Posted on Jun 16, 2016
Why does the GOP believe that giving veterans a 25% disability pay increase is too costly and too difficult?
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On June 15 spoke with Erik Phelps who works for Senator Rounds and posted a copy of his email reply to me. Erik basically said that it would be too expensive and too difficult to give veterans a 25% disability pay increase. He explained ( as if we didn't already know) that the VA spends $79 billion a year in disability pay and to give veterans a 25% disability pay increase would cost $19 billion to give a pay increase. He compared getting the bill passed to getting the zika virus bill passed. He also said that it would be too hard to get Quality Of Life payments and opening up the VA pension to service connected disability passed, because the cost. I will repost the email so you can read it for your self. But before I go any further here is my justification for asking for those things https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-110hhrg39461/html/CHRG-110hhrg39461.htm
Now looking at what Erik said it would be disheartening because of the cost. But notice he didn't mention that it would only be a $444.50 increase for the average disabled veteran monthly. Some would say that Veterans'disability pay isn't meant to be lived on. Well they would be wrong. A veteran who qualifies for 100% VA disability may qualify for any other type of disability benefits. Because the criteria are so different. In fact 56% of veterans who are 100% disabled service connected are denied social security benefits. Also the VA cannot consider SsDi when awarding disability benefits and SsDi can't consider VA benefits when awarding disability. VA disability benefits are awarded as sole source income and can only consider military benefits. When the VA disability benefit program started it was meant to replace lost potential earnings that was calculated based on the national median income. Today that is around $52,000.00 a year and VA disability for a veteran with a service connected disability rating of 100% is just under $35,000.00 a year.
Do you think that Veterans deserve a 25% disability pay increase regardless of the additional cost?
Do you think veterans who have a service connected disability rating of 100% or permanent and total and are not receiving any military retirement should be able to draw the maximum amount of VA pension?
Do you think Quality Of Life payments should be made to veterans who have a service connected disability rating of 60% or more?
Do you think the Senators should count the cost before talking about going to war?
How do you think the government should cover the increased cost if it were to give the pay raise?
How would the disability pay increase will effect you?
Now looking at what Erik said it would be disheartening because of the cost. But notice he didn't mention that it would only be a $444.50 increase for the average disabled veteran monthly. Some would say that Veterans'disability pay isn't meant to be lived on. Well they would be wrong. A veteran who qualifies for 100% VA disability may qualify for any other type of disability benefits. Because the criteria are so different. In fact 56% of veterans who are 100% disabled service connected are denied social security benefits. Also the VA cannot consider SsDi when awarding disability benefits and SsDi can't consider VA benefits when awarding disability. VA disability benefits are awarded as sole source income and can only consider military benefits. When the VA disability benefit program started it was meant to replace lost potential earnings that was calculated based on the national median income. Today that is around $52,000.00 a year and VA disability for a veteran with a service connected disability rating of 100% is just under $35,000.00 a year.
Do you think that Veterans deserve a 25% disability pay increase regardless of the additional cost?
Do you think veterans who have a service connected disability rating of 100% or permanent and total and are not receiving any military retirement should be able to draw the maximum amount of VA pension?
Do you think Quality Of Life payments should be made to veterans who have a service connected disability rating of 60% or more?
Do you think the Senators should count the cost before talking about going to war?
How do you think the government should cover the increased cost if it were to give the pay raise?
How would the disability pay increase will effect you?
Posted in these groups: 
Politics
Disabled Veterans
Politics Disabled Veterans
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 31
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Why?
Because unlike Democrats, Republicans want to identify where the funding is going to come from before passing bills like this.
Better question would be; Why didn't Democrats identify a source of funding that would allow this bill to pass??
Because unlike Democrats, Republicans want to identify where the funding is going to come from before passing bills like this.
Better question would be; Why didn't Democrats identify a source of funding that would allow this bill to pass??
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PO3 Michael James
CPO Coluccio, Sir; Very interesting.. responses appear to relate to substance abuse .. Your response to the question was that Republicans, Democrats (Congress) identify where funds are going to come from, before they pass a bill.. Does Congress, Republicans/Democrats have a drug problem ? Because they always give themselves pay increases.. they never consider where the FUNDS are coming from !!
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SSG Agustin Atherley
Democrats or GOP they should take all issues into consideration before sending us to war. The GOP didn't consider the cost of the war in Iraq & Afghanistan . They didn't even put it on the books, now we are paying for it with the huge deficits. GOP only care about cost when they are not in control.
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SSG Agustin Atherley
Or maybe to increase taxes on the rich people that gets all the benefits of the wars we fight but doesn't offer any sacrifices. Their children are too good to fight for this country.
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The VA system is rife with fraud, waste and abuse...and that's just on the Servicemembers part, it is clearly also a mess on the administration side.
I would FIRST like to see the VA administration system as a whole revamped, I would like EVERY VA claim of disability reevaluated, I would like those caught gaming the system, to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and then I would like to see those that are truly disabled receive a fair amount in relation to thier level of disability.
Only when the system is being used above board and honorably will we be taken justly and seriously for asking for even more.
I would FIRST like to see the VA administration system as a whole revamped, I would like EVERY VA claim of disability reevaluated, I would like those caught gaming the system, to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and then I would like to see those that are truly disabled receive a fair amount in relation to thier level of disability.
Only when the system is being used above board and honorably will we be taken justly and seriously for asking for even more.
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SGT Frank Pritchett
Please, I have sleep APNEA and was diagnosed while on active duty, stop breathing while your asleep is scary, waking up tired like you ran a marathon is worse; death comes in your sleep.
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LCDR (Join to see)
SGT Frank Pritchett - Calm down, Bro. He wasn't attacking you. Everyone has sleep apnea. It is a natural result of the slow-down of all bodily processes during sleep-- breathing slows down, too. The difference is only in degree of severity.
The SGM is not claiming that no one has it, or that no one should receive a fair percentage of disability for it. He is saying that WAY too many people have been gaming that particular area of the system for WAY too long. Everyone knows that was the best racket going for at least the last decade. (Evidence of this is the docs have found a way to actually monitor the frequency of use of the CPAP machines, and you have to actually USE one in order to maintain the disability claim for sleep apnea.) Your case sounds legit. There are a LOT that aren't.
The bigger picture of what he is saying is that if we veterans were honest in our claims, AND the VA administration managed to get unf***ed, we would all be in a better position to more adequately compensate the truly un-employable disabled as opposed to-- as the original post suggests-- a blanket pay raise that the Congressman's aide appropriately pointed out is too expensive in our current budgetary environment.
The SGM is not claiming that no one has it, or that no one should receive a fair percentage of disability for it. He is saying that WAY too many people have been gaming that particular area of the system for WAY too long. Everyone knows that was the best racket going for at least the last decade. (Evidence of this is the docs have found a way to actually monitor the frequency of use of the CPAP machines, and you have to actually USE one in order to maintain the disability claim for sleep apnea.) Your case sounds legit. There are a LOT that aren't.
The bigger picture of what he is saying is that if we veterans were honest in our claims, AND the VA administration managed to get unf***ed, we would all be in a better position to more adequately compensate the truly un-employable disabled as opposed to-- as the original post suggests-- a blanket pay raise that the Congressman's aide appropriately pointed out is too expensive in our current budgetary environment.
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1SG (Join to see)
I can't begin to tell you how much fraud, waste and abuse that there is in the VA Comp and Pen systems. Anecdotally based on my observation, about a third of claims are blatantly false or exaggerated with little in the way of examination necessary to determine that, and about a third of the remainder are found to be fraudulent or exaggerated after development. That is half. And that is a boatload of money potentially taken from those who need and deserve it.
The biggest scam by far is for "Individual Unemployability", where a Veteran with a less than 100% rating (say, 50% for PTSD) gets 100% Compensation due to their inability to get and maintain employment. As often as not, it is a younger Veteran with other (not rated) issues, but a large number get IU simply because they have turned 65 and reached retirement age. Next to no one on IU has attained 20-year retirement.
Another fun fact is that when an undeserved benefit is identified and the money collected back, a high percentage (approaching half) are waivered for various reasons. Many of these are due to issues with dependents, and not reporting changes (chiefly divorces resulting in changes in custody or loss of eligibility due to remarriage of surviving spouses).
The biggest scam by far is for "Individual Unemployability", where a Veteran with a less than 100% rating (say, 50% for PTSD) gets 100% Compensation due to their inability to get and maintain employment. As often as not, it is a younger Veteran with other (not rated) issues, but a large number get IU simply because they have turned 65 and reached retirement age. Next to no one on IU has attained 20-year retirement.
Another fun fact is that when an undeserved benefit is identified and the money collected back, a high percentage (approaching half) are waivered for various reasons. Many of these are due to issues with dependents, and not reporting changes (chiefly divorces resulting in changes in custody or loss of eligibility due to remarriage of surviving spouses).
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CW3 Kevin Storm
1SG (Join to see) - Top, I agree, there are certain skills sets I see from certain groups who were admin and have PTSD claims having never left a FOB. I see and hear about it at my facility.
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LCpl Timothy McCain LTC Stephen F. COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL TSgt Hunter Logan I am one of those 100% SC that was denied social security benefits twice (2004&2007) because I had a 1987 college degree in Computer Science and completed in 1981 Army Military Occupational Specilty (MOS) 74F computer programmer/analyst. There is not a lot of call these days for COBAL, FORTRAN, Basic and JCL computer languages.
I asked the supposed expert how much time he spent in the military. His response was 3 years lower enlisted. So I asked him how much interaction he had with his First Sergeant and Battalion CSM/SGM. He responded very little so I commented that those are leadership and management roles and Deal with overall mission operation and not actual physical manual labor.
They determined I could do data entry or guard duty in an office with limited movement. They told me that I was trained in computers be it 20/25 years were little has changed and did not look disabled.
I know of lazy uneducated unwed mothers, criminals and drug addicts that qualified.
They did not care about PTSD, Sleep Apnea, nerve damage surgery to both arms and wrists, Spinal Stenosis w CSpine having a cage for my C6, rods and screw, Prostrate Caner, other Nuerological disorders related to toxins exposures at Fort McClellan, Al adjacent to the Monsanto plant that produced Agent Orange and numerous other deadly toxins.
I asked the supposed expert how much time he spent in the military. His response was 3 years lower enlisted. So I asked him how much interaction he had with his First Sergeant and Battalion CSM/SGM. He responded very little so I commented that those are leadership and management roles and Deal with overall mission operation and not actual physical manual labor.
They determined I could do data entry or guard duty in an office with limited movement. They told me that I was trained in computers be it 20/25 years were little has changed and did not look disabled.
I know of lazy uneducated unwed mothers, criminals and drug addicts that qualified.
They did not care about PTSD, Sleep Apnea, nerve damage surgery to both arms and wrists, Spinal Stenosis w CSpine having a cage for my C6, rods and screw, Prostrate Caner, other Nuerological disorders related to toxins exposures at Fort McClellan, Al adjacent to the Monsanto plant that produced Agent Orange and numerous other deadly toxins.
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