Re  Joe Average Vet’s post on a 53% error rate just at the SDRO. I have had vast volumes of private mail on that subject and 40+ hits every day since it was posted. Let us put this in perspective. A noted Veterans attorney (mine) emailed me last night and posited the “what if?” question that sits on our lips unspoken. Trust a rainmaker to see it in true perspective.

What if …

GEICO’s gecko stood up and said in that inimitable bogus Aussie accent that they were extremely proud of the fact that they were able to resolve claims for the most part in 585 days with an average error rate that rarely exceeded 53%-at least at their San Diego office, but that they were unwilling to extend that claims resolution time to their Oakland and Seattle regional offices?

United Airlines proudly announced that its aircraft safely took off and landed at their destinations 47% of the time and they were actually striving to improve that a bit due to passenger dissatisfaction with the exceedingly high number of aircraft accidents resulting in fatalities?

Premera Blue Cross made a TV commercial wherein they touted their doctors and medical staff were generally successful in resolving 47% of all emergency room visits to the satisfaction of the patients and apologized profusely for the others who had untimely outcomes that resulted in permanent disabilities including death?

Ford Motor Company came forth and said they stood behind their solid record of 47% of cars and trucks sold actually being road worthy and explained that Pintos were an unfortunate aberration that they were actively working on to reduce?

The New York Solid Waste Refuse Utility put up billboards that pointed out they invariably picked up at least 47% of all garbage weekly, admitted occasionally missing some but were analyzing their practices and hoped at some time in the future to improve sanitation practices to avoid further incidents of the Plague?

Your vet attorney, who agreed to take your case, bragged that his win/loss record was 47%/53% but not to worry because virtually all his peers had similar statistics and that he was taking remedial law classes to improve that average?

Your wife, who you adore, said she was faithful to you for the most part 47% of the time,  had minor transgressions which she  couldn’t  explain but was making a concerted effort to eliminate them and apologized for the large number of STDs she inflicted on you?

Your general contractor building your $799,950 custom dream home announced after breaking ground that his price estimates were generally spot on 47% of the time and that he had the ultimate confidence the foundation subcontractor, who similarly had a win/win record of getting  houses plumb and level 47% of the time, would succeed in doing so on yours sometime in 2013 ?

I could go on but the gist of this comparison is fairly obvious as my attorney friend pointed out. How is it that a Government agency tasked with the important job of ensuring its citizen soldiers are properly remunerated, cannot accomplish it in a timely manner and get the decision correct more frequently than 47% of the time? We live in America where anything is possible… except timely , correct compensation for injuries and diseases more often than not documented in the medical records of those individuals.

vA would have you believe that it is a very complicated process fraught with complications, the likes of which we have no idea. That each claim is so unique it requires endless rounds of prognostications and reexaminations to ascertain the Veteran is not simply trying to scam the system?  Keeping in mind Veterans are constrained by a finite life span, endless examinations of chicken entrails and tea leaves  are slowing the process down. I might also point out that there appears to be a finite number of chickens available for these Ouija board exercises in the vA’s budget. With a one million plus backlog, Tyson ought to be making money hand over fist down in Arkansas with shovel ready jobs for chicken manure  technicians. This would also have a nice rebound effect on unemployment and reinforce the concept of  the Trickle Down Theory of  Economics. Properly instituted, tea futures will go through the roof. The prospect of increased Ouija® board and Magic 8 Ball® sales is a given with 57 VAROs.

We know many things now. vA opted to stay in the dark, paper-file ages for decades past when their peers came forth from their hovels and built digital file records in new, improved buildings. These peers even had the foresight to equip themselves in the process with operable smoke alarms and sprinkler systems where they store those records. The vA system of claims decisions is archaic and unworkable based on the fact that they have been taking aeons to decide simple claims for as long as I can remember.  Granted, my experiences are more recent-only going back as far as 1989 so this can hardly be considered aeons from a geological perspective.

The constant drumbeat of excuses, mea culpas and promises to do better if given the resources and funds falls on the deaf ears of Veterans. Having been granted these requested assets, the problem stubbornly persists. Illuminating a government problem obviously does not solve it. Unless, of course, you throw more money and personnel at it. Again… and again and again and again…. Gosh, does this sound redundant?

I submit that the vA is a perfect candidate for shovel-ready jobs. The need is there and it doesn’t require years-long EPA reviews and endless lawsuits from the Sierra Club. According to the vAOIG, the feasbility studies are complete. Press “Print”.