"new " Secretary Of V.a. Selection

[Capt.]

Finally, after much outcry from vets like me,news, other watchdog groups, calling congressmen, senators and the President, Jim Nicholson has resigned with an unrepented heart I might add. Confessing that He has done no wrong.....and boasting of his "accomplishments??????", Mr. Nicholson ignorantly leaves an already troubled system in state of mass confussion and 100's of thousands vets in limbo. O.K. so now what happens and what you can do....YES , YOU. I know , you are tired and it won't help and I have better things to do like sit on the porch swatting flies and blah blah blah. Here is what I did yesterday. I called the Presidents comment line 202-456-1111. An operator will come on the line once you prompt and you can talk to a REAL person at the White house. I was polite and to the point explaining that I was a Veteran and member of several large Veteran Groups that were watching how the President would handle the selection of the next V.A. Secretary and how the Dept would run over the next year . That I was very pleased with Mr. Nicholsons resignation and that I also was asking Mr. President to please select someone who will immediately step in and try to get some of the problems resolved , such as back log of claims, FAIRNESS in decisions of claims, shortening the decision and rating time periods. I also pointed out that there was STILL TIME TO HELP BOOST MR. PRESIDENTS VERY LOW RATINGS by doing the right thing. I also very politely noted that I would be watching and if I feel there is nothing being done to help then myself and many others in these VA groups would make possibly a party change at the polls in the next election. The operator, a man, said that he thanked me for serving my country , (that was unexpected) and he said that he make sure that the President received the comments. Today it will be several senators and congressmen. Remember that I was POLITE and to the point..... "a soft answer turneth away wrath". It will make a difference , just like the response that caused Jim Nicholson to step down. It will take you and I to hopefully get someone in that could make a difference for the next year. When you bring up the "boost his ratings" idea you will get their attention.After all , it is all about ratings===== votes....God Bless, C.C.

[Berta]

Gee- I got some emails from vets nominating me too!

I would shake up that place so fast their heads would spin but also- I would follow the recommendations I made to the task force to square these backlogged claims away.

It CAN be done- it is the fault of the ROs and vet reos and SOs who condone the VA's practice osf sending put illegal VCAA letters-

no one challenges them and the reps just let the claimant think they got what they should have gotten-

In the future I will be doing a radio show at SVR Starlight RAdio-primarily on the VCAA- and how it has turned into an outright scam to the detriment of thousands of vets and widows-

I have plenty of documentation and it all came from the VA itself.

If I was Sec-the director of every VARO with a high remand rate due to VCAA violations would be canned and their salaries would be put into an interest bearing trust fund to pay for IMOs for every vet who needs one.

If the IMO does not support the claim-the vet has to pay for the IMO- if the IMO generates award with retro, the vet agrees to replace the IMO fee into the fund.

If more veterans could obtain independent medical opinions to support their claim-it could even eliminate the need for the middleman- vet reps-

if the VA sent every claimant a legal VCAA letter which should clearly state exactly what the vet needs (and that might well be an IMO) that too could eliminate the middleman- vet reps-

Also if vets and widows start to complain to General Counsel that not only was their VCAA letter illegal-their vet rep did not challenge it and advise them to ask VA to send a real one-

some of the middlemen could be eliminated-

the GC can sanction reps.

Nicholson in my opinion is a very very good man. I honor his military service and the work he did regarding the Holy Sea.

He just did not rely on his military training and did not use his leadership abilities to their full potential.

The VA needs a hero- someone who is willing to step up to the plate, take responsibility for the past problems, make sure they dont happen again, and if some butt needs kicking, that should be the new Sec's order of the day.

How about Lt Gen. Russell Honore, Army-

the "ragin cajin" who squared Katrina problems away

That is the type of superb command that the VA needs.

Edited July 23, 2007 by Berta