We dare you to find and send one link to a news story about a homeless veteran who was an officer as we’ve done the research and our suspicions have been verified.

Persons who subsequently became homeless were disproportionately among those with the lowest pay (72% of the homeless came from the 44% that had the lowest pay grades). This corresponds to substantially reduced adjusted hazard ratios (AHR) associated with the higher pay grades.
— Homelessness and Risk Factors for Homelessness Among Veterans from the Era of the Afghanistan (OEF) and Iraq (OIF/OND) Conflicts

You very rarely see officers at veteran job fairs because they either get hooked up (within their own fraternity network) with government contractors or have that guaranteed pension coming in that cures most ills.

Think about how differently the approach to veterans issues would be when it comes to employment and housing if the officer class had to deal with government agencies or so-called veteran nonprofits that do more to keep themselves in business than actually give the vet the services they offer in advertisements.

President Donald Trump had at least 1,987 vacancies within his new administration, most of which did not require Senate confirmation, according to data from tracking service Leadership.
— CNN, 2/25/17

Every federal government vacancy should be offered to a veteran FIRST, regardless of discharge status. From the look of many who currently occupy many jobs within the government, finding qualified applicants shouldn’t be a problem and veterans clearly come with a work ethic far superior to their civilian counterparts. A good-paying JOB alleviates many issues that eventually result in homelessness.

Don’t get us started on the lies some politicians tell on the backs of veterans when it comes to homelessness, and we won’t even get into the promises given to veterans during campaign season vice the promises kept AFTER the election.

I’ve also visited usajobs.gov numerous times, applied for a few jobs, and again no response. And it turns out, my experience appears to be the norm.

Despite presidential proclamations, an overhaul of the USAJOBS website and federal agencies’ sloganeering about their desire to hire former servicemembers, veterans still find applying for a federal job arduous and – because the odds of success are so low – a waste of time.

Roger Peterman, who helps veterans find jobs as transition assistance adviser for the Indiana National Guard, cites equally bleak numbers. “In eight years of working with USAJOBS, I only know of two people who got jobs applying through the website. And either they knew somebody or we were able to connect them with somebody in the federal agency who could pull them along.”

The following was my suspicion all along, as many who are in state and federal government positions tip off friends and family to coming, coveted job openings. Screw the targeted and/or qualified….

Veterans also suspect that many positions are posted to comply with legal requirements by agencies that have already decided who they want to hire. And there are complaints that some job listings aren’t current. “They don’t keep it updated,” Casey Curry, who served 26 years with the Oregon Army National Guard and has had much experience with the website says. “People are filling out applications for jobs that are already closed.”

But there’s evidence that some federal agencies purposefully circumvent veterans preference laws and discriminate against veteran applicants who successfully negotiate USAJOBS.

In at least one case, a BPA administrator closed the hiring process after learning that a veteran was the most qualified applicant – and then rewrote the job description to include criteria the veteran couldn’t meet. BPA’s human resources department was ultimately blamed for the agency’s discrimination, and vowed reform after its hiring practices were exposed in 2013.
— Bogus Benefit, Legion.org

Here we have yet another entity that gets taxpayer money to help veterans, does not and USAJOBS is not alone.

Using the “veteran” heartstring-pull has got to stop and will only do so when people thoroughly vet any group before giving that donation. Ineffective government agencies are a whole other issue due for a very frank discussion.

Mr. Rieckhoff is a founder of the veterans group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Yes, another nonprofit dot org; one of many that displays the same, consistent symptoms: good intentions, questionable results, and generous compensation for the principals.

While it’s easy to create agencies and nonprofits that claim to help veterans, the extent to which they are helped can be interpreted in many convenient ways and if you actually talk to veterans in need of assistance, the customer satisfaction is quite low, that is if a homeless veteran seeking a place to hang his or her hat being uniformly directed to another nonprofit shelter can be defined as assistance.

When it comes to those who claim to want to help veterans, the Chris Rock analogy on medicine comes to mind….

Ain’t no money in the cure. The money’s in the medicine. That’s how you get paid. That’s how a drug dealer makes his money! Curing AIDS? Shit, that’s like Cadillac making a car that lasts 50 years. You know they can do it but they ain’t gonna do nothing that fuckin’ dumb.
— Chris Rock, Bigger and Blacker, 1999

There are a whole slew of so-called veteran nonprofits out there and just what do you think would happen if they actually did what they’ve claimed they want to do for years? They would be out of work if they were effective, and the same can be said for government agencies that also claim to be there for veterans and this is where the politics comes into play.

As repeated here many times, when a Republican is in the White House, we will see and hear stories about the homeless ad nauseum. When a Democrat is in the White House, the scourge of homelessness is very seldom discussed until that president can be seen in a photo-op setting “helping” and highlighting the homeless.

As usual, when politicians get involved, numbers can and will be skewed to their advantage.

Anyone with a brain knows that veteran homelessness has not been ended, and adding the word “functionally” is an insult to the intelligence of the American people and veterans but politicians surely believe it makes them look good, thus is something they can and will run on for their own self-serving, reelection purposes.

Government agencies and nonprofits with the mission to get veterans off the street are an abysmal failure, if they were ever intended to complete that mission. The one thing they ARE good at is telling veterans what they can’t do and any veteran reading this will be nodding their heads in agreement of experience.

Government agencies and nonprofits with the mission of helping veterans obtain meaningful employment (independence) have the same abysmal track record.

Filling the janitorial jobs with veterans helps the VA meet its hiring goals without intruding on a lucrative union giveaway that favors current government employees over everyone else for the majority of open positions.
— Daily Caller, 1/17/16

Nonprofits and government agencies are, simply stated, career mills for liberals and we know from experience there is genuine disdain for the military from those who are tasked with the sole directive of helping veterans. We were recently told by a nonprofit supervisor that it’s unfortunate that more government monies available to help the homeless because so much is currently spent on “armaments”. We can only speculate that supervisor may have assumed I didn’t know what that word meant, but that’s illustrative of the contempt for the military seeing how all veterans either worked with or supported the use of “armaments”.

Why are nonprofits and government agencies hesitant to hire veterans in meaningful jobs? From experience we know liberals are some of the most intolerant, especially in a workplace environment and reliable, hardworking Republican veterans would intrude in their safe spaces.

Also, a hardworking veteran would expose the lackadaisical approach of co-workers and it’s just easier to point him or her to a mop instead of a desk.

Any veteran who has visited a veteran nonprofit or government agency serving veterans will note the amount of people who clearly never served, been homeless, let alone missed a meal. There is often no sense of urgency and understanding of the plight when veterans are given a photocopied piece of paper, phone numbers, or links directing them to yet another nonprofit or government agency. And if you were to look at the use of funds donated or directed to veterans, the ROI is an obvious fail.

While it’s easy for some to criticize Donald Trump’s fundraising for veterans, let’s also remember that some of those running for president have been instrumental in funding (through legislation) the very scandal-plagued government/nonprofit machine that receives taxpayer and/or charitable donations that benefit those entities FIRST, and actually helping veterans is something they won’t do because it would potentially put hundreds of thousands out of lucrative employment.

As for Mr. Trump, bringing attention to veterans is laudable.

We just don’t think he really understands just how bad the problems are, made worse by those who claim to be helping.

Incredible statements by the First Lady and especially Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who had the audacity to say it in front of active duty soldiers and veterans. Some of the numbers of homeless veterans recited by Michelle Obama are simply unbelievable, and the very idea there are NO homeless veterans in Virginia, are on its face also unbelievable, as are the government’s suspect numbers.

The Obama administration recently said that the number of homeless veterans dropped by 12 percent from 2010 to 2011. But getting accurate counts of the homeless is extremely difficult, and the government changed its counting methods during the year of the reported drop. Is the number of homeless vets really going down, or is the drop an artifact of murky statistics?

In 2010, the actual head count of homeless veterans registered 61,011 people. However, HUD knows that a head count isn’t going to include everyone. For example, homeless vets who stay in beds at VA shelters were not counted. Homeless people on the streets were not asked if they were veterans or not. To reflect the homeless veterans the PIT count missed, HUD “imputed”—that is, they estimated—the number and added 15,318 homeless veterans to the official 2010 statistic. For reference, a 12 percent drop in the nation’s homeless vets equates to 8834 fewer people.

Even to a fawning media….

“Folks, there is a reason why we are the greatest state in America. We are because we take care of our veterans,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) said at a ceremony at a Richmond veterans memorial.

Technically according to McAuliffe’s twisted political reasoning, a veteran in a shelter counts as being off the street and thus, no longer “homeless”.

McAuliffe announced Wednesday that Virginia is the first state to meet the federal definition of effectively ending homelessness among military veterans. The federal homelessness designation means Virginia has no homeless veterans with the exception of those who have been offered housing but do not want it. The state must find a home for a veteran within 90 days and have more homes available than the number of veterans who have been identified as having no place to live.

Ask any current homeless veteran for their experience on how “the state” found them a place to live in 90 days….

A little over a month since his declarative Veteran’s Day statement about the Commonwealth of Virginia being the first state in the nation to “functionally end veteran homelessness”, Governor Terry McAuliffe took the opportunity to repeat a political comment that requires the suspension of common sense.

After what we’ve written about the governor’s statements (which was polite in comparison to the many we’ve talked to who responded to McAuliffe’s assertion with much more colorful language), we assume the governor saw B&B Media at the grand opening of the Fredericksburg Veterans Benefits Office and may have directed some of his comments to us….

At the 2016 Democrat National Convention in Philadelphia, McAuliffe continued his shameless lie.

Until veterans are no longer used as opportune political props, there will continue to be homeless veterans, despite his lie being the political template used and repeated by politicians nationwide to this day.

Yesterday evening, the Operation Renewed Hope Foundation presented Governor McAuliffe with the Northwestern Mutual Award for Improving the Lives of Veteran Families during the foundation’s Five Year Anniversary Awards Ceremony. Operation Renewed Hope has helped more than 500 veterans and their family members find housing. The organization, which serves veterans through job referrals, transportation assistance, and financial management, chose Governor McAuliffe due to his administration’s achievement functionally ending veteran homelessness in the Commonwealth.

“I am so proud to receive this award on behalf of the Virginia civil servants who worked their hearts out functionally ending veteran homelessness in our Commonwealth,” said Governor McAuliffe, speaking at yesterday’s announcement. “Since we made the commitment to end veteran homelessness, Virginia had helped 2,640 veterans find a permanent place to call home. Virginia’s historic progress over the past three years sends a clear message of support to our veterans. And while we can never fully repay the sacrifices they’ve made, we can ensure that any veteran’s experience with homelessness either now or in the future will be rare, brief, and non-recurring.”
— Virginia Department of Veteran Services, 1/20/17

Again and again.

Governor McAuliffe announced today that the Virginia Department of Veterans Services (VDVS) received the Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence Award from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The award recognizes the innovative partnership between the Commonwealth and federal and local entities that enabled Virginia to be named as the first state to functionally end veteran homelessness in 2015.

“I am proud to announce the Virginia Department of Veterans Services has been honored for their outstanding work making the Commonwealth the first state in the nation to functionally end veteran homelessness,” said Governor McAuliffe. “The public servants at VDVS worked with their federal, state and local colleagues to demonstrate that smart, innovative government can make a different in people’s lives.”
— WVIR NBC29, 3/28/17

Sad and still true.

It was easy to criticize and make promises….

While his wife goes around telling military families how much the Obamas care, the president himself is showing the nation just how much he doesn’t.

The American Legion Strongly Opposed to President’s Plan to Charge Wounded Heroes for Treatment
The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned” after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries.

“It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”

This must be that “change” we’ve been waiting for.

The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, “This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘ to care for him who shall have borne the battle’ given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America’s veterans!”

And there’s more.

Senators slam plan for wounded vets to use private insurance
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.

But the proposal would be “dead on arrival” if it’s sent to Congress, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said.

Murray used that blunt terminology when she told Shinseki that the idea would not be acceptable and would be rejected if formally proposed. Her remarks came during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs about the 2010 budget.

This may or may not become reality, but consider this as a shot across the bow by a callous liberal administration with the audacity to show America, her active duty soldiers, her veterans, and their families, the very contempt they have for people who truly have put country before self.