Scandals, scandals, scandals...

Where do I begin? There are multiple scandals being investigated while others are being pushed under the rug. Benghazi,the media, and the IRS scandals are all fairly well documented. One that is not so well known is the incompetence at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Maybe I am not looking in the right places, but, as usual, if it wasn't for Fox News very little would be known about the VA's inability to adequately process applications for benefits our veterans so richly deserve. The VA's backlog is currently close to 600,000 applications. I am sorry, but for the backlog to quadruple in just four years is unconscionable. Yes, I know that the Obama Administration made it easier for veterans with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to apply for benefits but what there is no excuse for is for the VA to still be processing applications as if it was in the post-World War II era. The fist thing VA Secretary Eric Shinseki should have done was to implement a technological upgrade of the department. President Obama, who may be an abuser of the Executive Order (I have not investigated this), could easily have issued one directing the General Services Administration (GSA) to upgrade all VA computers in less than 180 days. Another excuse given for the delay in processing veteran applications is that the Department of Defense and the VA do not communicate well with each other. Apparently it takes a very long time for medical records to travel between the two departments. Why can't veterans' records be stored in a central location so that both the DoD and VA can access them as needed? DoD needs to have effective procedures in place so that upon discharge the records are readily available to the VA. If need be the Secretary Shinseki of the VA and Defense Secretary Hagel should lock themselves in a room, with no aides, until they have a way to fix the problems. These two Cabinet members need to be working closely together. It should never take two years for our veterans to receive the benefits due them.