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Each day we learn new and more shocking revelations of the continuing scandal that has rocked the Department of Veterans Affairs.  On Monday, it was revealed the VA doctored records showing that veterans were receiving disability checks faster than they actually were.

The last allegations came from investigators who had found VA employees had altered the books on wait times for veterans seeking medical visits.

CBS news reported that Kristen Ruell, an employee at the VA’s Pension Management Center in Philadelphia, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee that mail routinely “sat in boxes untouched for years” at the pension office.  Once, after becoming concerned that unopened mail was being shredded, Ruell opened the boxes and took photos.  Instead of addressing the problem, she said, VA supervisors enacted a policy prohibiting taking photos.

Ruell, continued to claim that VA officials in Washington last year ordered all claims older than 125 be reduced.  I “took this to mean that they could change the dates of every claim older than six weeks.” Ruell said.

VA pension center managers informed the IG’s office this was misunderstanding of the order, but Ruell stated, “These behaviors are intentional.”

“The VA’s problems are a result of morally bankrupt managers that through time and (government service) grade have moved up into powerful positions where they have the power to and continue to ruin people’s lives,” Ruell said.

Before she began her testimony, Ruell was interviewed by CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews that thousands of vets who may have waited years for a disability decision are reported in the system to have waited weeks.

“It didn’t matter in our office how old the claim was. They didn’t want any claims older than a certain date, so they would put a memo on the claims, so that the claims looked new,” she said.

“I can say for sure there’s thousands (of date changes) that were done in my office,” Ruell said.

In the interview these date changes have hurt veterans who waited the longest seeking medical care instead of being seen first.

Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs issued a press release on a bill he introduced on Monday, that would give the VA Secretary complete authority to recoup employee bonuses.

“Apparently, VA officials aren’t sure whether the department has the authority to recoup bonus payments to its own employees. This bill is intended to clear up this confusion. Ideally, VA employees and executives who earned bonuses under false pretenses should be subject to prosecution, but at a minimum their bonuses should be paid back in full. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, which would give the VA secretary another tool to instill some much-needed accountability throughout the department.”

Many view this despicable scandal at the VA as the result of a lack of funding to handle the increase of claims resulting from the influx of veterans from the Vietnam era and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It’s true the VA has seen more veterans seeking claims, but it has also seen its budget increase from around $97 billion in 2009 to a staggering $153 billion in 2014.  How has this increase in the budget been spent; certainly not on veterans!

The real scandal and one that has received very little media attention is why has U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder not instituted a complete criminal investigation of the Department of Veterans Affairs.  I thought fraud was a criminal offense?

Both Republicans and Democrats have politicized this scandal, with the real victims the veterans themselves.

Veterans deserve better than they are getting from this country.