Booting Earth Optimization System
Thank you for your patience. Your civilization is very important to us.
Thank you for your patience. Your civilization is very important to us.
Agency Report Card
Fulfill Lincoln's promise — to care for those who have served
Fulfill Lincoln's promise — to care for those who have served
2007 Walter Reed neglect scandal — moldy walls, cockroaches in wounded warrior housing ↗
2014 VA wait-time scandal — 40+ veterans die waiting for appointments. Phoenix VA falsified records. ↗
2017 VA still can't deploy a working electronic health records system after $16B spent ↗
Budget authority rose 616% ($45B in FY2000 → $325B in FY2024) while veteran suicides stayed roughly flat at ~6,100–6,700/year (6,149 in 2005; 6,398 in 2023). The money grew but the deaths didn't shrink.
| Year | VA budget authority (OMB Historical Table 5.2; nominal USD, fiscal year) | Veteran suicides per year (VA 2025 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, calendar year) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $45.5B | – |
| 2002 | $51.9B | – |
| 2004 | $60.3B | – |
| 2005 | – | 6,149 |
| 2006 | $70.9B | – |
| 2008 | $88.4B | 6,579 |
| 2010 | $124B | 6,561 |
| 2012 | $124B | 6,453 |
| 2014 | $166B | 6,667 |
| 2016 | $163B | 6,491 |
| 2018 | $192B | 6,738 |
| 2020 | $233B | 6,347 |
| 2022 | $270B | 6,442 |
| 2023 | – | 6,398 |
| 2024 | $325B | – |
“97% clinical trials, 3% overhead — the exact mirror of your NIH”
Total annual funding for the National Institutes of Health
Share of NIH budget that actually funds clinical trials — ~$1.55B of $47B
Average cost per patient in a traditional randomized controlled trial
Share of researchers' time spent writing grant proposals instead of doing science
Did expanding the VA budget reduce veteran suicides?
Did expanding the VA budget reduce veteran suicides?
VA budget increased 622% ($45B to $325B) while veteran suicides remained flat at ~6,200-6,400 per year. In 2014, the VA wait-time scandal revealed veterans were dying while waiting for appointments — and officials falsified records to hide it.
VA budget increased 622% ($45B to $325B) while veteran suicides remained flat at ~6,200-6,400 per year. In 2014, the VA wait-time scandal revealed veterans were dying while waiting for appointments — and officials falsified records to hide it.
“Three hundred and twenty-five billion dollars a year and you cannot stop more than six thousand veterans a year from killing themselves. On my planet, we would consider this a moral emergency. Here it appears to be a line item.”
On a well-run planet, this agency would have been deprecated centuries ago. Here is what replaces it.
Decentralized Institutes of Health — National Institutes of Health + FDA