Rep. Filner: 'Culture of Dishonesty' At Department of Veterans Affairs

[babylonsister]

Rep. Filner: 'Culture of Dishonesty' At Department of Veterans Affairs
Submitted by davidswanson on Tue, 2008-11-25 21:06.

By Jason Leopold, The Public Record


The economic meltdown that has dominated media coverage over the past several months has overshadowed a crisis at the Department of Veterans Affairs, an agency in dire need of new leadership, veterans groups and Democratic lawmakers say.

VA is now treating more than 350,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and with the war in Iraq guaranteed to continue for at least another three years, and with the possibility of more troops being sent to fight in Afghanistan, tens of thousands of those veterans will likely seek medical care and benefits from the VA for combat related injuries.

But the VA is still unprepared to meet these challenges.

In recent months, as benefits claims have piled up at the VA, some of the agency's 250,000 employees have apparently become so overwhelmed with their work load that they were prepared to shred hundreds of benefits claims in order to avoid processing the forms, thereby denying veterans the benefits they have come to depend upon to survive.

Last month, internal watchdogs discovered 500 benefits claims in shredding bins at the 41 of the 57 regional VA offices around the country.

The incident resulted in hastily arranged roundtable discussion last week led by House Veterans Affairs Chairman Bob Filner who excoriated the VA for creating a “culture of dishonesty” that he said has become so pervasive over the years that it has completely shattered the confidence of war veterans who feel they can no longer depend on the agency for help when they return from combat.

“This episode has further strengthened my belief that VA desperately needs new leadership, and it needs new leadership today,” Filner, D-CA, said. “These incidents and "mistakes," all occurring to the detriment of our veterans and never to their benefit, remind me more of the Keystone Cops rather than a supportive organization dedicated to taking care of our veterans.

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[UTUSN]

1. K&R #3 n/t

[Hissyspit]

2. .

[Lugnut]

3. K&R n/t

[hootinholler]

4. The VA has been a disgrace as long as I can remmeber. n/t

[Thothmes]

5. Agree

I remember having occsion to vist VA hospitals in the 60 and 70s. It would have been a cold day in hell before I allowed one of my family to be sent to a VA hospital.

[hootinholler]

6. With the number of vereran's organizations in this country,

Why is that so?

Why do we have more homeless veterans than were killed in 'Nam?

-Hoot

[Thothmes]

7. That is a question for every administration from LBJ through

GWB and for every Congress that has met during those years. The minute the shooting stops, the veterans issue drops off the political radar screen. Call me cynical, but within a year or so after our current overseas military adventure are over, the current concern over veterans care will again disappear for the national headlines.