VA plans to cut veteran disability payouts
According to Military Times, the Trump Veterans’ Affairs Department’s 2018 budget includes cutting out compensation for veterans who can’t work because of a disability once they reach the age for collecting Social Security;
Up to 225,000 veterans over the age of 60, at least 7,000 of whom are over 80, could be impacted by the change.
Under current rules, the IU program awards payouts at the 100 percent disabled rate to veterans who cannot find work due to service-connected injuries, even if actual rating is less than that.
Administration officials want to stop those payouts once veterans are eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, arguing those individuals should no longer qualify for unemployment benefits. Veterans who cannot collect Social Security would be exempt.
“There are always hard decisions that have to be made,” VA Secretary David Shulkin said following a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee budget hearing on Wednesday. “Sometimes that means you have to adjust current programs to support the growth of other benefits. That’s what we’re seeing here.
By “growth of other benefits” Shulkin means funneling that cash savings into the Veterans’ Choice program in order to eventually privatize veteran care.
It’s funny (odd, not ha-ha) how politicians on both sides of the political aisle can only find ways to save federal money by screwing veterans out of the the things they earned. It never appears to be an especially “hard decision”.
It looks like the VSOs are standing up for us.
“The budget plan unveiled yesterday completely abandons many of the most severely disabled veterans of the Vietnam generation and could make thousands of elderly veterans homeless,” said John Rowan, national president of Vietnam Veterans of America.
“We’re extremely alarmed by this budget proposal, because this is the opposite of what President Trump promised veterans.”
VVA officials said they spent have spent the last day since the budget announcement fielding panicked calls from veterans dependent on the program, wondering how they’ll make ends meet.
VFW National Commander Brian Duffy said his membership likes many parts of the budget “we are absolutely against forcing wounded, ill and injured veterans to pay for improvements elsewhere within the VA.” AMVETS released a statement Wednesday demanding the IU provision be dropped, labeling it “stealing” benefits from veterans.
Category: Veterans' Affairs Department
Congresscritters can find 14 different ways to screw vets and servicemen, but don’t have the balls to clean up welfare.
i don’t what iam gone to do thay take away my 20% it help a little but not a lot
John Rowan – National President of the VVA – Continuing the premise that anybody can be a VVA member as long as you pay the dues.
Seen pictures of John Rowan wearing Air Force Flight Crewmember’s Wings.
Sad thing is though, he was a AF Indochinese/Vietnamese linguist who spent time on Okinawa.
But I’m sure the 150K+ yearly salary he draws from VVA more than makes up for any perceived mistaken identity.
Yeah, when I saw VVA, I cringed.
Claw
If he was flying as a linguist or area specialist on board a number of different aircraft during the Vietnam War he could easily qualify for enlisted aircrew wings.
Disabled Vets with less than a 100% disability rating for service-connected disabilities are paid at 100% if they cannot find work? That sounds pretty sweet to me. And this proposal affects only those Vets who have reached the age for SS benies and are unemployed, but not those who are ineligible to collect social security? I guess I’m missing a big piece of this because I fail to see the injustice. I do see the wrongheadedness of taking from some Vets in order to finance other Vet programs. That smells bad.
No. The 100% for reasons of unemployability is a rating for people with at least 70% disability but the cumulative nature of their disability makes extremely difficult or impossible. A doctor makes the recommendation. It is not merely given for being unemployed. A disease that is frequently debilitating but leaves the veteran functional some days might qualify for instance. Or a combination of physical disabilities as well as facial disfigurement. Or early onset dementia or severe mental health issues.
You have to be 70% already for the VA to even consider the rating and it involves a in person evaluation.
“Under current rules, the IU program awards payouts at the 100 percent disabled rate to veterans who cannot find work due to service-connected injuries, even if actual rating is less than that.” Mil Times
If what you say is true, then the Military Times should have written,
‘if the actual rating is less than that but at least 70%.”
If I can have another commenter,other than Joe, agree with Taylor’s statement, then I will accept it. Otherwise, it’s just another of his Larsfacts to me.
I was wrong it is 60% not 70%. It is only 70% if the rating is a cumulative rating from more than one condition and at least one is 40%.http://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/claims-special-individual_unemployability.asp
70…60…do I hear 50?
Sell at 40!
Compromise, 45.
Eenniemeeniameneenieabanahebiebeebie…
SOLD TO AN AMERICAN!!! 😀
Although you think Amazon reviews are a sufficient source to disparage the career of a WWII veteran with service likely longer and more exceptional than your own.
It all depends upon who the reviewer is. So, what percentage of US military officers are sociopaths? What was it you said, a big chunk? Something like that. As for my service, I never compared or contrasted it with anyone’s. I think that may have been a very feeble personal swipe attempt. Try harder. I have every confidence you can do better than that.
See, Taylor, you got smacked again with your concocted percentages and then you come back with something wholly irrelevant to the topic. You are as transparent as Saran Wrap.
They were not concocted. The 70% was accurate for combined rating. I was just unaware that 60% was sufficient for a single rating. Utes’s more accurate info than the speculation you were making that indicated my response. You assumed without checking that veterans were getting 100% merely for not finding a job.
And you still owe Chief Clark and his family an apology. Shitbag.
“You assumed without checking that veterans were getting 100% merely for not finding a job.” You dumb fuck. Read the Mil Times quote. That’s my source. It has no floor. You said 70%. You changed it to 50%. Thaose were your percentages. As for Mr. Clark, it is you who owe me the apology, as I wrote previously. He was what he was, a fellow who used race and a liberal California politician to obtain something that he may not have deserved at all. Now, if you would like to continue this, at least go to a WOT or the Clark thread.
Correction. You changed 70 to 50%. And I never wrote that Veterans were “getting 100% merely for not finding a job.” Nor did I write anything that can be reasonably restated as that. You are f’n hopeless. Did you include yourself among the psychopathic officer corps and then projected your personality defects on others?
I give up. I write 60%. It comes out 50%. I suppose when one is making shit up, it doesn’t really much matter, does it Major Commissar Taylor sir?
I don’t think 2/17 AirCav owes nothin’ to nobody, but YOU, Poodledick the Piuperdink, still owe Hondo an answer to his question about Kennedy and Krushchev.
It’s interesting how you think it’s okay for you to pester someone about something, but you refuse to respond when someone pesters you.
Much like putting maple syrup on everything “is the Canadian way”, Ex-PH2, sidestepping questions for which they have no good answer is the UC-B Progressive way.
🙂 🙂 🙂
VA plays fuck-fuck games with percentages anyway. Once you get over 50% you start getting “percentages of percentages” so its nigh on impossible to reach 100%. There are vets whose individual disabilities add up to 150-170% but due to VA math they are 90% disabled.
The only way they get that 100% rating is if they are rated as unemployable.
While a 10% gap may not seem like much the difference in benefits pay-wise between 90 and 100% is 1200 dollars a month.
Since I draw SSDI I’m pretty sure I’d be affected if this goes into affect.
Not looking forward to it if it does.
The thing is that if The Republicans do it, you can be sure the Democrats will not give a shit, after all Veterans aren’t important to them anyway.
It is not impossible. I am 100% P/T on percentages. 70% PTSD and 120% on AO, they are all added up symptoms connected to AO.
One of my soldiers fell into this catagory. Between the PTSD ( well earned, trust me )and physical injuries he can’t work on a regular basis. The program exist for guys like him. His wife is a nurse and the combination of her and the program is a true blessing for him.
And that soldier is unaffected by this proposal and will continue to receive the benefits to which he is rightfully and deservedly entitled.
“And that soldier is unaffected by this proposal and will continue to receive the benefits to which he is rightfully and deservedly entitled.”
There is a rub to that if SSDI is involved.
If you have worked long enough ( rule of thumb is 10 years) and paid SS tax you can apply for SSDI.
Although they may indeed exist I have never met a 90% disabled Vet who can do any kind of blue collar labor.
In my opinion they need to do away with the bullshit VA Math they do to calculate the compensation pension. If you have individual conditions that add up to over 100% they need to pay you that rate.
Social Security comp is given to older working people who pid into SS over the working years ,and by the laws are entitled to collect and live from it.
Veterans war service injury or disease from that service entitles the veteran by enacted laws to receive the compensation and rating the VA saw fit to award the War veteran with …Many Vietnam vets were injured for life from Agent Orange and by VA laws enacted by the senate have earned that compensation….They are only but 7% of the military who actually did the combat , The president should never take away the veterans comp they earned in battle…and he’s only talking about under 3 billion dollars , yet end hundreds of billions on tax dollars to help foreign countries ?
It is not impossible. I am 100% P/T on percentages. 70% PTSD and 120% on AO, they are all added up symptoms connected to AO. I agree the Government should cut nothing to it’s Country’s Veterans. They would save more cutting aid to non-citizens living off our Government.
Social Security comp is given to older working people who pid into SS over the working years ,and by the laws are entitled to collect and live from it.
Veterans war service injury or disease from that service entitles the veteran by enacted laws to receive the compensation and rating the VA saw fit to award the War veteran with …Many Vietnam vets were injured for life from Agent Orange and by VA laws enacted by the senate have earned that compensation….They are only but 7% of the military who actually did the combat , The president should never take away the veterans comp they earned in battle…and he’s only talking about under 3 billion dollars , yet end hundreds of billions on tax dollars to help foreign countries ?
This is standard BS. Actually a federal Judge ruled in 2014 that has become law that anyone that has a service connection and has been trained/and has been working 5 plus years and now is no longer able to do this job due to service condition must be considered for unemployability by higher rating manager regardless of percentages.
Here is the reason I am writing to you. By the time I was 60, I had no savings, no 401K, no pension, and had 2 years until I was able to receive my social security. Speaking with my social worker at the VA, she advised after all my years of steady work she thought I should file a claim regarding my PTSD. Otherwise, there was a very good chance I could become homeless. I was first awarded 70% and then applied for IU. Since my discharge from the Navy in 1973, I’ve worked just 13 years. That’s not 13 years straight, but in and out of work due to the affects of PTSD. By the way, I didn’t know what the hell PTSD was until I was told in 1986 at a Vietnam Veteran’s Outreach Center. I thought I had just gone insane.
Also, the majority of veteran’s receiving the IU benefit, including me, didn’t apply after working at, General Electric, or IBM, or CitiBank, or for the state or city of New York for 30 years,then, upon retiring apply for Unemployability. No most of us are poor because of a lack of steady work, throughout our lives due to our disabilities acquired at a YOUNG AGE.
So that only applies to vets who can’t work due to disability, right?
Is Social Security going to be bumped up accordingly to meet the same financial level that was supporting them before they get shafted?
Yeah, that’s for now, but for those who are disabled and were still able to work, is there a plan to shaft them, too?
Yes, as to the first question, so long as the Vet has reached social security age and is otherwise eligible to receive social security benefits. If not, there will be no change.
The problem with this kind of story is that the bean counters haven’t been included. Will any Vets realixe an increase in benefits? if not, what will the average reduction be per affected Veteran? It’s all the-sky-is-falling stuff right now, with VVA saying thousands of older Veterans will be made homeless. That kind of over-the-top crap doesn’t help.
But the over-the-top crap gets donations.
Over-the-top also makes Congress critters look bad.
They have a slightly different operation plan from Mattis:
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to shaft everybody, and implement that plan whenever possible.”
Currently, if you are collecting IU, you may also collect Social Security Disability.
What I think they need to be looking at is fraud, waste, and abuse internally at the VA. We have never had a real funding problem, but we have always had problems with the above.
I know this won’t be popular either, but we also need to acknowledge the abuse and fraud from Veterans as well. We need to acknowledge that we have our fair share of scammers collecting VA Benefits, who have lied their asses off to get them.
Spend a day or 2 in any VA Medical facility, and you’ll find them.
I’d really support the VA going after all of the above, rather than a blanket proposal like this that will have a negative impact on deserving Veterans.
PTSD is the culprit. I would guess that at least 50% of the claims are absolute bullshit.
But then again you’re just guessing.
True, but some of the free cheesers are here, so I understand their discomfort with that guess.
Makes sense
After my last deployment I got a “mental health referral”.
I was told by the Dr at the VA that I could get a certain % rating for my “PTSD”. I declined.
Instead I found a great therapist at the Vet Center, worked through some issues and developed techniques for coping. That was over 6 years ago.
But maybe I’m just one of the weird ones….
Wonder what kind of “mental health referral” I’ll get after this next deployment.
AS i read about comments on veterans scamming the VA for disability compensation I READ NOTHING ABOUT COMBAT VETERANS WHO WERE SERIOUSLY INJURED BY THE EFFECTS OD DIOXIN POISON FROM AGENT ORANGE DEFOLIANT SPRAYED BT PLANES <ON THE VETS AND WHE GETS COMPENSATED BY THE LAWS THAT WERE PASSED THAT COVER THOSE AGENT ORANGE CONNECTED DISEASES ! These veterans president Trump said should have compensation cuts of part or all ? The founding fathers and framers of the constitution would be shamed of anything like that !
I just want to say that I think it’s wrong and to point out this will not affect scheduler rates. As far as veterans lying to get benefits. I’m not gonna go there as I have no idea what goes on between doctor and patient. All I can do is focus on me and my issues. I wonder how this will affect the 5 , 10, and twenty year rules for disability though.
Non Cedo Ferio :
“I wonder how this will affect the 5 , 10, and twenty year rules for disability though.”
I’m 100% but have not heard of this. Can you please explain? Thanks in advance.
I’m 100 percent as well. Ok so for a disability that is less than 100 percent the VA should not reduce your benefits rating after a rating has been in effect for 5 years unless there is sustained improvement. After 10 years in effect they can reduce but not take away service connection. 20 years. They cannot reduce a rating that has been in effect for 20 years period. Exception is in cases of fraud. Hope this helps.
Thanks, that helps a lot. Appreciate the info … I was not aware.
But thre VA DOES need to find a way to pay for the lavish bonuses that its higher echelon leeches receive, let alone the lavish locations their personnel attend seminars at.
I am confused, probably due to my ignorance of the how the disability system works for Veterans. Isn’t the payment from the VA a tax-free offset of a member’s retirement payment? If so, wouldn’t those who paved the way for the rest us just revert back to their retirement pay? I imagine there are a lot of things I am missing in this, but it doesn’t sound like anyone is going to go hungry.
Should the USG rob from the hard-earned benefits Veterans have bled for, NO. Should the USG install plans to get people off welfare, YES. Will these two things ever happen, not as long as the lazies/whiners/snowflakes think the rest of the country owes them something and the DoD still protects these pretentious pricks, as we always will (because that’s our calling).
“Should the USG install plans to get people off welfare, YES.”
I wholeheartedly agree, it’s just that there are too many D-rats and RINOS that depend on their tax dollar-paid votes to get reelected, that and we have too many multiple generations on welfare as well.
The VA offset to retirement applies to those who draw retirement and are rated under 50%
Here’s a rough example. A retired E-8 draws about 2000 a month for a 20 year retirement.
If said Veteran is rated at 40% by the VA he would get a separate Tax free check from the VA for about 700 bucks a month. His retirement check, which is Taxable would be reduced to 1300 a month.
If he received an increase in disability to 50% he would receive 978 dollars a month from the VA PLUS his full retirement check of 2,000.
I’ve read that article several times and there are things that are unclear.
IU or Individual Unemployability, meaning someone who’s disabled and can’t work, per the article, applied to an 80-year-old doesn’t make any sense. Why would this age group be included in this proposal? People at that age have already retired and applied for regular Social Security benefits, which have nothing to do with unemployability.
If they are veterans, they are in the WWII and Korean War age range, and I have yet to hear any stories about any of them doing anything but leading useful, productive lives after they came back to the States. So why should they be even remotely part of this?
Second, the article doesn’t say anything at about exempting vets who have a life long work history and are now retired, who may have a disability of less than 60% (arbitrary number) and have been getting VADC since discharge, have been able to find work, and are now eligible for, and maybe collecting, Social Security retirement benefits.
The article is badly written, is quite unclear, and seems to target all vets who get VADC and are also now getting SSRI, with no regard to the consequences of that. That is what is implied in the article.
However, as sloppy as it is, it will stir up a next of hornets and have politicians scrambling to cover their own asses.
Sir, you’re forgetting something. Many veteran’s because of their disability, physical, mental or both, due to their COMBAT experience have not been able to keep jobs throughout the years. As in my case, since my discharge in 1973, I’ve only worked 13 years due to my PTSD. By the way, I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with me until I visited a Vietnam Veteran’s Outreach Center in 1986 where I was told I had PTSD. Before that, I just thought I went crazy. Anyway, at my current age of 64, my Social Security benefit is 495.00. If this bill passes my monthly benefit will be reduced from 100% due to Unemployability,and back to 70%. Therefore, I will no longer be able to pay my rent, and will probably need to apply for food stamps.The way I look at this is, my extra compensation from the VA is to make up for all the money I would have made working from 1973 to present. Remember, not all vets are collecting Unemployabilty because they’ve worked all their lives, collecting a pension and suddenly they decide to apply for Unemployability.
You misunderstood me. I’m arguing against the idea of cutting off people who can’t work because of a physical or mental disability. That is why I said the article is badly written. It is not clear.
I think they’re talking about ME ! ! !
I’m 71 years old and 70% service connected, drawing a VA compensation and Social Security.
Physically, I’m completely disabled.
Rep For Vets is currently trying to get my Service Connected rating increased to 100%.
If they take away my monthly compensation, I’ll be in BIG trouble!
Are you scheduler or Iu? Are you drawing compensation At the 100 percent rate even though your actual rate is 70? If you are a 70 percent scheduler trying to get 100 percent scheduler this rule shouldn’t apply to you. Only if your drawing iu
What is “scheduler” and “iu”?
I’ve never heard of that.
I’m just getting the 70% as far as I know.
Rep For Vets is working to increase it to 100%, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Thanks for asking. So a scheduler is a veteran who gets their rating as a straight up rating. Example. You reach the 100 percent rating by virtue of meeting the criteria either for a single disability or a combo of many. Set down by the VA schedule of rating disability. Hence the term scheduler. For iu you don’t meet the rating for 100 percent but cannot work once you meet the lower disability threshold to claim iu and the VA grants it you can be for example 70 percent paid at the 100 percent rate. Hope this helps
NCF, does the difference between ‘scheduled’ and ‘IU’ mean that ‘schedule’ could find work and has a work history, whereas IU’ could not and has no or very little work history?
Also, I’d like to know what justification there is in applying this rule to vets who are 80+ years old, have long since retired and may be living in assisted care.
Ex PH2 It really all depends on the type and severity of the scheduler disability. As to wether a scheduler can or cannot work. For example 100 percent PTSD is total social and occupational impairment. Not too many with total disabilities for mental reasons I think can work. Again I would probably check with the VA schedule of rating disabilities for a specific impairment. As for 80 plus year olds who need assistance there is Special monthly compensation paid over the 100 percent rate for aid and attendance and being housebound to make up for those special needs hope this helps
I just want to add that when it comes to Compensation and Pension work history has very little to do with determination of benefits. The VA is more interested in how you function today and going forward
Thanks. As I said, the article is not clear on how this applies to disabled vets who are able to work and have done so, while receiving VADC, and are, or will be, receiving Social Security Retirement Income.
The article needs to be rewritten so that these things are better defined.
That, I suspect, is because the reporter did not understand what he was writing about. I guess one could say he is Commissar’s counterpart, except that the reporter is gainfully employed and presumably of sound mind.
2/17: in my personal experience I’ve known only one reporter who did not fit the criteria “did not understand what he was writing about.”
He was denied the Pulitzer, too.
AirCav, if any reporter ever does understanding the meat of the matter, I will be very surprised. The real journalists died out with people like Huntley & Brinkley and even Cronkite. They may not have been your cup of tea, but they at least knew how to address subject matter clearly.
Well, if we’re lucky, this rather messy and balled-up episode will require many explanations from politicians, so as to deflect and/or reduce the panic-stricken voices that will be plaguing them with a whole, huge lot of cuss words and expletives directed at their parentage.
This is how one creates a shitstorm out of a shoebox full of dust bunnies and pocket lint.
Prediction:
They will subtract your social security from your VA compensation amount without doing anything to ratings. This is how it works in the private sector eg when you collect LTD from a private insurance policy, anything you get from SS disability is subtracted from that.
They will treat SS retirement as if it were SS disability. Bet on it.
I wish they’d stop trying to make military / veteran functions more like the “civilian sector”. You can’t run the military like a business and the military isn’t a civilian sector function.
They can’t treat us like “retired” or disabled workers who fell off a stool trying to change a light bulb.
I roll my eyes way too often when I hear this because it is such a bad correlation attempt. It is like comparing an apple to a horse. They are both living things, but that’s about it.
We are +$22 trillion in debt…
Ah, the chickens are coming home to roost….
Take the dick out of your mouth, Joe Nutsack. We can’t understand you and your drivel.
You have a way with words….
Chickens? What chickens?
When did you EVER do anything for anyone but yourself, Joey?
Yeah, that’s what I thought. NEVER.
yanno Joe, you may feel that way and that’s your prerogative, but that comment was unnecessary and just ignorant.
That’s Joeblow for you: a consistent source of unnecessary and ignorant pontifications.
Joe: I don’t understand that remark. If the intent was to disrespect/ridicule those who are drawing VA disability ARO a service connected issue, you were successful though misguided in your efforts. Joe, what is your experience in the health care industry? Is it restricted to twice a year seeing your provider for 18 minutes, or an occasional visit to the lab? I suggest you go to the waiting room of your busy VA facility and watch the veterans. Some are in pain no longer controlled by medications and who have developed a dependence on narcotics in a futile attempt to do so. Go to mental health waiting area and look at those whose disability, though less visible, is equally disabling. They are held hostage by an unseen disability for which medication may not be effective. Though not visible, their issues are equally worthy of compensation, IMO.
I’m 100% and have the numbers to prove it. I take offense at any slight to myself or any other honorable veteran who has been awarded a disability. If your post was designed to hold to examination those who have gamed the system, perhaps you could have better chosen your words. IF that was your intent I could be in agreement. Otherwise …
Blessings
My point is, most of the people here voted for this guy, so you don’t now get to complain when he screws you.
That’s one of the dumbest comments ever posted here. It speaks volumes on your opinion of Veterans and how they view government.
You sound like Psul ” of the ballsack”
“My point is, most of the people here voted for this guy, so you don’t now get to complain when he screws you.”
Care to explain that? Does it mean that one’s ability to complain is dependent upon the person who got our vote? I wasn’t aware that was how ‘things’ worked. Well, maybe that’s how it applies to you, but I’m a thinker, and retain the ability to voice an opinion regardless of how I voted. You appear to suggest that we must give up the right/privilege to complain when disappointed by a politician for whom we voted. How I voted doesn’t interfere with my ability to voice an opinion. Perhaps it does for you, though.
One thing is for sure Joe, and it’s that you have a 100% track record of being a total IDIOT!
And as soon as this budget proposal was released, suddenly Democrats cared about veterans again.
Funny how often that happens.
#vets’ votes matter!
So I guess they are doing this because of all the wealthy disabled vets running amok with all that extra cash?
I’d be a lot happier if they simply did a better job of enforcing standards and ensuring people who had actually served were given benefits and that only the truly disabled were awarded benefits.
Apparently somebody thinks disability payments are high enough to retire on.
For many of them it is enough so they dont work long before retirement.
I know them, I deal with them all the time. They got money for beer and pot most of them.
Not all, but way too many of them. The ones that actually rate it generally dont have a lot of bad to say about the VA.
Holy Fuck.
Cancel one Aircraft from those scumbags at Boeing and keep the pay the same.
Balancing the books on the back of the disabled.
CB,
I once figured out that if you took all the money the Government put into just the initial Costs of buying all the F-18 Hornets for the Navy and USMC (this doesn’t include the spare parts and Maintaince over the service life, which is probably 10 times that) you could pay 1,000,000 veterans a 100% Va pension for 40 years.
But social security isn’t retirement although the government is trying to act like it’s retirement? I understand why bean counters wouldn’t want people to double dip benefits, but you can’t live on social security nor was it meant to be a living income. If they indeed remove the disability income, they’ll need to bump up those specific social security payments up to the disability levels otherwise they are going to screw over veterans. Sounds like nobody really thought this all the way through and instead just saw potential double dips of benefits.
You can live on SS benefits if you are residing in a tent in a public park, dining on trashed pizza from the dumpster behind Domino’s, have no spouse, children, car, or vices. SS is somewhere, on average, around $1200/month. People who wait until age 70 or so pull a whopping $1700 or so. Social security alone pays for gas and tolls, with a night out at Burger King once weekly.
to the boobs in congress and the senate. Cutting Veteran’s benefits is a BAD career move, and a bad Social Platform to stump from. WHY? Cuz if you screw the older generation, the younger generation of potential recruit-aged patriots will VANISH, and decline to sign on the dotted line, knowing full well how badly you treated the past generation of war fighters! Then they might think of reinstating a Draft, well there is a way around that as well. Back in the waning days of Roman hegemony, serving in the Legions lost it’s luster, and many young men decided to simply amputate their thumbs, making them incapable of wielding a sword, pilum, or bow.
Learn about VA life insurance for disabled veterans.
Live streaming from VA right now (i.e., 1500 Hours EDT) on Facebook at:
Got Your 6
#Explore VA
OOPS ! ! !
The live streaming Internet conference is NOT working!
A whole lot of folks showed up to participate, but the Department of Veterans Affairs did not show up as scheduled, leaving lots of folks disappointed and with unanswered questions.
Here is an idea for them? How about they look into the phonies like my brother that are robbing the VA out of $3K a month, he is only the tip of the iceberg! I’m sure there are many more like him out there getting benefits they don’t deserve? Give the money to those that have earned it, not this asshamster!
We can thank the hoards, yes I said hoards of veterans collecting 70% plus in benefits and are fully capable of working.
Personally, I don’t think he went far enough. Ya, Ya, Ya, I get it…earned benefits, deserving veterans, blah, blah, blah.
Our grandchildren are paying for every dime, cut back on all of it. I have no issue with this as long as he cuts the shit out of every other program as well. All of it.
They could start by putting an earnings cap on members of congress. They get $50,000 if their total income exceeds $200,000. Do it on a sliding scale to that point. Limit and cut back on their staff budget and all their benefits.
Trump is working for $1 a year. I think some of these other fat cats should follow his example.
Okay, I can counter your complaint with personal acquaintance with vets who:
1 – have lost a hand and part of that arm in a service-connected incident and run a small business (one is woodworking), and are getting VADC
2 – have no visible scars, keep their issues to themselves, have standard jobs, e.g., office, clerical, don’t cause any trouble, etc. and are getting VDAC
3 – have no visible scars, keep their issues to themselves, are self-employed in the creative arts, and are getting VADC
Are you going to say that these people should not be compensated for what happened to them while on AD?
Answer to 1: Depends on their income. Losing a body part is no reason to never work again. In this case cut back on cash benefits as income grows.
Answer to 2: Cut cash benefits, they shouldn’t be getting any in the first place.
Answer to 3: Same as 2, creative arts (whatever that is) should have no special consideration.
I am saying that MOST veterans that are being compensated should not be on the dole for the rest of their lives.
How much compensation are you expecting my grandchildren to have pay? How much are you willing to take from unborn children to pay for all this?
All of this spending has to be cut back, all of it.
Yeah, since #2 and #3 have no visible scars, you assume that they have nothing wrong with them, when in fact, every day is a struggle to just act “normal”, whatever that is. And for #1 – what makes you think his income grows when I know that he’s barely getting by?
These people don’t have the kinds of assets that 3/17 AirCav has, and they aren’t gaming the system. Nor are they slugs on welfare looking for freebies everywhere they go. They are barely getting by in an ever more expensive world. IF they get a small monthly compensation from the VA that allows them to buy a little more at the grocery store, what is your objection to that?
You assume, wrongfully so, that anyone who doesn’t have all four limbs missing and doesn’t sit staring at the wall, drooling and muttering, doesn’t deserve any kind of compensation from a government that sent them into a dangerous work environment, with permanent injuries whether those show or not.
Well, since workers’ compensation pays for on-the-job injuries, why should an employer like the US government not be expected to do the same thing, especially when they are barely getting by now?
Maybe I should tell these people to send their bills to you.
They are sending their bills to our grandchildren who have to pay them in full plus interest, mostly to China.
Nothing will change that fact unless we spend less as a nation.
Right and wrong, deserve and not deserve has nothing to do with it. We are spending money unborn children have to pay.
Massive cuts in spending need to be made and every group that is getting money will bitch about it. They all have their heart wrenching stories. Even the third generation welfare recipient has a sad story.
I can not support taking money from infants that are not even born yet. I will starve first.
While I agree with what you’re saying, Dave, why does it always have to be veterans who sacrifice while the rest, who don’t know what sacrifice means, are sitting fat and happy? If it was across the board misery, I’d accept it, but it’s always veterans and active duty troops who pay.
Well, it has to start someplace. Looks like they are giving land back, allowing wild horses to be harvested, getting out of regulating lead bullets for hunting, cutting money out of dept of Education, Family Planning, free lunch programs, welfare programs, homeland security, and disability programs. Its not just veterans. His budget if you read it has deep cuts even in defense spending. People dont have time or energy to read that thing its thousands of pages long. Everyone associated with a particular program that is spending money we dont have thinks they are taking a bigger hit than anyone. Saddest thing is…he is not cutting nearly enough to get the budget under control. Debt reduction will take at least another 17% reduction just to pay off the debt in 30 years.
Dave, I’m with you on the argument about spending less as a nation, but vets/the military are always the first ones in line to the chopping block. If someone talks about putting Welfare on the chopping block, all Hell breaks loose.
Someone in Congress and the White House needs to cowboy up and look at those programs that are rife with fraud and clean them up or shut them down. Also, does the government really need to be supporting the arts? Or funding the countless “studies” put out that are on nonsense?
FWIW – I believe that honorably discharged vets should be exempt from paying income taxes – many of us have made sacrifices to the country of a physical and psychological nature that can’t be repaid back to us with money.
Trumps budget does cut spending to the thing you object to.
Some of us have paid a hell of a price for our service.
NOWHERE IN YOUR ENLISTMENT CONTRACT DOES IT SAY YOU WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
People serving 4 years or even 10 years and expecting to file for benefits 20 to 30 years later is bullshit and we all know it.
Get cancer while your happen to be on active duty and its treatment is covered forever, fine. Get injured and so is that. Come down with ALS, covered.
Here is what needs fixed. Get sent to an Alcohol Treatment center for addiction…covered for life. Pour concrete for 30 years after service and you can still claim your knees are fucked up because you walked fire watch in your skivies. Diabetes after 60? No problem, it was the NAM man. Admin clerks were covered in agent orange.
No, people call themselves conservative and take money they damn well know they are not entitled to.
I deal with this shit every damn day.
Wait until people find out what I have been doing for the last two months.
I just want to vomit most days. People being paid millions for what?
I got a story too bro, it ain’t pretty. Shit loads have worse ones than mine.
PTSD is like some kind of heroin these days. Its government pushed dope.
We got plenty of legit guys getting less than they deserve, the rest of them and I mean the majority of veterans collecting can choke on their benefits for all I care.
Too many of us sit quite when we all know too many people working the system.
Rant over…damn I feel better. See a little TAH works wonders.
@ DAVE HARDIN:
You wrote:
“NOWHERE IN YOUR ENLISTMENT CONTRACT DOES IT SAY YOU WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.”
Some of the Second World War veterans I’ve spoken with, including my father and stepmother (both now deceased) say that’s exactly what they were promised back then, or to be more accurate, they were promised free health care for life.
That’s why they’re upset now, because the government reneged on its promise.
I reckon any Second World War veterans who monitor this forum can probably explain this a whole lot better than I can.
If you know some vets over 65 who are not covered by Medicare it is because they opted out of the program.
Okay, so because YOU, Dave, didn’t have any of these things happen to you, you think it’s all baloney and nobody should be compensated for work-related injuries, because it was the military?
Just trying to understand here. There are plenty of people who post comments here who have military work-related permanent disabilities and you’re just blowing them off.
That’s not what I understood him to say.
There are boatloads of vets milking the system. Since few of us know each other personally here, we can only guess which, if any, here are in that category. (I prefer to assume none until proven otherwise.) Still, they do exist, just as in every other type of compensation.
He’s implying that anyone who gets VADC is milking the system, even if he didn’t say so specifically.
That does seem to be a real problem, but I do not agree with him that anyone who has a permanent service-connected disability should be deprived of VADC just because they can hold down a job. The job may be the only thing that makes them get up in the morning.
I have had far worse happen to me than far too many of the people who are collecting money. And, there are people who had worse happen to them than every happened to me.
It is impossible for me to file with the VA without getting a PTSD rating.
I am not blowing them off, whatever that means. I am stating the fact that we borrow the money to hand them a check from mostly China and our grandkids have to pay the bill.
This veteran victim bullshit is epidemic. Most veterans served their 4 years and moved on in life.
The guy that owns this blog has a disability and the fucking guy does more each day than most of the pussies I am talking about.
Watched a guy who had what was left of a grenade in his spine for 30 years work until he couldn’t hold a damn coffee cup anymore.
Lots of people have problems, myself included. Prancing around with a $5,000 service puppy at Lowes for their 10% off and a special parking spot is obnoxious.
One day I very well may need some kind of assistance, with any luck I will drop dead writing one of these blogs.
I want a puppy.
I served 30 years, age 66, collect 2 pensions, VA rating 60% comp and regular social security ! I earned all of it, let the children, grandkids , unborn, etc earn their own way. Stop gripping and write your congressman , support a veteran organization such as American Legion!
Dave…….I totally agree with what you say about vets clogging and collecting. I’ve seen it at my local VFW. There’s a Vietnam vet always going back for more. Hearing loss, PTSD. Bottom line he needs the money to survive.
Much like you, I’ve always been a independent business person. Given my MOS in Vietnam 11B infantry, beating the bush and door gunner, I’m sure I could sell it, as to hearing loss and PTSD. No way!
I collect 2200.00 in social security, have a 600,000 retirement account, and own about 1.3 million in equity in real estate. Have I been lucky?
No question about it.
There is no way I could get in line and game the system for funds when I know I am capable and ready to work
What is sad is watching so many collecting cash benefits every month and they know damn well they are physically better off than most of the other people around them.
I have people on my FB friends list that havent worked a job in decades. There is not a damn thing wrong with them. They get money every month because they pissed and moaned long enough.
I also have people on my FB list that deserve evey dime they get and probably a bit more.
For every one that deserves cash benefits there are 5 that do not. People file for “service connected” back, knee, hearing, blah blah blah 30 years after service.
Fuck them, they take money every month from infants. Fuck that.
Here’s one solution.
If the social security was levied on all income, instead of limited to the first $118,000, the increase in funding for Social Security retirement could eliminate the looming issue of lack of funds coming up in a few years.
Likewise, if the earliest you can qualify for partial Social Security retirement was raised to 64, it would relieve some of the strain on that. And if the vampires in Congress who view SocSec as a piggy bank they can raid at any time were blocked from dipping into it for pet projects, that might solve a real issue, loss of funding down the road.
No one is taking money away from infants. Stop being such a whiny crybaby. If you’re going to blame anyone for any of it, blame Bill Clinton, mmmkay???
And I’d like to remind you, also, that people who are approaching their 60s are facing being dismissed from work because of their age, not because they lack skills or their salaries and benefits are over the top. It’s cheaper to hire two or three younger people to do those jobs at lower wages than it is to keep the older employees going. IF the 2009 recession didn’t make that clear, you weren’t paying attention.
Obviously you are not a veteran. Try walking in the shoes of a combat veteran and doused with agent orange on top of it. This affects you for the rest of your life. You sound like someone who sat home in your comfy suburban life while the real men were fighting for your freedom which you think gives you the right to shoot your big mouth off
Here’s something else to go along with the cuts to the VA’s IU comp program. Social Security DISABILITY is proposed to be cut, as well, per this article from Market Watch.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/not-all-of-social-security-is-immune-from-trump-budget-cuts-2017-05-23
Now, this is not Social Security Retirement Income being cut back. It is the part that is not supposed to be in the Social Security program, but is. It’s the Social Security Disability section, which jumped drastically in 2016.
If I understand this correctly now, someone getting benefits under the VA’s IU (Individual Unemployability) program as well as SSDI (SocSec Disability) will no longer be eligible for either of those and will instead be moved over to Social Security retirement income by age 62.
I may have this mixed up somehow, because it’s Gubmint stuff, and most of the time, it is intentionally obscured. If I missed something there, someone (NOT YOU, Commissar) with a working brain cell please bring me up to date on this. Thanks.
They (VA) should quit hiring attorneys, paying fake POWs and quit financing/funding poser and bullshit non-profits run by sub-standard service members.
General Discharges LEAD THE WAY!
Maybe Vlad can chip in and make up the difference.
This appears to be another program made unnecessarily complicated by bureaucrats and politicians determined to acquire and maintain their own power. And paychecks. Then retirement incomes.
It is disgusting that so much confusion is being generated. The only people who benefit are the bureaucrats and politicians. The people who earned it certainly are not.
Sure, my view is simplistic. Either a benefit is earned or it is not. Once earned, pay it.
Yes, I have personal heartburn about this. I just do not understand why the amount of one retirement income offsets/reduces another retirement income. Why do some surviving spouses draw social security benefits as widows/widowers while other do not? I think I understand the annuity payout for veterans for their surviving spouses, but maybe not.
I can understand why at some point getting paid for being unable to work due to a physical disability would stop. Yes, there is no magic number when that should occur – there are too many variables, but at the point that any of us is either choosing to not work or unable to work due to normal age related issues, why should a “disability” income from any source continue?
Failure to plan for one’s old age is not the responsibility of others. It just isn’t. What is occurring right now is that those of us who did plan ahead are being penalized to support those who did not plan for future expenses.
Yeah, that’s great, OWB, but not everyone has had an employer who offered any kind of wages that did much more than just barely meet living expenses, nor do all employers offer any kind of retirement plans. Not everyone has had golden opportunities or enough extra cash to set aside anything more than a few measly buck a month, if that.
I have as much sympathy as anyone else for those who are unable to do well for legitimate reasons. That is not what I am talking about.
I am sick of people being encouraged to be slothful. In the past 50 years programs here and there have developed for the sole purpose of making folks dependent upon anyone other than themselves for subsistence. Everyone is encouraged to take advantage of all of these hand outs. No society can survive that.
The current situation is that the producers in society are tired of being forced to carry the nonproducers who have no excuse for their lack of productivity. It took a lot of training for a lot of years to get this many Americans to forget how to take care of themselves.
Again you should walk in the shoes of a combat veteran. Those that went to Nam did not come back the same. I have 2 types of cancer linked to agent orange. Our firstborn died from the effects of it. Love to take care of myself. Reverse my health issues. Where were you hiding during the war. Some left wing university or better yet your family got you out of it.
U pompous pieces of shit – I have a $&@ brain tumor, &$& back that keeps my entire body tingling, cancer and more….I look at 4 walls because I can’t work – I tried, God I tried … getting fired at Rite Aide was the last straw – I don’t have any family to depend on – see a woman in the service and kids don’t mix, so the abortion happened when hubby was out screwing a vamp and I was being deployed to Saudi at 17 years in …have a millionaire brother, but he’s pompous just like u and we don’t talk – dad was a raging alcoholic and is dead – mom died when I was just in service cuz he beat the shit out of her – but I wasn’t there cuz I was in service – missed saying good bye by seconds – some I’m now 54 and IU – hubby from another country – can’t support me – he’s sick and English ain’t so good – made a mistake and bought a house but he was making 300k – then Sandy came – he got sicker, so did I – we are barely holding on – the cut to IU and SSDI will kill us – we will be homeless – on the streets guaranteed fact – and I’m &&$&$ sick and I got eye problems and can’t see to even live in a &)@ RV – hubby loses his survivor benefit also – they can call u back to service until u r 70, but 62 everything going to stop – last year they cut 80k from my COLA – one time catch up at 62 – I understand the 22T and everyone has a sob story – but why the military ALWAYS has to take it in the shorts first is beyond me – and this Veterans choice bs doesn’t work – they just say a nurse will call u back … I’m still waiting after an emergency room visit … and your outpatient clinic can’t do X-rays or urgent care – no,… Read more »
@ KELLY: When I read your story, it reminded me of how well off I am, how fortunate I am, and how blessed I am. I’m seventy-one years old and seventy percent service-connected for my back, both legs, left ear, skin, and effects of lengthy exposure to Agent Orange when I was serving with the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) in the old Republic of Viet Nam. Like you, I, too, am in constant pain, no longer able to work, and seldom leave my apartment. My nearest next of kin is thousands of miles away. But, the Department of Veterans Affairs is taking REALLY good care of me! They’ve given me a decent income to help me live rather comfortably, plus an affordable life insurance policy to pay for my burial. They’ve operated on me, rehabilitated me, and issued me a walker and a powered mobility cart, plus installing a lift on the trailer hitch of my 2004 Ford F-150 XLT four wheel drive pickup truck, so I can transport my cart whenever I go anywhere. They’ve also issued me an emergency pager that, in case I fall down, allows me to instantly communicate with the 911 operator. A community health nurse visits me each week to set out my medications and record my vital signs, and a certified nursing assistant visits each week to clean my apartment and do my laundry. Meals On Wheels delivers hot, balanced lunches Monday through Friday, except holidays. I’m taking sixteen different prescriptions, all free from the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center pharmacy. I wish I could have a service dog, but of course, I don’t know how I would properly care for it. I live in a secure, controlled rent apartment building in a very safe community in the mountains of the Great American West, where the majority of the population, like myself, is white and Mormon. So, I’m sorry you’re having such a difficult time, and apparently are suffering even worse than I am. Rep For Vets has been a great help for me and my brother. Maybe they can help you.… Read more »
what if a 50 year old is 100% IU and receiving SSD for his over 35 yrs of work. Will they be dropped? I am reading that only the Vets over 62 are effected and I am not seeing the Vets that are under this age as being singled out. Thank you in advance and believe me, this will never fly as the National Service Org will never let this happen.
Agreed, I am 51 and 100% SC and also collect SSD because I worked over 35 years. He will be impeached before this is allowed to happen…I hope. While his rich buddies get richer he targets the Vet that struggles. Shameful man who need to quit and or be fired.