House Veterans Affairs Committee To Meet Wednesday
2. House Veterans Affairs Committee To Meet Wednesday. In its "The Week at a Glance" column, CQ (1/31) said the House Veterans Affairs Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday "to organize and adopt committee operating rules for the 111th Congress." The time of the meeting, to be held in "345 Cannon," has yet to be announced.
Space Reappointed To Committee. In continuing coverage, the New Philadelphia (OH) Times-Reporter (1/31) noted that on Friday, US Rep Zack Space (D-OH) "announced...he has been reappointed" to the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Space, who "plans to work with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to address issues of seamless transition and rural veterans' health care," commented on the reappointment, saying, "For far too long, the VA has shortchanged our veterans; I will not stop fighting until each and every one gets what they have earned." The Coshocton (OH) Tribune (1/31) published a similar story.
Fixing VA Said To Be A Tough Job. An editorial in the Rome (NY) Sentinel (2/2) says the "epic scale of...recent failures" by the VA includes the release "of a Government Accountability Office study that found that the VA repeatedly, and perhaps intentionally, miscalculated its long-term budget needs for rehabilitating veterans." The Sentinel argues that Shinseki "has a difficult job ahead. We'll know he has succeeded when the backlogs and waiting lists are gone."
In a related letter to the editor of the Santa Maria (CA) Times (1/31), Dave Troescher of the Committee to Honor California Veterans, argued that if Shinseki talks "to veterans who have to deal with this department of smoke and mirrors, and follow up on the things posted" on websites, "then there could be positive changes" at the VA.
Meanwhile, a letter to the editor of the Peoria (IL) Journal Star (2/1) said, "Maybe" the VA under Shinseki "can end" its "adversarial attitude towards vets. Why can't the VA trust those who have served as much as the IRS trusts all of us by initially accepting claims, and then through audits, etc., determine later if any mistakes have been made?"
Meanwhile, a letter to the editor of the Peoria (IL) Journal Star (2/1) said, "Maybe" the VA under Shinseki "can end" its "adversarial attitude towards vets. Why can't the VA trust those who have served as much as the IRS trusts all of us by initially accepting claims, and then through audits, etc., determine later if any mistakes have been made?"
This last idea is the brainchild of DR Linda Blimes of Harvard University and served on the Obama Transition team, she testified to Congress and the Senate two years ago about this concept as a way to reduce the backlog in claims which is currently about 800,000 claims. Less veterans lie about compensation claims than Americans lie on their income tax returns, the last study by the GAO and the VA found that less than a 2% fraud rate by veterans but a large error rate by VA Regional office employees not properly documenting files or doing their part of the compensation claims properly.Sphere: Related Content
