Can Secretary David Shulkin Fix the VA?

Can Secretary David Shulkin fix the Department of Veterans Affairs (“the VA”)?  The answer is an emphatic NO!

Department of Veterans Affairs

This is not a commentary on Dr. Shulkin’s inspired leadership or his vision for a vastly improved VA, but a consequence of competing ideologies and a dysfunctional institution.

As Stand for the Troops has stated several times over the past year: “THE VA IS SIMPLY TOO LARGE TO SUCCEED IN ...

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Throwing Snowballs at the Department of Veteran Affairs

Many years ago I was reading a biographic sketch of the late Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau.   According to the biography, teenager Trudeau was arrested by the Chinese police for throwing snowballs at a statue of Mao Zedong in Tiananmen Square.

Chairman Mao

He was released by Chinese police after explaining that “it was a Canadian tradition to throw snowballs at statues of famous people.” ...

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The Fragility of the VA

I just started reading Antifragile:  Things That Gain With Disorder by Nassim Taleb.   For those who may not be familiar with Mr. Taleb, he is Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University’s Polytechnic Institute and the author of the highly acclaimed The Black Swan.

Now it may seem a bit incongruous to examine the Department of Veteran Affairs (the “VA”) through the eyes of Nassim Taleb, but there are a number of clear signs that the VA is a BIG ...

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