I’m a veteran and I support the cutback in the workforce. I e noticed at the va hospital that there are not just federal police, but a huge number of security guards left over from Covid, and they do nothing. It’s a jobs program. Those vets don’t represent me. The VFW keeps asking for me to sign a petition and I’m not doing it. We are $36 trillion in debt and we are running $2 trillion over the budget every year. The interest on the debt is $1 trillion every year, which puts it ahead of defense spending as one of the biggest outlays of money. I don’t hear the VA complaining about that even though they know that interest payments that high mean veterans services will eventually get cut. The leadership of the vfw are all lefties anyways and I have moved away from that position. Sometimes you sacrifice for your country more than once. I’m worried about the country we are leaving these young folks. We owe it to them to right this ship.
Post open-heart surgery my husband (VN 1966-1968, combat disabled) was supposed to have some home visits. He was over 2x my size, so I needed help. Home visits were contracted out to the most useless team who had an order to make 30 visits. They came 2x and I heard them say on their phone--"wife can do it." I tried to talk to someone at the VA hospital and they told me they had no control over the contractors. I did get help from VFW volunteers on mobility. The VA hospital was fine, but post-op was a challenge. Minimally the contracting of some VA services could be reviewed.
I've heard from people who are involved with the VA that it comes down to the hospital. Some VA facilities are very competently run, some are not. That tells me that there is 'leadership' at the VA that needs to be replaced.
This is the opportunity for SUBSCRIPTION JOURNALISM to earn its bones. Bringing a rational conversation with factual reports to the still polarized DNC/GOP Trump bad sideshow will lay the groundwork for the healthy human American solutions based reality We the People deserve and must demand. The VA saved my life spiritually, mentally and physically. The Trump/Musk carnival is not the slow rational application of reform within all Federal networks that we voted for. Within VA health care some "community care" options are appropriate, and within VA hospitals themselves variability in service could and should be considered for upgrade and change. It's not a money problem it is an entirely fixable management/competence/professionalism problem. The USAID reveal is evidence. Huge amounts of payoff tax largesse syphoned into the coffers of virtue signaling connected party line political hacks is idiocy. Elon needs to go home. Trump is reprieve not salvation. We the People have been held hostage to the D.C./Wall Street/Davos criminal financial grift for far too long.
It is understandable that after DNC/Soros/Clinton/Obama Russia Gate Trump would hit the ground running. But the present view of D.C. from the citizen beach head is every bit as MSM/spook land/DNC "everything means everything so nothing means anything" opaque as ever. This fight is about the the survival of our Republic, our lives, our labor, our treasure and the future of our children. Trump was elected because of the truthful light SUBSCRIPTION JOURNALISM allowed to expose the LIE attempting to overwhelm us and our Republic's Constitution. MORE LIGHT PLEASE!!
I agree with your sentiments, generally speaking, and I'm glad that the VA was able to help you. I know the VA has helped many veterans, and many are just like I was - they have nowhere else to go. Also, my VA experience was not a complete flop, they helped me too. But there are big debilating gaps in-between what they do good.
I believe the main problem as I stated already, is the government bureaucracy and compartmentism. If you're seeing one doc, or maybe docs that communicate, that's probably good. But I saw numerous specialists that didn't seem to know what was done, and they didn't seem to care. I once had to update a lab order, no kidding, because the doc just did a standard bloodwork order, when even I knew he needed more than that, and what the heck do I know? It seemed the whole process was on my shoulders and I was not well. Just making appts was hard, and the VA punishes vets for missing appts. However, It sounds like you're well and I'm well... Isn't that a line from Dr. Strangelove?
I also agree that Trump is a stop-gap measure. He's certainly not the answer, at least not yet. But I think slash-and-burn is necessary right now. I believe things are so bad, the best move is a controlled burn. Then go in after and try and salvage what's good.
VA aside, how much is just the general dumbing down of American competence across the board and, what I see as intentional, the disintegration of the demand for merit and ability in all trades and professions. Most economists who claim to know point to the Gordon Gekko "because it's wreckable " philosophy that allows the looting and profit taking of industry and institutions without a requirement for stewardship and accountability. As in '08 a rigged game economics that builds nothing and only takes. Pension funds and lives are destroyed. In my own view the USAID reveal confirmed the reality that so called "woke" and avaricious capitalism were joined at the hip. Claiming virtue they were both immoral actors who served one another's interest and lined their pockets through deception,
obfuscation and fraud. The forces creating the LIE and the power of the LIE itself, not to mention the economic consequences, was bound to wound the American psyche and distort American reality. The LIE itself was so powerful and destructive it brought about the birth of SUBSCRIPTION JOURNALISM which I hope will recapture and re-establish the healthy fact/truth based American national conversation We the People deserve.
You know, it's people like you that ruin it for everyone else. Did you know that? Did you know that we're surrounded by countries that despise Americans, partly because Americans don't know how to communicate in a civil manner? People like you?
Providing basic, or better than satisfactory, care is the lowest of bars. I came off a Zoom call earlier today with a bunch of male seniors. I and one other have a BMI of 22, (I'm ex-military, the other is a cyclist.) Our friends feel no need to discipline their diets, sleep, and activity levels, all of which are critical the older we get. And what kind of examples are they setting?
The problem of individual responsibility is just as severe in education/literacy. Kids aren't going to read if their parents don't read, and many parents can't, period. Cash in education works well when parents are fully involved. Without the parents, no amount of cash will do much, except in rare cases.
An incentive program to increase the literacy levels of adults of all ages, especially parents/care givers (TAX BREAKS!!!) is an idea whose time has now come. Mental, emotional, and spiritual health are very bit as vital a physical health. I can't think my way into a healthier way of living, but I can live my way into a healthier way of thinking.
COVID was the first good chance we had to reverse the morbidity which is destroying the lives and children and adults alike. Let kids graduate high school with grade-level and above skills, work, marry, start a family and have kids of their own. Exercise, eat right, stop taking pills and virtually all social ills disappear, thus freeing up all the funds we need to provide the health care and support you and your husband require.
We need to do much better this time round. (I'm a fan of your work, btw. Many thanks!)
My doctors father in law still works at 70 in the VA. He only needs to log in 4 hours a day, works from home and get 12 weeks vacation. He says why quit. Only in government can you get away with this !
Thank you for your common sense comment. It carries a lot of weight with me, coming from a veteran. I support wide reaching comprehensive benefits for veterans. However, every agency needs auditing and could probably do more with less staff. They may benefit from improving some automation as DOGE has been suggesting to many agencies. Personnel costs generally make up the biggest category of costs on a business profit and loss statement. Yes, totally agree about the debt and deficit.
Agreed,more money for benefits, improvement in automation, ie upgrade computers and computer operating systems. Cuts to personnel are imperative as most of the "personnel" are administrative. These are the people making sure every new rule and regulation the bureaucratic state pushes to the agencies to follow.(whether they like it or need it). I saw something similar when my aging mother fell and broke her femur. She went to a Nursing Home to "rehabilitate" her leg. What I saw was 2 young attendants and one nurse caring for approx. 20 patients. While 6-8 administrative "personnel" handled paperwork. (Medicaid/medicare at work)
My point is DOGE every part of gov't. Find all possible waste wherever , if we need to add people or services we can,when and IF NEEDED!
I can only imagine that the waste in the VA programs is every bit as bad as it is in other government "managed" agencies. Biden's idea of "job creation", as the Democratic administrations before him, is to simply expand their voting base by using tax dollars to add unneeded workers to federal "jobs". It's kinda like when the mob controls the unions and "creates" jobs as favors. While the Democrats might not ask anyone to whack somebody, as a returned favor, they damn well expect your vote and support!
The US government has been the largest employer since 2020 and a decent amount of our GDP is generated by their never ending additions of administrative work.
I wish more Americans had your sentiments. I'm a veteran that went through a health crisis when my only healthcare was the VA. It's not a good story. Current VA healthcare isn't bad, but it's got many problems. The compartmentalized nature of government is a huge detriment to VA healthcare. Each specialist I saw knew nothing about what the last specialist diagnosed, and the only caring staff I ever saw, were the nurses. They were great! The rest of them? My feeling is if they could speak their mind it would be something like this: "This job wouldn't be so damn bad, if it wasn't for all these damn sick people!"
The VA is great for vets that aren't sick. I mean that sincerely. The VA has a darn good wellness program, and plenty of satellite clinics. However, if you need to actually see a doctor, that's when it can get difficult. Doctors are only located at VA hospitals, and if you live close to one, great, but if you don't... I was seen for 2 years by 3 different systems in PA, MI, and FL, and I was always over a one hour drive away from a doctor. And they don't seem to care about patients. I refer to VA healthcare as "the DMV of healthcare", and everybody knows what torture it is to walk into a DMV.
I eventually abandonded the VA and did my own research. I got illegal prescriptions and tried all kinds of crap. I got well enough to limp along for a few years until my Medicare kicked in, and they took care of me in a jiffy.
When my father-in-law (who retired from the Army Reserve as a "full bird colonel") became too feeble to be left alone for hours at a time, his choices were the VA, a nursing home, or coming to live with us in another state. He really wanted to stay in his home state, but a nursing home would have cost more every month than his combined social security AND military pension, and he wasn't about to let Uncle Sam have his savings. He ended up coming to live with us.
Navy retired and I completely agree. My experience with the VA is that there aren't enough doctors to cover the patients. Perhaps with cuts to support staff there will be $ available to hire more doctors or maybe do away with the VA completely. Our debt is unsustainable and if something doesn't change, we're leaving a mess to the younger generations.
I thought the same thing- what the heck happened with COVID? And this rent a mob keeps talking about January 6. Finally, they are being led by Harry Dunn whose veracity is questionable. Finally, I know people have a right to protest but is there any evidence these protests are effective or do they just annoy people even more? I think it is better to use more conventional means of persuasion in order to enact change.
Benefits eligibility were greatly expanded in 2022 under the PACT Act. Cutting funding to 2019 levels will significantly impact services across the board.
The PACT Act is a law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. These are specific benefits that are provided for . Cuts to personnel and general funds would not (should not) have an effect on that program.
The pay of every employee at the VA is money that isn’t going to the veterans themselves. If an employee is worth their pay they should remain. If they are loose baggage they should be terminated. My guess is that most of the proposed layoffs will not hurt the way the VA is run and will free up funds for more important things.
Yes. Made this observation yesterday on the Alien Enemies Act post. Democrat opposition that cries “wolf” at everything loses the ability to be credible if and when there is a wolf.
If the party had real principles, they’d pick their battles and focus their fire on Trump admin actions that really violate their core principles. If they’re just about exercising raw power and destroying their enemies, then you’d expect them to take a carpet bomb strategy. Which is what we are seeing.
As a veteran I am personally sick and tied of being “used” and betrayed by this indolent nation that doesn’t give a damn for us. You can cut the VA back by at least 100,000 if you brought up the standard of care and ran the hospitals and systems properly. But the country doesn’t run them properly because it doesn’t care about us and doesn’t care to. So anyone and everyone with the “thank you for service” hand jive and bromide can sail away to never never land. The young men and women returning from the GWOT forever wars are dying at the rapid rate. Many take their brown paper bag of “happy pills” to their car in the parking lot at the local VA hospital and commit suicide. We are at 22 vets a day maybe the nation should look introspectively at itself and ask is this the best we can do for the 1% of the nation that serve and served? Get to the bottom of the dysfunction and maybe you solve the problems. Otherwise the country is wasting everyone’s time and more veterans will take the easy route to Valhalla. Odin will welcome them even if we won’t. This effort to use veterans to slow the corrections needed across the board in bealth care is just one more hyper cynical effort by the blob to hang to power and money. It needs to stop and the corrections need be made.
If you look around, most don't care about ANYONE except themselves. Look at how dirty ALL Hospitals are today. Look at the streets, trash everywhere. Americans take no pride in anything today. Especially our Veterans who kept their promises. We will be judged at how we treat these good folks.
Not sure it has changed but when my father was dying of cancer his VA oncologist had the bedside manner of a moron. We got Dad as far away as possible from that hospital. I think we should shut down all VA hospitals in a gradual manner and pay for our veterans to go to their hospital of choice. I’m sure there are some good doctors there but no Doctor graduating medical school says “I would love to work for the VA!”
I'm sure your story is one of many, and sadly, the standard of care under the VA is severely lacking. That won't be solved by privatization IMO. As we have seen from Medicare and Medicaid fraud, there are plenty of unscrupulous doctors, clinics and hospitals standing by, greedily rubbing their paws together, just praying for a chance to feed from the government teat. Ending Federal job "security" and enforcing accountability is the foremost priority.
Look at their student loans - have a program where working at a VA hospital is highly sought after and prestigious AND pays off loans at a much faster rate than usual options.
Make it like the military academies - tuition is free but you owe the country time, not just money, after you get your degree.
If successful, expand the program to promote work in primary care clinics and community hospitals
83,000 people have been added since 2019? That's absurd, given their level of competence. The unions and Organized Crime run the Democratic Party's constant addition of employees, many of them bogus union jobs.
I have more sympathy for veterans than I do for most, especially knowing the historically inadequate job that has been done for them by the VA. No doubt, there is room for improvement.
That doesn't always mean hiring more government employees. The infrastructure and management are good places to start. It's likely due for a makeover.
There was an over site committee questioning the VA officials in charge of the suicide hotline. You all should look this up on you tube. There is data that shows those employees hired to man the hotlines are adequate at best, work from home but stats show the suicide is higher for those vets that actually speak to one of them than not. It floored me.
I am a veteran. So I went to the 🔗 link that Job cuts to VA staff are hitting Veterans especially hard… and its job cuts… infer … that staffing reductions mean Veterans suffer or kill themselves. NO. It means VA jobs are being reduced to 2019 levels. Yes if a VA employee is a veteran he or she may be unemployed.
…yes. As may anyone in any job. At anytime. In particular when you have enormous debts and deficits.
I am 100% service connected veteran. My only source of care for my serious condition is the VA. I have almost daily interaction with them and have the utmost respect for my care team. One thing I have noted since trump is that the admin side of the VA is much faster. I think there are a lot of nervous bureaucrats.
I was at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital almost daily for 10 years with my 100% disabled husband. I was really fortunate in that the Hospital was adjoined to the campus where I work. The medical team with whom I interacted were fine. Everything took a while, but the patients had patience. Some of the outsourced services were not so good.
Headline in NYT from article by Clive Irving: "So What if Elon Musk Rescued the Astronauts?"
I am speechless! Me! Mr. Bigmouth is speechless!! I hope this guy finds his car upside down when he leaves work!
Aside from Clive "Tone deaf" Irving, think about how bad this situation is: NASA sends 2 astronauts up in a spacecraft (I named it the Dura-Clunk), that barely makes it to the Space Station, and is so screwed up, it's unable to bring them home. While NASA sits on their thumbs, Musk, and the private company SpaceX, build a rescue craft, send it up there, and bring them safely home.
Space travel is very dangerous, and those astronauts know that they're taking huge risks, but when NASA can screw-the-pooch so badly, not be able to correct their terrible mistake, it takes a 3rd party to bail them out, and then the NYT prints, "So What?"... what the hell happened to my country?
I don't read the NYT, but I'd bet there was no mention of Elon offering to rescue the crew before the election and the administration declined to accept for political reasons. I, of course, say "the administration" because, let's face it, Biden's faculties were long gone.
I don't read it either. I just like to yell at the headlines. However, that's interesting! And I don't doubt it at all. Musk would've been right there.
Also, I have to add that I may have taken some license with regard to the Spacecraft Dura-Clunk. I think it's important to add that the craft that NASA built was a kind of prototype spacecraft on a test run. So everybody knew it was quite hazardous.
EDIT: Here's what happened in space. NASA sends up this craft with slight mods and two brave (putting it mildly) souls, but it's primary mission is to test the maneuvering capabilities in (I believe) very low orbit. After a successful launch, the astronauts initiated the test maneuvers, and things went to shit real fast. Rumour has it, they barely made it out. The craft was so severely damaged it could not make it back through the atmosphere. That's why they needed another spacecraft.
Holy Crap!!! It just dawned on me that if not for the International Space Station, those two unbelievable human beings, some of the best we have among us, would've died drifting out in space, because their spacecraft could not penetrate Earth's atmosphere. And NASA didn't care enough to have a second spacecraft at the ready before they put those two in Harm's Way. I'm giving a BIG shoutout to The Lord, on this one!!! Amen!!
You want to know what made me think, "Oh, shit! This could be a girl! What did my dumbass do?" It's a screen wallpaper that comes up every so often. It's this awesome picture of a single tardigrade, filling almost the entire screen, hanging out on some moss. I went back to my computer, and there it was, I looked at it, and it just looked so feminine. I thought, "Oh, shit!"
Tardigrade, I'm sorry if you got my original one without my little joke. I'm a guy. I'm a guy that women love to hate. I don't know why. I was too stupid to take advantage of if when i was young, and now I have morals, but I'm still that idiot at heart.
The article was full of speculation and accusations. And, again with the millions to research. That money could be spent to actually help veterans in need.
The va has historically been accused of incompetence we can no longer accept the status quo. Throwing money and jobs at it has not resolved the efficiency.
Bury the problem under layers of taxpayer-provided cash, so deep that it ceases to be a visible problem. - Mission Statement, Your Friendly Neighborhood Government Agency
I’m a veteran and I support the cutback in the workforce. I e noticed at the va hospital that there are not just federal police, but a huge number of security guards left over from Covid, and they do nothing. It’s a jobs program. Those vets don’t represent me. The VFW keeps asking for me to sign a petition and I’m not doing it. We are $36 trillion in debt and we are running $2 trillion over the budget every year. The interest on the debt is $1 trillion every year, which puts it ahead of defense spending as one of the biggest outlays of money. I don’t hear the VA complaining about that even though they know that interest payments that high mean veterans services will eventually get cut. The leadership of the vfw are all lefties anyways and I have moved away from that position. Sometimes you sacrifice for your country more than once. I’m worried about the country we are leaving these young folks. We owe it to them to right this ship.
Post open-heart surgery my husband (VN 1966-1968, combat disabled) was supposed to have some home visits. He was over 2x my size, so I needed help. Home visits were contracted out to the most useless team who had an order to make 30 visits. They came 2x and I heard them say on their phone--"wife can do it." I tried to talk to someone at the VA hospital and they told me they had no control over the contractors. I did get help from VFW volunteers on mobility. The VA hospital was fine, but post-op was a challenge. Minimally the contracting of some VA services could be reviewed.
I've heard from people who are involved with the VA that it comes down to the hospital. Some VA facilities are very competently run, some are not. That tells me that there is 'leadership' at the VA that needs to be replaced.
I was seen by 3 different systems in PA, MI, and FL. Yes, it certainly does make a difference where you live.
This is the opportunity for SUBSCRIPTION JOURNALISM to earn its bones. Bringing a rational conversation with factual reports to the still polarized DNC/GOP Trump bad sideshow will lay the groundwork for the healthy human American solutions based reality We the People deserve and must demand. The VA saved my life spiritually, mentally and physically. The Trump/Musk carnival is not the slow rational application of reform within all Federal networks that we voted for. Within VA health care some "community care" options are appropriate, and within VA hospitals themselves variability in service could and should be considered for upgrade and change. It's not a money problem it is an entirely fixable management/competence/professionalism problem. The USAID reveal is evidence. Huge amounts of payoff tax largesse syphoned into the coffers of virtue signaling connected party line political hacks is idiocy. Elon needs to go home. Trump is reprieve not salvation. We the People have been held hostage to the D.C./Wall Street/Davos criminal financial grift for far too long.
It is understandable that after DNC/Soros/Clinton/Obama Russia Gate Trump would hit the ground running. But the present view of D.C. from the citizen beach head is every bit as MSM/spook land/DNC "everything means everything so nothing means anything" opaque as ever. This fight is about the the survival of our Republic, our lives, our labor, our treasure and the future of our children. Trump was elected because of the truthful light SUBSCRIPTION JOURNALISM allowed to expose the LIE attempting to overwhelm us and our Republic's Constitution. MORE LIGHT PLEASE!!
I agree with your sentiments, generally speaking, and I'm glad that the VA was able to help you. I know the VA has helped many veterans, and many are just like I was - they have nowhere else to go. Also, my VA experience was not a complete flop, they helped me too. But there are big debilating gaps in-between what they do good.
I believe the main problem as I stated already, is the government bureaucracy and compartmentism. If you're seeing one doc, or maybe docs that communicate, that's probably good. But I saw numerous specialists that didn't seem to know what was done, and they didn't seem to care. I once had to update a lab order, no kidding, because the doc just did a standard bloodwork order, when even I knew he needed more than that, and what the heck do I know? It seemed the whole process was on my shoulders and I was not well. Just making appts was hard, and the VA punishes vets for missing appts. However, It sounds like you're well and I'm well... Isn't that a line from Dr. Strangelove?
I also agree that Trump is a stop-gap measure. He's certainly not the answer, at least not yet. But I think slash-and-burn is necessary right now. I believe things are so bad, the best move is a controlled burn. Then go in after and try and salvage what's good.
VA aside, how much is just the general dumbing down of American competence across the board and, what I see as intentional, the disintegration of the demand for merit and ability in all trades and professions. Most economists who claim to know point to the Gordon Gekko "because it's wreckable " philosophy that allows the looting and profit taking of industry and institutions without a requirement for stewardship and accountability. As in '08 a rigged game economics that builds nothing and only takes. Pension funds and lives are destroyed. In my own view the USAID reveal confirmed the reality that so called "woke" and avaricious capitalism were joined at the hip. Claiming virtue they were both immoral actors who served one another's interest and lined their pockets through deception,
obfuscation and fraud. The forces creating the LIE and the power of the LIE itself, not to mention the economic consequences, was bound to wound the American psyche and distort American reality. The LIE itself was so powerful and destructive it brought about the birth of SUBSCRIPTION JOURNALISM which I hope will recapture and re-establish the healthy fact/truth based American national conversation We the People deserve.
LOL 😂, friggin word salad! You sound like Kamala Harris.
I agree with Ollo. You don't make any contribution whatever. He served the country. You're a vandal.
You know, it's people like you that ruin it for everyone else. Did you know that? Did you know that we're surrounded by countries that despise Americans, partly because Americans don't know how to communicate in a civil manner? People like you?
Providing basic, or better than satisfactory, care is the lowest of bars. I came off a Zoom call earlier today with a bunch of male seniors. I and one other have a BMI of 22, (I'm ex-military, the other is a cyclist.) Our friends feel no need to discipline their diets, sleep, and activity levels, all of which are critical the older we get. And what kind of examples are they setting?
The problem of individual responsibility is just as severe in education/literacy. Kids aren't going to read if their parents don't read, and many parents can't, period. Cash in education works well when parents are fully involved. Without the parents, no amount of cash will do much, except in rare cases.
An incentive program to increase the literacy levels of adults of all ages, especially parents/care givers (TAX BREAKS!!!) is an idea whose time has now come. Mental, emotional, and spiritual health are very bit as vital a physical health. I can't think my way into a healthier way of living, but I can live my way into a healthier way of thinking.
COVID was the first good chance we had to reverse the morbidity which is destroying the lives and children and adults alike. Let kids graduate high school with grade-level and above skills, work, marry, start a family and have kids of their own. Exercise, eat right, stop taking pills and virtually all social ills disappear, thus freeing up all the funds we need to provide the health care and support you and your husband require.
We need to do much better this time round. (I'm a fan of your work, btw. Many thanks!)
My doctors father in law still works at 70 in the VA. He only needs to log in 4 hours a day, works from home and get 12 weeks vacation. He says why quit. Only in government can you get away with this !
Is he working part-time? So he is paid for part-time? That might be OK for older person.
No he is not. He’s been a full time employee for 40 years at VA
Wow...
Thank you for your common sense comment. It carries a lot of weight with me, coming from a veteran. I support wide reaching comprehensive benefits for veterans. However, every agency needs auditing and could probably do more with less staff. They may benefit from improving some automation as DOGE has been suggesting to many agencies. Personnel costs generally make up the biggest category of costs on a business profit and loss statement. Yes, totally agree about the debt and deficit.
Agreed,more money for benefits, improvement in automation, ie upgrade computers and computer operating systems. Cuts to personnel are imperative as most of the "personnel" are administrative. These are the people making sure every new rule and regulation the bureaucratic state pushes to the agencies to follow.(whether they like it or need it). I saw something similar when my aging mother fell and broke her femur. She went to a Nursing Home to "rehabilitate" her leg. What I saw was 2 young attendants and one nurse caring for approx. 20 patients. While 6-8 administrative "personnel" handled paperwork. (Medicaid/medicare at work)
My point is DOGE every part of gov't. Find all possible waste wherever , if we need to add people or services we can,when and IF NEEDED!
I can only imagine that the waste in the VA programs is every bit as bad as it is in other government "managed" agencies. Biden's idea of "job creation", as the Democratic administrations before him, is to simply expand their voting base by using tax dollars to add unneeded workers to federal "jobs". It's kinda like when the mob controls the unions and "creates" jobs as favors. While the Democrats might not ask anyone to whack somebody, as a returned favor, they damn well expect your vote and support!
The US government has been the largest employer since 2020 and a decent amount of our GDP is generated by their never ending additions of administrative work.
I wish more Americans had your sentiments. I'm a veteran that went through a health crisis when my only healthcare was the VA. It's not a good story. Current VA healthcare isn't bad, but it's got many problems. The compartmentalized nature of government is a huge detriment to VA healthcare. Each specialist I saw knew nothing about what the last specialist diagnosed, and the only caring staff I ever saw, were the nurses. They were great! The rest of them? My feeling is if they could speak their mind it would be something like this: "This job wouldn't be so damn bad, if it wasn't for all these damn sick people!"
The VA is great for vets that aren't sick. I mean that sincerely. The VA has a darn good wellness program, and plenty of satellite clinics. However, if you need to actually see a doctor, that's when it can get difficult. Doctors are only located at VA hospitals, and if you live close to one, great, but if you don't... I was seen for 2 years by 3 different systems in PA, MI, and FL, and I was always over a one hour drive away from a doctor. And they don't seem to care about patients. I refer to VA healthcare as "the DMV of healthcare", and everybody knows what torture it is to walk into a DMV.
I eventually abandonded the VA and did my own research. I got illegal prescriptions and tried all kinds of crap. I got well enough to limp along for a few years until my Medicare kicked in, and they took care of me in a jiffy.
When my father-in-law (who retired from the Army Reserve as a "full bird colonel") became too feeble to be left alone for hours at a time, his choices were the VA, a nursing home, or coming to live with us in another state. He really wanted to stay in his home state, but a nursing home would have cost more every month than his combined social security AND military pension, and he wasn't about to let Uncle Sam have his savings. He ended up coming to live with us.
He said "Absolutely not" to the VA home.
Navy retired and I completely agree. My experience with the VA is that there aren't enough doctors to cover the patients. Perhaps with cuts to support staff there will be $ available to hire more doctors or maybe do away with the VA completely. Our debt is unsustainable and if something doesn't change, we're leaving a mess to the younger generations.
Well said. Thank you.
Veterans? Or paid protesters and union thugs?
Wow, 2019 levels? How horrible.
Something tells me there'd be no impact to service, or, if anything, service would get better.
We should really nix the VA completely and give anyone injured during service vouchers for life.
Then, stop fighting everybody else's wars.
Look at Tunnel2Towers organization. Incredible work, positive results AND 90-92% of funds go DIRECTLY TO THE VETS/FIRST RESPONDERS!
That is what I call efficient! Which is why we need smaller gov't, let us decide where and to whom we send OUR MONEY to!!
Sorry folks, I will step down off my soapbox now!
Exactly correct. Also, Wounded Warriors. Or St. Jude. Or any number of wonderful organizations that do good without a political agenda.
American charities like those just get stuff done for the right reason. But Washington knows power politics before all else. It is why it exists.
A great organization. I donate annually.
My income is below 2019 levels.
How dare you! Are you making a veiled suggestion that logic is applicable?? 😏
I thought the same thing- what the heck happened with COVID? And this rent a mob keeps talking about January 6. Finally, they are being led by Harry Dunn whose veracity is questionable. Finally, I know people have a right to protest but is there any evidence these protests are effective or do they just annoy people even more? I think it is better to use more conventional means of persuasion in order to enact change.
Benefits eligibility were greatly expanded in 2022 under the PACT Act. Cutting funding to 2019 levels will significantly impact services across the board.
Any business or organization of any size knows a bloated work force is one of the worst possible positions to ever be in.
James,
The PACT Act is a law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. These are specific benefits that are provided for . Cuts to personnel and general funds would not (should not) have an effect on that program.
Love that idea
The pay of every employee at the VA is money that isn’t going to the veterans themselves. If an employee is worth their pay they should remain. If they are loose baggage they should be terminated. My guess is that most of the proposed layoffs will not hurt the way the VA is run and will free up funds for more important things.
Just the usual orchestrated (paid or not) "Fight Trump on every possible front" strategy of the Institutionalized Progressive Left.
Yes. Made this observation yesterday on the Alien Enemies Act post. Democrat opposition that cries “wolf” at everything loses the ability to be credible if and when there is a wolf.
If the party had real principles, they’d pick their battles and focus their fire on Trump admin actions that really violate their core principles. If they’re just about exercising raw power and destroying their enemies, then you’d expect them to take a carpet bomb strategy. Which is what we are seeing.
The assumption that losing jobs in a huge government beaucracry is a bad thing is simply wrong.
As a veteran I am personally sick and tied of being “used” and betrayed by this indolent nation that doesn’t give a damn for us. You can cut the VA back by at least 100,000 if you brought up the standard of care and ran the hospitals and systems properly. But the country doesn’t run them properly because it doesn’t care about us and doesn’t care to. So anyone and everyone with the “thank you for service” hand jive and bromide can sail away to never never land. The young men and women returning from the GWOT forever wars are dying at the rapid rate. Many take their brown paper bag of “happy pills” to their car in the parking lot at the local VA hospital and commit suicide. We are at 22 vets a day maybe the nation should look introspectively at itself and ask is this the best we can do for the 1% of the nation that serve and served? Get to the bottom of the dysfunction and maybe you solve the problems. Otherwise the country is wasting everyone’s time and more veterans will take the easy route to Valhalla. Odin will welcome them even if we won’t. This effort to use veterans to slow the corrections needed across the board in bealth care is just one more hyper cynical effort by the blob to hang to power and money. It needs to stop and the corrections need be made.
This post made me cry.
Amen brother
If you look around, most don't care about ANYONE except themselves. Look at how dirty ALL Hospitals are today. Look at the streets, trash everywhere. Americans take no pride in anything today. Especially our Veterans who kept their promises. We will be judged at how we treat these good folks.
I'm seeing an awful lot of professionally printed signs, flags, and shirts lately.
I think we all know this is leftist-financed outrage. Enough Karaoke already.
Definitely kabuki actors.
Not sure it has changed but when my father was dying of cancer his VA oncologist had the bedside manner of a moron. We got Dad as far away as possible from that hospital. I think we should shut down all VA hospitals in a gradual manner and pay for our veterans to go to their hospital of choice. I’m sure there are some good doctors there but no Doctor graduating medical school says “I would love to work for the VA!”
I'm sure your story is one of many, and sadly, the standard of care under the VA is severely lacking. That won't be solved by privatization IMO. As we have seen from Medicare and Medicaid fraud, there are plenty of unscrupulous doctors, clinics and hospitals standing by, greedily rubbing their paws together, just praying for a chance to feed from the government teat. Ending Federal job "security" and enforcing accountability is the foremost priority.
Look at their student loans - have a program where working at a VA hospital is highly sought after and prestigious AND pays off loans at a much faster rate than usual options.
Make it like the military academies - tuition is free but you owe the country time, not just money, after you get your degree.
If successful, expand the program to promote work in primary care clinics and community hospitals
Must be a catch! That sounds like it makes too much sense. Why a totally separate infrastructure for Veterans?
Yeah my dad was also, towards the end though.
My dad got sepsis in one va hospital. That’s what eventually killed him.
I’m sorry Janet!
WW2 Vet. Best dad ever.
No doubt , member of the greatest generation! Keep his memory alive!
Godspeed! 🙏🙏🙏🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
So sorry for your loss.
83,000 people have been added since 2019? That's absurd, given their level of competence. The unions and Organized Crime run the Democratic Party's constant addition of employees, many of them bogus union jobs.
Something tells me that the 83,000 number includes a lot of DEI types.
I have more sympathy for veterans than I do for most, especially knowing the historically inadequate job that has been done for them by the VA. No doubt, there is room for improvement.
That doesn't always mean hiring more government employees. The infrastructure and management are good places to start. It's likely due for a makeover.
There was an over site committee questioning the VA officials in charge of the suicide hotline. You all should look this up on you tube. There is data that shows those employees hired to man the hotlines are adequate at best, work from home but stats show the suicide is higher for those vets that actually speak to one of them than not. It floored me.
Seriously, what is the business justification for hiring this many people post 2019?
I am a veteran. So I went to the 🔗 link that Job cuts to VA staff are hitting Veterans especially hard… and its job cuts… infer … that staffing reductions mean Veterans suffer or kill themselves. NO. It means VA jobs are being reduced to 2019 levels. Yes if a VA employee is a veteran he or she may be unemployed.
…yes. As may anyone in any job. At anytime. In particular when you have enormous debts and deficits.
This is nonsense. I am a veteran.
No one promised us a job for life.
Nor do I trust activists.
VA Staffing apparently grew 20% just in one term of Biden? I'm with Justsum Guy above, who said "Wow, 2019 levels? How horrible."
Using PBS as a source? Really?
I am 100% service connected veteran. My only source of care for my serious condition is the VA. I have almost daily interaction with them and have the utmost respect for my care team. One thing I have noted since trump is that the admin side of the VA is much faster. I think there are a lot of nervous bureaucrats.
I was at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital almost daily for 10 years with my 100% disabled husband. I was really fortunate in that the Hospital was adjoined to the campus where I work. The medical team with whom I interacted were fine. Everything took a while, but the patients had patience. Some of the outsourced services were not so good.
Headline in NYT from article by Clive Irving: "So What if Elon Musk Rescued the Astronauts?"
I am speechless! Me! Mr. Bigmouth is speechless!! I hope this guy finds his car upside down when he leaves work!
Aside from Clive "Tone deaf" Irving, think about how bad this situation is: NASA sends 2 astronauts up in a spacecraft (I named it the Dura-Clunk), that barely makes it to the Space Station, and is so screwed up, it's unable to bring them home. While NASA sits on their thumbs, Musk, and the private company SpaceX, build a rescue craft, send it up there, and bring them safely home.
Space travel is very dangerous, and those astronauts know that they're taking huge risks, but when NASA can screw-the-pooch so badly, not be able to correct their terrible mistake, it takes a 3rd party to bail them out, and then the NYT prints, "So What?"... what the hell happened to my country?
I don't read the NYT, but I'd bet there was no mention of Elon offering to rescue the crew before the election and the administration declined to accept for political reasons. I, of course, say "the administration" because, let's face it, Biden's faculties were long gone.
I don't read it either. I just like to yell at the headlines. However, that's interesting! And I don't doubt it at all. Musk would've been right there.
Also, I have to add that I may have taken some license with regard to the Spacecraft Dura-Clunk. I think it's important to add that the craft that NASA built was a kind of prototype spacecraft on a test run. So everybody knew it was quite hazardous.
EDIT: Here's what happened in space. NASA sends up this craft with slight mods and two brave (putting it mildly) souls, but it's primary mission is to test the maneuvering capabilities in (I believe) very low orbit. After a successful launch, the astronauts initiated the test maneuvers, and things went to shit real fast. Rumour has it, they barely made it out. The craft was so severely damaged it could not make it back through the atmosphere. That's why they needed another spacecraft.
Holy Crap!!! It just dawned on me that if not for the International Space Station, those two unbelievable human beings, some of the best we have among us, would've died drifting out in space, because their spacecraft could not penetrate Earth's atmosphere. And NASA didn't care enough to have a second spacecraft at the ready before they put those two in Harm's Way. I'm giving a BIG shoutout to The Lord, on this one!!! Amen!!
Wasn't the Dura-Clunk built by Boeing, not NASA?
You want to know what made me think, "Oh, shit! This could be a girl! What did my dumbass do?" It's a screen wallpaper that comes up every so often. It's this awesome picture of a single tardigrade, filling almost the entire screen, hanging out on some moss. I went back to my computer, and there it was, I looked at it, and it just looked so feminine. I thought, "Oh, shit!"
Tardigrade, I'm sorry if you got my original one without my little joke. I'm a guy. I'm a guy that women love to hate. I don't know why. I was too stupid to take advantage of if when i was young, and now I have morals, but I'm still that idiot at heart.
Turns out that IRL I'm an old lady, but I chose an avatar that's non-specific as to sex. No offense meant, no offense taken.
You are correct, Sir! (and I mean "Sir" in a euphemistic way, not in a sex identity way, lol)
The article was full of speculation and accusations. And, again with the millions to research. That money could be spent to actually help veterans in need.
The va has historically been accused of incompetence we can no longer accept the status quo. Throwing money and jobs at it has not resolved the efficiency.
PBS really?
Throwing money and jobs at any problem has become the federal solution of choice. It ALWAYS makes things worse, NEVER better.
Bury the problem under layers of taxpayer-provided cash, so deep that it ceases to be a visible problem. - Mission Statement, Your Friendly Neighborhood Government Agency
Until it comes seeping back out of the saturated ground