Bush Bush's Veterans Agency Again!
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While many folks cheered the recent passage of the new GI Bill, a red flag was raised on 9/13/2008 when the Bush administration's managed Veterans Administration announced it planned to outsource the technical aspects of the bill to private contractors.
http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/gi-bill-plan-header-for-disaster/
Responding to the Bush administration’s recent decision to privatize portions of the new G.I. Bill, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-Calif.) blasted the VA on Thursday, saying the outsourcing plan will end in “disaster.”
The VA stirred up a hornets’ nest last month, when its plan to contract outside the agency for a computer system to screen claims under the newly expanded veterans education benefit was revealed. Administration officials say the outsourcing is needed to meet the Aug. 1, 2009, deadline for installing the new program. But, appearing before a House panel Thursday, some of those same officials said they know almost nothing about how the system will work and what it might cost.
Keith Pedigo, a VA associate deputy undersecretary, told members of the House VA Economic Opportunity Subcommittee that the agency has given potential bidders “the basic requirements,” but indicated the VA would have no details about the IT program until the contract is awarded later this month.
Asked about costs, Pedigo had no idea; asked which companies are in the running, he declined to say; asked about penalties if the system fails, he said the companies would be proposing those themselves; asked about a back-up plan, he said only that it’s in the works, but “not fully developed.” [The Bush Administration at work. Emphasis added - LG]
With the deadline inching closer, the absence of a strategy riled some committee members, particularly the pugnacious Filner, who made headlines last year over an altercation with an airport employee.
“This is incredible,” Filner said. “You don’t know what you get. You don’t know what it costs. You don’t know what happens if it fails. What are you getting us into here?”
Later, Filner told Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), the subcommittee chairwomen, “This is going to be a disaster, madam chair.”
Maybe a disaster " but not a surprise. The VA’s outsourcing strategy is just the latest in a long series of steps taken by the Bush administration to privatize tasks once performed by government employees. The trend has included the shifting of billions of dollars in battlefield responsibilities to war contractors, the transfer of seniors’ health coverage from Medicare to private insurers and a high-profile " but failed " attempt to establish private savings plans under Social Security.
In each case, the administration has claimed that the private sector would be more efficient, thus saving taxpayer dollars. “Contracting for an IT solution is something that’s done in government all the time,” Pedigo argued Thursday.
But critics have blasted the strategy as a giveaway to industry at the expense of taxpayers. “This is a government function,” Filner said of the G.I. Bill computer system, “and it should continue to be a government function.”
The California Democrat pointed to a host of reasons that VA employees are better suited than contractors for the job. For example, he said, they have experience with DoD forms and databases; they’re trained to process appeals; and they have a history of working with the various branches of the armed services.
“Your contractor’s going to have to figure all that out,” he said.
Some veterans advocates agree. Last month, The American Legion passed resolutions opposing the VA’s intentions to outsource parts of the new G.I. Bill. David K. Rehbein, the group’s new national commander, said he shares the goal of greater efficiency " but not the move to privatization.
http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/gi-bill-plan-header-for-disaster/
Responding to the Bush administration’s recent decision to privatize portions of the new G.I. Bill, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-Calif.) blasted the VA on Thursday, saying the outsourcing plan will end in “disaster.”
The VA stirred up a hornets’ nest last month, when its plan to contract outside the agency for a computer system to screen claims under the newly expanded veterans education benefit was revealed. Administration officials say the outsourcing is needed to meet the Aug. 1, 2009, deadline for installing the new program. But, appearing before a House panel Thursday, some of those same officials said they know almost nothing about how the system will work and what it might cost.
Keith Pedigo, a VA associate deputy undersecretary, told members of the House VA Economic Opportunity Subcommittee that the agency has given potential bidders “the basic requirements,” but indicated the VA would have no details about the IT program until the contract is awarded later this month.
Asked about costs, Pedigo had no idea; asked which companies are in the running, he declined to say; asked about penalties if the system fails, he said the companies would be proposing those themselves; asked about a back-up plan, he said only that it’s in the works, but “not fully developed.” [The Bush Administration at work. Emphasis added - LG]
With the deadline inching closer, the absence of a strategy riled some committee members, particularly the pugnacious Filner, who made headlines last year over an altercation with an airport employee.
“This is incredible,” Filner said. “You don’t know what you get. You don’t know what it costs. You don’t know what happens if it fails. What are you getting us into here?”
Later, Filner told Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), the subcommittee chairwomen, “This is going to be a disaster, madam chair.”
Maybe a disaster " but not a surprise. The VA’s outsourcing strategy is just the latest in a long series of steps taken by the Bush administration to privatize tasks once performed by government employees. The trend has included the shifting of billions of dollars in battlefield responsibilities to war contractors, the transfer of seniors’ health coverage from Medicare to private insurers and a high-profile " but failed " attempt to establish private savings plans under Social Security.
In each case, the administration has claimed that the private sector would be more efficient, thus saving taxpayer dollars. “Contracting for an IT solution is something that’s done in government all the time,” Pedigo argued Thursday.
But critics have blasted the strategy as a giveaway to industry at the expense of taxpayers. “This is a government function,” Filner said of the G.I. Bill computer system, “and it should continue to be a government function.”
The California Democrat pointed to a host of reasons that VA employees are better suited than contractors for the job. For example, he said, they have experience with DoD forms and databases; they’re trained to process appeals; and they have a history of working with the various branches of the armed services.
“Your contractor’s going to have to figure all that out,” he said.
Some veterans advocates agree. Last month, The American Legion passed resolutions opposing the VA’s intentions to outsource parts of the new G.I. Bill. David K. Rehbein, the group’s new national commander, said he shares the goal of greater efficiency " but not the move to privatization.
