coincidentially i was speaking to someone earlier today

who uses the va on a regular basis. my dad does as well. i have heard horror stories about va hospitals here and there, but i'll tell you so far, they've NOT done my popi wrong. more and more soldiers coming back from this UNJUST war are going to be needing the services of their local vas. we cannot let the powers that be get away with f**king THEM up too

December 4, 2005
Bush VA Appointees Diverted Healthcare Funds for Illegal Studies
by Larry Scott
Funds were diverted from veterans’ healthcare to pay for studies on outsourcing jobs and closing VA hospitals – The dismantling of the VA is leading to privatization
By Larry Scott
One of the maxims of the Bush administration is: Never let the law get in your way. The political appointees who run the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) certainly know how to play by those rules.Between 2001 and 2004 the VA illegally diverted funds earmarked for veterans’ healthcare to pay for studies on outsourcing jobs at VA facilities and to fund other studies on closing VA hospitals. The report detailing the VA’s misdeeds was released last week by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). (The full GAO report is available here -- http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06124r.pdf) The VA officially denies any wrongdoing. VA Secretary Jim Nicholson argued, "Congress clearly did not intend to preclude all manner of cost analysis necessary for the day-to-day administration of our health-care system …” However, Congress did pass legislation in 1981 that prohibits the diversion of funds appropriated to VA medical care accounts for studies on the cost of keeping work in-house versus that of contracting it out.During the time VA officials were misappropriating funds they were working with Republicans in Congress to try to change the 1981 law that they were breaking. Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, introduced legislation (S. 1182 Sec 7) to do away with the prohibition and allow the VA to spend healthcare funds on outsourcing studies........