Why Not The President?

[Fosk]

Just for that extra boost to get it out of ratings I wrote to the White House, I tried a congressional inquire but its still taking forever even with a hardship. Hey I have nothing to lose and all to gain.

[carlie]

Just for that extra boost to get it out of ratings I wrote to the White House, I tried a congressional inquire but its still taking forever even with a hardship. Hey I have nothing to lose and all to gain.

Fosk,

In my opinion, if you filed for expedition of rating decision due

to a hardship situation and then topped it off with a congressional

inquiry -

you just threw the brakes on a possible hardship expeditious rating

by filing the congressional inquiry.

When VA is contacted by some congress critter's ASSISTANT, they pull your file

out of whatever stack it's in - so someone can go thru it to find stuff to

rebutt what you told the congress critter.

Things like,

VA requested form 21-XXXX from the claimant - and the claimant has yet to

submit XXXX as requested.

VA is awaiting a C&P examination. The VA is working as diligently as possible

on claims for veteran's disabilities. Due to budget restraint's, blah, blah,blah.

Anyway,now that VA pulled your file out -- it won't get put back in

where it was before they had to rebutt your congressional inquiry.

It will not really, be returned there.

So, your thinking,

"Just for that extra boost to get it out of ratings"

whether it's the White House or a Congress critter, any and every level of

goobermint you contact,will actually cost you more time.

jmho,

carlie

[Testvet]

Fosk,

In my opinion, if you filed for expedition of rating decision due

to a hardship situation and then topped it off with a congressional

inquiry -

you just threw the brakes on a possible hardship expeditious rating

by filing the congressional inquiry.

When VA is contacted by some congress critter's ASSISTANT, they pull your file

out of whatever stack it's in - so someone can go thru it to find stuff to

rebutt what you told the congress critter.

Things like,

VA requested form 21-XXXX from the claimant - and the claimant has yet to

submit XXXX as requested.

VA is awaiting a C&P examination. The VA is working as diligently as possible

on claims for veteran's disabilities. Due to budget restraint's, blah, blah,blah.

Anyway,now that VA pulled your file out -- it won't get put back in

where it was before they had to rebutt your congressional inquiry.

It will not really, be returned there.

So, your thinking,

"Just for that extra boost to get it out of ratings"

whether it's the White House or a Congress critter, any and every level of

goobermint you contact,will actually cost you more time.

jmho,

carlie

I have to agree with carlie on this, I have done exactly what you have done, I wrote Congressmen and Senators and the President Bush and VP Cheney the VA has 60 days to respond to elected reps they have a 10 day window to respond to a WH inquiry and all it does is pizz off the VARO and yes they will pull the file and tell all that they are working dilligently on your claim and then your claim file is going back to the raters desk at the bottom of the pile so all you have managed to do is to delay your claim even longer and make the DRO mad, because they have to answer Congressional and Presidential inquiries they are just like the military they have people that do nothing but deal with political inquires and they cross the ts and dot the I's and cover the agencies azz, and everyone has done what they are supposed to do, except actually deal with the problem and now you have delayed the decision even longer so who has won? no one and you have lost time sorry been there and done that I have OCD my shrink told me I should wrote the President in Dec 2005 In Jan 2006 I had the DRO scream at my wife and I for an hour because I had the nerve to write Congressmen, Senators and the White House three months later he granted me 50% for PTSD and denied my heart problems a year later after I filed the NOD due to the lowball award they granted me the 100% for PTSD in May 2006 in April 2009 a BVA Judge awarded my CAD and hypertension leave elected officials out of it and file NODs and then a BVA appeal and DO NOT write elected officials they do NOT help

[Pete53]

In 1996 I wrote the President about my claim that had been sitting for over 2 years at the BVA and I had a Hearing and was awarded 100% in less than 2 months.I think that my good fortune happened cause it was an election year and lucky for me it landed on someones desk a Mrs Andrews that sent a nasty letter asking what was the status of my claim and to notify her as soon as a decision was made.

So I think if the President and the people who work for him are sympathetic to Veterans than it may work. In Texas my Representatives don't care a lick about Veterans.

[carlie]

Do keep in mind that the VA machine wasn't nearly as huge and clogged in

1996 as it is now.

In some ways the system is better, especially the VAMC's.

jmho,

carlie

[john999]

The VAMC's are better which is sort of odd seeing they have many more vets going to the VA for care. When it was just for SC, and the indigent, the care was pretty awful. Clinton opened it up, but did not really provide the funding. That is still the problem. The funding is always behind the need. However, the constituency has gotten larger. The VA gets a lot more press than in the bad old days. We have had 8 years of war, so that has produced more disabled vets. Health care has gotten more expensive and more scarce. I think the VA health care system will grow, and the VBA is going to have to grow because vets in this day and age have no hesitation in filing a claim. They talk to each other and search the internet for information.

[Chuck75]

If a case is proceeding in a reasonable fashion, a presidential or congressional inquiry may not help. On the other hand, if denials have been made that are not justified, the inquiries may help. A letter with a copy of the denial and a very short proof of the medical condition along with no more than a one page referral to the appropriate regs & laws may get surprising results very quickly. While a high level inquiry can be "passed off", if it is done properly, by the right entity, and followed up, it will not be. A call in person by the "entity" to the VA Secretary, will usually cause the wheels to roll at very high speed. Consideration might be given to explaining the problem to such people as members of the committees that can impact VA funding, or have the responsibility of VA oversight. Ideally, the member should be elected from the veteran's state of residence.

When you combine politics and funding, and a governmental unit such as the VA, all sorts of unusual things happen.

I remember a funding issue with the B-52 that occurred during a time when congress was determined to keep the number of B-52s in service at about 100, and the AF wanted to reduce them to about 1/2 that amount. While this was going on, the AF was holding up funding for various B-52 related issues, many of which would have saved a lot of money over a few years time, and others that were required to modernize key equipment on the B-52.

One of the AF types involved in the funding requests became convinced that various funding requests were being turned down with out being investigated, simply because the AF had "more important" fish to fry than money for the B-52. Basically, he wrote a request for a "Force Shield" (right out of Star-trek) He was short, due to retire, and said that he didn't have anything to loose. At the very least, it prompted a serious look, a lot of humor, and likely funding of the more serious items on the same list.

Forty or so years ago, I had a small problem when I was in the Navy. I had been trained in a technical specialty by a private school that had previously trained many military members (Army & Navy) in the same field.

The Navy unit(a ship) and organization (division) was thinking about making a required examination/test disappear, and substituting one that would have retained me in that organization. Overall, the Navy had a shortage of the specialty in question, and was paying up to a 15k bonus. (Which I was not eligible for, since I was a "reserve" on active duty.

A quiet discussion on the ship's bridge with the appropriate division heads and the XO, with the Captain observing but not participating from his chair to one side of the bridge, solved the problem. I really would have liked to know what was said in the wardroom afterwords!

At the time the Chairman, Armed Forces Appropriations, was my state's senior senator, as well as one of the most senior senators in congress. I stated that if necessary, my father, a WWII vet., would be happy to bring the matter to the senator's personal attention, as he knew the senator quite well.

The result was a very rapid change in attitude by the officers involved, with copies of the test arriving as they should. When the results came in, I had passed by a very comfortable margin. The reward, besides getting the advancement, was shore liberty in Vung Tau, normally reserved for Chiefs and Officers. Once rated in the specialty, time in grade was waived, so that I was able to take the next level of test as soon as it became available. (Passed that one also.) In a way the whole thing was somewhat ironic, since I ended up training and supervising several individuals that had collected the bonus that I was not eligible for. (And all this in less than two years of active duty!)

Just for that extra boost to get it out of ratings I wrote to the White House, I tried a congressional inquire but its still taking forever even with a hardship. Hey I have nothing to lose and all to gain.