No. Really. The Stars & Stripes reports that Philadelphia VA Regional Office Director Diana Rubens and director of the St. Paul Veterans Affairs Regional Office Kimberly Graves profited nearly half-a-million bucks for their job relocations. Rubens got about $300k for moving from DC to Philly – about 140 miles.<\/p>\n
Rubens took over the Philadelphia office in June 2014, VA officials said she was sent to clean up a regional office beset by problems including rodent-infested conditions, boxes of ignored mail that might have cost countless veterans their benefits, and a manager who asked employees to pay his wife to communicate with the dead at a party. However, the VA didn\u2019t seek out Rubens. The report says that Rubens used her position as deputy undersecretary for field operations to transfer the former Philadelphia director and position herself to get the job.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ya know what? They could have hired me to do it for half that price. And I would have personally beat every rat to death on YouTube. That’s probably not the solution they were looking for, but, I’m just sayin’….<\/p>\n
Now, you take these two, the gala affairs that the VA paid for employees, the woman in Phoenix who spent six figures remodeling her own home with VA money and her VA employees’ labor – you have to wonder if the VA exists solely for the purpose of VA senior employees to improve their lives, you know, rather than veterans.<\/p>\n
While thousands of veterans await their earned benefits, these senior executives don;t have to wait a minute to enrich themselves with taxpayer dollars. Funny how that works, isn’t it?<\/p>\n
The report also recommended that the VA consider disciplinary action against VA Undersecretary for Benefits Allison Hickey and two deputy undersecretaries for their roles in Rubens\u2019 move to Philadelphia. Hickey has said she handpicked Rubens for the job and has vehemently defended her in the face of growing public and Congressional scrutiny over Rubens\u2019 moving expenses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The problem, as I’ve said for years, can’t be handled by firing a few execs at the VA – they need to clean the whole house. It’s the culture at the VA and it’s existed for decades, not just since this administration came into office.<\/p>\n
Thanks to Bobo for the link.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"