Reply #12: Everyone has forgotten the brouhaha from last September [View All]

[Norquist Nemesis]

No one is mentioning how Patty Murray went to the floor and took a stand for several days about the VA suddenly facing a $3,000,000,000 (that's BILLION dollars) shortfall. It was due to inadequate WH budgets. The kicker is that, as far as I can tell, funding for infrastructure comes out of the service budget, not the construction budget.

Murray's full remarks: http://vawatchdog.org/senatecvademsnews/senatecvademsnews09-29-06.htm

excerpt:
"GAO Report Found that the Bush Administration Misled Us

Next Mr. President, I want to turn to the facts of the GAO report that I requested. This report -- prepared by independent, credible government investigators -- tells us what's really happening. All of us care about the facts and we all care about getting this right, and that's why we should all take this report to heart. Unless we learn from our mistakes, we're never going to do any better for America's veterans.

GAO's 4 Findings

In that spirit, I want to focus on four findings. First, the GAO found that the VA knew it had serious problems with its budget, but failed to notify us in Congress. Even worse, it misled us.

The report suggests that the VA could still be sending us inaccurate information in its quarterly reports.

Second, the GAO found that the VA was basing its budgets on "unrealistic assumptions, errors in estimation, and insufficient data."

Third, the Pentagon failed to give the VA up-to-date information about how many service members would be coming down the pipeline into the VA.

Finally, the GAO found that the VA did not adequately plan for the impact of service members from Iraq and Afghanistan.

VA Misled Congress

For me, I think one of the most disturbing findings is that the VA kept assuring us in Congress that everything was fine – while inside the VA it was clear that shortfalls were growing.

The VA became aware it would have problems in October 2004 – but didn't admit those problems until June of 2005. Veterans were telling me of long lines and delays in care.

For months, I tried to give the VA more money, but the Administration fought me every step of the way. And who paid the price for the VA's deceptions? America's veterans, and that's just wrong."