This is no way is an excuse or even a defense of the awful way the VA hospitals handled the claims processing of veterans that lead to 40 deaths. This is however a reflection of where our politics have come. Yes, the VA scandal is an outrage, it's a disgusting awful outrage, but so is denying five million people access to health insurance by blocking Obamacare. The veterans problems certainly didn't start with the sequestration cuts but they were not helped by the cuts either.
From Politico
Under law, however, the VA’s budget can’t be slashed by more than 2 percent – much less than the 8 percent to 10 percent cuts laid out under sequestration. A 2-percent cut of administrative-related funds would be about $60 million.
Let's hope that $60 million dollars wasn't cut in the form of claims processors and care coordinators' jobs.
