Saturday, June 23, 2007

3.8 Million Dollars Bonus To VA Employees


See Original Story

The Veterans Administration are getting bonuses in the tune of 3.8 million dollars, while soldiers are still waiting for payments.

Freshman Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL), who serves on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, last week called for the resignation of VA Secretary Jim Nicholson. Hare and others are steaming over the latest reports that $3.8 million in bonuses were given to senior officials at the embattled Veterans Administration in 2006. Among those given bonuses—as much as $33,000 each—were regional directors who wrote the VA's faulty 2005 budget, which government investigators have concluded was laden with misleading accounting that included claiming for false savings of $1.3 billion. On Friday, Rep. John Hall, Democrat of New York, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance, said he was introducing legislation that would freeze all future bonus payments to VA officials until the department cuts the backlog of veteran claims from the current number, between 400,000 and 600,000, to under 100,000.

The VA is saying that these kinds of payments are simply necessary to retain hard-working, quality career officials.

Rep. Hare said; "There are veterans out there with outstanding disability claims who are reading about these bonuses and concluding that the government really doesn’t care about them, or their service or their families. This is a very poor message to send to the nation. We’ve really had to push this administration, which is so quick to put our men and women in harm’s way but so reluctant to assist them once they return."

"There are many homeless veterans out there, as well, and I can only imagine how many of them we could feed for $3.8 million. Secretary Nicholson comes before our committee and paints a rosy picture to the veterans and consistently praises this administration’s VA budget, even while he calls for a $2 million cut in the prosthetics budget. And, at the same time, he gives out bonuses to VA officials that amounts to nearly twice that amount."

"This guy [Nicholson] is the former head of the Republican National Committee. I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or Republican or Independent or Libertarian, as head of the VA you should answer to the veterans first. This is just another example of this administration politicizing every department of the government."

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, said the House has sent Bush a $64.7 billion spending bill to fund Veterans Affairs. That includes a $6 billion increase for veterans' health care, $3.8 billion more than Bush had requested, Edwards said.

"For weeks, the White House budget office threatened to veto this bill, because it was above their request," Edwards said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. "Fortunately, the president finally backed down on his threat to this historic veterans' bill, but only after it was clear that Congress would override a veto."

Fascist regimes make constant use of patriotic slogans, such as "if you are not for us, you are against us." Well just whom in Bush's Administration acts as if they are for us?

They take advantage of our Vets, while they pay themselves nice sums of money in a nice peaceful working environment.

What say you?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

We wrote about this awhile back. It is another chapter in the book titled "Heckuva Job."

Leo said...

It's been pretty obvious for a long time that Bush and his cronies could careless about our troops. All they care about is MONEY, making it for themselves and for all of their politically connected, rich buddies. It's disgusting.

Larry said...

What a pathetic mess Bush has made of the military and of thos country.

Nearly 2 million veterans are without healthcare.

Bush has his money rolling in and he and his "Pickled" up wife have the best healthcare our tax dollars can buy.

LET'S TALK said...

Yes jollyroger, I've been sitting back with it in my notebook trying not to post it. I feel now that most Americans are unaware of this and should know about it since this President seems fit to extend the troops stay again in Iraq.

I recorded this video and thought it was also about time I put the story to it.

leo, your view of Bush seems to be the same way I see it...making money off the back of the troops, why they relax and rake it in.

larry, once again your statementshave gone deep into what this President has done to this country.

A pathetic mess is just what we have here.

I want bring his wife into this, but I will say that he should look around and see what his decisions are doing to other American families.

By the way I've been cleaning out my You Tube videos and have not yet decided which service I will be using now.

I like You Tube but the upload service with Google is much faster.

Suzie-Q (S-Q) said...

Our country is in need of drastic change and we the people must change it!

The people deserve better than this.

LET'S TALK said...

We really do Q, and yes WE the people must change it somehow.

Coffee Messiah said...

It's performance like this that makes me wonder why no one is making a stink and doing anything about it.

So much of our money wasted, while life here gets worse and worse.

Unbelievable! ; (

LET'S TALK said...

Coffee Messiah, I cant understand how we are saying , yes we are for the troops and in every case they are pushed to the back of everything so money can be used for something else.

DivaJood said...

A friend of mine volunteers at the VA in Long Beach - he says the returning soldiers are a mess, mentally and physically, but they are really being ignored. It's a travesty.

Larry said...

40% of all homeless males are veterans of the military.

30% of all homeless veterans were in Iraq or Afganistan.

Looks like Bush cares for the troops just like we thought.

Fans and Friends of Lydia Cornell said...

Wow, I love your sites. Thank you for your comment on my blog. We need more spiritual Truth and real Christians who know that God is Love.

God Bless you,
Lyda

Holly said...

Hey guys, did you see that Newscorp made 10 billion and paid no taxes, isn't that who owns Fox

LET'S TALK said...

DivaJood, now that's sad to hear about the Vets.

Why don't we hear about this from our NEWS MEDIA... why don't America know about all of this?

Larry, 26% of America still thinks our President is doing the right thing by our Vets... what a sad state, when people still support this man when it's a known fact that he don't care about our troops.

Thanks Lydia Cornell, it is a very good feeling when I can go to your site and feel warth and peace and your site brings that for me.

Holly, Rupert Murdoch owns FOX and Newscorp. This guy got the Congress to pass rules to allow him to have 39 news outlets in the US, when there was only suppose to be 35.

Holly said...

Has anyone seen the letter from a soldier in Iraq that is on Lydia Cornells blog

Real_PHV_Mentarch said...

As I have said, before: "incompetents and their priorities" ...

Q.E.D.

LET'S TALK said...

Holly, I've seen and read it and left a comment.

Mentarch, incompetents is just what this became.

Tom Harper said...

This is how the Right "supports" the troops. All they're good for is cannon fodder. When they get injured or disabled they get tossed aside like yesterday's newspaper.

Who Hijacked Our Country

Snave said...

Hey, that Jimmy Nicholson... he's doing a heckuva job!

Arrrgh...

LET'S TALK said...

Yes tom harper you are right and yesterdays newspaper ends up on the street or in the garbage.

Snave our President sure can pick em. Nicholson is a friend and supporter that had to be rewarded by this President.