10 Questions for General Peake: Nominee for VA Secretary
Today in Washington, an extremely important hearing took place that you won't read much about in the papers tomorrow.
The Senate held confirmation hearings for VA Secretary nominee, Lt. General James Peake (Ret.), M.D.
The new Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs will be on the frontlines of an urgent fight to improve care for this country's veterans. With almost 400,000 pending disability claims, the VA faces massive challenges that must be addressed by a dedicated and effective leader.
Important questions about his candidacy exist, and IAVA will monitor the confirmation process closely to hear his responses. Here are our top 10 questions for Dr. Peake:
1. In 2007, the scandal at Walter Reed finally drew attention to the tremendous obstacles facing wounded troops coming home from Iraq. But many of these issues were already coming to light years earlier, even in 2003 and 2004, when you were Surgeon General. You have said that you were unaware of any problems during your tenure. How will you ensure these mistakes aren't repeated at VA?
2. Having worked most recently for QTC Management, a major contractor with the VA, what is your stance on expanding the role of private contractors as providers of VA services and benefits?
3. According to the Pentagon's Task Force on Mental Health, "the current complement of mental health professionals is woefully inadequate" to provide the mental health care to today's military. Do you agree with this assessment? Should you have done more to alleviate this shortage in the military, and how will you address this problem at VA?
4. Do you believe the current World War Two-style GI Bill adequately covers the cost of college tuition today? If not, what specific improvements to the GI Bill would you recommend?
5. As VA Secretary, would you commit to implementing immediately the VA-specific recommendations from the Dole-Shalala Commission?
6. Disabled veterans are waiting too long for their disability benefits. The number of backlogged claims has increased over 50 percent over the past three years to almost 400,000 pending disability claims. Just last week, a new report showed that the average time for claims processing has risen again, to 183 days. What will you do to reduce the backlog?
7. The VA budget is late again this year, and temporary funding bills leave veterans' hospitals unable to plan their budgets accurately. Do you think mandatory VA funding is the answer?
8. According to the VA, "more than 25 percent of veterans enrolled in VA health care -- over 1.7 million -- live over 60 minutes driving time from a VA hospital." This number is likely to rise because the mission in Iraq has relied heavily on National Guardsmen and Reservists, who are disproportionately from rural areas, underserved by VA hospitals and clinics. How would you better the care available to veterans living in rural areas?
9. Since 2001, 22,000 troops have been discharged from the military with a 'personality disorder.' Personality disorder discharges have increased 40 percent in the Army since the invasion of Iraq. Why do you think there has been such a dramatic increase in what are supposedly pre-existing conditions? Many have suggested that these troops are actually suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Do you believe PTSD is being misdiagnosed?
10. You will have much less time than your predecessors to influence VA policy under this Administration. What are the top three specific changes you hope to implement during your tenure and what can you realistically hope to accomplish?
The new Secretary of the VA will inherit a department under enormous strain. With the presidential election less than a year away, he may have a small window to affect significant change. IAVA looks forward to learning whether Dr. Peake is the right candidate to hold this critical position.
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I'm afraid this is just "SSDD." If the idiot-in-chief nominated him we can be sure he is corrupt, without morals, and probably borderline competant. My belief is that the best, if not ONLY hope we Vet's have is to elect Bill Richardson. I am one of the Vet's (Viet Nam, Marines) who lives more than 60 miles from a VA hospital. I see how the care has deterioted from the time I was rated 10% in 1968 to my 100% in 1995. We can't have 27 more years of that kind of progress.
Right on, Paul. Keep up the pressure. Our veterans served us and now we need to serve them: with the best of care, near their homes; and with a new GI bill along the lines proposed by, I believe, Sen. Jim Webb, comparable to the post-WWII.
As a vet, i don't believe anything will change, it will be more of the same red tape bullshit. Its a wonder that anyone would enlist in the service just to get railroaded by the system. I bet congress don't have to wait 183 days for benefits, or services. Our government has a serious greed problem,and giving bonuses for holding back services shows us that big business has to be removed from the VA programs. and,caring about and for vets needs to be the number one priority.
When will the government take good enough care of veterans to eliminate the need for NGO supplimental care of GI's???
As a veteran that benefited from the Vietnam Era GI Bill for both some school and buying my first home, Paul, I would gladly and proudly supoprt ANY new tax I knew was of primary benefit to OUR veterans. But, we ALL know the republicants have serious greed problems when it comes to raising taxes or providing ANY entitlement programs, EVEN if it IS for the veterans of OUR military - that they like to brag loves THEM so much more than those OTHER guys.
What I DON'T like, DON'T accept and will NEVER SUPPORT IS that; between the salaries that include the benefits they receive like health and disability, and the seeming license to kill with impunity without so much as a handslap, MERCENARY RAGs (rent-a-guns) are payed more, taken better care of and seemingly shielded from the law by this administration than OUR active duty US Military. That's VERY irksome and seems like it SHOULD BE ILLEGAL.
I absolutely OBJECT to private armies being protected 'by OUR country' from a responsibility for what they do in foreign lands. THIS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED to happen and NEW LAW may be required.
Thanks again for all that you and IAVA do for OUR servicepeople, Paul, if you're SO appreciated by an old veteran like me, I know the soldiers of today you're trying to help will also be grateful for your efforts.
SUPER QUESTIONS, PAUL!! I would love to also ask him if he personally knows William Winkenwerder, Logistics Health, just given an 800 million dollar contract for prewar physicals? It's that old "pre-condition" thing again. This man has a long record with VA issues, including being fired for mis-appropriation.
Another would be; What do you plan to do to fund competent civilian therapy (that all ready exists throughout the United States) for the Brain injured and PTSD? Obviously the new hires (psychologists) for the VA are not going to work out without licenses or experience. Giving the unqualified the responsibility of treating severe brain injured soldiers is totally unacceptib
Paul: do you know if it is possible to get an extension of time for a veteran to use his or her educational benefits from the GI Bill?
I think the answer is to build a Servicemember's
Academy, which all servicemembers become eligible to attend during/after their service.
Manage the cost of education for soldiers etc.
by building a brand-new complex, a mega-campus,
a virtual campus, that ultimately puts them
in possession of a degree without having a
penny pass through their hands. The brick-and-
mortar school world is going to eventually
fold up. Imagine if you could study for the
price of the electricity it takes to turn on
your computer. Can you use Google? Congratulations, you're now a researcher.
Who says that a degree is honestly a guarantee
of anything anymore anyway?
Here's another idea: Expand West Point. Make
it HUGE. Make it GIGANTIC. Make it GLOBAL.
Make it UNIVERSAL. Interstellar. Stupendous. Monstrous. Make it blot OUT THE SUN. Make it
The Mother Of All Educational Jobs Programs.
Make it WestPoint.
LOL
Richardson's idea of the "Hero" Healthcare card is a good one. This would lead to the eventual merging of the VA system into a national healthcare system. The National system should offer only the services not readily available in the mainstream medical system.
Paul,
In case you haven't noticed, Republicans, all Republicans, view soldiers as fungible goods to be expended for their purpose and then tossed aside as so much garbage. You've seen it in Iraq, at Walter Reed, in the actions of those who 'rule' our country. Peake will be no different I'm sorry to say. If he was, he would not be nominated by the Frat-Boy-King. He will be confirmed and he will make promises that will not be kept. He is, after all, a Republican. And if there is no money in it, then it is not a worthwhile task for a Republican. Their greed knows no bounds. Even to the exclusion of wounded soldiers.
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