By Frank Scaturro

The unfolding scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs reveals appalling government corruption, and we should not allow the more prominent headlines of the last week to downplay the gravity of the situation.  

At least twenty-six VA health care facilities are under investigation for covering up delays in treatment.  Media reports at least forty of them died waiting for care.  The report by Richard J. Griffin, the acting VA inspector general, found “systemic” misconduct throughout the department.  We should not be surprised if more preventable deaths are exposed by the end of the investigation.  A preliminary analysis released Monday by the VA suggests that nationwide, over 57,000 ailing veterans and wounded warriors have had patient scheduling either misrepresented or sidetracked.  The head of the Department, Eric Shinseki, has resigned, but this is just the beginning.

This story is infuriating because it is all too familiar.  Illinois Senator Obama was a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee.  When he ran for president in 2008, he expressed “outrage” over the condition of VA hospitals and promised to put together a 21^st century VA.  It was an empty promise.  Nothing happened, even though VA officials told the Obama-Biden transition team about delays in treatment and recordkeeping lapses.  This is inexcusable.

Note the wide chasm in our government between talk and action.  The president has shown little appetite for the difficult and unglamorous work of managing our unwieldy and all-too-often unaccountable federal bureaucracy, which comprises about 90% of the government.

Congress is also to blame.  It has abdicated much of its oversight responsibility.  Through its committee system, Congress has the power to review executive branch performance and hold agency officials accountable for deficiencies.  Yet oversight—carried out via hearings, briefings, letters, budget holds, and reports—is the most underutilized of all congressional powers. Typically, members show little interest in vetting agency performance until the media incentivizes them to condemn a lapse.  Even then, too often Congress fails to enact structural reforms to prevent problems from recurring.

Many in Congress come from privilege or are simply oblivious to how agencies perform.  It is frustrating to see elected representatives so divorced from conditions on the front lines of government.

In addition, agency bureaucrats often appeal to the vanity of elected officials.  Ask about an agency and too often, elected representatives will simply repeat information provided by an agency flack who is just as likely to cover up bureaucratic lapses as to convey the truth.

I know.  I was a whistleblower who reported neglect and concealment by a federal agency, the National Park Service.

The VA betrayal merits the strongest possible response.  Those who engaged in criminal negligence or cover-ups should be prosecuted.

This scandal also reveals the need for reform on three fronts.  First, it is a wake-up call for those who maintain that Obamacare’s problems are mere glitches and not indicators of systemic problems that will continue to jeopardize health care.  Medical decision-making must be returned to doctors and their patients.

Second, we would not expect any private sector business to succeed utilizing the same personnel system put in place sixty-five years ago.  So it should come as no surprise the VA model has failed repeatedly.  More broadly, the same can be said of our entire civil service.  It is well past time to enter the 21^st century and replace our ossified, inefficient civil service with a modern management system.  That means giving those who oversee agencies the power to hire and fire based on performance.  Both political parties should be working together to make this happen, but they are not.  If you want to know why, consider who is most invested in the status quo.

Finally, our wounded warriors and veterans should not be subjected to a system that routinely shortchanges them.  They should be able to choose where they get their medical care, and the government should accordingly give vouchers to those awaiting medical attention.  This would bypass long waits at failing VA hospitals and improve access to care for those who live far from VA facilities.

Our veterans made tremendous sacrifices to protect the freedoms we enjoy.  Their willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of all Americans merits our highest gratitude and respect.  That is why we, as a nation, must do better—much better—than we have done for them so far.

Frank Scaturro is former Counsel for the Constitution on the Senate Judiciary Committee and Republican/Conservative candidate for the House of Representatives in New York's 4th Congressional District.  His actions against the National Park Service spearheaded the restoration of Grant’s Tomb in New York City.