1) Yesterday we reviewed the latest Gallup poll results that found an all time low of Congressional approval at around 7%, a historically low figure that is trending downward. We have also come across a similar survey, this one done by CBS News, that found even worst results:
- A mere 5% of those polled think most members of Congress have done a good enough job to deserve re-election.
- 5% is the lowest ever recorded in this CBS News poll.
- Nearly nine out of ten polled think its time to give new people a chance.
- Only 29%, another record low rating, believe that their own House member deserves re-election.
- A whopping 62% think it's time for someone else to be elected in their district.
Incumbents can control so many things, from the gerrymandering of Congressional districts, to free publicity from being in office, to being able to trade government favors and cronyism for campaign contributions, putting outsiders at a distinct election resource disadvantage, etc.
The only way to bring sanity to this situation is to install term limits for all Washington politicians, one and done. Without term limits, the current entrenched political class will continue to under perform at historically and insanely bad levels but be able to protect themselves from being held accountable and responsible for their meager performance.
You can help bring this change about by visiting:
2) Speaking of a lack of accountability and responsibility, consider two other pieces of insanity from the political class. We have previously discussed the fact that the state of Oregon’s Obama Care online health insurance exchange was a total disaster. It was so bad that well into the program, only one person had been successfully enrolled in an Obama Care insurance policy and the whole system was eventually shut down despite having cost hundreds of millions of dollars to futilely build.
In real life outside of government, those responsible for spending so much taxpayer money and delivering so little benefit would have been fired immediately. Unfortunately, real life does not exist when it comes to government workers and the politicians that oversee them, at least in Oregon.
Citing recent news stories, the wonderful website. “Bankrupting America,” reviewed that employees of the failed Oregon healthcare exchange would be receiving $650,000 in bonuses to keep them on the job as they transition over to the Federal healthcare exchange. Yes, even though the Oregon Obama Care state website failed miserably, and wasted hundreds of millions of dollars, those same employees are being richly rewarded for this fiasco.
I cannot imagine what they would have received as bonuses if they had actually created something that was of value. Instead, the same people that royally screwed up the first attempt in Oregon are being rewarded for staying around to try to fix what they screwed up originally. Only in government work can you mess up so much and be rewarded financially for your incompetence and not be held accountable or responsible for your failed work.
3) Let’s continue along this theme of rewarding government incompetence by moving over to the disaster that is the Veterans Administration. Most knowledgeable people know that that the Veterans administration has been revealed to be one of the most inept and corrupt government bureaucracies in existence today.
The truly sad part of this Obama administration scandal is that it is costing lives as veterans have their files destroyed, their medical appointments arbitrarily delayed or secretly cancelled, etc. Valid news reports now put the death toll at over a thousand veterans who unnecessarily died as a result of Veterans Administration incompetence.
But despite killing off veterans due to their own incompetence, many high ranking and other employees within the veterans Administration have been handsomely rewarded financially for their less than stellar management efforts. When people are dying due to your incompetence, you should not even have a job in that area never mind getting bonus payments.
The insanity of the whole affair was captured again by the Bankrupting America website. Below we see the result of their research and reporting on how many in the Veterans Administration are getting very hefty bonus payments for incompetence. High financial reward with no accountability or responsibility for the deaths of our veterans:
All Senior VA Executives Received Ratings Of “Fully Successful” Or Better During The Past Four Years. “The data also showed that in 2013, nearly 80 percent of the senior executives were rated either ‘outstanding’ or as having exceeded ‘fully successful’ in their job performance” (Richard A. Oppel, Jr., “Every Senior V.A. Executive Was Rated,” The New York Times, 6/20/14).
Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), Member Of Veterans’ Affairs Committee: “Do you think that’s normal in business, that nearly every executive is successful? That means you put the bar down here, so anybody can step over it” (Richard A. Oppel, Jr., “Every Senior V.A. Executive Was Rated,” The New York Times, 6/20/14).
The VA Claims Innocence, Says That Gov’t Inefficiencies Did Not Affect Veterans. John Berman of CNN’s “Early Start”: “Here’s what is really disturbing. The VA admits patients were neglected but denies that this mistreatment had any impact on their health” (Nelli Black and Scott Bronstein and Drew Griffin, “Veterans neglected for years in VA facility,” CNN, 6/23/14).
VA PAID OUT $10 MILLION IN BONUSES IN THE LAST THREE YEARS The Government Rewards These Executives For Their Poor Performance. “The embattled Phoenix branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs apparently has paid out $10 million in bonuses during the past three years” (Craig Harris and Rob O’Dell, “Phoenix VA gave out $10 mil in bonuses in past 3 years,” Arizona Republic, 6/17/14).
Who’s In Charge Here? “Bonus payouts increased significantly under Sharon Helman, who became director of the Phoenix VA in February 2012” (Craig Harris and Rob O’Dell, “Phoenix VA gave out $10 mil in bonuses in past 3 years,” Arizona Republic, 6/17/14)
Phoenix CA Administrator Placed On Leave, Still Getting Paid: “The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs disclosed Friday during a congressional hearing that Sharon Helman, the former Phoenix VA Health Care System administrator placed on leave last month amid a patient-care scandal, continues to receive her full salary — roughly $170,000 annually” (Craig Harris, “Phoenix VA: Ousted exec keeps salary while on leave,” The Arizona Republic, 6/20/14)
New VA Chief Won’t Face The Music. He was “speaking in North Carolina last week when he was asked about whether bonus money could be used to ‘actually having a human being pick up the phone when a veteran calls the suicide crisis line’” (Pete Kasperowicz “New VA Secretary’s Shocking Answer,” The Blaze, 6/16/14).
Veterans Die Waiting For Care, Only Revealed When VA Whistle-Blowers Speak Out. “Wednesday’s testimony came amid . . . allegations by VA whistle-blowers who have complained about falsified records, preventable or premature deaths, mismanagement and other systemic problems”(Dennis Wagner, “Deaths at Phoenix VA hospital may be tied to delayed care,” Arizona Republic, 4/10/14).
Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), Chairman Of Veterans’ Affairs Committee: “‘It appears as though there could be as many as 40 veterans whose deaths could be related to delays in care,’ Miller announced to a stunned audience during a committee hearing Wednesday” (Dennis Wagner, “Deaths at Phoenix VA hospital may be tied to delayed care,” Arizona Republic, 4/10/14).
ABSOLUTE CHAOS: “Medical record-keeping so backed up the system is 250,000 pages behind, and millions of records reportedly are missing [and a] compromised mental-health system where patient suicides doubled in the past few years” (Dennis Wagner, “Deaths at Phoenix VA hospital may be tied to delayed care,” Arizona Republic, 4/10/14).
Still Waiting In North Carolina. “Patients seeking care through the Fayetteville VA Medical Center are waiting an average of 83 days for their first appointment with a primary care doctor — nearly six times longer than the department’s goal” (Nicole Carr and Greg Barnes, “Durham, Fayetteville VA Hospitals Have Among Longest Wait Times in US,” ABC11, 6/09/14).
Isaiah Perry, Former Marine, On His Experience Getting Care: “I’ve been about two years [without seeing a primary care provider]. I’m not the only one” (Investigative Team, “Veteran Shares His Durham VA Wait Time Horror Story,” ABC11, 6/11/14).
Veterans Died While The VA Spent Millions Maintaining Abandoned Buildings. “The Government Accountability Office estimates that the VA has spent $175 million every year since 2007 [maintaining] hundreds of buildings — most of them vacant — that have fallen into such a state of disrepair that many of them are considered health hazards” (Jana Winter, “VA Spends Millions to Maintain Vacant and Hazardous Buildings,” Fox News, 9/01/10).
Picasso’s Blue Period Never Looked So Good. “This past week, the Department of Veterans Affairs bought $562,000 worth of artwork. This string of big-ticket purchases was an unmistakable sign: It was ‘use it or lose it’ season again in Washington.” (David Fahrenthold, “As Congress fights over the budget,” Washington Post, 9/28/13).
Veterans are dying and the VA is buying artwork rather than hiring more medical staff. Veterans are dying and VA executives are getting millions of dollars in bonus payments. Veterans are dying and even when the VA suspends an incompetent executive, she still draws a full salary. Veterans are dying and the VA wastes millions of dollars on abandoned buildings rather than hiring more medical staff.
Of all of the political class insanity we have covered over the past five years in this blog, this shabby and fatal treatment of our veterans is the most despicable and disgusting we have ever come across.
More insanity tomorrow including additional insanity from the Veterans Administration the government bureaucracy that keeps on screwing up beyond what we have already talked about.
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