Politics As Usual
Shining a Light on Power and Policy
Tom Shine covers congressional politics for ABC News.
RECENT POSTS
- "The Stories Are Shocking In Their Simplicity And Brutality..."
- "Pipes Have Voltage, Get Shocked In The Shower"
- She May Have to Take the Stand "For Mommy" a Second Time
- The Army Calls A Reverse And Orders Football Star Caleb Campbell To Serve
- "I Have Broken The Cycle Of Obesity..."
- "When I Joined the Navy, I Didn’t Know I Was Gay"
- You Might Not Be Able To Afford The Groceries, But Your Shopping Cart Will Be Clean
- For the Petersons 'The Price is Right'
- 8,763 DISABLED VETS DIED BEFORE THEIR CASES WERE REVIEWED
- HOLY PATRICK LEAHY, BATMAN!
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
8,763 DISABLED VETS DIED BEFORE THEIR CASES WERE REVIEWED
July 15, 2008 12:47 PM
In 2003 Congress passed a law giving additional benefits to the most severely disabled veterans. Most of the eligible fought in the Vietnam War and nearly 217,000 were entitled to a one-time retroactive pay award under the program. To carry out what became known as the "VA RETRO PROGRAM" the Defense Department turned to LOCKHEED MARTIN and awarded the contractor a "NO-BID, COST PLUS FIXED FEE CONTRACT." But according to a report being released today by investigators working for the domestic policy subcommittee of house oversight and government reform, chaired by Dennis Kucinich, the program was mismanaged from the very start.
DOD didn't even hold its first formal inter-agency meeting on how to implement the program until February 2005, more than two and one-half years after Congress passed the law.
DOD was slow to collect the data and give it to LOCKHEED MARTIN.
LOCKHEED MARTIN had database and software problems of its own and not enough staff.
Due to the way the contract was written, DOD could NOT PENALIZE LOCKHEED MARTIN for its inadequate performance.
DOD was finally forced to RELAX QUALITY CONTROL STANDARDS and ADD FEDERAL WORKERS TO SUPPLEMENT LOCKHEED MARTIN just to get the program moving.
As a result, congressional investigators claim up to 8,763 DISABLED VETERANS DIED BEFORE their cases were even reviewed.
Command Sergeant Major Harold Lewis was a draftee in the Vietnam days but ended up staying in the military and serving for 28 years. By the time he left he had multiple service-related disabilities, including acute peripheral neuropathy, tinnitus and hearing loss, diabetes type 2, and numerous combat injuries including concussions and broken vertebrate from rocket attacks. He applied for benefits under the program and a YEAR LATER he was DENIED. Just this past June he finally got a check for $15,000 after the contractor found a letter from the VA stating he was eligible for a check.
Lewis is a lucky one. He is still alive!
July 15, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (1)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Do we need anymore evidence of a bureaucratic screw up that is affecting veterans? How many claims have gone denied or under-rated because of some idiot in the Department of Veterans Affairs and now Lockheed Martin?
Let the freaking idiots build planes, bomb veterans!
Posted by: Lee Smith | Jul 23, 2008 2:35:44 PM
Post a comment
