michael Cannon and Christopher Preble, have developed the exact healthcare blueprint our military needs. Here is how […]
A Band-Aid for the DOA VA Mess?
Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner explains why the McCain-Sanders bill is not exactly an elixir for the grotesque VA woes. Instead, we get from our Washington politicians more of the same ineffective posturing–throw money at the problem and pray we, the voters, lose interest. Let’s hope they feel better about themselves, because it sure isn’t going […]
