What you are paying for!!!

Vince524

Are you gonna finish that bacon?
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The Veterans Affairs Administration is spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars every year to maintain hundreds of buildings – most of them vacant – that have fallen into such a state of disrepair that many of them are considered health hazards, an investigation by FoxNews.com reveals.
Exactly how much it costs to maintain the run-down and abandoned buildings is a matter of dispute. The General Accountability Office estimates that the VA has spent $175 million every year since 2007. But the VA disputes that figure, saying it spent $85 million on the buildings in 2007 and only $37 million last year.
Whatever the figure, the timing couldn't be worse for the VA, as tens of thousands of American troops, many of whom have served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, prepare to return to the U.S. and will require the expensive medical, psychological and support services it provides.


This gets me very angry. It's mismanagement of our tax dollars that is supposed to go to helping vets who need and deserve our help. I don’t think this is partisan either. This is now under Obama, but I'm sure it existed under Bush as well.

I doubt either of them were or are even aware of it. It's a sign that our government is just too big and bloated.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/31/veteran-affairs-spends-millions-on-hazardous-buildings/
:rant:
 
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Shadow_Ferret

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Link?

I'd be interested in knowing how many of these "vacant" buildings "fallen into a state of disrepair" are considered landmarks. I know here at our VA center in Wood there are is a complex of some 25 original buildings still standing from the post-Civil War era that are on the National Register.
 

stormie

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My father was a disabled vet. Before he died in 2002, I had to take him to the VA clinic for his check-ups, hearing tests, artificial leg from war injury and amputation, etc. Even before the Gulf War, the place was a mess. Old, worn out, tired looking. And he had to wait at least an hour for his name to be called, each and every time, yet there weren't as many veterans then as there are today.

The artificial leg they gave him each time was a relic of the past. Why? Because "they" said he was too old to learn how to use one of the newer ones with a flexible foot.

My father used to say, if they'd just stop erecting monuments to the soldiers and put the monies into the clinics, maybe that would help.

I somehow doubt that.
 

veinglory

volitare nequeo
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Before leaping to judgement I would like to know what better alternative they could have taken. Are they allowed to sell the buildings? Would anyone buy them?
 

Chris P

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My suspicion in this case is that the vacant buildings are being maintained because (ironically) there is no money to demolish them. There are accountability rules in place to keep people from moving funds around, and money budgeted for facilities maintenance cannot simply be used to demolish a building.

Bringing down a federal building takes years; literally. First, there must be a determination that the building is indeed no longer usable or safe, and then come things like an asbestos survey, etc. Then, the preliminaries must be sent out for bid. If there is asbestos, the removal must be bid upon for a set period of time, and the demolition itself must be sent out for bid as well. Then, once all that is done (anywhere from 9 to 18 months, if the government puts it as a priority), the money must be included in the federal budget passed by Congress. If the budget passes without the money in it, the building stays standing and the maintenance funds (which had been on the budget for many years and are easily less than the demolition costs) continue to be used for maintenance, regardless of the building's status.

I work at a federal facility, and we have a 15 by 20 foot shed that we cannot take down because 1) it is on a concrete slab, and therefore a "federal building," and 2) it has a floor drain that connects to the city storm sewer system. It would take 2 hours to knock down the walls and jackhammer the slab, but two years to get approval to do so.

I don't see this as an issue of big government, I see it as an issue of painting ourselves into a corner. All these regulations exist because somebody somewhere at some time abused the system. For good or bad, that's how these kinds of things happen.