There's strong evidence that throwing more taxpayer money at a problem isn't the way to fix what's broken.

A good example is the veterans system. Earlier this year there was data that suggested the Veterans Health Administration had made some progress in dealing with scandal involving a backlog of cases, which was exposed by a whistle-blower in Phoenix in 2014.But new data shows 10 facilities still report waits of more than three months for a new patient to see a specialist. Last November it was reported that 23,000 of the "most severely affected veterans" were waiting more than four months for an appointment.One of the worst was Pennsylvania's Westmoreland clinic, where patients were waiting nearly six months for an appointment to see a specialist.The administration is quick to point out that the VA budget has increased nearly 68 percent. But mismanagement and prioritized spending are still a problem.Former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, a crusader when it comes to wasteful federal spending, reported last year that four VA construction projects have combined cost overruns of $1.5 billion, and construction delays run between 14 and 74 months. The VA spent almost $500 million in less than five years on "office makeovers," including $6.8 million to build one conference room in Illinois, $1.8 million for office furniture in Puerto Rico and $10.7 million for curtains and draperies nationwide.The establishment of two employment call centers to recruit veteran employees four years ago also gave critics ammunition. An inspector general's investigation found that while the center cost $2.2 million to operate in 2012, the call center employees were each handling an average of only 2.4 calls per day.Last November, Congress implemented the Veterans Choice Program, which was designed to help veterans who can't get VA care after 30 days, or who live at least 40 miles from the nearest VA center. The program gives them the option of getting care outside the VA.A VFW survey of about 2,500 members showed that the new choice program has failed to work for many veterans. It found only a fifth of VFW members who qualify for the program were offered a chance to use it.Reps. Patrick Meehan and Ryan Costello, two congressmen from southeastern Pennsylvania, recently expressed their concern about delays in a government investigation into mismanagement of disability claims at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' office in Philadelphia, which administers the benefits of 825,000 veterans in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.Meehan, who represents Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, expressed worry that a pending inspector general's report won't answer key questions about who or what was to blame. Excerpts of the IG draft report show that the inspector general makes 35 recommendations aimed at addressing the complaints of mishandled mail and the altering of dates to make old claims look new.However, the report appears to leave it up to the individual VA to determine why it is broken and who is responsible. Recognizing the mistakes should be step one, and that should immediately lead to accountability.By JIM ZBICKtneditor@tnonline.com