VA Issues, Part II: Who Is the VA’s Boss?
(Part 2 in a series. Part 1 can be found here.)
OK, now it’s time to start p!ssing people off. (smile)
IMO there’s another basic problem with the VA, too. Who does the VA work for?
I don’t mean who heads the agency. And I don’t mean the POTUS, who in theory at least is responsible for all executive agencies of the Federal government.
What I’m asking is: as an agency, who does the VA work for?
If asked, I’d bet long odds that most would say that since the VA “exists to care for and serve veterans”, that vets are the VA’s “boss”. This will p!ss off a lot of folks, but I hold that is 100% wrong.
The VA indeed exists because of vets. It indeed exists to provide specified services to vets. However, the VA does NOT work for us vets. We vets are not the VA’s “boss”.
Rather, the VA works for the US taxpayer. Not for the Congress, not for the POTUS, not for themselves (though some certainly act as if that’s the case), not for us vets. The VA works for the US taxpayer.
Why? Because it’s the US taxpayer that pays for every damn thing the VA does. The VA thus owes the US taxpayer – not us vets – its primary loyalty.
It seems to me that at times, the VA forgets that simple fact.
Today, vets are only a rather small fraction of US taxpayers. In 2012, only a bit over 21 million of the US’s population of over 300 million were vets.
The VA is charged with providing specified services to veterans, while also being “good stewards of public resources”. The first half of that is the part everyone loves – and hates, when it’s being done poorly.. When done successfully, it makes the American public (and US politicians) feel good; it p!sses those same groups off when it goes awry.
It’s also an easy sell to those paying the bills. After all, what could be an easier sell than “helping those who’ve defended the country”?
However, that second part – “good stewardship of public resources” – is equally important. But it’s not as much “fun”, and doesn’t make people feel as good. Indeed, doing that (being a good steward) means you have to tell some people, “I’m sorry, but you just don’t qualify for that benefit.” Yet that too is sometimes necessary if the VA is to faithfully serve and protect the taxpayer’s interests.
And when the media, the public, or politicians hear about such cases, well . . out come the knives. “How dare they mistreat those poor veterans! They served!”
To an extent, the same is true for any government agency. Any government agency does (or is supposed to do) precisely two things: (1) provide a clearly specified public service of some type, while simultaneously (2) ensuring public funds are efficiently, effectively, and legitimately used. The VA is no different.
This in turns yields a certain internal conflict within the VA. The VA exists to “care for veterans”. But they also have a duty to ensure that public money is spent wisely – and legitimately.
People want to help. That’s natural. They want to see people get “what’s coming to them”. And most VA employees are no different in this respect than anyone else.
But there’s a danger in being overly “helpful” when spending (or approving spending) public money, particularly when it’s being done to “help people”. Because where there’s money to be had, there always will be those who try to get some of that money any way they possibly can.
Lord knows we’ve seen that enough times here at TAH. I’ll spare you the examples that come immediately to mind; search this site if you need a few.
So part of the VA – the part that determines eligibility and ratings – IMO absolutely has to be cold-hearted, ruthless, and cynical. They have no other choice. Why? Because they’re the gatekeepers that prevent fraud. In military terms, they’re the perimeter security.
Yet there’s pressure for the VA not to emphasize that role, or to do it at all. That pressure comes from multiple sources.
The media loves to write about “those poor, mistreated veterans who are getting ignored by the VA” – regardless of whether those folks are truly getting screwed, or are even actually veterans at all. (Read Burkett and Whitley’s book Stolen Valor if you doubt that – or just spend an hour or two poking around on this website.) Ditto the American public, and Congress.
Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) similarly lobby for their members to get them benefits. Got turned down? Get a VSO to help. Better yet, get them to help in the first place!
VSOs are quite good at this. They’re also good at lobbying for new bennies for vets.
Did I mention that we vets are a pretty vocal group, too? And we can be pretty demanding?
Further: Congress loves to throw money at things. For the VA, this has come in the form of new benefits, liberalization of criteria, and a general push to “make it easier” for vets to “get their due”.
And I won’t event touch on the issues of dirty insiders and institutional corruption. Both exist, and both cost Uncle Sam a pretty penny.
Hell, part of that pressure is even internally generated. Why? A growing number of vets “helped” means more justification for the VA’s budget in future years. So there’s huge internal pressure working in favor of passing out more money or doing other stuff to “help veterans” with only a cursory examination of the individual’s application. More bodies helped (or waiting to be helped) means more justification future budget.
In summary: at least part of the VA needs to behave as if it’s an IRS auditor looking over Al Capone’s business records – because they are protecting the US taxpayer from being robbed, and there are those who will try to steal the US taxpayer blind given half the chance. But there’s a great deal of pressure on the VA to act instead like a cross between Mother Teresa and Santa Claus with a full wallet after he’s had half a dozen stiff belts from his hip flask. And for some parts of the VA, that mindset is appropriate.
The VA’s boss – the US taxpayer – demands and deserves both, simultaneously. That’s a damn difficult thing to make work.
It’s even more difficult when an agency doesn’t really understand who they work for, and neither do those who depend on that agency’s services. And when no one seems to want to hear the words, “Sorry, but you don’t qualify” spoken about anyone.
Category: Veterans Issues, Veterans' Affairs Department
Every word true, Hondo.
So far the only thing that honks me off is that no one is ever held accountable for anything, in any agency or branch of government. Every cent that they spend or waste is one that you or I must do without. We all sacrifice something for everything that they do.
Haven’t said anything controversial yet. People do need to be held accountable and fraud needs to be cut, especially in the case of people getting benefits who didn’t earn them or even served in the military.
Good article Hondo, nothing you’ve said so far has upset me so far, nor should it.
I don’t want to take anything from another veteran, I also think most of us think this way.
The problem, as has already been said, is that there seems to be no accountability.
Thank you again Hondo. As a veteran and a taxpayer I understand and appreciate what you wrote.
I prefer the reality, which is that George Washington did not chop down a cherry tree and government employees do not work for me, you, or anyone but their bosses. The exception is the elected employee who actually can be fired by a sufficient number of voting taxpayers and non-taxpayers.