{"id":27370,"date":"2016-01-14T15:20:52","date_gmt":"2016-01-14T20:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/?p=27370"},"modified":"2016-01-14T15:20:52","modified_gmt":"2016-01-14T20:20:52","slug":"taking-care-of-their-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/?p=27370","title":{"rendered":"Taking Care Of Their Own????"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Daily Caller<\/a> posted an article today about the Master Agreement<\/a> between the Veteran’s Administration<\/a> (VA) and the American Federation of Government Employees<\/a> (AFGE). It is a truly amazing agreement.<\/p>\n

The article reports:<\/p>\n

The Master Agreement<\/a> between the VA\u00a0and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) states, \u201cPrior to considering candidates from outside the bargaining unit, the department agrees to first consider internal candidates for selection \u2026 in all cases \u2026 first and full consideration shall be given to any best qualified candidates within the facility.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Veterans are supposed to get \u201cpreference points\u201d against other applicants under federal civil service hiring rules. At the VA, such points are apparently negated by a hard-and-fast rule that a job can\u2019t go to anyone unless no qualified union member wants it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) also allows vets to apply for jobs that are otherwise only open to current employees. Thanks to the union contract, it is futile for them to apply \u2014 at least for plum positions \u2014 because the VA must consider union members first.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is an example of another government agency that has lost its purpose.<\/p>\n

The article goes on to explain that many of the good jobs in the VA are not open to veterans.<\/p>\n

The article reports the comments of a whistleblower:<\/p>\n

Ryan Honl, a veteran who worked at the VA hospital<\/a> in Tomah<\/a>, Wisc. before becoming a whistleblower by telling Congress about the mistreatment he witnessed in the facility, told TheDNCF that \u201cVA\u2019s first objective was to originally \u2018care for those who have borne the battle.\u2019 Today, the VA\u2019s original mission has become secondary. Its primary mission is now to serve bureaucrats and those in power\u201d by sustaining high-paying administrative jobs for civilians.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since Honl voiced his concerns, VA employees have threatened to sue and discredit him. They even by made\u00a0his personal medical information public.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s time to clean up our government.<\/p>\n

In an article posted in July 2014, The New York Times<\/a> posted the following:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is impossible to bargain collectively with the government.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t Newt Gingrich<\/a>, or Ron Paul, or Ronald Reagan<\/a> talking. That was George Meany<\/a> — the former president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O — in 1955. Government unions are unremarkable today, but the labor movement once thought the idea absurd.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The founders of the labor movement viewed unions as a vehicle to get workers more of the profits they help create. Government workers, however, don\u2019t generate profits. They merely negotiate for more tax money. When government unions strike, they strike against taxpayers. F.D.R. considered this \u201cunthinkable and intolerable.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cleaning up our government is going to involve getting unions out of the public sector. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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