Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley was "actually fired."

[133724]

Embattled Walter Reed commander submits retirement request

The "embattled" former commander of the US Army's Walter Reed Medical Center, which has come under fire for giving "substandard" outpatient care to veterans, has submitted his resignation request. But one cable news channel is reporting that Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley was "actually fired."

Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army's surgeon general and commander of the US Army Medical Command, headed Walter Reed from 2002 to 2004, and was recently appointed interim head there for a spell after Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who commanded the hospital the past six months, was fired.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Embattled_Walter_Reed_commander_submits_retirement_0312.html

[jannyk]

1. Well, if he wasn't, he should have been! nt

[FourScore]

2. dupe.

[niyad]

3. so the bastard retires at full pay--NO penalties. every single one of these people should be court-

martialed and sent to leavenworth--or abu ghraib or guantanamo

[niyad]

4. self-delete--dupe

[Captain Hilts]

5. They should now rehire the guy who originally got fired. nt

[Skidmore]

6. No, they shouldn't. Earlier this morning someone reported on

MSNBC that they had seen letters informing that guy of the problems which he summarily dismissed.

[Captain Hilts]

8. He'd only been in his job six months and was making improvements. nt

[ninkasi]

7. Good!

The deplorable conditions at Walter Reed and the overall lack of decent treatment our wounded troops have received warrants his firing, but it shouldn't stop there. Privatizing any government services is a terrible idea, it always ends up costing more money, and results in shoddy treatment. The problem goes all the way to the top.

[qwlauren35]

9. I'm not sure...

Is privatization ALWAYS bad?

I do understand that there is a problem with constantly trying to find ways to get a bargain on something that shouldn't be a bargain. But typically, the "theory" is to reduce overhead.

I think there needs to be a compromise. I'm just not sure what it is.

For example, I think holding a bidding system for a contract can work, but only if it has to be renewed, and there is accountability.

When I think about how things happen in the corporate world, cheap does NOT always cut it. Sometimes, competitive advantage is in quality and service. And when quality and service drop too low, many people will shop around, even if the product had the lowest price.

So, I wonder why its not possible for this model to work with other services. Unfortunately, I don't have the answer.

I guess my only other thought is that we wouldn't have to "privatize" if the government could cut out unnecessary overhead AND systematically remove dead weight the way that private industry must. "Lean and mean" can work in government, especially if employees are still well compensated. If a job pays well, there will be competition for it, as long as it's not co-opted by cronyism.

I think those who favor privatization are sick of cronyism within our government. I don't like it either. That's why I tend to think that the THREAT of privatization has potential.

Here's one thought. Subcontract out the top tier of a government service, but require that the majority of employees must be kept unless there is substantial evidence of poor performance, and personnel cuts MUST be based on either non-functional departments OR poor performance. And a contract is to be re-bid every 5 years, under the same conditions.

Maybe it could work...

Maybe...

[ninkasi]

11. It doesn't work because of the profit factor

When government employees do the work, they are paid, but with privatization, there are not only employees to be paid, but profit to be made. The profit factor causes the company executives to pay as little as possible, give as few benefits as they can get away with, and pay the company bigshots as much as they can.

Look at how shoddy the services provided to our troops by companies like Halliburton. Contaminated food and water, not enough water, cutting the amount of food given to the troops, and the list goes on and on. I've never seen any improvement in quality when the government turned over the work to a private contractor, but if you can think of one, I'd really appreciate it if you could cite it.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. But, it was really all ex-PFC Wintergreen's fault.