Disgraceful way to treat veterans

President Barack Obama this week used 'disgraceful” to describe charges that some Veterans Affairs officials covered up evidence of excessive wait times for health care. We agree.

We hope the president is taking this scandal as seriously as his words suggest. Evidence is mounting that several VA facilities falsified records to cover up how long veterans had to wait to receive health care. The VA so far has admitted that 23 veterans died nationwide awaiting care. Again, disgraceful.

Clearly, the Obama administration, which oversees the VA, bears much of the responsibility. To its credit, auditors and top officials have been dispatched to a several VA facilities to determine the scope and severity of problems.

But this much-needed response should have come much sooner, considering that a 2010 VA memo delivered warnings about scheduling problems and underreported waiting lists.

Some officials have been placed on administrative leave as the investigation proceeds. That's appropriate, but much harsher punishments, including criminal prosecutions, should be handed out once we have a clearer picture of what actually happened.

Public and political outrage over these revelations also is appropriate. Veterans who risked and sacrificed to defend the nation deserve far better. It's an election issue, and should be.

But we hope amid the political finger-pointing, we don't lose sight of the real objective: improving the long-maligned veterans' health care system. And that's going to require all Americans to examine what we expect and whether we're willing to pay for it.

Politicians talk about the need to care for our veterans. But we rarely see solid plans for funding that care.

Our leaders enter into armed conflicts with little discussion about the needs of veterans coming home from those wars. With Iraq and Afghanistan, instead of a frank assessment of sacrifices needed, we got tax cuts.

Other issues always seem to overshadow our veterans. It would be disgraceful if that doesn't change.

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