IG: Mystery VA Employee Goof Costs Taxpayers $2 Million
OIG just confirmed malfeasance by at least one VA employee that resulted in $2 million being flushed down the toilet for a canceled e-learning project.
The Department of Veterans Affairs wasted $2 million on an e-learning contract that was terminated at the convenience of the government. No employee was named in the report so the waste will likely go unpunished.
What caused such a decision and unfortunate waste of taxpayer dollars?
A lack of coordination between two offices within the agency forced the contract into a death spiral. Fees and penalties for unproductive work performed was the end product VA purchased. Basically, the right hand within VA did not know what the left hand within VA was doing. As a result, veterans lost $2 million from the budget with nothing to show for it.
Will anyone be held accountable?
This is unlikely. As previously stated, the report named no one for the failed coordination between the right hand and the left hand. Despite government contracting 101 that requires coordination, VA has apparently ignored the norms without accountability.
What would happen in corporate America? At least one head would roll.
But what is $2 million when we are busy wasting over $1 billion on a fancy hospital in Colorado?
VA EMPLOYEE MALFEASANCE
According to the VA OIG report summary:
“In March 2015, U.S. Senator Mark Warner requested the Office of Inspector General evaluate an allegation that a task order to develop e-learning courses for the supply chain workforce was improperly terminated. We did not substantiate that VA’s decision to terminate the e-learning task order was improper, as the Federal Acquisition Regulation provides broad latitude for termination for convenience of the Government. In February 2014, VA awarded the e learning task order for approximately $2.8 million. In September 2014, Office of Logistics and Supply Chain Management (OLSCM) officials determined the development of the e learning training was not meeting its needs because the curriculum included courses not needed and did not include sufficient content. OLSCM officials decided to use existing VA online training. In February 2015, the task order was terminated for the convenience of the Government after paying the contractor approximately $1.9 million, which included settlement fees of approximately $56,000. According to the contracting officer’s representative, the $1.9 million was spent on various deliverables, including project management, quality assurance, curriculum, implementation and evaluation plans, a curriculum design document, a prototype, weekly progress reports, and eight courses in various stages of completion. The termination occurred because of the lack of coordination between Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy (VAAA) and OLSCM to identify Office of Acquisition and Logistics’ e learning training needs and the best method to deliver that instruction. VAAA’s personnel developed the e learning requirement without coordinating the development with OLSCM. VA logistics policy and training is the responsibility of OLSCM. If the planning of the task order had been properly coordinated between VAAA and OLSCM, it might not have resulted in the termination of the task order and the payment of approximately $1.9 million for supply management courseware that was not completed. We recommended the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Logistics implement a mechanism to ensure proper coordination between VAAA and OLSCM when developing logistics training. The Principal Executive Director, Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction concurred with our recommendation. The Principal Executive Director provided evidence of the agreement made to ensure proper coordination when developing logistics training. We consider the recommendation closed.”
Source: https://www.va.gov/oig/publications/report-summary.asp?id=3788
VA SEWAGE RATS VA DC HQ BUDGET FOR 2017 182 BILLION $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ THE VA RATS ARE DOGS IN HEAT TO STEAL MOST OF THE $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Keep dreaming.
Killary is going down folks!!! The wiki leaks is also holding back on more emails to bury her, don’t know when they are planning on letting the rest go public! Can’t wait!!!
This must be where common core math curriculum originated. Only someone covering scandalous bonuses and false pretense for payouts would be so assanine and not be accountable in the same wasteful decisions. And we just read the article, get angry and on to the next website? I’msick of this type of disgusting overpayment. There should be a law in place in the OIG office that balance of the funds paid out has to be made, accounting for every cent prior to ANY bonus, prior to any furtherance of sector/department. If there are no checks and balances, the balance must be reallocated to home the veterans with no home, to educate in voc-rehab, to fund vehicle and home alterations for our servicemen and to grow our opportunities. We are short $2 million…..Who the effectis accountable? I say the person who released the funds. Paper trails are what government projects are made of. Follow the trail, get the funds back and if funds aren’tliquid, use the materials purchased in another program. If we as veterans are unable to use it, then there are people in these united states that can. For flips sake, someone stand up.
Keep Dreaming.
@ Craig Files: Say man, do you know where we would be WITHOUT Trump being in the Race– mostly likely with Jebby & Hitlary, both with the same f___ed up agenda that has the Country in the mess it is in now!! If that is the kind of shit you want I really feel sorry for you. To quote namnibor:” First evening of Fall and strong scent of rotten cabbage stains the air again.” @91 Veteran “Yet the VA can blatantly kill veterans & everybody yawns” Speaks VOLUMES–Thanks !
You are cursing a lot of other people that believe in Hillary to the consequences of your failed ideology. I expect Secretary Clinton won’t destroy Obamacare. I have no expectations of her otherwise.
How am I letting you drag me into this and waste my time with anything like this which is completely useless to disabled vets.
The title of the website phished me in, now you gotta” deal.
Do not think you fully comprehend what that word means used in your phrase; “phished me in”, given the context you utilize it with. You have a choice to click or not click. No website is a bear trap or snare. But a broken snare drum can sound quite noisy and irritating when trying to play in style of Trap. (sarcasm intended=you’re acting like an entitled petulant child)
Phisher has no ability to comprehend what he reads, so he believes he is repeatedly lured in like a Sucker phish to this and any other site.
Then he turns into a Blow phish once he realizes not every web site on the interwebs is not a shrine to Granny Grifter.
He needs to swim back to HuffPo where he will be at home with the other Carp feeding off the bottom.
I clicked on what I thought would be good reliable information; not your right wing tripe. As I am always trying to find good information, your right wing tripe is something hate wasting my time on to get to good info.
It also makes one want to immediately dismiss everything in this site. I have found a little good info here so I check for new developments. You are just an annoyance.
I meant Coley, sorry
Hi Jo3n,
There are a few pieces of the puzzle that I need to finish before completing it. When I speak to soon the pieces start disappearing off the web before I complete the picture.
But a great Question.
I should state that on the outside looking in Coley seems to be legit. It is the action of the VA that are improper.
I believe in God, unions can be good. The afge isn’t, or shouldn’t be allowed to operate in a way directly that violates laws, common sense, and the Constitution. It’s just wrong. It would appear that the IRS would be interested in Coley&associates, but they busy answering to congress. Mr Haggstrom, I did a bit of checking, doesn’t appear to be that smart. So, I followed the Klearly story, and believe it. So, we gave Foley the money, and withdrew from the commitment, but can’t get the money back. Because?
Seymore, 91Veteran, namnibor. Here’s something you, and others, might get a kick out of!
A brand new, 22 Sept. 2016, Utube video of the “Oversight Committee”!
Title to google on Utube!
“Breaking News: Hillary Clinton Top Email Architect Found To Be In Contempt of Congress”
Looks like Pagliano just might be in a little trouble. (Pagliano has six attorneys. I wonder who’s paying their fees?!) Especially, after Cooper decided to “sing like a birdie” last week.
The “count” wasn’t unanimous. But it did pass the committee! Now it goes in front of the House! The likelyhood of it passing the House is very good!
And, like Rep. Chaffetz said, “Refusing to comply with a subpoena…” isn’t a choice he had (paraphrasing the last part)!
In actuality, Pagliano refused to comply with multiple subpoena’s. I believe he’s refused to comply with three so far.
Plus, it’s been reported the committee hasn’t seen the “immunity deal” he, or any of the IT specialists, received from the DOJ. So, there’s still a chance he may be “compelled to testify!”
Here’s another fact. Pagliano never received the proper authority to “work for the State Department”, as is required by law. As did none of the other IT specialists!
Plus, every one of those IT specialists never had any security clearances! Another violation of many federal laws.
Another big time breach of many federal laws, was when Hillary, Abidine and Mills allowed Hillary’s attorneys, who never had security clearances, view “Classified Materials”!
And, it looks like there might have been multiple breaches of highly classified sensitive material, (SAP), from that “unsecured server”! As is being found out through the newly released 14,900 emails.
It just keeps getting deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole for all those involved!
Something one might consider before going into the voting booth!
You are really reaching here. How does this help veterans?
Hey Elf,
Watched the vide appreciate the post. Clearly the voting didn’t have anything to do with right or wrong, justice or injustice, but solely on party lines. Clearly the democrats do not want the truth to come out.
I have voted democratic in the past but there is no way I will even consider voting for any democrat in the future.
Thank You, Seymore!
I thought you would appreciate that video.
This dialogue has zero information helping disabled vets.
How does this help disabled veterans?
Hey Ben,
How about routing the troll to the sandbox.
Hey brother, let’s not “feed” him tonight.
You really need to get an open mind.
Idea: Knowing how the POTUS is Cmdr. In Chief and ultimately presides over the VA and seeing how personal bias has prevented the DOJ from even doing their jobs, by direction of the POTUS, it would seem logical a legal argument could be made for this very reason the VA OIG should truly be *independent* from VA and OIG reports to The Speaker of House or someone other than the POTUS, so Veterans can be truly represented and truly protected by a true Inspector General office and here’s the clincher…replace each and everyone of the current regime VA OIG with Disabled or otherwise Veterans that have served and done so Honorably. Then start cleaning house. Whomever the VA OIG reports to should effectively be whomever at the FBI establishes events on the scale of the Gen. Ollie North Preceding and the POTUS and DOJ cannot do a damn thing???
Does that make way too much sense? Or is the VA OIG only there to make it appear as accountability and nobody really cares in Gov’t. because we are used-up tools for Liberty? Love my USA but cannot help wondering if the VA and OIG and OSC are just marionettes in a stage show conveyor belt because nothing else actually makes any sense at this point.
Rant Out.
You will have to break a union to do that. I believe in unions. I don’t believe in unions that exist solely to perpetuate themselves.
Yes. Main course for Thanksgiving: One divorced from the VA entirely AFGE VA Employee’s Union. That is the serious poop in the pipes. AFGE President David Cox threatened VA Sec. McDonald earlier this Summer if “accountability” was included in measure to make it easier to fire their asses…he told McDonald, “I will kick your ass”….now, how’s that for your cuddly wuddly unions?
Unions are not what they used to be nor due to regulations in place these days and technology, the Unions are dinosaurs surviving through corruption just about any Union. I have been a member of a few and even in management for a short while before health hit the fan, and can tell you this malfeasance of AFGE is exactly the same with the HUGE Umbrella Union, the mighty AFL-CIO, as well as the Teamsters.
A grocery chain like Kroger for instance, ONLY allows and tolerates the Union because….it guarantees Kroger those Union Contracts that come with it….same goes for UPS and the cozy association with The Teamsters. Contracts. Slave labor unloading semi trucks and only allowed by Teamster’s Negotiated Contract with UPS to allow -1- ten minute break during the up-to 4 hour shift and it’s down to the second…get sick, you are spit out and another person feeling lucky steps into the Teamster Ant Farm unloading trucks…cuddly wuddly unions?
Union of the Snake is not just a Duran Duran song.
I seriously fart in your general direction tonight, Craig Files. 🙂
As a Democrat, it hurts to say that they may outlived their usefulness. I have worked in 3 union jobs…Kroger was one. 1st was Teamsters (I was actually lowest level supervisor here), and 6 months of IBEW.
I forgot 5 weeks at UPS, make that 4 inion jobs.
I’ve commented here before about what has happened to federal IG’s, and it is directly tied to Obama and a congress too gutless to prevent him from ignoring laws passed to insure the independence of agency IGs.
Obama fired at least 4 IGs in quick succession in 2009, including Gerald Walpin. Walpin was investigating an Obama crony Kevin Johnson, for misusing federal money. The same Kevin Johnson who just beat a protester bloody at an event in Sacremento where he is mayor.
Obama not only fired Walpin, but he or his thugs smeared Walpin to destroy his credibility. He then fired other IGs, and Congress meekly stood by and watched rather than demand Obama follow the law regarding the independence of IGs.
Other IGs quickly got the message and stopped doing their jobs, or actively participated in covering up agency scandals.
So, imagine what some whistle blowers in any agency thought when they saw IGs ignoring waste, fraud, abuse and corruption?
That lack of first oversight by IGs is what resulted in thorough corruption in many agencies, including the VA.
News on this is at the Chicago Tribune and Hotair web sites.
Thanks for that and will do some reading. Not the change I can believe in and I voted for him the first time…only the first time and have been disgusted with myself ever since. Seriously. Hillary will be more of the same but possibly on many steroids. 🙂
That is because Obamacare will eventually replace the VA.
First evening of Fall and strong scent of rotten cabbage stains the air again.
oops! I meant FDR.
Absent the facts that should be included in the report there are a few telling signs of Who the report is covering for and Why this report is covered in Whitewash for this Administration.
To provide additional information on the Contract.
~_____________________
THE COMPANY INVOLVED
The company that received the Nearly $2 Million is named Coley and are headquartered out of San Antonio, Texas. Also noted about Coley they Claim to be a verified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). Although it is worth mentioning that Coley is owned by Coley and Associates a separate entity.
See: Coley blog post at:
“https://www.coleysolutions.com/blog/index.php/index/entry/coley-selected-to-design-custom-elearning-curriculum-for-the-va-acquisition-academy-supply-chain-management-school-“
~______________________
THE PERSON WHO CANCELED THE TASK ODER
The office that created and signed for the contract is located in Denver Colorado. The person who canceled the contract was Glenn Haggstrom. According to the report the task order was terminated February 2015 and in March 2015 the VA issued a notice stating:
“”Effective today, Glenn Haggstrom, Principal Executive Director of the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction (OALC), is no longer an employee of VA. Haggstrom retired from Federal service in the midst of an investigation, initiated by VA, into delays and cost overruns associated with the design and construction of the medical center in Aurora. Haggstrom had recently been relieved of any decision-making in the Office of Construction and Facilities Management.”
See: “VA hospital construction chief Glenn Haggstrom steps down after overruns in Aurora hospital project”, by Phil Tenser, The Denver Channel – Channel 7 ABC, Mar 25, 2015
“https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/politics/va-hospital-construction-chief-glenn-haggstrom-steps-down-after-overruns-in-aurora-hospital-project-_03252015”
~_______________________
TIMING ON THE RELEASE OF THIS REPORT
The VAIG Office investigation ran from April 2015 through March 2016 and the report release coincides with the release of the report subpoenaed by Congress regarding the cost overruns at the VA hospital being built in Aurora Colorado.
This report was published and released on September 19th, 2016 and the report on the Aurora Hospital was published and released on September 21st, 2016.
See: “Review of the Alleged Improper Termination of the e-Learning Task Order”, VAOIG, September 19, 2016 at: “https://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-15-02776-240.pdf”
See also: “Review of the Replacement of the Denver Medical Center, Eastern Colorado Health Care System”, VAOIG, September 21, 2016 at: “https://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-15-03706-330.pdf”
~
________________________
ISSUES WITH BOUNUSES RECEIVED BY GLEEN HAGGSTROM
You Tube Videos posted by the House Committee on Veterans Affairs show that despite massive cost over runs at VA hospital construction sites Mr. Haggstrom received nearly $55,000 in bonuses on top of his base salary from the Veterans Administration.
VA Hospital in Aurora more than $1 Billion over budget.
VA Hospital in New Orleans $370 Million over budget.
VA Hospital in Orlando $362 million over budget.
VA Hospital in Las Vegas $260 million over budget.
Despite the fact that Mr. Haggstrom’s once toted streamline method of purchasing resulting more than $2 Billion dollars in Cost Overruns at major VA Hospital Construction projects not only did he receive the nearly $55,000 in bonuses but also the protection of the Veteran’s Administration when Congress started investigating the Aurora project and Mr. Haggstrom’s stream lined methods of purchasing.
In Congressional Hearings when Mr. Haggstrom is asked if he thinks he deserved the bonuses he received he only responds that his bonuses were not determined by himself and that those bonuses were determined by his supervisors and the senior leadership at the VA and that the Congressman should ask them.
See: “Rewarded for Failure: VA Execs Well-Off Despite Construction Crisis”, You Tube, House-Vets-Affairs” “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bSjsrFgWKE”
See Also: “VA Exec Can’t Explain Why He Collected $54,792 in Bonuses”, YouTube, House-Vets-Affairs, May 2013” “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA8zZ9BJNmc”
~______________________
REGARDING WHO DETERMINED AND DISTRIBUTIED MR. HAGGSTROM’S BONUSES
Short answer: VA deputy director in the VA’s Office of General Counsel and former president of the No-Star Charity J. Thomas Burch.
More on that latter.
Discomfort level from using hands in high gear right now.
The benefit of all these new VA Bosses like MacDonald is…eventually the public will notice that they all resign after only a few years. That says a lot but I don’t want it to take 2-4 years or more. Must keep MacDonald feet to fire; then Mas Dame President Clinton’s.
Craig – not worth engaging with these guys – not a single idea to fix, just complaints about what’s broke and then they call anyone who doesn’t agree with their every word a troll and challenge if you’re a veteran
“The beast is running nasty disturbing commercials too using amputee vets that I’m sure is a paid ‘actor’ cause any vet that would vote for the beast has been deceived.
That actor is Joseph Maxwell “Max” Cleland – a disabled US Army veteran of the Vietnam War and the recipient of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for valorous actions in combat. Yup, what a troll!
Maddog
Silver Star “for gallantry in action” at the battle of Khe Sanh is acceptable.
Mr. Cleland’s injuries did not happen in combat as TV ads would have viewers believe.
Deceived persons toot Silver & Bronze Stars for valorous actions in combat that never occurred.
Anyone speaking from a script is a paid actor.
Anyone who presents themselves as painful to watch for the sole purpose of influencing a viewer is a paid actor.
a troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory,[1] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion,[3] often for their own amusement.
Noted. Thank you.
It’s ironic that the VA has two entities on Acquisition, including an entire division dedicating to buying things, yet so many hospital construction projects are so over budget.
Clearly their “Acquisition Academy” is as useful as a public school in Detroit.
You will need to look into both VA Directors along with your state congresspersons.
Hey 91Veteran,
I was confused on who should have been ordering the software from the gitgo but found an organizational tree at: “https://www.va.gov/OALC/execbios.asp”.
Well Haggstrom was the Principal Executive Director Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction (003). The order should have been placed and monitored by Chancellor VA Acquisition Academy (003A5).
Haggstrom was pushing his streamlined method of purchasing that required less accountability and the Chancellor VA Acquisition Academy was responsible to see students were taught proper methods using the methods provided by the Code of Federal Regulation and required more accountability.
As you can see by the tree Haggstrom was at the top of the tree.
I guess he didn’t want all the rules requiring accountability being taught and clearly had a problem with his ethics so I would think he was against that also being taught.
An audit done by the VAOIGs office in 2011 shows that there were problems with implementing required standards under Haggstrom.
See: “Audit of National Contract Awards at VA’s National Acquisition Center”, September 2nd, 2011. at:
“https://www.va.gov/oig/52/reports/2011/VAOIG-10-01744-265.pdf”
Good digging.
So the IG just wrote reports while Haggstrom was busy doling out billions in contracts under his streamlined process.
Was he set to fail? Was he acting alone?
I find all these losses, quite confusing. We know all this money the VA keeps losing, isn’t really lost. It’s somewhere, in some offshore account, or perhaps just passed around and in a hundred accounts. OIG, is only capable of slightly monitoring each situation. There are way too many of these type of, “whoops, where did the money go”? Congress has its own mess to cover, so they are useless. The Senate has to stay on the phone to stay in office, and the taxpayers….? Veterans have no voice. Perhaps Trump is right, seems the 2nd amendment is all that’s left. Sad, so many lives lost just so a few hundred idiots can get away with what belongs to the men and women who served to protect these fools. Our Country has failed the Veterans who survived, and dishonored those who have fallen.
Well said.
Jo3n,
Very well said.
I’ve been commenting on the reason behind the “2nd Amendment” for some time!
It’s what “binds the Constitution and Bill of Rights together”!
Without those beautifully written documents, we have no nation! And no “Constitutional Republic”!
Those documents were put into place to insure “We the People” were in charge of our destiny! They weren’t written for our government to usurp its authority over the people, property or our FREEDOMS!
Anyone notice that the VA OIG are more like paid consultants to come-in and only point out or confirm there’s indeed a problem but beyond that, they have absolutely no teeth, often way after the fact, when paperwork has time to be shuffled for whomever to suddenly *retire*?
On the other hand, you have Dept. of Agriculture Inspectors, which can shit-down an entire food supply if the meat packing plant has been found seriously compromised. Why? Because Human Lives are at risk when established procedures are waived in order to either save or pocket a buck.
We Veterans are indeed meat to the VA Meat Grinder, but not so important to shut the system down when the very VA OIG is as effective as calling 911 only to have them arrive with an ambulance the next week. Too little, too late. Always. No teeth nor balls.
(maybe an odd analogy, but effective nonetheless)
I meant…SHUT down. Bad neuropathy day.
namnibor
Lilly Wave?? Coming down by satellite either to entice or crush this weekends protest. I feel off, like something wicked this way comes. Be Well.
Well, today’s Thursday. I wonder what the government, more specifically the VA, will toss our way late tomorrow afternoon!?!?
namnibor, great analogy between the VA-OIG and the Dept. of Agriculture!
Sickening how the OIG has absolutely no authority!
So, just who authorized, or who initiated, this government agency into being?
Really good point about the USDA.
Speaking of which, if you want to see a foolish waste of money on par with the VA, search YouTube for some USDA food safety videos. They flat out show college students too stupid to know how to operate a microwave oven properly.
Anyway, think of the power of other supposed “public safety” agencies and what they can do, such as the EPA, OSHA, Dept of Labor and others.
Yet the VA can blatantly kill veterans and everybody yawns.
Hey Elf,
I think I know why we have been recently hit by another Hillary Troll with no respect for Veterans.
“Clinton makes an unusual push: To win over disabled people and their families”
“https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-makes-an-unusual-push-to-win-over-disabled-people-and-their-families/2016/09/21/41f15962-8012-11e6-8d0c-fb6c00c90481_story.html”
Seymore Klearly
Too lazy to change the TV channel we watched that whole speech & that little clip doesn’t show Ms disabled barely conscious, clearly drugged. The beast is running nasty disturbing commercials too using amputee vets that I’m sure is a paid ‘actor’ cause any vet that would vote for the beast has been deceived.
NiteWish,
Did you happen to catch her pep talk to her legion of trolls in Vegas.
What a bitter old Bitch!
“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EyoKB3ZHSc”
Those glassy teleprompter eyes what a joke, she can’t even remember her lines.
Just watched it & I can tolerate .57sec of her voice, it ended just as I was clicking it off. She’s really ill & trying to hide it. If not for Hollywood make-up people would see the real mr & mrs.
Her voice indeed grates on one’s brain like 1000 extra-hyper Chihuahuas with raspy throats barking in unison.
And I would say that regardless of whichever party or candidate…McCain’s voice makes me want to chew glass.
Hey, y’all.
The Hildabeast was in Florida yesterday at a high school basketball arena.
On the “Herman Cain Show” today, a caller said she had about 500 people attend. Out of those, 100+ were Mr. Trump supporters!
The DNC can’t even fill a high school gymnasium with her supporters, ain’t that pitiful!
I’m like Jim Carey when I hear her voice. Throw up time! Have y’all seen that video clip. Hilarious!!!!!!
Here’s a Utube video from C-Span3 (c-span.org) of Rep. Chaffetz and another Rep tearing down idiots who work for some of our National Security Agencies. On WHY “The Hildabeast” should NOT have a “security clearance”!
Which, by the way, would make her ineligible for POTUS!
Title;
“Jason Chaffetz 14,900 New Hillary Clinton Emails Found”
published Sept 22, 2016
(08:34 minutes)
Slam Dunk on the hildabitch!
Yeah, but the Clintons are like floating turds shaped like boomerangs. You can flush all you want and they just keep coming back.
I am looking forward to the Presidential Debates but I can tell you I will be royally pissed if the debates are SO moderated that not ONE question about Veteran Issues and the VA come-up or just like what happened in the Debates last year, a Veteran was lined-up on Skype to ask supposedly a question about the VA from Missouri and as soon as they guy was on air he turned it into a Black Lives Matter thing….opportunity lost.
I am thinking that the VSO’s and the AFGE will go to no length to try to prevent the VA from coming-up in the debates….wait for it…and it will take Trump to speak-out or on top to get The Hildabeast to be confronted with the Truth…wait for it.
Seymore, I just read that “Washington Post” article from yesterday. The one you put in your earlier comment.
About “The Hildabeast” here in Florida! The rally where she couldn’t even fill a basketball gymnasium with supporters!
The way I read it is, she wants to get all disabled people off compensation. Put us to work. So we can pay taxes, (her mandatory 59% federal tax), to support her and all the other sponges in Washington DC and across this nation!
Does that sound about right!?
Hildabeast! Pathetically juvenile.
Elf,
Have you heard the resent Vegas odds on whether the Hildabeast will pull a no show, cancel at the last minute, demand she be allowed to appear via teleconference, cancel due to Doctors orders or she actually shows up and preforms?
I am guessing now that the odds of her showing up got be about 20 to 1 she against her actually showing up.
If only we could find a mental midget with a swollen head and limited intellect type troll from her campaign to ask.
The press is extremely pissed at Trump after that whole “birther born in the US “debacle.
Well, since you bring it up…I won’t demand you change your comment, whine to the owner of this site, stomp my feet or cry my little eyes out…
The slimy media that are pissed over the birther issue are pissed because people know it started with Granny Grifter’s campaign in 2008.
They act as if the internet and online video did not exist then.
No, Trump made them listen through hours of bull by other presenters and came out at the for 10 minutes. Never really apologized.
“listen through hours of bull by other presenters”.
You are so blinded by partisan hatred you show yourself for the damn fool you are.
That “hours of bull” was actually comments made by many veterans who support him, including two who wear the Medal of Honor.
Almost every comment you make finds a way to go political and is completed worthless to disabled vets and anyone else that stumbles onto this website looking for reliable, useful information and help..
Just get the VA a printing machine and let them make their own money. !
Hell. With congress. ! They Keep giving them our tax payer dollar’s anyway and they know they will always get it anyway !
How Many claims could have been paid to veterans with disabilities !
Pretty soon our citizens will have to send 1/4 of their disability payments or salaries to keep the VA going.
Then a ? on the banks. !
There are too many contracts that need to be cancelled for non performance. Especially some of the archiving of records contracts. VA health records aren’t accounting books for corporation. They are much more active files and can’t be handled the same way as 5 year old invoices.
On the flip side look at the changes to travel reembursement. Screwing us even future while real money get tossed down the toilet.
Look for the Union Label!
Bill, remember when one went to the “VA travel window” *AFTER* your medical appointment and you received your pay, in cash, that day? All a vet had to do was wait, about 30 minutes, until the secretary entered the info that you were, in fact, seen by the healthcare provider.
Does anyone remember WHY VA stopped doing that?
Here’s the short story of the “WHY”!
Seems a “Veteran Service Organization”, DAV in particular, decided to defraud the system. HOW did they do it? By “claiming” the amount of people, in their vans, were more than what they took to appointments.
There were numerous news articles from around the U.S. stating this, (Florida, Mass. and many other states)!
When “word” of this “fraud” was exposed. I believe in late 2014 under McDonalds watch.
The VA decided vets would now have to fill out a “travel form”, send it to their respected (financial reimbursement) district office, (mine is in Pennsylvania, I live in Florida.) Now vets have to wait for weeks, two, three or more, to receive travel pay!
That’s the short of it.
Now, what happens IF your local VHA loses your paperwork? By VA rules, if it goes over 30 days, well, guess what, your SOL!
Plus, lots of vets could use that money right then. I know I could. I drive over 33-35 miles, one way, to some of my specialized appointments. The gas prices in that county is anywhere from $.15 to $.25 (cents) cheaper/gal. than in my county. When a fill up is required, that’s a pretty good savings.
@crazy elf- I remember the Travel Pay fiasco and what did the VA turn around and do? They aggressively started printing even more large posters, signs, and plaques…everywhere…in every VA, warnings about fraud and travel pay TO Veterans when it was the damn VA and VSO’s that were having a cuddly wuddly great time milking the travel pay meat grinder’s teats!!!!!!!!!! Not the Vets…but the VA to this day has projected that onto us and if it was like pulling teeth before it’s even worse now…but….Rubens and Graves can do it while giving middle finger to Vets and Tax Payers.
Sorry, in a mood. The VA needs their very own appointed “Fiduciary”, I am serious! Rant Out.
Crazy Elf
Us old salts have become/becoming obsolete. The younger Vet I just spoke to over check vs cash replied: a Check is not a problem, I just take a picture of it with my phone & put it in the bank.
Back in the day I needed that cash to put in the gas tank to make the long drive home.
NiteWish,
Do I read your comment correctly? Do you receive a check the day of your appointment?
If so, your lucky!
I have to wait weeks before my travel pay is direct deposited into my account.
All because of the VSO’s, one in particular I mentioned earlier, defrauding the government!
Crazy Elf
I don’t go to the main VA’s anymore, haven’t in years, just the local clinic but when I did go, we got cash.
The other Vets in the house, new to the system get a check in the mail when they make the trip.
I stopped donating to that particular VSO a few years ago but I am a life member.
Hey, I wonder what really happened to all the money?
Seems to me VA receives money, squanders it, wants more, squanders that, demands more, etc., etc., etc..
Did VA know this “E-Learning” would fail? It wasn’t around very long.
It reminds me of other things VA, and other government agencies, has implemented. Then, after a short time, scrubbed it from their books!
Question, if a contract was made, there should be a host of signatures! Would that not be a good place to start, to find out who was behind it?
As I’ve stated before. In my opinion, these things, upper echelon VA employees start, aren’t just on a whim. They’re well thought out schemes to dupe veterans and taxpayers!
P.S.
How can VA be stopped over wasting taxpayers money?
It seems that VA is the #1 civilian/government subsidized entity, other than the government run DOD, responsible for most of the “waste, fraud and abuse against veterans AND taxpayers!”
The only way I see a “reckoning” is to shut VA completely down until an audit is done by an outside source! I’ll guarantee taxpayers will be surprised at how much $$$$$$ is wasted by VA!
bottom line the only way to stop the corruption is quit going to the V.A.
Hey Thomas one thing is for certain if you quit going to the VA you will definitely increase your life expectancy.
A good place to start? Well, one might start with asking why the VA has 2 entities dealing with Acquisition. Or why the VA created an “Acquisition Academy”, but policy for Acquisition resides in another office.
Then one could ask for who wrote the Statement of Work for this disaster. That should have told the contractor what was needed. It also should have named who the Contracting Officials Representative was. That is the government flunky responsible for overseeing the contract.
There were plenty of instances for them to realize the contract was not going to deliver what was needed before anyone signed the contract, but this is typical VA contracting where they just don’t give a damn about money wasted.
I am curious if some VA official has a relative working for this contractor.
VA contracting: Hey! Here’s a blank check. We want you to build a widget. Don’t worry, when you deliver a slide rule that nobody here knows how to use it, you can just keep whatever we pay you.
Nothing VA does surprises me anymore.
The V.A. Titanic crew members fully believe that their ship is the largest federal agency ship, thus unsinkable. The owners and operators of The White Star Lines, the company that built the Titanic, believed the same thing until that tragic iceberg was hit. We Veterans and Tax Payers are that iceberg called accountability.
The V.A. Titanic knows not what the right nor left hand is doing because the leadership has engaged “Autopilot Arrogance Mode’ (AAM), which means the inmates are running the asylum and nobody on the V.A. Titanic actually watched the video training of how to drop the anchor, let alone steering the ship into calmer waters, BUT they definitely are benefiting from the $$$$ provided FOR those videos but that was quickly gobbled-up on the poop deck festivities.
The VA has gone completely rogue and I hold firmly that the VA is testing the waters and limits of what they can get away with or not in their newly redefined accountability. Trolls also tend to get more aggressive on here as more disinfecting qualities of sunlight is shone onto these rat bastards. Coincidence? I think not.
namnibor, (here’s my “Titanic story board”)
There’s a number of Nurse Ratchets running the Titanic into that iceberg, aka; McDuck, Gibson, Shulkin and other asswipes that are in full “Fuck the veterans and taxpayers modus operandi!”
I’ll bet ya those three, and a few others, will be caught in women’s clothes, trying their best to escape drowning!
All the “lower rank and file” are in “stearage’. We all know the ending for them!
I doubt they will find any useful “women’s clothes” with Graves and Ruben as Cruise Directors in full Large Marge Trucker Attire. 🙂 🙂 Cannot swim nor tread water in Leather Chaps. 🙂
va budget for 2016 172 BILLION @$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ FOR 2017 182 BBILLION $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ this nasty fat ugly pig called VA DC HQ IS THE TITANIC ITS GOING DOWN ALL WE VETS ARE DOING IS ARUGING OVER THE COLOR OF THE CURTIANS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
09/22/2016
Dear Benjamin Krause,
This is another sign of the lack of Management and Leadership from top to bottom.
Sincerely,
Don Karg
I read this also. Was anything going to be used in place of that failure or are we to assume our VA employees remain untrained in E-learning?
I would suggest reading the entire IG report. I cannot speak to the internal workings of VA since I am not a VA employee much less an employee working on this project.
to you Ben and others if you have not seen the House committee on you tube, 1988 to 2016 Vetsnet to VBMS Billions spent Backlog.
I have stated before, the VBA sends denial letters to thousands of veterans to make the back log go away. 97% turn around, Yes they lied. When asked about those veterans whom claims have been denied, How long will it take to complete those claims. Answer : Forever more money please, they hired 7000 new employees, not enough.
Since I have a TBI, I will let you see for yourself !
Just confirms, that the back log was just moved to another pile. Notice VA employee stating how many veterans never bother to apply a second time and on how many don’t reapply after the second and third time.
VA, wants to pass a bill where they can just close a veterans claim for Good after a decision is made ? Miller said if you think this committee will allow you to close a veterans case as closed and finalized no further Action, We will never let it happen.
IG lets them have it and lie after lie is caught !
Why has no one been fired, still no answer !
They really do want you to just go away.