Okay, So Veterans Left To Rot Without Proper Healthcare -- Here's $142 Million In Bonuses!
Donovan Slack and Bill Theobald write in USA Today:
WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans Affairs doled out more than $142 million in bonuses to executives and employees for performance in 2014 even as scandals over veterans' health care and other issues racked the agency.Among the recipients were claims processors in a Philadelphia benefits office that investigators dubbed the worst in the country last year. They received $300 to $900 each. Managers in Tomah, Wis., got $1,000 to $4,000, even though they oversaw the over-prescription of opiates to veterans - one of whom died.
The VA also rewarded executives who managed construction of a facility in Denver, a disastrous project years overdue and more than $1 billion over budget. They took home $4,000 to $8,000 each. And in St. Cloud, Minn., where an internal investigation report last year outlined mismanagement that led to mass resignations of health care providers, the chief of staff cited by investigators received a performance bonus of almost $4,000.
...-- In Arizona, Sandra Flint, now-former director of the Phoenix regional VA benefits office, received a bonus of $8,348. Irate veterans confronted Flint at a public forum in August 2014 over a backlog of about 8,200 pending benefit claims. Included were 3,667 pending longer than 125 days. A spokeswoman at the office could not be reached for comment.
Gotta love government. In real life, you get bonuses for doing exemplary work.
In government, they give you money just for being alive and breathing.
Which -- whoopsy! -- is more than we can say about some of the veterans who were "helped" by people working for the VA.
via @reasonpolicy
Amy: Gotta love government. In real life, you get bonuses for doing exemplary work.
I beg to differ. The bailouts supplied by our government (started by Bush and continued by Obama, to their everlasting shame), were used (among other things) to pay bonuses to executives they did not earn and do not deserve.
"Oh, you ran your business into the ground and wish to socialize your losses and expect the taxpayers to bail you out? Here's your annual 100 million dollar Christmas bonus. Heck of a job, Brownie!"
Patrick at November 25, 2015 12:58 AM
Patrick, that's what I was saying -- that government pays bonuses to people who do not deserve them.
Amy Alkon at November 25, 2015 5:48 AM
"I beg to differ. The bailouts supplied by our government (started by Bush and continued by Obama, to their everlasting shame), were used (among other things) to pay bonuses to executives they did not earn and do not deserve."
It's a good point, but notice the common thread. In neither the civil service case nor the crony case are we really talking about the private sector. Although there are exceptions, most private entities who over-pay for mediocre (or worse) performance don't last very long.
Cousin Dave at November 25, 2015 6:16 AM
Sandra Flint should be in jail for fraud. Part of the reason she got her bonus was in part due to falsified waiting lists. She had two, a real one that was in actual use, and a fake one which she passed up the chain of command to show an improvement on wait times.
I R A Darth Aggie at November 25, 2015 9:31 AM
..and pensions. We will continue to support them long after they have retired...
EarlW at November 25, 2015 10:53 AM
"most private entities who over-pay for mediocre (or worse) performance don't last very long."
Exactly right! Those corporations inevitably crash, the executives take their zillion-dollar golden parachutes and save themselves, and tens of thousands of Americans lose their jobs.
Now that's the American Dream right there! Anybody who disagrees is probably a Muslim or something, so save your breath, America-haters!
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at November 25, 2015 12:18 PM
Considering those golden parachutes are usually made up of company stock they usually turn into lead anchors when the company tanks Gog. The trick is to cash out before the company takes a nose dive. You should always be suspicious of a management team that is not heavily invested in the company they run. They know a lot more than anyone else how the company is doing.
Ben at November 25, 2015 2:53 PM
"..and pensions. We will continue to support them long after they have retired..."
This has been addressed here.
Amusingly, Crid objects loudly to the idea that stakeholders should monitor the pension process. Still shaking my head about that one!
Radwaste at November 25, 2015 5:11 PM
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