Every President seems to come into office promising to fix the VA once and for all. Obama was no different. He actually increased VA spending. He also appointed General Eric Shinsecki, a retired four star general and former Chief of Staff of the Army. One would have expected better results. Instead we are discovering that some people, actually a lot of people, at the VA are falsifying records to create the illusion of providing good service. The situation is so bad that there is bi-partisan outrage. No one in either party even pretends that this is acceptable.
I doubt seriously that this particular problem was actually Obama’s fault. I am not sure there is much he could have done differently. But, it is still his problem for one simple reason. At a time when everyone is demanding answers from someone they can trust, no one trusts Obama. I haven’t heard anyone in either party even pretend that Obama is capable of fixing this. They probably won’t even ask his opinion. They certainly won’t ask for his leadership.
Obama could fire Shinseki and it wouldn’t matter. He could appoint someone else to investigate and it wouldn’t matter. He could give a public speech on why he is outraged and it wouldn’t matter. Actually, he has already tried some of this. Today Obama held another, press briefing to say he was on top of this. Nice, but he said the same thing back in 2008. Nothing Obama can say or do is remotely relative. That is the problem.
The VA is the second largest government department, after the Department of Defense. It employs nearly 280,000 people. The 2012 budget was $132 billion and the proposed 2014 budget is $157.2 billion. If money could fix the VA it would have been fixed. If adding more people or spending more money on great computer programs could fix the VA it would have been fixed. Obama is hardly the first President to try and fix the VA and fail miserably. The real lesson here is that government management of the VA is the problem. As long as we rely on the federal government to manage the VA health care system we are going to see the same results.
The big lie that Obama told was that big government works. It doesn’t. It never has. It never will. It hasn’t worked anytime, anyplace it has been tried. The bigger the government the bigger the problem. That is why the VA is so important. It is the biggest of the big and it is a total mess, again. The real problem with the VA is that the government is trying to fix the problem. Obama is a case study on why big government has not, will not and cannot work. It also doesn’t help that Obama was so self-righteous about it:
Obama 2007:
“After seven years of an Administration that has stretched our military to the breaking point, ignored deplorable conditions at some VA hospitals, and neglected the planning and preparation necessary to care for our returning heroes, America’s veterans deserve a President who will fight for them not just when it’s easy or convenient, but every hour of every day for the next four years.”
Obama 2012:
“For the first time ever, we’ve made military families and veterans a top priority not just at DOD, not just at the VA, but across the government.”
Obama 2014:
What was that again, I just learned about it on the news? (Ok. I paraphrased this)
The VA scandal matters for another very important reason. The sharks are in the water, they are circling in desperate search of prey. The main stream media is on it and they are openly soliciting anyone who works at the VA to contact them and tell the story. They did not do that with regard to Benghazi. They did not do that with regard to Fast & Furious. They did not do that with regard to the IRS targeting scandal. But they are sure doing it now and it won’t stop with the VA. For the first time whistle blowers in the Obama administration have been given the all clear to come out of the woodwork and they are going to arrive in droves. This will be similar to what happened when Tiger Wood’s wife chased him off the road with an 8 iron. This type of story, like a big forest fire, will start generating its own wind. The Camel’s nose is under the Obama administration tent and it will never ever be the same.
TDM
Put Lee Iacoca in charge of the VA. Retired officers from the military only understand unlimited budgets to conquer a foe and covering their asses in case of mistakes along the line. Thats as bad as trying to declass a Postman as a Medical Dr. Putting retired military in charge of running anything non military has never worked! Put a medicare card in the soldiers pockets along with a reputable medigap plan like retired government employees get with no deductable and no premium to pay which covers all military related problems. They could then get good care at any private hospital in a timely manor. Finance it with the billions earmarked for the VA. It would have to work better than the government run system Drs. and hospitals.