Don't blame the VA, Barry...it is the political appointees who make the budget requests and set the priorities. I spent many years in budget meetings at the Medical Center level as we tried to figure out how we were going to manage with a 10% increase from the suppliers, a 4% mandated (and deserved) salary increase, and a flat-lined or even decreased budget allocation. Do you hire behind the doctor who retired? Or do you let wait times increase and replace the x-ray equipment instead? Or do you fix the leaks in the steam heating plant? Can't do but one. How do you deal with an increase in patient visits and a mandated staff cut? And that was before the current stupidity created a whole new generation of veterans.