Daily Beast needs to fact check before writing headlines

I have no real issue with the claims made on the Daily Beast as far as posting what Aaron Glantz wrote, but it would have been great if they went back before 2010 to refer back to what things were like but they were not paying attention to it. 2010? Yes, that would have been the first Obama budget that congress had to work with, fund and pass bills for. That's the other issue here. Congress is responsible for this just as they have been all along.

Just a few to remind them of what was going on.

Under Obama, VA’s Problems Get Worse
by Aaron Glantz Mar 11, 2013


Despite Obama’s pledge to fix the ‘broken VA bureaucracy,’ benefits claims are taking longer than ever to process, reports Aaron Glantz of the Center for Investigative Reporting.

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ ability to quickly provide service-related benefits has virtually collapsed under President Barack Obama, according to internal VA documents obtained by the Center for Investigative Reporting and authenticated by the agency.

“The number of claims that we receive each year has been going up pretty steadily,” said Michael Walcoff, VA’s associate deputy undersecretary for field operations. “In 2000, we got 578,000 claims, and last year got 838,000. That’s a pretty significant increase, and certainly some of that can be attributed to the soldiers coming back from [the wars].” This was from February 25, 2008, Buried under backlogs, Greg Carlstrom.

This came out in April

Veterans Wait 4 Years for VA Claim Appeal

Alabama State Veterans Director Says Veterans Wait 4 Years for VA Claim Appeal, Jane McCardle, Wiregrass Aviator Apr 24, 2008

VA reported 879,291 claims were in backlog

But then you'd have to also factor in all the Vietnam Veterans finally getting some attention and help to have their Agent Orange Claims approved along with their PTSD claims topping off the fact that when troops were becoming wounded veterans from two wars, there were actually less doctors and nurses working for the VA than there were after the Gulf War!

But it wasn't just Bush's fault then, it was also the job of congress to make it right. They didn't. My husband's claim took six years and that was in the 90's under Clinton and that congress, so please for the love of God, stop pretending all of this is new news!