May 20, 2014

One Milwaukee man waited more than a year after filing a disability claim to begin receiving compensation for injuries sustained in Iraq.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is under growing scrutiny following reports that dozens of vets died while waiting for care at the VA hospital in Phoenix. The facility is accused of creating a secret patient list in order to cover up long wait times for appointments. Last week, a U.S. House committee voted to subpoena VA Secretary Eric Shinseki for an inquiry.

Criticism over long wait times for health care and disability compensation exploded in recent years as thousands of vets returned from wars in the Middle East.

Milwaukeean Dale Maupin, a former Marine, got caught up in the claims backlog.

The 50 water main breaks on Milwaukee’s northwest side over the weekend served as a stark reminder of the importance of what Mayor Tom Barrett calls the “invisible infrastructure” — all those often-aging pipes underground that can leak or break and cause a host of problems.

Congress needs to help make sure that communities with aging systems and fiscal issues get the help they need to deal with that unseen infrastructure, whether through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative or other funding.

Last fall, Barrett said he described pipes as “the invisible infrastructure, because most people don’t think about the sewers at all until something goes wrong. Throughout Milwaukee, throughout southeastern Wisconsin, we have to constantly update these sewers.” He used the phrase again in describing the weekend’s water breaks, and he was right do so.