Posted at 12:01 pm on July 9th, 2012 by
Obama’s VA Director Begs NPR Host to Help Him Understand Why So Many Veterans are Unemployed
The Obama economy has been unkind to most Americans in one way or another, but most unkind to several groups. Among them are black workers, suffering an official 14.4% unemployment, young workers suffering 13.6% unemployment as of April, and unemployment among veterans, which reached a dismal 29% among veterans aged 18-29 in 2011 before easing a bit.
Why have veterans suffered so much under the Obama economy? Don’t ask Veterans Affairs Secretary, retired Gen. Eric Shinseki. He has no clue and admitted as much to NPR’s Melissa Block over the weekend.
BLOCK: General Shinseki, if you look at unemployment numbers for 2011, among veterans who served since 9/11, males aged 18 to 24 have an unemployment rate of 29 percent, which is really a staggering number. It’s more than 11 points higher than non-veterans in that same age group. What do you think accounts for that?
SHINSEKI: Well, it’s why we’re here, Melissa, in Detroit. This is what we are after and ensuring that employers have an opportunity to see those young veterans firsthand and get to make their own judgments, not on the basis of, you know, some perception about who they are, but getting to know them firsthand, getting to interview them and we will continue to do this.
BLOCK: Right. So I understand that that’s how you want to fix it, but when you look at that number with this wide gap between the veteran population and the non-veteran population in the same age group for young men, how do you explain that? What accounts for that?
SHINSEKI: Well, I don’t know that we know enough about this. We know that the numbers are the way they are. But a number of programs are, you know, on – you know, in being that seek to address that. One is our 9/11 GI Bill where, today, we have nearly a million veterans and eligible family members in college, in community college or in vocational training, providing them the skills that they’ll need to join the workforce.
BLOCK: Help me understand why you think it’s so hard to get a handle on why that is, why the numbers are so high. It seems that if you don’t understand why they’re so high, it can become really hard to fix the problem.
SHINSEKI: I don’t know that anybody has an answer. If you’ve got, you know, a direction to point me in, we’ll go find out. But I dare say that this is the issue that we’re focused on. There’s no question that veterans bring a lot to the workplace. (emphases added)
Begging for help from a liberal radio host. That ought to inspire confidence that Shinseki and his boss are really on top of the problem.
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Today is
A Letter to Secratary of Veterans Affairs
Eric Shinseki,
Secretary Veterans Affairs,
Mr Secretary,
Since you have asked on NPR how to get veterans employed again, how about I give you a project that will allow me as an SDVOSB and other vets, in the VocRehab program and help the VA tackle the EHR issue.
I have made a proposal to the Director of the Reginal Office in Fargo ND Paula Canard in response to NARA canceling the scanning contract with them and there recommendation to utilize commercial contractors. She has offered to personally supervise us in this endeavor.
I am the President of a data storage and records scanning company in ND. We developed the prototype for bringing all of the documents back from both AORs. Working directly with both the Air Force and NARA.
We have proposed that we as an SDVOSB company work directly under the supervision of Ms. Canard, to scan all of her records and integrate this information directly back into the VA's data system and all other analysis programs. Additionally we also have the capability to provide a Tier 3 storage facility with a dedicated fiber point to point connection for the access by the VA for these records. We are sitting upon the largest Full Fiber Network in the country.
Now with that being said, because I am an SDVOSB I will never ever get a Tech contract from the VA due to the policies you have enacted that prevents virtually all SDVOSBs from ever getting a contract with the VA. Even though I would be hiring at least 15-17 disabled vets to accomplish this proposal.
You as a 4 Star General are a disappointment and a disgrace to many of us, you of all people should know that the skills we as veterans have far surpass the civilian sector, what takes the civilian sector 4 yrs in a class room we learn in 3-4 weeks... Then we have to apply those skills immediately, so even though we may not have a nice little piece of paper to say we sat on our asses for 4 years getting drunk and stoned....so what .....we have forgotten more than most of the civilian sector will ever know.
However your head contracting officer or YOU has decided upon your own that they will award a single company this scanning contract? Why? Why is the scanning of these records not a multiple award IDIQ controlled by the local VA Reginal offices? It will employ many more people that a single award made from DC, for political reasons.
I know for a fact that the Fargo VA has lost 500 box's of records that were sent to NARA or their contractor....so they are in some void someplace that gives both your agency and you personally a black eye. So what will you do to find them....we wouldn't have lost them because they would be scanned right in the same office that they are written.
Because you pander to those of us out here that are not located in the echo chamber of DC. Telling us that you are doing so much for disabled vets to try and get them employed.....BS you are a disgrace, you have taken every law that the Congress has passed to help get us employed and told us to go to hell you are going to do what you want...we by your own hand have put Veteran owned company's dead last behind the blind and illegal aliens.
You have decided on you own to just take all Federal Contracting Laws and rewrite them (this is according to the IG of GSA, and your own IG) by using the FSS...what a bunch of bullshit. You loose protests to contracts and you tell the winner of that protest that you don't care you will award contracts to whom you want....you have taken a simple Verification program and turned it into an interrogation session, where I would have to give you every bit of proprietary information just to get the cVe again....no thank you, the fraud could have been handled by the local contracting officers in about half a hart beat....but no you awarded a contractor with no solicitation to interrogate us....then promptly reject us....as unqualified....
In addition you had your goons with MP-5s in 2008 "watch" us in Las Vegas because that ding bat at DHS labeled us a possible future terrorist....what the hell is that shit. You retire and the people that watched your ass for 30 yrs are now a potential problem....Who said so....some asshat that is sitting with in the circle of stupidity (DC). Screw them!!!
I am saddened that the day has come when I have had to write a letter like this to a former great general...now just a company yes man that has forgotten the code "That we leave no man behind"....and his balls have been taken from him and put in a blender along with his spine....
Fix Your Department! No excuses, no more smoke blowing, then maybe you may get your respect back....and your spine!!!
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/07/09/obamas-va-director-begs-npr-host-to-hel p-him-understand-why-so-many-veterans-are-unemployed/
V/R
Dustin Wagner
President Operational Security Services Inc
www.operationalsecurityservicesinc.com
701-349-2335- office
Or 7
01-710-0729-cell
The Above Opinion is the opinion of the author and ASKFMB is more than happy to support others in their opinions when appropriate.
7/10/2012
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