If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Politics & ReligionWell Since every damn forum has one. Might as well leave it out there. This place is loosely moderated and should not be entered if you're weak of heart.
WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs employees last year racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in government credit-card bills at casino and luxury hotels, movie theaters and high-end retailers such as Sharper Image and Franklin Covey — and government auditors are investigating, citing past spending abuses.
All told, VA staff charged $2.6 billion to their government credit cards.
The Associated Press, through a Freedom of Information request, obtained the VA list of 3.1 million purchases made in the 2007 budget year. The list offers a detailed look into the everyday spending at the government's second largest department.
By and large, it reveals few outward signs of questionable spending, with hundreds of purchases at prosthetic, orthopedic and other medical supply stores.
But there are multiple charges that have caught the eye of government investigators.
At least 13 purchases totaling $8,471 were charged at Sharper Image, a specialty store featuring high-tech electronics and gizmos such as robotic barking dogs. In addition, 19 charges worth $1,999.56 were made at Franklin Covey, which sells leather totes and planners geared toward corporate executives.
Read the complete story and post what you think...
__________________
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. Thomas Jefferson
EMPLOYEES SPEND BILLIONS ON GOVERNMENT CREDIT CARDS!!!
Right wingers get all frothy at the mouth....
Article states...
" hundreds of thousands of dollars in government credit-card bills at casino and luxury hotels, movie theaters and high-end retailers such as Sharper Image and Franklin Covey — and government auditors are investigating"
So we have relatively small scale fraud being investigated by the government, but the headline... BILLIONS ON TEH VISA CARD!!!!
And to top it all off, we have..
"By and large, it reveals few outward signs of questionable spending, with hundreds of purchases at prosthetic, orthopedic and other medical supply stores..."
Which seems to me exactly where the VA aught to be spending it's money these days.
I can't believe anyone would be surprised that this is going on, VA staffers are about 80% wastes of space. They are rude, not helpfull they are assholes to vet's they don't care about their jobs and most of them can burn in hell.
I can't believe anyone would be surprised that this is going on, VA staffers are about 80% wastes of space. They are rude, not helpfull they are assholes to vet's they don't care about their jobs and most of them can burn in hell.
What, exactly, is going on? You have a hundred thousand or so dollars of questionable spending out of billions? OMG!!!!
My experiences with the VA are that they are grossly understaffed for the load they are expected to carry, and that is a direct result in the funding deficit imposed on them by the Bush administration.
The VA was a dream when Bill Clinton was president.
I can't believe anyone would be surprised that this is going on, VA staffers are about 80% wastes of space. They are rude, not helpfull they are assholes to vet's they don't care about their jobs and most of them can burn in hell.
Huh? It was? C'mon, Jerome, the VA has been underfunded and understaffed for decades, has it not?
Yes it has. But veterans could get medicine, see a doctor in a timely fashion, and get other services without the threat of being denied.
Right now there is a huge strain imposed on the VA, primarily as a result of Iraq, and VA spending has not been matched to meet it.
If you're going to have a war, you have to ensure you take care of the soldiers when they come home. That hasn't happened.[/quote]
Yeah, I agree with the additional (probably unforseen) impact the war has had on the VA...it is tremendous, and we have only seen the tip of it. The genuisses that get us into these wars don't likely think that far, hell it won't affect them or their families.
To make it worse, like you said, funding has not been increased commensurately. That is a fucking crime right there.
But IMO it wa pretty screwed up under Clinton as well...the guy that came in to run it afterward (his name escapes me right now) actually did a hell of a job streamlining it...
I'd like to point out that as an OIF vet, I get care very quick, my anger at VA comes from seeing what Vietnam and older era Vet's have to deal with to get even the slightest amount of care.
I'd like to point out that as an OIF vet, I get care very quick, my anger at VA comes from seeing what Vietnam and older era Vet's have to deal with to get even the slightest amount of care.
Yes, exactly my experience as well. I have nothing bad to say about my limited dealings with the VA...
Veterans Affairs Employees Spend Billions on Government Credit Cards
