One of VA's problems is union holdup

I must respond to the Bill Spence's July 28 letter. It's the usual blame the GOP for everything wrong with this country that we usually hear from liberals.

I will quote Mr. Spence: "They are now debating on how to fund 'medical care' for the thousands of vets they sent off to war in Iraq and Afghanistan on 'no budget.'"

I assume that what you are trying to say is that the Republicans in the House are holding up a funding bill for the VA's budget for FY 2015. First, you might want to look up the fact that the U.S. Senate has not written or passed a budget in over five years.

The House cannot do anything because the president and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have been saying that the Republican budget is "dead on arrival."

One of the reasons for the holdup of the VA budget is that the Senate will not allow any talk of a provision in the budget to allow for the firing of dishonest or incompetent union employees.

Another is the usual Democratic cure for the problem - more money. We have increased the VA budget from $73.1 million in 2006 to $153.8 billion in 2014. We also increased employment from 279,000 in September 2008 to 341,000 in September 2013. So money and employee numbers are not the reason for the problems in the VA. It must be something else.

Maybe the darling of the liberals, Franklin Roosevelt, had it right. He was a big supporter of labor unions but would not allow federal employees to establish or join a union.

Maybe we should consider that.

Dan Bulicek

Lindenhurst