Jewish World Review Nov. 12, 1999 /3 Kislev, 5760
Michelle Malkin
A monumental waste of
our veterans' resources
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
Perry Point, Md. - Let me take you on a quick tour. We enter the
sprawling campus of the Perry Point Department of Veterans Affairs Medical
Center. Rolling hills and dusty roads lie ahead. To our right is a
panoramic view of the Chesapeake Bay. Waves break against the rocky shore.
A groundhog waddles beneath a leafy oak.
Around the bend is a spiffy firehouse. The administrative offices are
majestic; the director's home is a colonial estate. New,
multi-million-dollar construction projects gleam in the autumn sun. And
then we reach the nursing home.
It is one of the shabbiest buildings in sight. The paint is flaking. The
windows are musty. An aged veteran sits alone on the porch in a thin,
plaid robe. His face is drawn and his eyes are somber. We wave as our car
rolls by. He shrinks, hesistates, and then finally waves back with a
grimace.
Taking care of the nation's war veterans is an obligation that has existed
since the days of the Continental Congress. It is a right and honorable
tradition. Why can't the federal government at least give the impression
that it has its priorities straight? Is it too much to ask to clean the
windows where the battle-worn live their last days? We finish the driving
tour - only a small portion of the nearly 500-acre estate is publicly
accessible - with an unshakeable feeling of melancholy.
A few hours south of Perry Point, the head of the VA system in Washington,
D.C. is living la dolce vita. The agency's inspector general reported last
month that VA Secretary Togo West Jr. had ignored federal rules requiring
government employees to take cost-saving commercial flights - and instead
helped himself to tax-subsidized military aircraft on two trips to Alaska
and Louisiana last year.
That's not all. In another flagrant indulgence, the report said a 1998
dinner West gave at his home for then-Navy Secretary John Dalton and his
wife "fueled the perception of waste." The tab: $283 a plate for 31 guests
- a total of $9,340. West brought in the U.S. Army Band and also charged
taxpayers $375 for a plaque awarded to Dalton's wife.
West's defenders may complain that his expenses were petty. VA bureaucrats
may grumble that they are unfairly singled out for anecdotal tales of
waste, fraud, and abuse. But petty waste on plaques and parties is money
not spent improving veterans' care. The nickles and dimes add up to a $17
billion-dollar agency that rots from the head down.
The VA's government-run system of hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes,
which serve approximately 2.7 million of the nation's 26 million veterans,
is clogged with bureaucratic excess. Thirty-one VA facilities, such as
Perry Point, have their own federally-funded fire departments. Others
boast golf courses, aquariums, and lavish estates. Meanwhile, the shoddy
care provided by the VA is infamous - and costly.
Four years ago, a federal judge awarded $4.5 million to a disabled vet who
was maltreated at three different VA hospitals - including Perry Point.
According to the Rocky Mountain News, disabled vet John Deasy suffers from
a rare tissue disease that causes psychiatric symptoms. When Deasy
complained of neglect and malpractice, the judge wrote, the doctors
"attributed his views to delusions and tried to drug them out of his mind."
Similar complaints have been made this summer in Chattanooga, Tennessee,
where one VA doctor who sided with patients' complaints about substandard
treatment was punished for his whistle-blowing activities.
In a damnable demonstration of its priorities, the VA takes far better care
of its administrative buildings and vacant hospitals than its patients. A
recent investigation by the independent General Accounting Office found
that the agency spends more than $1 million a day to sustain unneeded
hospital buildings. Another $35 million is spent annually to perform
upkeep on empty space, including unused lots and warehouses.
Douglas McArthur, head of the New Mexico-based National Veterans
Organization, says VA officials "have created the damndest country club in
America. Whatever toys they want, they get. Nobody is watching what they
spend these millions of dollars on, and obviously, no one cares."
Both Republicans and Democrats will point to increased VA budget
appropriations this fall as a sign of their allegiance to those who served
and sacrificed for our country.
This is not patriotism. It's
profligacy.
JWR contributor Michelle Malkin can be reached by clicking here.
11/10/99:Tax-and-spend schizophrenia
11/05/99: Spooky Guy Haunts the Capital
11/02/99: Mourning the loss of the last Liberty Tree
10/27/99: AOL goes AWOL on parents
10/22/99: The persecution of Harry Potter
10/20/99: Don't doctor the law
10/14/99: The trouble with kids today
10/12/99: Pro-animal, pro-abortion, anti-speech?
10/07/99: Beltway press corps needs more skunks
09/30/99: ESPN overlooks athlete of faith, grace, and guts
09/27/99: Personal freedom going up in smoke
09/15/99: Farewell, "Miss" America
09/10/99: Will George W. work for a color-blind America?
09/03/99: Feminization of gun debate drowns out sober analysis
08/27/99: America is abundant land of equal-opportunity insult
08/10/99: Protect the next generation from diversity do-goodism
08/04/99: Sweepstakes vs. state lottery: double standards on gambling
07/21/99: "True-life tales from the Thin Red Line"
(or "Honor those who sacrificed their lives for peace")
07/21/99: Reading, 'Riting, and Raunchiness?
07/14/99: Journalists' group-think is not unity
06/30/99: July Fourth programming for the Springer generation
06/25/99: Speechless in Seattle
06/15/99: Making a biblical argument against federal death taxes
©1999, Creators Syndicate
|