WHY Do We Treat Wounded Soldiers So Badly?

Question

How did our VA hospitals get in such terrible shape—and WHY did this happen?
Walter Reed Army Hospital, where investigators found rodent infested facilities with holes in the ceilings and paint peeling off the walls, is less than six miles from the White House. The extreme tax cuts at top income levels that this administration has pushed through congress have only have helped to create a situation where people at the top, who influence government policy, are almost entirely estranged from the middle class.

Answer 1

I really wish someone would not only have the answer but the means to fix it. But, ...I think that soldiers who were in these hospitals are/were not vocal about the conditions. They serve our country - right or wrong - and that belief trickles down into all areas of their lives. Not only that, but even injured they were still soldiers first. That carries with it a different mindset then civilians have. To complain is not part of their nature.

So, when things started to go wrong and conditions started to deteriorate there was no one to shout it from the rafters.

Answer 2

Building 18 is about a century old, with a bad roof. A lackadaisical congress and complaints by the federal employees union prevented a maintenance contract award to a subsidiary of Johnson Controls until November 2006, and they were not allowed to begin any work until February 2007, only two weeks before the Washington Post broke their story. Johnson's contract doesn't include responsibility for the leaking roof, which must be repaired by others before interior repairs, including mold removal and plastering are even practical. BTW, building 18 is only a small part of the vast Walter Reed complex, with only 54 rooms. It houses veterans with minor injuries. Granted they deserve better.

Amazingly, the liberal St. Louis Post-Dispatch states that some of Johnson Controls' employees are former KBR Halliburton employees. SO WHAT? Will the liberal propaganda ever end and the media begin telling the truth?

Answer 3

Who is we? We (I'm wounded veteran) haven't been treated badly at all. The deterioration of the VA hospital's started back when Carter was president and has been that way ever since. It wasn't the cuts from this administration, though I know you would like to think so. You are the same idiot that thinks we are in Iraq because of oil!

Answer 4

First of all the neo-cons chickenhawks who sent us to did not serve their country-they never had a need for military hospitals-and most certainly their kids will not have to serve ..pretty simple why care about something if it does not affect you...but there will be a backlash against the Repubs-wounded vets will not remain silent..I am a Vietnam Vet and we received substandard care. We are willing to spill our blood...we will be heard.

Answer 5

This is what happens when you let the government take charge of something it has no business being in charge of. The government is for lawmaking and peace keeping - not health care. This should be a scary preview of the future "universal" health care system in America.

Answer 6

We pay a lot of lip service to the troops but the people in charge couldn't care less what actually happens to them. Helping out injured veterans is expensive and we need that money so that rich people can line their pockets. Would you really want to tell a billionaire that they couldn't have a fifth jet?

Answer 7

The hospitals got in such bad shape because the Democrats sold out to the unions to buy votes and civil servants can't be fired.

Answer 8

You have fallen for the partisan rhetoric. Don't be ignorant. Check into the facts before spewing uninformed BS.

Answer 9

Only the government could mess up a two car parade.

Answer 10

Anything the government gets its hands on it messes up.