Fake Outrage!

[depotoo]

And people want to throw more money at the problem rather than get to the bottom of the problems themselves? Nuts.

 

[depotoo]

I would much rather get it right for our Vets. They deserve it.

 

[candycorn]

We all have heard about the 40 American Veterans who died waiting to see a doctor in Phoenix.

And the politicians on both sides of the aisle are pretending to be outraged.

But let's face it, there's nothing they can do about it. Our Federal bureaucracy has become so bloated nobody has any control over it anymore. The employees have such a strong union it prevents anyone from getting fired when a new administration comes in.

And to a degree I guess that's good.

But the workers have become so insulated they now can do whatever they want and nothing will happen. Sharon Helman, who was in charge in Phoenix, isn't under indictment, she isn't being investigated by the Phoenix Police, she's on "administrative leave". In other words, "Go sip some sherry while we figure out how to protect you."

But things are moving swiftly in Washington! The political merry go round is in full swing. And General Shinseki, a fine and honorable man whose hands are completely tied because of the infinite layers of bureaucracy, is on the chopping block.

This is not a Democrat or Republican issue any more. It just one tiny segment of a system where government employees will do whatever is necessary, even to the point of letting people die, just so they can look good and get a bonus!

So what happens now?

Well, an Inspector General is going to go to Phoenix sometime in the near future (when??) and 'investigate', and in a few months or so, issue a report.

Wow! A report!

This report will go up the chain of command and I guarantee it will be edited by those who may be culpable, until it gets to General Shinseki. (If he's still there.) This could possibly be done in 6 to 8 months.

Then he can go to Congress and announce there was a problem in Phoenix and it has been "addressed". Then everybody on the panel gets a close up asking General Shinseki a "tough question" that will be played on the evening news back home.

My question is "When are we going to realize the federal bureaucracy is so out of control, neither the President nor Congress has any power to fix it?"

The ONLY person in Washington who has any power to go after lawbreakers in government is the Attorney General. He can call in the FBI this afternoon and tell them to get to the bottom of it and arrest people. But he won't. Because even he is afraid of the bureaucracy involved.

More so than the politicians, our government needs to be reigned in. And I'll cast my vote for either a Republican or Democrat who has the balls to do it.

I think your angst is bizarre.

We had 10 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan and aren't completely done with it yet. We've had numerous soldiers serve multiple tours. The reality of 21st century combat is that you're on the battlefield one week and the next week, you could be stateside drinking a Coke and watching a movie; a movie likely telling a very different story than what you witnessed.

That we have any well adjusted veterans of combat is a testament to the steel of those men and women.

Anyway; what our problem in the nation is (one of them) is that we spend money only when we have to (administrations of all stripes) and it constantly injures us.
Between 1972 and 1992; we had scant involvement on a large scale. In 1992 we had the first gulf war, then after 2001, we had 10 years of battle. That we didn't invest in the VA commensurate with the deployments isn't surprising since you really don't know what the nature of healthcare is going to be needed and certainly do not know the volume of necessary care.

In 2000 the VA budget was$44.8 billion dollars.
in 2013 that budget was $138.8 billion dollars.
Care to show us where spending is being cut, by anyone?

I don't recall stating it was cut.