WASHINGTON (CNN) -- While hundreds of thousands of disability claims lay backlogged at the Department of Veterans Affairs, thousands of technology employees at the department received millions in bonuses, a new report says.Lawmakers want to know why some IT workers in the VA Department have received such excessive bonuses.
A report issued by the VA's Office of Inspector General said the department issued millions of dollars in awards over a two-year period in 2007 and 2008.
"The frequent and large dollar amount awards given to employees were unusual and often absurd," the report stated.
Four high-level employees received bonuses as high as $73,000 according to the report without sufficient justification. Another employee received a $4,500 performance award within the first 90 days of her employment from a manager who could not even remember her.
The inspector general said one recently retired official, Jennifer S. Duncan, improperly approved numerous bonuses and "acted as if she was given a blank checkbook to write unlimited monetary awards."
During the two years in question, Duncan also received more than $60,000 in bonuses, according to the report.
President Obama has told Congress it is a priority to reduce the number of backlogged claims at the VA. Claims are coming in at a faster rate than they can be processed.
See the complete story at http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/22/veterans.affairs.bonuses/index.html
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2 comments:
You know nothing really surprises me any more. Besides feeling shame that we would treat our Veterans with such disdain and not support them when they come home is unaccetable. What has this country become. Whether right or left, independent or atheist, this is just DISGRACEFUL!
Rightardia has been covering VA affairs since we started. The Democrats are trying to improve services and have increased the VA budget by 15 per cent. More than 500,000 additional vets are now
eligible for services. Although the GOP is big on new weapons systems and war, it has never supported veterans programs very well.
I just went through an 8 year appeal with VA and prevailed. I was happy the Board of Veterans Appeals judge was appointed by the Obama administration. The outcome might have been different if a GOP drone had been the judge.
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