And then we have this useless cheerleader.....
Do you not get it?
The VA is a typical government bureau. 98% of those are tenured Union members of the Government, and short of deciding to leave to being found guilty of gross failures to do their jobs can not be fired.
It is the same today as it was under President Obama. As it was under President Bush (43), as it was under President Clinton, President Bush (41), etc, etc, etc.
It is not going to change, it will never change. Presidents come and go every 4-8 years, the VA staff is eternal. It is jacked-up, and will remain jacked-up.
When my wife got her Nursing license, she did her internship at a VA center. She thought so poorly of it that she has told me many times since that she would rather see me in a free county hospital instead of undergoing care in the VA.
And that was during the Clinton Administration.
And nothing I have ever seen since then has made either of us change our mind about that.
Loving or hating Veterans has nothing to do with the VA. Ultimately, they are primarily a bunch of Government employees, who mostly have never actually been in the department that they claim to serve. It is like the leaders of the Postal Workers Union never having been a postal worker.
Myself, I think the entire VA should be gutted. Other than doctors, all other staff members
must be veterans, and an advisory board should be made, composed of 100% Veterans, mixed between Officers and Enlisted from all branches.
What started out as a great idea in the last 40+ years has become a dumping ground of the worse in the medical service, primarily working long past their retirement age because of pay and pensions. The last time I had to deal with them I sear my doctor was senile. In his 80s, he kept inspecting the wrong knee, then wondering why he did not detect swelling.
"Doc, it is the other knee" I would tell him, and he would release it, then grab the same knee again. And even after I told him I only needed a renewal for my Motrin, he kept trying to prescribe me Darvocet. I would say I would not take a narcotic, and he would nod in agreement, then repeat the prescription to the nurse.
That has been my typical VA experience. 5-8 months plus for an appointment, then service like that. And it has been that way for over 25 years.