“Great work . . . Are you a detective? You must be. Oh my, I truly must say that your deductive skills are most astounding!”

This is a step in the right direction, one small step in a house of scandal. The VA makes one seriously contemplate the government’s entire hiring, employment and human resources strategy.

“White House officials are pushing Congress to overhaul the appeals process for veterans benefits claims this year, noting the shrinking legislative window and calling the system a disaster.

“We’re failing veterans,” said Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson. “This process is failing veterans. Nobody can defend the status quo here.”

More than 440,000 veterans have appeals cases pending in the benefits system, a caseload that has risen steadily in recent years as officials have focused on pulling down the number of backlogged first-time claims.

But VA officials have insisted the two aren’t connected, noting the percentage of cases appealed has remained steady. Instead, the problem has been the rising number of total claims from veterans, as more troops deal with issues from the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan. and even Vietnam.

White House officials are pushing Congress to overhaul the appeals process for veterans benefits claims this year, noting the shrinking legislative window and calling the system a disaster.”

Read More: Military Times

Featured Image – VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson says the current process of handling claims appeals is “failing veterans. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Sarcasm, courtesy of, Buck