Why Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs Eric Shinseki Should Resign Immediately

[longknife]

by BK · October 14, 2012 ·

General Shinseki, the buck stops with you

The Veteran’s Administration Inspector General has released a report that absolutely destroys the department for spending a staggering amount of money on meetings, gifts, and parties over the course of the last 7 years.

Since 2005, the VA has held over 1,600 employee conferences, if you can believe it, spending an estimated 300 million dollars. That works out to a conference every one and a half days.The most expensive meeting totaled a jaw-dropping 6.3 million dollars…In an ironic twist, the title of this conference was, “Financial Management Training.”

But wait, there’s more! Last year, the VA spent more than 6 million dollars on a pair of “Human Resources” conferences in Orlando. Indeed, the budget for the two conferences, signed off on by the Chief of Staff, actually budgeted the two events at 8 million dollars! I suppose the VA should be lauded for restraining themselves and coming in under budget.
.......
Congressmen Jeff Miller and Richard Burr have written a letter to the secretary, retired general Eric Shinseki, demanding answers. They stop short of asking for Shinseki’s resignation, but do ask that his Chief of Staff, John Gingrich, be fired for signing off without critique the 8 million dollar budget for the two events.

Secretary Shinseki should resign. I do not say this lightly, for I recognize General Shinseki has distinguished himself in combat during Vietnam. Indeed, he is a wounded veteran himself, and by all accounts, a patriot.

However, Shinseki either knew about this grotesque culture of waste, and didn’t care, or he didn’t know that the agency he was charged with running was spending more than a quarter of a billion dollars on parties. (And make no mistake: these were parties, not conferences.) If it was the first scenario, he’s unfit to head up the agency, and if it was the second, he’s incompetent.
...........
It is time that the taxpayers of this country start demanding names and firings. I, for one, am tired of the ubiquitous “un-named senior government official” nonsense. I am tired of the re-shuffling of incompetent federal employees.

Read more: Shinseki Should Resign Immediately | SOFREP

 

[Oldguy]

That report primarily faulted John Sepulveda for lax oversight and an unseemly coziness with contractors. The conference itself was deemed legitimate. See the whole report here:

http://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-12-02525-291R.pdf

Sepulveda resigned the day before the report came out. That should settle the matter and Shinseki's resignation isn't required. Overall, he's been the best thing to happen to Veteran's in quite some time and has truly been transformational.

However, he's been on the right's shit list ever since he publicly embarrassed Donald Rumsfeld when he rightly told Congress that 500,000 troops would be required to take and hold Iraq. That was counter to the Bush administration's party line, so he was fired as Army Chief of Staff and forced to retire.

So...when you see someone calling for his head, remember that they just might be doing the bidding of their masters and trying to totally destroy him. Disloyalty to the party is an unforgivable offense to the GOP. I noticed that the article you posted was unsigned, so I can't find out what the authors agenda is.

 

[waltky]

Just another Washin'ton bureaucrat...

Top Republicans join call for Shinseki ouster
May 6, 2014 WASHINGTON — Some key Republican legislators are joining with two prominent veterans groups to call for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

On Tuesday, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., a member of the Veteran’s affairs committee, said Shinseki should leave the VA. “He needs to step down,” Cornyn told reporters. “The president needs to find a new leader to lead this organization out of the wilderness, and back to providing the service our veterans deserve.” In a Senate speech earlier in the day, Moran said Shinseki seemed unwilling or unable to fix the department’s problems. “Veterans are waiting for action and yet the VA continues to operate in the same old bureaucratic fashion, settling for mediocrity and continued disservice to our nation’s heroes,” Moran said. “There’s a difference in wanting change and leading it to happen.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., meanwhile, didn’t demand Shinseki resign, but said new leadership at VA would “be a step in the right direction.” The White House, however, has voiced support for Shinseki. On Monday, the head of one of the nation’s major veterans service organizations said Shinseki and top department leadership to step down following reports of delays and neglect at VA health centers around the nation. American Legion National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger said Monday the incidents “are part of what appear to be a pattern of scandals that has infected the entire system.”

In a speech at the organization’s headquarters in Indianapolis, he also called for the resignations of Under Secretary for Health Robert Petzel and Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey. Concerned Veterans for America on Monday joined with the Legion in calling for Shinseki to resign. Dellinger’s call comes on the heels of whistleblower reports that more than 40 veterans may have died awaiting treatment while the Phoenix VA Health Care System maintained a secret waiting list designed to cover up delays in delivering care. He also pointed to an outbreak of Legionnaires disease at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System that he attributed to “continuous management failures,” as well as delays in providing gastrointestinal services to veterans in Georgia that he said may have hastened the deaths of three cancer patients.

Dellinger also referred to a report this week in USA Today about a VA investigation that showed clerks at a VA clinic in Fort Collins, Colo., were told to falsify records so it would appear doctors were seeing patients within approved time frames. Shinseki, who was wounded during the Vietnam War, retired from the Army in 2003 after serving as Chief of Staff. He was nominated by President Barack Obama and took over as VA secretary in January 2009. White House officials said President Barack Obama is taking the VA allegations seriously and has ordered an investigation by the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. “The President remains confident in Secretary Shinseki’s ability to lead the Department and to take appropriate action based on the IG’s findings,” the White House said in a statement.

MORE

 

[dadsgm]

Shinseki has played the role of a politician ever since leaving the field. The problems at the VA are not necessarily new and in many cases existed before he took charge. However, their continuation without definitive corrective action is a direct link to his failure of leadership. He has become the personification of a careerist not a professional. His inaction is a dereliction of duty

 

[waltky]

He's probably a good man but in over his head...

Report: Shinseki will not step down as calls for ouster grow
May 7, 2014 WASHINGTON — The head of the Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday that he will not resign, but acknowledged he has work to do to rebuild the confidence of veterans.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, Eric Shinseki said his department will strive to improve its communication and work with veterans advocacy groups, but highlighted what he said were positive changes he has made while heading the department. “I serve at the pleasure of the president,” he told the Journal. “I signed on to make some changes, I have work to do.” On Monday, the head of one of the nation’s major veterans service organizations said Shinseki and top department leadership to step down following reports of delays and neglect that contributed to patient deaths at several VA facilities, including in Phoenix, where a secret wait list apparently was used to cover delays in appointments.

The VA, the VA’s inspector general and the House Committee on Veterans Affairs are conducting reviews of the Phoenix VA. “As a result of what’s under way in Phoenix, I’m very sensitive to the allegations,” Shinseki told the Journal. “I need to let the independent IG complete his investigation.” American Legion National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger said Monday the incidents “are part of what appear to be a pattern of scandals that has infected the entire system.” He also called for the resignations of Under Secretary for Health Robert Petzel and Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey. Some key Republican legislators had joined the call of two prominent veterans groups for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

On Tuesday, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., a member of the Veteran’s affairs committee, said Shinseki should leave the VA. “He needs to step down,” Cornyn told reporters. “The president needs to find a new leader to lead this organization out of the wilderness, and back to providing the service our veterans deserve.” In a Senate speech earlier in the day, Moran said Shinseki seemed unwilling or unable to fix the department’s problems. “Veterans are waiting for action and yet the VA continues to operate in the same old bureaucratic fashion, settling for mediocrity and continued disservice to our nation’s heroes,” Moran said. “There’s a difference in wanting change and leading it to happen.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., meanwhile, didn’t demand Shinseki resign, but said new leadership at VA would “be a step in the right direction.” Concerned Veterans for America on Monday joined with the Legion in calling for Shinseki to resign. Dellinger said it saddened him to demand the resignations, and he praised Shinseki’s patriotism and sacrifice for the country while serving in the military. “However, his record as the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs tells a different story,” Dellinger said in his prepared remarks. “It’s a story of poor oversight and failed leadership.”

Report: Shinseki will not step down as calls for ouster grow - Veterans - Stripes

 

[dadsgm]

This is a prime example of the difference between military and civilian leadership and a sense of urgency coupled with the changes one goes through as one moves up the chain to the pentagon and finally into la la land. If this incident had happened in one or more medical facilities under the command of then Gen Shinseki he would have relieved commanders immediately and his Commander would have relieved him. But we must tread carefully in the land of civilians, unions and the feds.

 

[Fishlore]

Shinseki has played the role of a politician ever since leaving the field. The problems at the VA are not necessarily new and in many cases existed before he took charge. However, their continuation without definitive corrective action is a direct link to his failure of leadership. He has become the personification of a careerist not a professional. His inaction is a dereliction of duty

The general had his first taste of politicians long before the current witch hunt. Before the Decider's invasion of Iraq, Shinseki was trotted out as part of the administration's selling team to convince Americans that overthrowing Saddam would take "a matter of weeks, not months," be paid for with Iraqi oil revenues, and cause American troops to be showered with flowers and candy.

Alas, Shinseki gave his professional opinion about the possibility of invading Iraq instead of mouthing the cheerful party line concocted by Rummy and Vice. He told Congress that overthrow of Saddam would involve hundreds of thousands of Americans in Iraq for a number of years. This is not what the Decider want to hear. The general was shown the door, one of the first casualties of the dumbest war in American history. Obama brought him back as a form of reparations and gave him the V,A. Republican law makers hate the guy because he reminds them of their bloody blunder.

 

[Kondor3]

The General would have done better to be seen striding into that VA Hospital like an Avenging Angel, and smiting local bureaucrats hip-and-tight, rather than taking a defensive institutional circle-the-wagons stance.

Too late now.

 

[Missourian]

Pay tribute to Washington...

 

[JakeStarkey]

Shinseki has played the role of a politician ever since leaving the field. The problems at the VA are not necessarily new and in many cases existed before he took charge. However, their continuation without definitive corrective action is a direct link to his failure of leadership. He has become the personification of a careerist not a professional. His inaction is a dereliction of duty

No, he hasn't, but you are the personification of a hack who want to take out an opponent because of politics not because of merit.

 

[Howey]

That report primarily faulted John Sepulveda for lax oversight and an unseemly coziness with contractors. The conference itself was deemed legitimate. See the whole report here:

http://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-12-02525-291R.pdf

Interesting...the guy who wrote that blog piece in the failed OP just happens to be what???

A contractor!

Look...Shineski has bipartisan support and is an excellent leader. The problem with the VA is not with the care veterans receive (it's the best out there) it's the massive system that it is. Congress needs to immediately get to work and allocate more funds to hire and train VA workers, doctors, and staff as well as build more and more modern VA facilities to replace those that are archaic.

Get rid of the politically appointed lower level bureaucrats - they're the ones who come up with these horrible ideas and replace them with businessmen with military, hospital, and corporate acumen.

 

[KissMy]

That report primarily faulted John Sepulveda for lax oversight and an unseemly coziness with contractors. The conference itself was deemed legitimate. See the whole report here:

http://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-12-02525-291R.pdf

Sepulveda resigned the day before the report came out. That should settle the matter and Shinseki's resignation isn't required. Overall, he's been the best thing to happen to Veteran's in quite some time and has truly been transformational.

However, he's been on the right's shit list ever since he publicly embarrassed Donald Rumsfeld when he rightly told Congress that 500,000 troops would be required to take and hold Iraq. That was counter to the Bush administration's party line, so he was fired as Army Chief of Staff and forced to retire.

So...when you see someone calling for his head, remember that they just might be doing the bidding of their masters and trying to totally destroy him. Disloyalty to the party is an unforgivable offense to the GOP. I noticed that the article you posted was unsigned, so I can't find out what the authors agenda is.

On top of that are the massive influx of wounded soldiers from Afghanistan & Iraq swamped the VA. Republicans will never admit they lied about war spending estimates that were way off base. They could not ramp up, expand or prepare the VA ahead of time or allow spending reach the realistic forecast levels because democrats waved those numbers around in a campaign. So again soldiers must suffer & die because of politics.

That being said, VA conference spending is out of control.

 

[waltky]

This just keeps going from bad to worse...

'Delay in treatment' a factor in more than 100 deaths at VA centers
May 18, 2014 ~ As controversy swirls around the Veterans Administration over deaths caused by delayed care, an investigation by the Dayton Daily News found that the VA settled many cases that appear to be related to delays in treatment.

A database of paid claims by the VA since 2001 includes 167 in which the words "delay in treatment" is used in the description. The VA paid out a total of $36.4 million to settle those claims, either voluntarily or as part of a court action. The VA has admitted that 23 people have died because of delayed care, and is facing accusations that hospital administrators are gaming the system to conceal wait times, including using a "secret list" at the VA in Phoenix. Robert Petzel, undersecretary for health care at the VA, resigned Friday, the day after he and agency head Eric Shinseki were grilled by the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. Many have called for Shinseki's resignation, as well.

It's unclear in the data analyzed by the newspaper how many of the cases match the VA's definition of delayed care. But there are numerous examples, including in Dayton, where claimants allege substandard care related to lags in treatment. The Dayton VA in 2009 paid out $140,000 for a 2006 claim that was described as "Failure/Delay in Admission to Hospital or Institution; Medication Administered via Wrong Route; Failure to Order Appropriate Test."

A pending $3.5 million claim from March 2013 was filed by a man who says delayed treatment of his wife's cervical cancer resulted in her death in March 2012. The names of the veteran and her widower were redacted. "I'm not personally aware of any deaths that were attributed to a delay in receiving care at the Dayton VA Medical Center," said Dayton VA spokesman Ted Froats.

More than 100 payments go out every year to resolve claims that veterans died due to mishaps by VA medical centers, according to an investigation conducted in partnership between this newspaper and WSB-TV in Atlanta. The number of dead veterans could total more than 1,100 from 2001 through the first half of 2013 -- including 16 at the Dayton VA Medical Center and 11 at the Cincinnati VA -- according to records obtained via Freedom of Information Act.

These are instances in which the family of a veteran claimed that a death occurred after something went awry and the VA paid money to resolve the issue. Dayton VA officials would not comment on specific cases, but did issue a statement: "Unlike many private hospitals, in the rare instance where a situation has interfered in a patient's medical care, we sit down with the veteran to discuss what happened and notify the veteran of his or her right to file a tort claim," it says. "As with any other aspect of our facility, we believe that transparency is the best method for handling any potential conflict."

'Mad as hell'

 

[whitehall]

He should be prosecuted for negligent homicide. I guess he had bad advice from his attorney when he took full "responsibility" for the deaths related to negligent VA care but protecting the Hussein administration was more important than his sorry ass so you have to admire him for loyalty. The fact remains that people died and according to whistle blowers who are emerging in droves it seems that the VA bureaucrats were awarded bonuses from the Hussein administration when they saved money and killing off patients was a way to save money.

 

[usmcstinger]

In 1993, the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs was a titular job at best. The real power emanated below him. During that same year, I was at a meeting between the State Directors of Veterans Affairs ( not part of the VA worked for their State ) and VA Hierarchy. The Secretary of the VA came in for a short time and said a few things he would do. After he left, the VA person at the meeting said forget what he said it's not going to happen.
Has it ever changed?