Yippee

[Berta]

I just got email from a NOVA lawyer who will handle my SMC CUE claim!

"I can tell you, at this jucture, that if you are still interested in having us represent you, we will certainly do so."

I wasnt sure what to expect-until I just got this-

then again he asked me by phone when I first contacted him -why I even needed him-he thought the claim was so well prepared-

I said I need him because the VA will actually read my evidence whe they see a lawyer on the POA.

Last week I revoked that part of my POA that covers this CUE claim (actually both CUEs)

although my POA NYSDVA revoked the POA themselves last October, the OGC agreed this was illegal-what they did- so just to cover my bases I sent priority mail to NYSDVA to revoke their POA solely on my CUE claims so I could give it to a lawyer-

and that my POA has continued with them for the other claims.

(I will determine when to revoke my full POA from these idiots-not them-they couldnt even do that right per 38 CFR)

[Mcafee]

Congratulations Berta i truly hope this all works out for you.I spoke with Mr. Karl he is going to represent me.i gave him a bunch of information.He is in review of it .

[Berta]

Capt Contaminate asked:

"I do not understand why a veteran , or his or her widow would not rather present it to the BVA or even CVA. It seems that if the 38 CFR's are quoted , followed" etc

1.Because the claim would have (as in my AO case) after sitting at the BVA -get a remand if the VCAA was violated.That could take years. I used the regs to get a remand in weeks-The BVA remand list grows daily.

I made a choice- stay there for years for the VCAA remand or get one in weeks-

I found only one other claimant on my same POA- a USAF vet-who got docketed at the BVA with my same POA but she definitely got her claim back to the RO right away-

I bet she had the sameo sameo rep I had- same POA- and they dont know what they are doing.

My position (and if you heard my conversations with Congressman Filner at SVR Radio -Bill)

is that the ROs defy our ultimate rights under DTA and have turned the VCAA into a SCAM.That is why I am pushing them for an amendment to the VCAA.

2. Because many claimants will die before the claim gets awarded-an award that could be made at a regional level- if the fed gov employed literates and stopped defying the VCAA.

3. Because -with the new June 21, 2007 NOD law- lawyers are not going to put up with what we claimants have been putting up with for years.

Just about everyone who has filed a claim within the last year or so will have the NOD filing date after June 21, 2007.They can get an attorney.

The VAROs will have to change their MOS to deal with lawyers on the POA.

4. These lazy and incompetent reps will find that they are getting less claims and that vets are switching their POAs to lawyers.

In the long run that could cause these vet orgs to provide much better training and oversight over their reps- (who are part of the problem)

5.Our men and women in Harms Way are paying taxes to our fed gov-

they pay the salaries of RO employees who-in some cases do their jobs right, but in too many cases ,simply dont (see the OIG report of 2005 and listen to the H VAC hearings on that)

I feel that either the VA should abolish the ROs and allow us to file our claims immediately at the BVA- which would be great as the lawyers at the BVA can read-

or start to get rid of the dead weights at ROs who dont handle claims right in the first place-and have plenty of help screwing them up and stringing them out- from many many vet reps.

I am on a VCAA remand going into the second year-

does anyone see my point at all?

Has anyone noticed how many BVA decisions lack jurisdiction because the veteran has already died?

McAfee Karl's wife called me yesterday-she too is fully qualified to represent vets and widows under the new regs-

she asked me to send them EVERYTHING by Fed EX-

This is a daunting task and I didnt expect to have to do that so my time will be limited here for a while-

20 years of VA stuff here-

The 2 CUE claims I have-which this law firm comprehended in a heartbeat-does involve prior decisions by the VA as well as the OGC.Decisions made a decade or more ago-

I have aggressively sought info from VA under the FOIA also and even that info-they want to see.

They want Rods USMC as well as Navy stuff.

and considerable other stuff that has transpired between Rod in his lifetime, me and the VA.

Karl also gave me 2 NY attorneys to contact regarding potential suit against my former vet reps (or the State of New York)

or both

for piss poor representation.

I see much confusion in the electronic vets community as to the new regs and will post a topic explaining them-unless I did already-

[Josephine]

Let's AXXX their whips too!

Glad to see I wasn't hallucinating!

I thought I was really suffering from sleep depravation - and hallucinating that Betty was saying ASHES...or something like that.

Free (THinks Betty has dang well earned the right to say whatever she DXXX well pleases!)

Free.

I am just so sick of that Dxx VA. That group has been playing games with me for darn long, I can't help myself at times.

I could really cut loose on this one.

Berta,

Have a good one!.

[Berta]

I forgot to add- years ago the BVA sent me a letter regarding a claim they had denied and because of some new law they said I could re-file this claim as a CUE with the BVA.

I forgot all about it-

I think this is the claim that the VA last year filed at Motion on themselves to re-open at the BVA.

The law firm helping me caught a mention of that in the stuff I sent them so far-

they are very anxious to see what that was all about-

(I am too- I cant remember it but obviously I still could file a CUE on it -I think)

my point is lawyers can immediately see things we cant see-

just like good IMO doctors-

or they see significance to something we overlooked.

For the RO itself to try to re-open this claim- possibly as a CUE-someone at the RO saw something too that alludes me.

It might be the 1998 BVA decision I got-I dont know.

My point is that these are inricate legal things that vet reps simply dont have the time, ability ,or concern to even consider-

lawyers are motivated by cash- (except for Project Salute Pro Bono)

vet reps get paid whether they sit there all day telling their own war stories and have barely read the claim and any denials themselves-

after all if they can get lots of claims on the road to the BVA- someone else handles it at that level anyhow-less work for them.

[luvHIM]

Capt. Contaminate, I think you answered my question. My claim is still pending. I guess I wanted to know if VA began working on it in May 2007 but the ruling came in June 2007, am I still eligible if my claim is not decided in my favor for a lawyer. I would guess that I am eligible to seek out an attorney because it (my claim) is still pending a decision.

[Capt.]

Hello Luvhim and Berta, I believe that you can get a lawyer because you have no decision on your claim yet and you have gone past the June 21, 2007 date, the same as me. I think that a lawyer is a good idea and I am also going to handle that when they give me a decision, (initial). Berta, you and I know how they use the VCAA to stall,,,,,asking all the same questions, wanting information, evidence that they almost always already have. Their failure to act on "duty to assist" . Their decisions that "the veteran has not replied to letter dated blah blah blah". Or the veteran has not supplied any evidence. Sameo , Sameo is right. I also notice on the BVA rulings the huge logjam of remands and that is what I am trying to stay out of if that is possible. I need to get a lawyer because now the VA is really making mistakes in my Progress reports and coming up with the famous line ...." need more testing to find out cause or etiology" ..... and the "pt claims that this is from exposure to..." If someone thinks the VA docs are all on the veterans side I have an island in New York harbor I want to sell real cheap, complete with statue.

Pete I am with you , I think the lawyers will keep pressure on the VA and just hope that enough lawyers can be and I use the word cautiously,,,, "qualified" to take on the mess with the VA. It is different. God Bless and hope you get a favorable ruling with your claim Luvhim. Never give up. C.C.