DCG posted: "Warning: The following will dramatically increase your blood pressure. Fox News: The Department of Veterans Affairs reportedly paid out more than $142 million in performance bonuses in 2014 despite a string of scandals inside the agency. USA Today repo" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on *Fellowship of the Minds* <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/> VA reportedly paid $142M in bonuses last year <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/11/12/va-reportedly-paid-142m-in-bonuses-last-year/> by DCG <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/>
Warning: The following will dramatically increase your blood pressure. [image: tired soldier] <https://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/tired-soldier.jpg> Fox News <http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/11/11/va-reportedly-paid-142m-in-bonuses-last-year/?intcmp=hplnws>: *The Department of Veterans Affairs reportedly paid out more than $142 million in performance bonuses in 2014 despite a string of scandals inside the agency. *USA Today reported <http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/11/11/veterans-affairs-pays-142-million-bonuses-amid-scandals/75537586/> that the bonuses ranged as high as $12,705, and most were over $500. *The bonuses continued even after former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who resigned last year amid the scandal over falsified wait-times, suspended certain bonuses. But that move only restricted bonuses for senior execs in the embattled Veterans Health Administration. * *The VA continued to pay bonuses to other workers in other departments, including those facing their own controversies. * According to USA Today, the VA gave bonuses -- from $4,000 to $8,000 -- to executives overseeing the construction of an overdue and over-budget Denver facility. *Managers at a Wisconsin office also got bonuses between $1,000 and $4,000 despite findings the office was over-prescribing opiates.* And some employees in the VHA have continued to receive bonuses. *A total of 156,000 workers reportedly got them for performance in 2014. * Speaking Wednesday morning with Fox News, VA Secretary Robert McDonald did not address the bonuses but touted improvements at the agency since the wait-time scandal was exposed last year. He said wait-times are down to five days for specialty care; four days for primary care; and three days for mental health care. Further, he said, the disability claims backlog is down 88 percent. "We have work to do," McDonald acknowledged. *According to USA Today, a VA spokesman defended the bonuses as important for attracting talent.* "VA will continue to review tools and options in order to ensure the department is able to attract and retain the best talent to serve our nation's veterans, while operating as a good steward of taxpayer funds," spokesman James Hutton told the newspaper. [image: Finger] <https://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/finger.jpg> See also: - Veterans still facing major medical delays at VA hospitals <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/10/22/veterans-still-facing-major-medical-delays-at-va-hospitals/> - Seattle VA office lost records; veterans told benefits ending <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/10/04/seattle-va-office-lost-records-veterans-told-benefits-ending/> - Obama’s VA shredded veterans’ disability claims <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/07/16/120285/> - Nearly One-Third Of 847,000 Vets With Pending Applications For VA Health Care Already Died <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/07/16/nearly-one-third-of-847000-vets-with-pending-applications-for-va-health-care-already-died/> - Veterans’ bodies left to rot in L.A. morgue <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/05/27/veterans-bodies-left-to-rot-in-l-a-morgue/> - VA claims living veteran is dead, sends burial check, cuts benefits <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/05/09/va-claims-living-veteran-is-dead-sends-burial-check-cuts-benefits/> - 179% increase in backlog of veterans disability claims under Obama <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2012/10/08/179-increase-in-backlog-of-veterans-disability-claims-under-obama/> - Empty promise: Michelle Obama’s campaign to end veteran homelessness <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/12/05/empty-promise-michelle-obamas-campaign-to-end-veteran-homelessness/> - FBI launches criminal investigation into VA scandal; Senate passes bill to fix problem <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/06/12/fbi-launches-criminal-investigation-into-va-scandal-senate-passes-bill-to-fix-problem/> - Phoenix VA hospital changed records to make patients who’d died waiting for treatment appear alive <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/06/26/phoenix-va-hospital-changed-records-to-make-patients-whod-died-waiting-for-treatment-appear-alive/> - Veterans die while waiting for MONTHS to see a doctor at VA hospitals <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/04/27/veterans-die-while-waiting-for-months-to-see-a-doctor-at-va-hospitals/> - Vet Finally Gets VA Doctor’s Appointment – 2 Years After He Died <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/07/02/vet-finally-gets-va-doctors-appointment-2-years-after-he-died/> - Veterans facing long wait times to schedule doctor appointments <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/07/20/veterans-facing-long-wait-times-to-schedule-doctor-appointments/comment-page-1/> DCG *DCG <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/>* | November 12, 2015 at 4:00 am | Categories: Dept. of Veterans Affairs <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=6495306>, Liberals/Democrats/Left <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=115894710>, Military <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=33806753>, Obama's America <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=12285619>, Taxes <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=7716108>, United States <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=5850>, V.A. hospitals <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=28280831> | URL: http://wp.me/pKuKY-wuE Comment <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/11/12/va-reportedly-paid-142m-in-bonuses-last-year/#respond> See all comments <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/11/12/va-reportedly-paid-142m-in-bonuses-last-year/#comments> Unsubscribe <https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=9a7ed2eca0a37fc8484230edc68d3f28&email=bovinescatologists%40gmail.com&b=LLVBnOocH_%5Dp%2CrcWbvFWP_-JaHLX%2C17oMp5yZNZkNi7ZCZd%3DFfY> to no longer receive posts from Fellowship of the Minds. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions <https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=9a7ed2eca0a37fc8484230edc68d3f28&email=bovinescatologists%40gmail.com>. *Trouble clicking?* Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/11/12/va-reportedly-paid-142m-in-bonuses-last-year/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com <http://wordpress.com> -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
