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Gen (Ret) Shinseki just resigned (aka fired) as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Whats your take? Legit, scape goat, or...? And was the problem handled at the appropriate level?
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Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 28
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Of course he'll be made a scapegoat, it is politics after all. Unfortunately, his departure (by whatever means), in itself, does nothing to fix any of the problems the VA is facing (or has brought upon themselves). Just another example of bureaucracy run a muck.
I for one am getting rather tired of hearing about yet another investigation into the same problems. Exactly how many investigations on the same issue does it take before someone in a position of authority actually even TRIES to fix anything! This has been going on (per the VAs own internal investigations) since at least 2010!
end rant.
I for one am getting rather tired of hearing about yet another investigation into the same problems. Exactly how many investigations on the same issue does it take before someone in a position of authority actually even TRIES to fix anything! This has been going on (per the VAs own internal investigations) since at least 2010!
end rant.
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MSG Floyd Williams
I guess the VA and the Federal Government Gen (Ret) Shinseki resignation will quiet things down hoping this nightmare would go away. What about the deceased veterans families? Will the Federal Government give them some kind of compensation for their loss somebody have to pay?
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I think it was the best decision overall for GEN Shinseki to just resign. I personally believe the VA system is so broken that it may never be fixed, however that's defined. I don't think it really can be perfected, honestly. Many well thought-out solutions exist on paper and have been conceived by brilliant people, but the implementation and optimization of this massive health care system as an entity of the government is almost impossibly hard. Yes, I do think GEN Shinseki fell on the sword here, but this was the right call to make as the leader of the organization. (Note: my personal opinions, not those of RallyPoint.)
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SSG David Joubert
CPT Kletzing I agree with this. However it is under his watch and this is his way out.Remember this is an agency that does not have to answer to no one not even congress and now that this doctor has come out and said he saw this first hand. The WH and congress have no choice but to clean it up. But if a veteran came out with this oh it’s one veteran that can’t stand the VA. So it’s time to get rid of dead weight that’s holding down the system and watch as they shake the tree what more will come out of this. So yes he didn’t want to stay as this is now wide spread.
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Col (Join to see)
And I think that privatizing military medical care would drive costs up even further as the independent providers know darn well they can gouge the military for cash.
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MAJ (Join to see)
CPT Kletzing, I find myself in a unique position on the matter of privatizing the VA... and this is very surprising to me. Usually, I sit on the side of smaller government, but--based on my experiences--I'm not going there on this topic even with current events. I have personally utilized services at the Salisbury, NC and Charlotte, NC VA clinics, and have friends/relatives who have utilized the Pensacola, FL VA clinic. (Aside from actually getting INTO the system) I have not had any issues with these facilities. I can schedule appointments easily: walked in once and was seen in less than 90 minutes; non-urgent appts, 1-3 weeks. In several of those visits, I was able to received unscheduled services with less than 30 minutes wait, to include x-rays, MRI, physical therapy, and even cyst removal (TOTALLY not expecting that one, as I had a job interview 3 hours later!). My point is that I've received better care at these VA facilities than I've received in the civilian sector, at a greatly reduced cost. Whichever side of the "norm" spectrum my experiences may be found on, I'm not a proponent of throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. The local vets know which clinics are good and which ones are bad. Let them decide locally whether to support the local VA or to go elsewhere.
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SGT Craig Northacker
I have similar experiences in the current VA. I started in 1977, when my only doc was a perennially drunk German doctor left over from the Wehrmacht during WW2. When that clinic moved, they threw all our records into the garbage and left them on the street for the garbage men to pick up. That story was picked up by local television.
The differences between then and now are enormous. I think the VBA should be removed because of the expense of their program, the incredible inefficiencies and ill-will that they generate, and the rigged courts of kangaroo that they have developed with great expertise.
I recommended to OMB that they examine the real cost of saying no with eliminating them as they are now, and simply expediting the claim process because it is much cheaper for the government as a whole than to pay food stamps, homeless, and a ton of other programs, not to mention the fact that they ensure minimal productivity after they say no long enough. The old adage told to me by a senior VA executive "Deny, deny, until they die", has been the effective mantra of the VBA, to their great shame. The violation of Federal law by using self-serving regulations and policies is incredible and indefensible in any other court than the VA. The gentleman from the OMB, who also worked for the President, agreed, but told me that he was having trouble getting accurate numbers from the VA> Go figure.
The differences between then and now are enormous. I think the VBA should be removed because of the expense of their program, the incredible inefficiencies and ill-will that they generate, and the rigged courts of kangaroo that they have developed with great expertise.
I recommended to OMB that they examine the real cost of saying no with eliminating them as they are now, and simply expediting the claim process because it is much cheaper for the government as a whole than to pay food stamps, homeless, and a ton of other programs, not to mention the fact that they ensure minimal productivity after they say no long enough. The old adage told to me by a senior VA executive "Deny, deny, until they die", has been the effective mantra of the VBA, to their great shame. The violation of Federal law by using self-serving regulations and policies is incredible and indefensible in any other court than the VA. The gentleman from the OMB, who also worked for the President, agreed, but told me that he was having trouble getting accurate numbers from the VA> Go figure.
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The problem wasn't Shinseki to begin with, the problem is the whole bureaucratic system itself. Shinseki just rode the bull, so to speak, and couldn't handle it. No one can. The whole system needs overhauled to a more patient centric way of doing things. We as Americans have accepted this bereaucratic system for far too long. Nothing will change as long as we continue to go along with it. So my arguement is, it doesn't matter who is in charge, it's the system that is flawed. Look back and read about the early progressive movement of the late 1800s early 1900s led by President Woodrow Wilson. When he was a college president at one of the Ivy League schools, which the name escapes me at the moment, he wrote essays about how a bereaucratic system was the ideal system in which to control the masses because people assigned to positions in government would make better decisions on your life in general. I am really generalyzing his whole argument, but he and others like him worked to create a European style bereaucracy here in the states and were successfull. Now look at where we are today. We have accepted that we need to jump through hoops of fire on multiple different levels to get anything done through the government, and they control a great deal of our lives. I suppose those of us in the military have a great deal more patience with this because we live it, but that is my argument again, think of how many forms we fill out every day, how many outside agencies we have to go to, how many levels of agencies look over our shoulders. Now translate that to the VA in all of its responsibilities, not just the medical side, and take a deep breath. Things won't change until the system changes.
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PO1 (Join to see)
Almost like a political time bomb. Just never know when it will go off. Just be prepared in advance and have connections for backup plan
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1SG Michael Blount
Well, he took a number of people with him, firing them before he was shown the door. This is not unlike LGEN Flynn, who will be "retiring" from DIA a year early. Large bureaucracies behave like that.the only real solution is to clean house, but with civil service rules the way they are, it's damn near impossible to fire anybody except the guys at the top.
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SGT Craig Northacker
To add to the problem are the inadequacies and additional burdens of state agencies when they go off-track and start rewriting the law with their versions of policies and regs. Or a cop that abuses his or her position while making six digits plus here on Long Island and is protected by their union. The issue is no longer right or wrong, it is who will win the legal stand-off.
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