Veteran’s Protest For Congress In Re-election Issues

[allan]

fwd from Kelly

Veteran’s Protest for Congress in Re-Election Issues

A suggestion has come in on a Veteran’s Protest for Congress. While I think, that mass demonstration planning is cumbersome and not very effective especially when out of millions only 40 to 50 Veterans show up. It is also not effective in the press or the broadcast media. One thousand illegals hit the streets and it is on every news show in the nation and in every print media but the same does not apply nor has it ever applied to THE Veterans’ Protest.

Of course, I am just thinking out loud here during this election year on how to make direct contact and make the direct issues an election issue for both parties at all levels. Since it seems we stuck with the lesser of the two evils or so it seems.

This would involve 40 - ? many Veterans/widows/offspring etc. This would involve staying in the DC area during the week, not on a holiday time frame. I think we or whomever sets this up can get a group rate at the Sheraton National in Arlington, VA for about $99.00 a night. Julie Tackett may have more info on that and can advise on setting it up. Yes, this will cost some money and we have no one to reimburse us only the satisfaction of taking the fight to the hill.

Now this does not mean it is my show and I know there are many out there that can charge and run this so please step up. I would certainly support anything or anyone in this issue.

My recommendation would be is to have specific issues with stated context, impacts, and some recommendations to fix or direct recommendations for investigations of DoD/VA as to why and how they can get away with the identified issues. We also must suggest recommendations even if it involves a pilot program.

We must break up into teams, maybe two person teams, to cover both the house and the senate. This does not just include the Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committees in the House and Senate but the members of the committees also. In addition, any other senators and house persons we know that have been in the fight for Veterans such as Walz and Kagen.

This should also include the following:

· Veterans Affairs Chair and Committee Members in the house and senate

· SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS on Government Reform.

· Judiciary Committee’s

· And any other committee that has or could have an impact on veterans/widows/offspring issues

The reason why I say Judiciary is there are a lot of issues that are related to justice and lets just say “misguided rules of evidence and overriding the facts and laws of physics and chemistry” that VA raters and BVA judges just override like they know better than science and medicine itself.

In ADDITION, we must include suspense dates for a reply from whatever office by name. We should include the e-mail address, mailing address, and phone number of the person the office should contact with a reply as to what they intend to do as an action item. This suspense date should be no longer than six weeks of the date of the letter(s) dropped off. It should be made clear that doing nothing or no response within the suspense date will be taken as a “negative response for support of Veterans and their families” and will be identified as such on the following websites and/or blog sites. We do have some sites that will post the lack of support without having the Veteran Service Organizations websites involved. I do not know who gave them permission to speak for Veterans to Congress as our lobbyist or for our interests but obviously; they are not effective in the political arena and therefore very little gets done as a remedy. They can and do whisper in protest but that is about it.

I know I will post on my site, and I believe VERPA, Veterans for Common Sense, Veterans and Military Families for Progress, Military Spouses for Change, and others will post whether those we/you contacted responded or did not respond as for information only. If you still choose to vote, for whomever then at least you are in the know of what you are getting and should have no more complaints. I know there are many different Yahoo Groups that will also post these responses or lack of responses.

I would suggest a three-day event with debriefings in the evening as to what was accomplished and how to hit the hill the next day. What days should be were ever we can get the best room rate and conference room in the evenings.

We do have an in-house reporter in our mix now so maybe the effort might even get some media attention - or at least a mention of our efforts.

I would also suggest that actions start as soon as possible which will give us more time to get the word out as to which candidates have agreed to take actions.

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Here are a few examples of suggested letters identify the issues and recommendations for simple solutions that can be implemented immediately – not after 20, more years of some GAO review.

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To whatever committee member:

Subject: The time it takes for Veterans Affairs to approve a claim for a presumptive herbicide caused cancer/disorder.

At present, without prodding by outside sources, Veterans Affairs is taking months, to over a year for a presumptive cancer disorder that requires no compensation and pension exam and is automatically approved based on three data points. Two of which are given data points. Did the Veteran serve in Vietnam and is the disorder on the presumptive list.

The real only verification required is a firm diagnosis of the listed presumptive herbicide exposure disorder. Many of these are diagnosed in a Veterans Affairs hospital. Veterans Affairs without any paperwork to be signed or a release form has 100% computer access to the Veterans Medical records showing the diagnosis and treatment recommend. The cancer is already rated at to what stage of malignancy.

There are no complex medical decisions to make by anyone. Yet, this claim that should take at most a few days is normally stalled until the Veteran succumbs to the cancer(s).

There can be no excuse for this poor performance for our Nations “government caused” dying Veterans.

RAMIFICATIONS OF THIS VETERANS AFFAIRS LACK OF PERFORMANCE:

If the Veteran dies before his claim is approved his widow then has to get back in line no different than starting a new claim. Once again even this claim, which is certainly cut and dried seems to take months or even over a year again while the family goes without financial support.

During the time the Veteran and his family are fighting, the government caused cancer and the government’s own federal agency they are subsidizing the United States Government and the Department of Defense with their own assets. Remembering that if the claim takes nine months to process and the Veteran dies before one day of approval that families financial assets spent in supporting the family is now lost forever, which seems to be a direct conflict of Veterans Affairs/Government bias “not to perform.”

COMMON SENSE CONGRESSIONAL ACTIONS:

Mandate that Veterans Affairs must approve a presumptive disorder within 30 days of the date of application using electronic transfer of funds. This should apply to all cancers and some medical disorders that are rated only by treatment plan and not the disability rating Compensation and Pension (C & P) exam per say.

For all other presumptive disorders, a 30-day approval is mandated and within 30 days, a C & P exam for disability rating shall be scheduled. If a C & P exam is not obtainable within the 30 days then the Veteran should, via electronic transfer, be given the benefit of the rating doubt and rated at 40% disability until a C & P can be scheduled for disability rating purposes. If the rating decision is not commensurate with the 50% rating, the Veteran, once the C & P is completed shall have 60 days to file a letter of disagreement with regard to the rating physicians criteria addressing each issues as it applies to disability and qualify of life. During such time, the Veteran will continue to receive no less than 40% disability payments.

{This will give the Veteran a chance to seek out other medical opinions as to the degree of disability that is in direct conflict with the VA contracted C & P doctors rating, which seems to be to minimized and not necessarily reflect the actual extent of the government created disability in the presumptions of herbicide exposures.}

If Veterans Affairs says this is impossible to do - then it is recommended that the specified Congressional Committees call in the Veterans Affair “Workers” that touch these files and under oath create a time line of what it takes in hours to approve such claims. It is obvious the process used now is not working with no amount of justification can be attributable to this simple task.

A good case to exam would the case of Gary Henton (AO cancers) and how in the world it took as long as it did and we would suggest without outside pressures this case would still not be approved.

Addendum:

In all cases, the definition by Veterans Affairs is when the Veterans die his case dies with him or her; no matter how much stalling or lack of sensible Veterans Affairs process is involved. This is abusive, callus to the Veterans family, and has very little to do with justice since the widow does have rights and government benefits upon the demise of the Veteran.

It is therefore requested that Congress mandate to Veterans Affairs that when a claim is being processed for a veteran and the veteran succumbs before decision; that the widows name be automatically substituted for the Veteran in order to not delay the spouses government guaranteed benefits to include medical insurance, educational benefits, and widows and offspring financial assistance, etc that may be desperately needed for many issues.

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To whatever committee member:

Subject: The lack of VA raters and BVA judges not taking into account the proven half-life of these herbicides. In fact, overriding the laws of science and chemistry that applies around the world and to every American except Veterans.

Regarding these herbicide issues used around the world by the Department of Defense, they have stated with authority, they know exactly when the spraying started and when it stopped at different facilities and areas such as the Korean DMZ. Considering the lack of integrity in this whole issue by the Department of Defense since it began this is hardly concrete to begin with or should it be considered as such.

The government contracted civilian herbicide coverage by congress indicates from the years 1967 to 1971. The Department of Defense for military says a few months of 1968 and into a few months of 1969. This is hardly equitable. What happens is the Veteran shows up on the Korean DMZ and has providence that he indeed did serve on the Korean DMZ for his entire tour. Yet, because it was two months after the Department of Defense says it quit spraying the Veteran is then denied any and all presumptive disorders no matter how many presumed cancers he has developed that match the presumptive list. Including the development of pustular acne while he served on the DMZ, which is a hallmark sign of herbicide exposures. Not only is this abusive and corrupt but in a real court of law given the known science and established half life of these herbicides that contained dioxins and closely related furan and PCB isomers these decisions by rating officers and BVA judges would not stand up. Yet, this goes on daily within the Veterans Affairs. The abusive part is if Veterans Affairs were mandated to use the same inclusive dates as congress has mandated there would be no issues and collaboration against Veterans and their soon to be widows and orphans.

Did the Department of Defense give pay records keeping the order to destroy pay records that would have clearly shown hazard duty pay for those that served along the Korean DMZ this authority for this reason. Veterans that would have had clear and substantiated providence of exposures now have to prove in other ways they indeed did serve in those herbicide areas along the Korean DMZ. Is this just a coincidence or do we have even more collusion from the Department of Veterans Affairs as bias against Veterans claims to protect the budget and deny the Veteran and his family death benefits created by government stupidity?

A good case to exam would be that of Veteran David Hill of Tennessee.

The minimized half-life as specified by our own Environmental Protection Agency for the dioxin, TCDD is:

Three years on top of the ground

Eight years in the ground

Fifty years in water, that is heavily laden with sediment

Although samples taken in Vietnam outside of Da Nang in January of 2007 by the Hatfield Corporation indicate, the above half-life specifications are indeed very minimized.

COMMON SENSE CONGRESSIONAL ACTIONS:

Mandate that Veterans Affairs raters and BVA judges do not and can no longer discount the half-life of these dioxins as specified by our own Environmental Protection Agency indicated above. That would put the final date at least the same as the congress has as 1971 if the Veteran just served on or near the Korean DMZ. If he were involved in digging into the ground and can prove such, the dates by the half-life would be even longer than that of the three-year half-life and Veterans Affairs raters and BVA judges must be mandated to take that performance of duty into consideration.

Moreover, as some Veterans Raters have concluded that the half-life study must have been in Korea, on the DMZ is nonsensical, and would be like challenging the laws of physics per geographical location.

I know I have many more issues like this and I am sure each segment of Veterans has their own common sense issues that we need congress to respond to during this election year.

Obviously, we need to hit the needed presumptive issues hard for not only Vietnam Vets but other era vets as well.

I think one letter for all on the background of the VACEH and IOM and how they have performed would be good enough but it should be handed out to all - to show how disingenuous this process has been.

Even if I do not go, I would like to write that little jewel up with references for all to hand out with the additions that must take place.

Anyway do we have folks from all these areas that are willing to go and do this.

Moreover, does anyone think it will do any good?

Kelley

http://www.2ndbattalion94thartillery.com/C...ransActions.htm