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"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
- Thomas Jefferson
"The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty."- Abraham Lincoln
May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.
- General George Patton Jr
Call Your Senator Or Representative
Toll Free:
800-828-0498,
800-459-1887
and 800-614-2803
LET THEM KNOW YOU'RE PAYING ATTENTION AND VOTING
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
-- John Adams (Address to the Military, 11 October 1798)
Veterans can find out information about using their VA Benefits including the VA Loan benefit.
"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail.
Without it nothing can succeed.
He who molds opinion is greater than he who enacts laws.
"-Abraham Lincoln
Veterans- A Force to Be Feared
on Capital Hill?
by Ken Besecker
There are a few things I’d like to suggest to my fellow veterans. However, first, thank you for your service and welcome home.
Yes, I’m one of those ole coots that didn’t get a welcome home from the American people for about 30 years. I was an Infantry platoon leader in Vietnam (Combat Tracker) assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. Yes, I felt (feel) betrayed by my government. Anyone who has served (or is serving) in any US armed services put(s) their lives on the line frequently. Weren’t assigned in combat? Doesn’t matter.
There are dozens of “training
accidents” in which soldiers are
killed or severely injured. In
addition, you made untold
sacrifices enduring long duty
hours, family separations,
exposure to harsh or dangerous
conditions. This applies to
active duty, reserves, and/or
the National Guard. Not to be
trite, but “All gave some…
Some gave all.” We all did
what our country asked us
to do. The question is, is
our country doing for us
what our country is obligated to do?
IF you have filed a VA disability claim, the probability is that you have been (are) disappointed, frustrated, and feel betrayed.
My personal experience with the VA and the VBA, has been one of extreme disappointment. Disappointment that a US Executive Department (VA) is allowed to mismanage claims, lose or destroy records, inappropriately rate disability claims and otherwise just flat out commit malfeasance and/or misfeasance. The VBA does not stand alone. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is proving its services dangerous to veterans’ health, having a great propensity to waste money and protect incompetent physicians.
In filing my claim I have experienced incompetence (and/or maliciousness) I never previously imagined possible by a US government agency. I could provide a long list of examples to demonstrate my point, but you probably already have your own personal list. I was told when I was gathering documentation to file my VA disability claim that I was about to enter a lifelong relationship with the VA. I now understand what the expert on filing VA claims was telling me.
The unwritten motto of the VBA must be:
Discourage; Delay: Deny. I have no idea
what the secret handshake might be.
This is not to imply there are no hard
working dedicated people employed at
the VA. There are. However, as an
agency, the VA is broken.
After experiencing VBA incompetence,
the inclination of many veterans is to
send a letter to their Congressperson
requesting assistance, hoping that the
VBA will at least respond to the elected official. Sorry, it generally doesn’t work like that. The VA responds to the veteran’s Congressperson with the same nonsense they provided the veteran. The Congressperson’s staff then parrots
the VA’s nonsense to the veteran assuring the veteran that the official has no greater priority than to serve the men and women who have served this country and offering political mumbo jumbo of how the official got a VA clinic named for some former official or took part in some veterans’ organization function on Memorial Day, all the while totally overlooking the issue which the veteran dearly needs addressed. The likely result of this exchange is that the veteran’s claim file was pulled out of process and entered back into the bottom of the pile thus ensuring further delay. The bottom line is a veteran contacting one’s elected US Congressperson for assistance with the VA does not bring a resolution. I propose a better way…
The Department of Veterans Affairs is an Executive Agency under the president created by the authority of the US Constitution, Article II.
The US Constitution requires in Article I, section 8, that Congress ``To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.''
Congress has the power to make laws regarding the VA. If Congress finds that the DVA is not properly implementing US law (made by Congress), Congress may pass further legislation to define the Congressional expectation of the DVA, or change the funds allocated to them. Congress frequently holds “oversight hearings” regarding the VA’s performance usually resulting in a photo opportunity to announce the VA’s unsatisfactory performance, poor utilization of funds, whatever. The VA then issues its own press release indicating how the Congressional finding is flawed or how the VA is working the solution or some such gobbley gook, but nothing concrete is accomplished.
Oh yea, recently, additional VA funding has been part of the “fix.” Ladies and gentlemen, it ain’t about the VA funding. It is about a failed culture and failed management system in the VA which is so ingrained as to encourage destroying veterans’ files, ineffectively adjudicating veterans’ disability claims and a long list of other failures.
I am absolutely convinced that the only way to bring change to the VA culture is for every Congressperson to fear not being re-elected.
This is important. The VA is an Executive agency and “works” for the US President. However, it is blatantly obvious that there is no enhanced VA performance in sight. Congress funds the VA and ALL other Executive agencies, commissions and, in particular, presidential initiated legislations (currently, to include: bank bail outs, auto manufacturers bail outs; health care reform; energy reform; international trade reform; foreign relations initiatives; on and on and on). Congress can influence the president to clean up his organization, the VA. They can do this by controlling the money to the president’s pet programs.
As veterans, we can still be a force to be feared, this time on the political battlefield with the phone, pen, and keypad as our weapons of choice, but we MUST combine forces and work together. Frequent communication with Congress, letting them know what we want is the only way we will ever see a culture change in the VA. Each one of us has a responsibility to insist our elected officials represent us instead of big money special interest groups. Encourage everyone you know to inform Congress that we want the VA cleaned up and operated as an efficient and effective agency. Let them know you are a voter. If you receive an email or letter that is essentially political mumbo jumbo, immediately tell them they did not address your stated issues and request another response. DO NOT let these folks wear you down like the VA attempts to do. When Congressmen fear not being re-elected, they will effect change in the VA.
If YOU don’t feel a need to get Congress motivated to force the US President to change the VA., do it for your fellow veterans, current soldiers and future military personnel like your grandson granddaughter. Save them tremendous frustration and disappointment. We can either continue to whine or we can take action. We served America and it is past time the US Department of Veterans Affairs served us.
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