Revelations of mismanagement, waste and outright criminal behavior at the Department of Veterans Affairs have become a regular thing. From veterans forced to wait weeks or months to see VA doctors to outrageous spending by the agency, the VA is an ongoing train wreck.

Quickly, now: How many VA officials have been disciplined because they were involved in the scandals?

Very few. As seems to be standard procedure in government, accountability is just a word in Washington. It is more likely that a VA executive – many of them earn $100,000 a year or more – will be sent home with pay than be discharged.

A bill making it easier to fire VA employees is moving through the House of Representatives, but not without opposition. Many liberal lawmakers, with President Barack Obama leading them, oppose such action.

Why?

No employee of government lacks the basic protection of being able to challenge a truly wrongful firing.

In the private sector, incompetence or misbehavior often results in being handed a pink slip swiftly. Not so in government.

Proponents of the change are right: Until and unless VA employees and officials are held accountable, the nation’s veterans may get substandard care – for which taxpayers will pay through the nose.