Even as a liberal, I’ll admit that half of what comes out of Dennis Kucinich’s mouth is crap. He’s so out there that even the extreme left blogosphere doesn’t want to have anything to do with him. His career has garnered him ultra-liberal boogie-man status the likes of which may only be matched by Micheal Moore or Cindy Sheehan.
With the above in mind, it came as a shock for me to read that Dennis, of all people, is looking out for the troops. He’s taking up the fight with more zeal than any conservative on the Hill. How is Dennis defending the troops and looking out for them?
A little background and some perspective.
Back some time ago, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) was allowed to contract out it’s duties of paying and processing disability claims for veterans injured and disabled in combat. Lockheed Martin stepped up to the challenge, er, paycheck. They were to process the claims and promised a completion date of November 2007. That deadline was never met and subsequent deadline were missed with many disabled veterans not receiving a penny. In fact, 8, 763 of our honorable, brave soldiers died waiting to receive benefits. Lockheed has received $18.74 Million for its “efforts” to clear the backlog.
The missed deadlines eventually led Lockheed to shelf it’s quality assurance oversight of the program as it tried to hasten the processing of claims. The result, in some cases veteran’s received less than they were entitled and approximately 28,000 veterans received a letter denying their claims outright. These denial letters were not looked at or reviewed by anyone at the Pentagon or in the federal government and now Congress some of those denials may have been made in error and merely to speed up the process.
Worst still, Lockheed decided that it would pay the more easily verifiable claims first, regardless of the need or hardship presented by the soldier. They thought this approach would speed up the clearing of the backlog. That was July 2006. The more complicated claims have lingered and in some cases have gone unpaid.
So where does our “hero” Kucinich come into to this tragedy? Mr. Kucinich, to date, has been the most vocal critic of this catastrophe. In his capacity as Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform’s domestic policy subcommittee.
If you doubt my new found respect for Mr. Kucinich, don’t take it from me. Here’s what a veteran had to say, ”I’m angry…They’ve been dragging their feet for four years. This is a long time to ask for patience. Thank God for Mr. Kucinich. Everyone else gave us lip service.”
Indeed, thank God for Mr. Kucinich. In my eyes, he’s a little less of a nutjob. Let’s all pray that the Alien don’t abduct him.
More on the story:
“In fact, 8, 763 of our honorable, brave soldiers died waiting to receive benefits.”
I don’t understandhow this could possibly happen with every politician under the sun talking about how much they support the troops. This literally makes me sick to my stomach.
The VA Hospital and now this? DO THEY ACTUALLY CARE BESIDES PUTTING A YELLOW RIBBON STICKER ON THEIR CAR?
I am apalled.
Dear Attorney College Boy mark your calendar ‘casuse rarely do i say things like this but…. this really pisses me off!!!
I am a twenty percent DAV. I was awarded that in ‘79 and although vets are entitled for a review every two years I haven’t done son. Ironically, I just mailed a letter on Tuesday asking for a review.
Things like what Lockheed is doing is exactly why they should be paid on “production” and not hourly type.
Annother irony my wife was in the first class of female shipfitters at the CHASNAVSHPYD. Eventually she worked her way up to Supervising nuclear shipfitters. You may have hear some years ago they closed some ship yards. My wife ended up being a “hired gun” at DEFAS. So much so that she was sent to the Naval Academy for one thing, fixed that and found over a million dollars they didn’t know they were missing. She is now teaching high school.
I think Lockheed’s contract should be reduced by ten percent for every quarter it is not fulfilled. Additionally, they should be REQUIRED to complete that contract before bidding on any additional contracts!
@mssc54 - For once, we are in total agreement. It is a real shame how contractors have profited under the current administration. One need only look to Iraq and see companies making money hand over fist. I’m not just talking about Halliburton in this regard. It’s shameful.
Dear Attorney College Boy; there ya go and hafta throw in “the current administration” thingy.
It is my (correct) personal opinion that ALL politicians make money when they can. (i.e. Lincoln Bedroom, Clinton Library, Cattle Futures, etc.)
Heck they’re gettn as bad a rap as dang lawyers!
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!