An Urgent Call to Action to Save Veterans Benefits!

A remarkable personal plea for help for all disabled Veterans was posted today at the Clark Community Network. I will quote sections from that piece below, but the bottom line that everyone should know about is this:

"On Thursday, May 18, the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission (VDBC) will meet to decide whether to combine my disability payments with social security -- thus reducing the amount me and my family have to live on to bare subsistence levels. The veterans community is up in arms, as they feel the VDBC is out to off set VA compensation against Social Security Disability benefits, which are granted and earned in two entirely different ways."

The above comes from Michael Baily's (one of the Edgewood Test Vets) Blog, part of a new series on Vet issues being published at CCN. Don't know about the Edgewood Test Vets? Read a little more from Michael Bailey then:

"The proposed changes could be detrimental to tens of thousands of disabled veterans, but as just one of many, how will this change affect me? As a disabled veteran who receives VA Compensation at the 100% permanently and totally disabled rate, I would lose more than 1/3 of my family's income with no way to go back to work and earn the money. A large part of the problem comes from fact that the VA will not address the chemical weapons tests at Edgewood in 1974. For two months I was exposed to several unknown chemical weapons and drugs. Exposure to LSD is in my Army medical records. I have a picture of me in one of the tests sometime between June 25th and August 22nd, 1974. During the Edgewood tests there were 254 different substances used, including LSD, PCP, scopolamine, BZ, Sarin, etc. Most of the surviving test vets do not really know what they were exposed to. Edgewood is now on the EPA Super fund site as one of the most contaminated bases in the U. S."

The way Veteran benefits will be impacted by the changes being considered by the VDBC is drastic and deplorable. Let me quote one more time from Michael Bailey's Blog:

"My Social Security Disability (SSD) check was earned by my paying my SS taxes every payday for 37 years, SSD is insurance, not welfare. All Americans pay into it, and all Americans that become totally disabled get it, even if they can collect large lump sum payments from their jobs, or from auto accidents that caused their disability.

These are options, however, that no military service member has".

Please read Michael's full story here:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/6049#new

But please don't stop with just reading about this. Action now is Urgent! Michael instructs us:

"HOW CAN YOU HELP? Call or write: Ray Wilbon at (202) 756-2293 or veterans@vetscommission.intranets.com or please also call your elected officials and tell them to stop cutting disabled veterans benefits by combining them with social security".

Michael Baily provides other contact links that provide further important information in his blog, along with a list of all of the current Veterans Disability Benefits Commission members.

The link to his full blog again is:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/6049#new

Please help stop the Bush Administration from once again stealing from the Poor to pay the Rich, except this time they are stealing from the very same men and women who the Republican Party never hesitates to crassly exploit for political campaign photo op back drops. They have no shame. Allow them no refuge from our anger!

Our veterans deserve better.

They've been misused in the past by programs such as Edgewood. Sent into harm's way in "wars of choice." And now, some in leadership are contemplating reducing their earned benefits further. This is shameful.

It's a horrifying story. Thanks for posting this to DU, Tom.

The old Westerns with the black hat bad guys couldn't come up with a more evil plots than the routine policy moves of the Bush Administration. Don't we have enough Homeless Vets already?

It's truly shameful what the Rethugs are trying to do to those who have such great need. Especially when you consider it was the same people who caused that need.

My two "R" senators are asshats. But I'm writing them anyway,

Dear Senator Asshat,

...........

A solid Dem for a rep, and two worthless Repub senators. Eh, I might try Brownback. He seems to want to run in '08 -- probably for VP to someone older (I won't say wiser), but he'll want to be able to say he did something good. He's spoken out on Darfur for that reason. Maybe I can get his attention.

Fwiw, I wrote to the address in the OP and got the following for an auto-reply. PLEASE everyone, not the bold font:



So there's a fairly good chance no one will see our letters to the commission in time to help.

Someone will make a point of going to check their "mail box" to see if this little back room deal is about to blow up in their faces. I say we should give them a call on Monday and keep those emails coming.

and the Republican Party..

It might be a good idea for someone to draft a letter, which would be more effective for most to submit to our reps, given that it's a tough issue for others to note/address the key issues.

That the link given above to Michael Baily's blog was not a fixed address, and it may eventually not lead to where his blog can easily be found. It's too late for me to edit the OP, but should that happen, this one will work fine:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/6049

do go and read testvet's story ...http://securingamerica.com/ccn

Better yet, leave him a comment and show him some support.

Even better yet, make a couple of calls, write a letter. It takes so little time and effort and can mean so much...and we've only a little time left in which to act on this...So do it now.

:kick:

Instead we are talking about men and women who could have been killed but instead are only permanently disabled, because they were willing to defend our nation when called on. This has nothing to do with whether or not they served during a popular or unpopular war, ask John Kerry about that. It is all about decency and honor and compassion and justice.

It is the least that a civilized nation can do to take care of those who were hurt while risking their lives, so that others could stay at home raising children and taking graduate classes and making money day trading on the stock market, or whatever it is that we civilians chose to do with our time and freedom.

Sooner or later most veterans are going to realize what the writer of this blog well knows. They were the Republicans "Disposable Troops", human Pampers who caught the shit then get thrown away. When that happens the Republican Party is going to have trouble electing Dog Catchers in this nation. And Democrats standing up for our disabled Veterans NOW is the surest thing we can do to hasten the coming of that day.

attention!

Any additional pointers/info on who this Ray Wilbon guy is? chair of the VDBC or something? i just need to figure out what to say to him on monday...

A little info about the VDBC. Hmmmm... appointed by the chimp or some other repug, oh that sounds promising. I wonder what kind of benefits they get? I wonder how much they get paid? Gosh this stuff pisses me off! ON EDIT: I went and did some research on the VDBC website. I was assuming that the commission members were the what seems like typical political appointments given to pay off campaign contributors, however all the members of this commission are former/ retired military so I have to retract that previous sarcastic statement. And hope that commission members really do care about doing the right thing for disabled vets. END EDIT: I stand by this fully however---->>> I have a vet friend who is having serious PTSD problems (well, he always has and always will), wow it is freaking amazing how much suppoart he gets from the VA :dripping sarcasm: (there now i'm more pissed off)

The Commission members are appointed by the President and leaders of Congress, and the Commission is independent of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.

The purpose of the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission is to carry out a study of the benefits under the laws of the United States that are provided to compensate and assist veterans and their survivors for disabilities and deaths attributable to military service, and to produce a report on the study.

Please do not send questions about benefits or services or requests for assistance with claims or other services to the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission. The Commission is not in a position to answer questions or provide assistance over the internet for privacy and security reasons. Thank you.

Please use the information below to contact the Commission:

General Information (202) 756-7729
Address 1101 Pennsylvania Ave NW, 5th Floor
Washington, DC 20004

Executive Director Ray Wilburn <---------Note name!
Phone (202) 756-2293
Fax (202) 756-0229
--------------------------------------------

http://www.vetscommission.org/documents.htm read the last document on SSDI (autodownload pdf file so i didn't link it directly)

Read the last 2 pages written by a dem rep from Illinois and you will see why we need to take back Congress!! The Republicans don't give a damn a bout vets or privacy, it is all about tax breaks for the wealthy on the backs of veterans!

When I still see the bumper stickers that says... Vets for Bush '04. I have no idea, where their fucking brain is at.

This is so sad. The really sad part is that fact that people continue to say that Republicans support the troops. How many times will the Republicans screw over troops before people start to stand up against the Republicans. The Democrats should stand up against this. If they can get the troops to vote Democratic now I think the Democratics will have the vote of the troops for years.

and he asks those who have served their nation in the Armed Forces to stand up and be recognized, there is almost always a large number of Vets who stand up, and after thanking them he points out that Democrats in every generation have defended their nation, patriotism does not belong to Republicans. However when Clark had reason to speak to a Conservative audience, which he did one time when he was invited to be on a panel debating foreign policy and National Security by an organization that I believe had ties to Pat Robertson (maybe someone else can help me with the details), the story was very different. Clark issued the same invitation to the audience and very few people stood up. It's an incident Clark likes to retell now to Democratic audiences.

Chickenhawks are an overwhelmingly Republican species. They remind me of the rich during the civil war in the north, who were able to buy replacement soldiers to serve in their stead in the Northern Army if they were inconveniently drafted, sending some desperately poor guys to face getting blown to pieces so the rich could continue living safely in their Northern cities and continue their war profiteering.

It's no coincidence to me that Cheney and Chickenhawk start with the same two letters. In keeping with that ignoble tradition Cheney and his ilk profit from the suffering in Iraq through their favored war contractors, while they preside over the closing of Veterans Hospitals, and the cutting of Veterans benefits. Veterans in America are a sleeping giant that the Republican Party has long taken for granted as being in their political corner. They did the same once with Black Americans, thinking that a symbolic connection with Abraham Lincoln was all that was needed to count on their votes. That may have "worked" for awhile but it sure as hell isn't working for them now. With actions like the one being contemplated this Thursday, Republicans are well on the to losing the Vet vote also. Let's give the Republicans a push, and help some good americans in need at the same time. It's the Democratic way!

Just got this press release from the campaign... looks like she means it..

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
May 18, 2006
Contact: Jan Schneider, 941-957-1950


FIGHT FOR VETERANS: SUPPORT THE TRI-PARTISAN VETERANS' CHOICE OF REPRESENTATION ACT

Men and women in our armed forces risk their lives for us, but they are denied legal representation -- at least in pursing their benefits before the Department of Veterans Affairs. Please write to your Senators and Congressional representatives in support of pending legislation to eliminate this absurdity and assist countless numbers of veterans and their families.

Way back during the Civil War, in 1862, Congress enacted a statute imposing a $5 restriction on fees to lawyers or other agents assisting veterans in applying for pensions, allowances and other benefits. Two years later the limit was raised to $10 -- and there it remained for 124 years. The paternalistic intent of this legislation was apparently to prevent unscrupulous lawyers from bilking veterans.

In 1988 Congress passed legislation getting rid of the $10 cap and creating a Court of Veterans Appeals. The same statute, however, prohibited veterans from hiring a lawyer prior to completion of a complex VA administrative process culminating in a final decision by the Board of Veterans Appeals. Many a viable case is lost long before that stage -- often on technicalities that cannot be remedied when a veteran is finally entitled to retain a lawyer. The problem has recently become ever more pressing, due to the increasing complexity and number of disability claims resulting from the war in Iraq.

Legislation currently before Congress would remedy this situation. On March 9, 2006, Representatives Lane Evans (D-IL) and Shelley Berkley (D-NV) introduced the Veterans Choice of Representation Act, H.R. 4914, which is cosponsored by Representative Bob Filner (D-CA). On May 2, 2006, Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced a companion bill, S.2694, which is cosponsored by Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and James Jeffords (I-VT). Both bills state as their purpose "to remove certain limitations on attorney representation of claimants for veterans benefits in administrative proceedings before the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes." The Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs has scheduled a hearing on S.2694 for May 25, 2006

The American Bar Association agrees that the present law is an affront to veterans. On February 14, 2005, the ABA House of Delegates unanimously resolved "That the American Bar Association unanimously supports legislation to repeal the statutory provision preventing veterans from paying an attorney to represent them in connection with claims for federal benefits." In no other agency of the federal government besides the VA, including the Social Security Administration, are applicants for benefits precluded from retaining lawyers.

For further information on this problem, please see the excellent article by my long-time friend and former colleague James C. McKay, Who Can Fight for the Soldiers?

Link: ( http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/973382211.html?dids=973382211:973382211&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&fmac=&date=Jan+22,+2006&author=James+C.+McKay&desc=Who+Can+Fight+for+the+Soldiers? ), in the Washington Post on January 22, 2006, p. B02. Jim, a World War II veteran and senior counsel at the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling, has represented many veterans seeking disability benefits on a pro bono basis.

Our veterans have risked their lives for us - let's fight for them!

P.S. Please help us fight for veterans. Please click on the following link to be connected to our website: http://www.VoteJan.com Thank you.

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Please forward this to your friends who also have interest in veterans' affairs. They too may wish to contact their Senators and Congressional representatives. Thanks again.

Friends of Jan Schneider
http://www.VoteJan.com

Welcome to DU!! :toast: