VA improperly approved nearly $11 million in bonuses for execs, watchdog finds
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/09/va-bonuses-top-executives-pact-act-improper/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert
The Washington Post - Lisa Rein
May 9, 2024 at 1:43 p.m. EDT

Veterans Affairs leaders improperly handed out almost $11 million in bonuses to more than 180 senior executives last year, with several taking home more than $100,000, a new investigation has found.

The bonuses came from funds that Congress earmarked to recruit and keep staff needed to process billions of dollars in new veterans benefits — not to reward top officials in Washington.

When Secretary Denis McDonough learned of the payments in September, he ordered all of the executives to repay VA. But the bonuses still are being recouped eight months later because many who received the money had already spent the checks, and some are challenging the order, according to a 92-page report by Inspector General Michael Missal's office, obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its public release on Thursday.

The episode exposes a litany of blunders and missing safeguards within VA as its top leaders disregarded rules to hand payouts to all career senior leaders in the D.C. headquarters of the health and benefits systems — then failed to keep McDonough and others informed about the plan, Missal's office found.

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"Some executives have yet to repay the bonuses, which exceeded $100,000 in some cases, despite an order from the VA secretary."

The VA Secretary promised to change the regulations and policies that prohibit Gender Affirming Surgeries. Later, Congress passed The PACT Act and authorized additional funds to pay for staffing and equipment for veterans' claims under the Act. Now, the VA Secretary says he "is not ready to change the regulations" affecting Gender Affirming Surgeries, even though we have been waiting for promised care long before the PACT Act was signed into law.

Senior Executives are receiving bonuses, some of which alone could pay for a veteran's surgery with money left over. What exactly did they do to earn these bonuses?

I have questions.

Hello Robby,
   I read your intro posts, yes all of it and am very touched by it. Much of it is very similar to my life. First I would like to say suicide is NOT AN OPTION! Nor will it fix anything.
  Growing up I also felt the want/need to be a woman. repressed these feelings by crossdressing occasionally, porn, stories, fantasy's, church/prayer, working, you name it. Married had a son. But was a miserable SOB. GD does not get easier as we age. I came out to my wife of 35 years. We had the "I'm not a lesbian, not what I signed up for talk. She agreed to stick it out for a while and see where it leads. I told her we could always go our separate ways. I feel our relationship has become stronger and better as i become more intuned with my feelings and less hostile. We shop, dine out, and spend time together without many fights. Sex has become a thing of the past thanks to HRT but I find I don't miss it that much. Being 'out' and expressing female has taken such a lode off my shoulders. I am due to have my SRS next month and she says she will be there for me.
  Find a 'good' therapist who you feel comfortable with. This can help immensely. Explain to the wife that you are trying to figure this out as you go and that you never meant to deceive her. Give her time to digest all this. It may takes months, years, or it might never happen. You must be happy in what ever place you are in. Be brave sister! We are here for you.
Hugs Gina 

I tried again last night to view the Northern Lights, thinking that maybe the early morning hours might provide better environmental conditions.

Still no lights.

I saw two deer ambling through our parking lot. So I named them "Aurora" and "Borealis". I tried to snap a picture but they were having none of it, so I went back inside and went back to bed.

Lead Lead


the verb; to lead
the metal; lead pipe

Quote from: LoriDee on Yesterday at 11:09:43 PMI am on the Resident Council here in my apartment building. It is a resident liaison group that brings complaints and such to management and helps management keep residents informed of policies and upcoming events. At our last Council meeting, we discussed putting in a community garden.

There is one about a block away that repeatedly gets trashed by homeless people. They leave trash and destroy the plants. So we plan to fence off an area only available to residents, and they must contact a Council member to gain access. We have funding for $5,000 for the garden itself, but the fencing falls under a "build" category because we need a property line survey, fencing permits, etc. We have requested the funding for the fence build, but won't receive those funds until later.

I will be curious to see how many residents make use of it. From what I have witnessed, many want a hand-out, not a hand-up. Especially if they have to put in some work to get anything. It is so sad.

See:  https://americanliterature.com/childrens-stories/the-little-red-hen

You inspired me to go out and look too.  No Northern Lights visible here too.  From the map I saw, we were on the fringe of the viewing area.  I think the city lights on the other side of the hill are just a little too bright.

ear   hear

adore

Hello Robby

My name is Sarah B and I would also like to formally, Welcome you to Susan's Place!

Where to begin?  That is the question in beginning your journey, if one wants to call it that or in my case how do I help you in some small way.

I have never heard the raw emotions of one letting out how they feel in an introduction post.  It has touched me very much so.  I say to new members, I'm always learning something new and I have certainly have, with the pain you are going to through.

In regards to your posts, I will answer some of the more salient points.  However, I noticed that you have been looking around Susan's Place and I noticed that you came across one of my posts called 'Future me'.

Yes, inspirational in the sense that a journey of a thousand miles, begins with just one step, a very small step or in my case big steps.  It is up to each and every individual to determine how fast or slow they go in achieving their dreams.

In your post that you wrote about in 'Future Me' you said:

Quote from: Robbyv213 on Yesterday at 11:01:16 AMThank you for writing this. It is very inspiring and gives me hope.

I am 37 and for many reasons I feel I can transition for at least 4 years. There is so much wasted time. I don't know if I can wait 4 years, ignoring and repressing her.

Thank you again for your inspirational post

I thank you for your kind words and I wrote this post so that others can have the hope that it is possible to realize their dreams regardless of what happens around them.  Your age should be no barrier as there are children and adults in their 70's changing their lives around.  So age is no reason for you not to start.

As they say; "it's better late than never".  I was 30 years old when I changed my life around and 2 years later I had my surgery.  Although this is not the shortest, I believe the shortest time to change is one year and this is because of the SOC and WPATH guidelines.

There is no point trying to suppressing these feelings, it has never worked and there is to my knowledge, that no one has succeeded in suppressing these feelings.  If suppressed long enough and hard enough these feelings will come back to bite you even harder on the backside.  There are members here on Susan's who can attest to this.

In my blog called Sarah B's Story.  I give a short description and a long winded version of what I did to change my life around, you find it my clicking on the following links.

• Sarah's Race to SRS Part I
• Sarah's Race to SRS Part II preamble

There are other stories by various members and I would suggest, when you get the chance to sit down alone, with a cup of 'coffee' and read that; "you are not alone", in what you are experiencing at this moment in time.

I cannot help, you in regards to your wife and the children, as I never married and I did not have children.  BlueJaye and LoriDee have provided their perspective views in response to your postings.  There are other members were their wives and children have stayed and those that have not.

In my case, I left my family and friends behind and I was prepared never to see them ever again.  They did not know that I was going to change my life around.  I was prepared to sacrifice everything so that I could live my life as a female.

I also suggest that you continue with your 'therapy' whether it is a psychologist, psychiatrist or counsellor that specializes in the area of gender therapy, to help you with your current issues.  Please understand that neither your parents divorce, or the abuse you have suffered or what you have done in your life has contributed the way you feel and want to be.

Once you feel comfortable here, it would be appreciated if you add a little bit more about yourself in the various forums and threads.  I would appreciate it very much as, I'm always interested in learning something new about new members

In addition members of Susan's will more than likely will discuss problems or issues that are similar to yours as most members have experienced these as well.

You have mentioned in your very first post that you served in the Marines.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your service.

Take care of yourself first and foremost, because if you do not, then how can you care for others as well.  Please ask for help if you need it.  Members will try there utmost to help you and if they are unable to, they usually can point you in the direction that you need to go.  If you need any help then the following link Transgender Help will provide you with contacts, that will enable you to do so.

Take care and all the best for the future.

Once again, Welcome to Susan's Place!
Sarah B
Offical Greeter
@LoriDee
@Northern Star Girl
@Robbyv213

I went outside tonight to see if I could see the Northern Lights. We have a clear sky and I can see stars, but no lights. Kristi Noem probably banned them from appearing over South Dakota.

"We have Mount Rushmore. We don't need any fancy lights in the sky."

It could be all the city lights make it nearly impossible to see. I had a similar issue in 1986. I took my four-year-old daughter up on a mountain above the city, away from the lights, so we could photograph Halley's Comet as it went by. She had no clue what we were doing, but I wanted to try to show her. Because the next time the comet passes by Earth, she will be 80 years old. She will be one of the very few people who will have seen Halley's Comet twice in their lifetime.

I still have the pictures, but it is hard to see if you don't know what you are looking for. It just looks like any other star. But I took pictures from the same location a month later, and then comparing the two before and after pictures, you can see that the "star" has moved.