Secretary Of Defense Chuck Hagel thinks Americans should want to find out what the problem is in the VA and fix it. I think he is 100 percent wrong.

What is he talking about?  Where the hell has he been?  With ONLY 1 percent of Americans serving in the military, it’s hard for some Americans to understand that this is a crisis (including e–mails describing how to ‘game a system’ that eventually caused Americans to die)—and it is something that should have never have occurred in the first place.  American politicians’ laid-back response is unacceptable.

Why?

Reality: Only 1 percent of Americans have and/or will serve in the U.S. military, and many of these soldiers are from rural America. There are exceptions, but I’m betting that a lot of new recruits never really had to deal with politics nor are they concerned about how politics play a part in their care during and after service.  American soldiers serve their country and assume they will be able to use the VA medical system if they need the care.  They should never expect to die at a Veterans healthcare facility due to a waiting list created for medical treatment–and this should never have happened.

Why?

The situations at the VA are NOT new problems. Past administrations have been aware of problems and used “Band-Aids” to cover it up for “political reasons.” It’s time for an overhaul of American politicians, executive VA leadership, VA hospital and facilities leadership and board members.  A lot of employees, union and non-union, should be losing their jobs if they knew about the conditions within the VA. The groups listed need above need to consider themselves lucky they are not in jail.  Fear of losing a job is not an excuse for anyone not to do what is right according to American society.

How can so many layers of leadership be so dysfunctional?

Yes, the VA is a large medical system, the largest, but it doesn’t mean it gets to operate at any level of dysfunction.  The layers of leadership and money supplied give the system an advantage to run with little to no errors; it’s called competent ethical leadership.

Solutions: Time to focus on peeling back the different layers of leadership in control of the huge bureaucracy in the VA system.  We all understand that in the “real world,” leadership sets the tone of the work environment, which is driven from the top down, and once that fear of job loss is created or any other type of fear that is created related to speaking out occurs, accountability becomes uncontrollable.

Every aspect of the VA needs to be analyzed.  Let’s start with The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union.

Who are the top union leaders that control the VA?

National President J. David Cox

National Secretary / Treasurer, Eugene Hudson Jr.

National Vice President for Women & Fair Practices Augusta Y. Thomas

With district union leadership and VA facility union leadership under the union’s executive leadership; what district union leadership should be reviewed?

What executive boards should be reviewed?

Has your representative from Congress ever visited a VA facility of any kind?

Press releases regarding Union opinions:

VA Employees’ Union Blames Chronic Understaffing for Long Wait Lists

VA Employees’ Union Calls for End to “Culture of Fear” for Whistleblowers

Time to ask:  Should the layers of union leadership be replaced?  There is no excuse acceptable for what has occurred at the VA at least I can’t think of one, and I don’t buy the fact that one of “most powerful federal employees” union couldn’t stop the abuse within the VA system. Something doesn’t add up.

More disturbing facts: “The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union representing 650,000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide and overseas. Workers in virtually all functions of government at every federal agency depend upon AFGE for legal representation, legislative advocacy, technical expertise and informational services.”

Just one of the things that American voters need to decide is if they want to continue to support politicians that support union membership within the VA and other government agencies.  There seems to be a 100 percent lack of accountability for American lives and trillions of dollars within the VA system and other government agencies.

“The community cannot tolerate the notion that it is defenseless at the hands of organized workers to whom it has entrusted responsibility for essential services” A. H. Raskin , 1968

About the Author

Oklahoma PolitiChick Dr. Jacqueline Lang is a devoted mother, business and academic professional. She has worked for many years in many different roles including years in leadership roles in management, in the manufacturing, and service industries. She has worked for Fortune 50, Fortune 500, and Private organizations throughout the U.S. and as a U.S. Congressional Campaign Manager. She has also has served 8 years in the United States Army Reserves. Her education includes a PhD Business, MBA and BA in Communication, along with course work in environmental safety training and executive coaching. Visit Jacqueline's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DrJacquelineLang