I think the answer is obvious. If doubling the funding to the VA hasn't worked we should quadruple it.

If we have learned anything it's that government always has the solutions, they just need an endless supply of money to implement them.

* Cheap
* Fast
* Quality

Pick any two.

Those of you who think the only problem is that the gubmit is involved......are not looking like geniuses to me. Tossing this problem to the private sector......will not achieve all three features above. You'll have to be very vigilant to achieve ONE. Two will be the maximum. It will NOT be cheap, either way.

So more money then Sup? :D

Just keep piling it on until the motivation of altruism overtakes and impregnates the program.

So, Len...... Your plan is to privatize it, thereby reducing the cost?

Increasing the effieciency and quality at roughly equal cost is the most likely.

If you were to divide the Walter Reed budget by yearly patients I imagine their care would be excellent in the private sector with that amount and yes probably much less.

Tell me of an instance where a gubmit service was privatized, and cost did not go sharply up.

The bussing for schools here in my county, saved hundreds of thousands.

The problems go further than just the immediate treatment. Look at the capricious nature of the medical boards. Look at how the VA determines the percentage disability and lack of any coherence.

What happens to those who were forced out and received separations pay then re-called to active duty followed by med retirement/disability? What happens is that the individual has to pay back separations pay or bonus money before receiving any retirement (whether regular or medical) or disability pay.

S/F, FOG

Walter Reed was the cat who got mosquito vector diseases under control during the construction of the Panama Canal, as I recall.

but that is not really what you want to know, sorry

Thanks for getting the thread back on track! :)

Now, who is John Galt?

/ J

[shrugs]

I've virtually never heard of school bus drivers who are not employed by the private company called "Laidlaw."

They were county employees here, big stink when they got replaced.

But.....now that you mention it, please educate me.

Somebody (a public school or a private business) buys a bunch of school busses. There's a substantial cost for ya. Then let's consider maintenance on those buses. That's lots of moolah. then let's consider that these things make one trip each morning and the riders don't pay a fare. And unless you were not aware, the drivers are paid peanuts.

Now....isn't that going to be expensive no matter how you slice it? And if you take this work and investment away from one organization (like a public school) and give it to another organization (like a private business that wants to make a profit), then how do you save money? By not modernizing the fleet? Buy not incurring as much maintenance expense? By paying lower wages (yeah, like Laidlaw wages could be made lower.......).

I'm wondering if city buses that are idle when kids need to be transported could be used.....and share those expenses. Use the buses more and defray the costs. Is that what happened in your county?

Again, this notion that somehow schools are buying them wrong....or maintaining them wrong......or paying drivers too much......frankly doesn't make sense.

Unless of course.......you believe that gubmit workers compare to private workers like sloths compare to cheetahs. Oh, that's right. That's cartoon-land. oh.......oops. I forgot about how you guys envision the stuff you have no actual experience with.

Still, I do wonder how your county saved money on school buses.

But.....now that you mention it, please educate me.

Somebody (a public school or a private business) buys a bunch of school busses. There's a substantial cost for ya. Then let's consider maintenance on those buses. That's lots of moolah. then let's consider that these things make one trip each morning and the riders don't pay a fare. And unless you were not aware, the drivers are paid peanuts.

Now....isn't that going to be expensive no matter how you slice it? And if you take this work and investment away from one organization (like a public school) and give it to another organization (like a private business that wants to make a profit), then how do you save money? By not modernizing the fleet? Buy not incurring as much maintenance expense? By paying lower wages (yeah, like Laidlaw wages could be made lower.......).

I'm wondering if city buses that are idle when kids need to be transported could be used.....and share those expenses. Use the buses more and defray the costs. Is that what happened in your county?

Again, this notion that somehow schools are buying them wrong....or maintaining them wrong......or paying drivers too much......frankly doesn't make sense.

Unless of course.......you believe that gubmit workers compare to private workers like sloths compare to cheetahs. Oh, that's right. That's cartoon-land. oh.......oops. I forgot about how you guys envision the stuff you have no actual experience with.

Still, I do wonder how your county saved money on school buses.

The value in column x decreased, while the value in column y increased, but nobody ever hears about column y

It's simple, the budget was X and the county employees said they couldn't do it for that. A few private companies came in and said they could, infact they could do with much less.

How? Efficiency and common sense, two things government has no need for. I imagine they have less overhead and lower wages/benefits, smarter contracts, etc... They have incentive to save money on supplies/service contracts, etc.. where the government employee has no such motivation as long as it fits in the budget what's the harm.

Kids are still gettin to school....

As an example:

A guy I know runs a paper supply company. They started into the process of getting approved by the locality over a year ago for a new agency. He said they put in several hundred man hours just in that. They were one of 8-9 companies trying to get this work and hence going through this process. So... we're looking at thousands of man hours on the government side to wade through the hundreds of man hours of eyewash prepared by the 8-9 companies(much less actully conceive and prepare the layers of crap).



Then, he was one of two that actually survived the BS approval process (his words) and they were eventually awarded the work. They charge more to them than they would a private company(to help offset the money wasted in the BS) and because they can. The government agency has no reason to replace them now, their costs are factored into the budget and that's all the agency cares about. Not to mention it would take another 18 month round of BS to find a suitor and neither side is interested in that again.

None of this happens in normal business (allowing for big business which is not much different than government), a couple meetings and some due diligence on the purchasing agents part and a decision would be made. An efficiency gain of several magnitudes. And if the supplier starts gouging or lets them down he just goes to file and calls another supplier. Seems so simple.

This is a non-answer. Gubmit is stupid, the workers are lazy and this is how a private business got the work. I have always guessed that this is not the level of detail you find acceptable in your personal and your professional life.

Who owned the school buses then.....and who owns them now? Am I wasting my time. Perhaps the fact that a private business is now servicing a contract, and the budget is less......perhaps that's all you care to know? It certainly fits your preconceptions, and so maybe it's not a good idea for you to understand how the company is using your tax dollars to transport your children to school? Not as important as being able to badmouth a government organization?

For the DC guys, I asked a good friend of mine his thoughts. He is a prior Marine and a great guy. His first impression is below:

"As for reaching out to our wounded guys, the guy you need to talk to is 1stLt Oliverio, who is the driving force behind the "Wounded Marine" Program at Bethesda. I'll send you a separate email with him cc'd, or you can contact him directly -- he's in the global. Denis Oliverio. He's a former enlisted V-22 crew chief here, got picked up for OCS, did a tour in Iraq as a tank platoon commander and got taken out by an IED. He's had a bunch of reconstructive surgeries but you'd be hard pressed to tell. He is a force of nature and has single handedly put together this program to help the wounded Marines at Bethesda do something other than just sit around and feel sorry for themselves."

Let's stop whinning about ourselves (not you DC guys) and reach out. I'll post the particulars when I get them.