http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/15/department-of-veterans-affairs-spent-5-million-on-tv-and-radio-ads-despite-threatening-veteran-benefit-cuts/Department of Veterans Affairs spent $5 million on TV and radio ads despite threatening veteran benefit cuts
4:59 PM 10/15/2013
The Obama administration’s Department of Veterans Affairs spent more than $5 million on TV and radio ads in the last six weeks despite complaining about its budget and threatening to withhold veterans’ benefits checks, according to a letter from House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
“Upon further investigation by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, our evidence shows that VA has spent more than $5 million on television and radio advertisements in the following media markets during an approximate time period covering the last six weeks,” according to the letter, which committee chairman Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida provided to The Daily Caller. The letter lists 20 different media markets in which the ads aired.
“VA has recently announced that a lack of appropriations has put veterans’ November benefits checks at risk and led to the public closure of Veterans Benefits Administration offices as well as furloughs of some 7,000 VBA employees and 2,700 VA Office of Information & Technology employees,” according to the letter.
Miller said that it is “counter-productive” to run an outreach campaign during a government shutdown in which no one at VA will be able to respond to people. Miller called for VA to “cease this ill-timed advertisement campaign.”
