john999

I have problems with Paypal as well. I want to make a contribution via my credit card but can't. What physical address can I send money to, Tbird?

I have filed many claims and the VA has never attempted to reduce me. However, the VSO's I have used have constantly warned me not to file for increases for fear of being reduced. I filed a claim for an increase about a year ago and got a major increase from VA. Don't let fear rule you.

Appeal all of them. Don't give up. I was denied SC for a AO condition and I appealed and got 60%.

pacman A vet with PTSD has to get that DX from the VA in order to get paid. When I got back from Vietnam the only way to get that DX was to have been in direct, close up, combat. You had to get shot or blown up to get the DX. If you never sought psychiatric help in the military or within a year after discharge you would have a hard time proving PTSD. Maybe that has changed somewhat but the VA still holds the cards.

I tell you something about VA diagnosis. When I first filed a claim with the VA they said I had schizophrenia. A few years later they changed it to bipolar disorder. Then they diagnosed PTSD and social phobia. Then they changed it back to depression and anxiety. The last time they changed it back to schizophrenia. I got 70% TDIU so I don't care. Now I have 100% and I still don't think VA has a clue. What really matters to VA is "Can you work?"

Maybe they are shopping you around to find an opinion that you don't have PTSD. The VA has done worse things. Those UTH discharges are often a way just to get out of paying disability. Did you spend time in a psychiatric ward while in service. I spent two months and army said I was fine just a personality disorder. I beat them and so will you if you persist.

Dee I think I would file for anxiety and depression related to your existing disabilities unless you have in-service records of DX for depression and anxiety.

If you have TDIU and a separate disability of 60% you can get "S". I did it.

You know some of these so-called vet charities will bite like a mad dog if you dare to be critical of them online. I thought Americans had freedom of speech, but maybe not.

If you are claiming 30 years of retro you can bet the VA is going to look at your claim inside and out regardless of what appears to be an open and shut case. Nobody at the VA wants to sign off on $250,000 in back pay for a vet. That is what I was asking for and it took 6 years to get to finally get to a big "NO".

Marine He also had Parkinson's which is an AO disease. I hope he claimed those conditions. Being tough and not claiming disabilities is bad for other poor vets who can't afford to ignore these things. I will claim every AO condition I have. I claimed four already.

If you get service connected for your feet you may be able to file a claim for depression due to pain and disability. Many vets get depressed because of physical disability and don't realize it probably is due to the disability and pain and suffering. I got a 10% disability that was effective one day after my discharge. Army says I was ok until the day after I was discharged. How does that work? You know that Marines were just angry because they did not want to pay disability even though they decided you were unfit for duty. They have done this about a million times.

I have been on Medicare Part A and B for 20 years. Not only do I have to pay the Medicare premium but my SSA is taxed and so is my wife's. However, getting myself to the VA for care is getting harder for me. I have to drive miles to get to local VAMC. When I get there I have to walk a long way to get to the hospital entrance. I can't see me using the VA when I am 80 years old if I live that long. By the way Colin Powell died from Covid complications today.

VA knows that if they drag out the compensation process most will just give up and go away. Only the most disabled and determined will keep going until they prevail. I have been a claimant since 1972. You talk about gradual. I started at ten percent and went to 30% then 70% then TDIU and then P&T. After that I got an extra 60% and got "S". Now I finally got 100% schedular in my old age.

You said it Pacman. One VA C&P doctor told me vets get fat on purpose to get DMII rating. Everything you hear about how grateful America is to their vets is nonsense. If they were really grateful they would fix the VA which they never will in my lifetime.

I remember Yulooking. I had a cue that any reasonable person would have recognized instantly given the evidence. But I was asking for big retro and the VA just delayed it and denied it all the way to the Vet Court. I was put in a position to where I had to prove a negative. I had to prove the VA did not consider my IMO way back in 1972. It was impossible since the VA did not even list all evidence in those days. VA said they considered my IMO which, of course, they did not. I lost. I hope you win Mr. Cue.

Mr. Cue Maybe you ought to call Alex who is an expert in SMC claims. He is here on the board and also has his own website . I don't think it is so smart to refuse exams. I know you are frustrated but refusal gives VA an excuse to delay and deny claims. I know they are screwing with you but VA screws with all who are claiming big retro. When I filed my CUE the VA delayed it for 6 years and I lost in the end. I had a very good lawyer and we still lost.

One of the worst things about inflation is what it does to any savings you have. If inflation went up 6% a year in 5 years your savings would have lost 30% of their buying power. This encourages people to stop saving and just spend it. That in itself increases inflation. The worst, of course, is food, gas and housing. Housing inflation is exploding which would include rent and buying houses. The CPI does not include gas and food where it really hits you. When inflation gets really bad you have a price/wage spiral where wages get bid up to cover inflation which leads to more inflation. I remember the 1970's after Vietnam when gas prices exploded and food and rent just went crazy. The way it was "cured" was to increase interest rates so fast it caused a deep recession. This did not hurt the wealthy, but it threw millions of working class people out of work myself included. I just packed it in and got the G.I. Bill and went to school until the dust settled.

Our basic compensation rate is so low we will always be behind the eight ball no matter how big of a cola we get. To maintain a middle class income we should be getting twice as much for compensation. With my income today I could not even afford to buy the house I am living in these days.

You have to deal with SSDI and I don't think they are charitable to those who get benefits for being totally disabled and continue or start to work. I just don't know about working when you claim to be totally and permanently disabled. I am pretty sure if you make more than poverty wages you may have trouble.

I was rated TDIU 70% in 2002. Since that time I have filed numerous claims including DMII, Heart Disease and serious neuropathy due to DMII. I also claimed "S" smc. I actually went from 70% to 90% to 100% but it took years. If I had TDIU P&T I think I would probably not try and go back to work. Are you getting SSDI? If you start to monkey around with TDIU it might get more involved than you want it to be. When I got TDIU I knew I would never work again. I was 52 years old and had serious pain issues and mental health stuff. My advice is to not get too greedy. I got 100% but I will never work again. If I had 100% when I was 40 it might have been different. The other thing is that as CUE says you can never tell what a LHI might come up with if they don't like the way you part your hair. I have had good luck with them, but it was just dumb luck.

Think about the millions of Vietnamese civilians we dumped AO on who we were supposed to be saving from communism. All my buddies from Nam are all suffering some sort of AO disease. My best friends all have DMII and most are dead. I bet down the road our government does compensate the Vietnamese since they are useful pawns against China. AO is going to kill me eventually.

The thing is Buck has already paid the depreciation on the SUV. However, if he can't afford it then he has to sell. Some guy will get a good deal. Maybe sell the Tundra since that is a nice toy for us guys, but unless you plan to haul stuff it is an expensive toy. I bet Buck could get his money back on that truck. Guys just love their trucks. Hey, I am so cheap I hate to sell anything for less than a profit.

Buck ....I think you should try and keep the car since you will take a bath if you sell it. I doubt you will get your 30K out of it.

The SSA disability system is a racket. Everyone must get fed including the judges, lawyers and all the rest. You, the claimant, are the least of them. I got SSDI about 20 years ago. If you use a mental condition it is much easier. I got it within 3 months of applying. I was claiming PTSD/depression and I had two very good doctors. I was 51 years old. It took two years to get TDIU from the VA.