Of all the crazy stuff our tax dollars have paid for this takes the cake! You got to read this one! The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently terminated a $56,000 contract that paid a plant contractor to water eight decorative potted plants over five years, averaging approximately $1,400 per plant annually. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, announced that it will now handle the plant maintenance at no cost.
The VA cancelled a $56,000 contract to water ~8 plants for 5 years. This is ~$1400/plant/year. The contract has been canceled and DOGE will water the plants free of charge. pic.twitter.com/CAj8xINzJG
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) March 7, 2025
This contract cancellation is part of a broader initiative by VA Secretary Doug Collins to reduce unnecessary expenditures within the department. Earlier, Collins highlighted the termination of $2 billion in contracts, criticizing expenses such as payments to consultants for creating PowerPoint presentations and taking meeting minutes. He emphasized reallocating these funds to enhance healthcare and benefits for veterans. However, these extensive cuts have raised concerns among lawmakers and veterans' organizations. Critics argue that some canceled contracts are essential for critical health services, including cancer care and toxic exposure assessments.
In response, the VA has paused the planned cuts to conduct a comprehensive review, ensuring that veterans' healthcare and benefits are not adversely affected. The VA's actions underscore the delicate balance between eliminating wasteful spending and maintaining essential services for veterans. While the cancellation of the plant-watering contract represents a clear case of cost-saving, the broader initiative's impact on vital services necessitates careful consideration to avoid unintended consequences that could harm veterans' health and well-being.
We found nearly $2 billion in @DeptVetAffairs contracts that we’ll be canceling so we can redirect the funds back to Veterans health care and benefits.
— VA Secretary Doug Collins (@SecVetAffairs) February 25, 2025
No more paying consultants to do things like make Power Point slides and write meeting minutes! pic.twitter.com/z1gv3PKhfA
Final Word: OMG!
Replies
bureaucrats love to waste any money they can't steal for themselves or for the corrupt politicians who put them in place!!!!! ZCaring for the veterans they hate is the last priority of slug bureaucrats who only care about how much money they can pocket!!!!!!!!!!
If you really want ot fix the VA make it a special agency of the Department of Defense (DoD) and have military doctors, nurses, technicians, commanders, 1st Sergeants, etc. operate the system. I say this from the standpoint of being a severely disabled veteran that goes to the VA regularly. I have noticed that the VA is nothing more than a JOBS PROGRAM! Meaning, the VA keeps hiring people without any clear or logical organizational structures, policies, or accountability. I am in a wheel chair and I routinely complain about the handicap ramps being either littered with debris from mowing and lawn maintenance or ice/snow in the winter and other obstructions that make it dangerous to go up and down the ramps. If each VA Medical Center had a Commander and SGT MAJ, these types of problems would disappear. If there was a Command Ground instead of a Patient Advocate, complaints about getting the run around, poor facilities maintenance, bugs and rodents in operating rooms, etc. would get fixed so long as the chain of command extended all the way up to the VA Department. Also, if the VA was run like an efficient military unit with strict accountability, circular policies would not be written, workers would be rewarded for meritorius performance and the duds would be eliminated. The problem with the VA as a civilian government agency is that it is and functions as a bureaucracy and bureaucracies never function efficiently!
"Bugs and rodents in the operating rooms.,..."
That is beyond thee pale. No excuse for this.
Can someone tell me how this is not a waste of taxpayer money?
Put in some fake plants!
Fake Plants! You and I know they'll charge the taxpayer about 1 million dollars for each plastic plant they replace live plants with and that doesn't count the 'live planet disposial service"!
We certainly cannot blame our leadership having common sense. Why can't these fools look at government spending the same way they look at their own personal spending?
Remember the $500 toilet seats from way back?
As I recall that issue, those were $600.- SIX HUNDRED DOLLAR toilet seats; although, considering our age differences, those two issues could have taken place in two different decades! Meaning the Dept. of Veterans Affairs didn't learn anything about "cost controls" the first time!
That is now the discount price!
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