Category: VA

Tom C sent us this link to the testimony of embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald, on Feb. 11, at a House hearing in which Congressman Mike Coffman (R-Co6) questioned him about scandalous cost overruns during construction a Denver VA hospital, which ended up with the general contractor demanding that the VA people overseeing the job be  replaced with the Army Corps of Engineers.

McDonald, who once ran Procter & Gamble, sneered “I’ve run a large company, sir. What have you done?”

Coffman is a veteran of both the Marines and the Army and served as a light armored infantry officer in the Persian Gulf War and with the Marines in 2005 in Iraq.

McDonald made shampoo.

VA Secretary Disrespects Vet

The  Department of Veterans Affairs has not updated its website concerning testimony before Congress since March 21, 2011 albeit clicking the link “Complete List of VA Testimony before Congressional Committees” will take one to Dec. 2, 2011.

Further, the VA has not updated its veterans legislation page since the 111th Congress which was in session 2009-2010.

Wonder why is that.

We discovered this strange change of policy while searching for Carolyn Lerner’s testimony before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on July 8.

Ms. Lerner heads the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. She testified  that her office was examining 67 claims of retaliation by VA supervisors against employees who filed whistleblower complaints. She said that they have come from 28 states and 45 separate facilities, and are still coming in daily.  She said there has been 25 complaints filed since June 1.

This is a serious scandal. That it is seriously under-reported is as big a scandal.

Fortunately you can find her testimony on C-Span as per below:

Hat tip Rodrigo Sermeño at PJMedia.com

VA Website Never Updated

The Department of Veterans Affairs has 470 senior executives. The New York Times reports that every single of them got a “fully successful” or better rating over the last four years.

And this is while data was being manipulated, whistleblowers were being hounded and veterans were dying.

The Obama administration was aware of the problem since at least 2012. It didn’t matter. The bureaucrats happily got their kudos and bonuses.

Last month, Senate Democrats led by Harry Reid with a wink and a nod from the President killed a bill to give the Veterans Affairs secretary the power to fire or demote VA executives for poor performance.

The bureaucrats must be protected as they are the backbone of the new feudal system, one supposes.

All VA Executives Rated High Under Obama

Philly VA Gains Cpl. Crescenz’s Name — Cpl Michael Crescenz received the Congressional Medal of Honor in Vietnam.

A bill authored by Pennsylvania senators Pat Toomey (R) and Bob Casey Jr. (D) will see the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Center on Woodland Avenue renamed for Cpl Michael J. Crescenz, who died in action  on Nov. 20, 1968 in Vietnam’s Hiep Duc Valley and is the city’s only Medal of Honor recipient from that war.

Crescenz’s unit engaged a large, well-entrenched force of the North Vietnamese Army that morning whose initial burst of fire pinned down the lead squad and killed the 2 point men, halting its advance according to the official citation.

Immediately, Cpl. Crescenz left the relative safety of his own position, seized a nearby machine gun and, with complete disregard for his safety, charged 100 meters up a slope toward the enemy’s bunkers which he effectively silenced, killing the two occupants of each.

Undaunted by the withering machine gun fire around him, Cpl. Crescenz courageously moved forward toward a third bunker which he also succeeded in silencing, killing two more of the enemy and momentarily clearing the route of advance for his comrades. Suddenly, intense machine gun fire erupted from an unseen, camouflaged bunker. Realizing the danger to his fellow soldiers, Cpl. Crescenz disregarded the barrage of hostile fire directed at him and daringly advanced toward the position.

Assaulting with his machine gun, Cpl. Crescenz was within 5 meters of the bunker when he was mortally wounded by the fire from the enemy machine gun.

As a direct result of his heroic actions, his company was able to maneuver freely with minimal danger and to complete its mission, defeating the enemy. Cpl. Crescenz’s bravery and extraordinary heroism at the cost of his life are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Philly VA Gains Cpl. Crescenz’s Name

Investigative journalist Michael Volpe will discuss the strange case of Anna Chacko and the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Health System, 8 tonight on Blog Talk Radio which can be heard live or afterwards at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotaction/2010/01/22/patriot-action-live

Anna Chacko Kept VA Job After Intervention By N.C. Dem — The head of radiology at the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Health System had her job saved by North Carolina Congressman Brad Miller (D-NC13).

Why?

Dr. Anna Chacko was hired in October 2008  or, according to Miller, September 2008. Previously, she had headed the radiology  department at St. James Hospital in Butte, Mt., a job she left after 15 months in which she left the department in turmoil and was prominently named in at least four lawsuits, according to Mike Volpe at BigGovernment.Com.

Before that she spent  a year at the Boston University until she was removed after complaints of sexual harassment to the human resources department, according to Volpe.

And before that she spent six years at Lahey Clinic in the Boston suburb of Burlington before being fired after which security reportedly had to forcibly carry her out   while  Dr. Chacko — who is of Indian descent — screamed “Kiss my big Indian Ass,” according to Volpe.

Well, in March ’09 the Pittsburgh VA had convened an administrative investigative board regarding Dr. Chacko and the expectation was that she would lose her job after just five months. A lawyer got Dr. Chacko some breathing room when he convinced the powers-that-be that she was denied due process, and a new hearing was scheduled for May 21.

It never convened, however, due to this letter from Miller to Gen. Erick Shinseki, the secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the word was passed to stop the attempts to remove Dr. Chacko.

Dr. Chacko was ordered to complete an anger management course and she returned to work Aug. 1. Complaints resumed, however, and in October she was placed on indefinite administrative leave.  A formal notice of termination has been issued to her effective Jan. 25.

So why did a North Carolina congressmen intervene in this matter and how did Dr. Chacko get the job in the first place?

Volpe has contacted Miller for a response, and Miller has declined to give him one.

Anna Chacko Kept VA Job After Intervention By N.C. Dem