I have nothing against a veteran on disability who was actually disabled in the line of service. However, the VA disability ratings are a big scam. I know plenty of “disabled” vets who are gainfully employed, display no signs of disability beyond what’s normal for pretty much everyone as they age, or were disabled by their own stupid choices that were not part of their service, like smoking several packs a day. These folks only take advantage of what’s legally offered to them, but I still find them to be dishonorable.
Again, this in no way should imply I’m against the country doing everything possible for disabled vets. I just know too many vets who milk VA disability for all it’s worth, and they’re taking money away from those who really did sacrifice, like those getting limbs blown off (or worse) in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Absolutely wrong!
In fact, many are turned down who deserve it.
I know plenty of “disabled” vets who are gainfully employed, display no signs of disability beyond what’s normal for pretty much everyone as they age, or were disabled by their own stupid choices that were not part of their service, like smoking several packs a day.
That's anecdotal and you really don't know what happened during their service. The fact remains that they SERVED. Did you? Did ANY welfare recipient? What about PSTD? How would have liked to go through the horrors of war, have to kill or be killed? How can you know what is going on under the hood?
And let me tell you about smoking. If you never served in the military up through the 1980s, you wouldn't know, but they used to put cigarettes in the C-rations, and I know many a smoker who wasn't until they faced combat. So as far as I'm concerned that would be service related, too.
As far as I'm concerned, you're just a jealous coward, envious of other men, never understanding the pain they've gone through, but wishing you were treated as a hero, without having to pay the price of entry to such an exalted group.
I’d like to know how they’re doing that, since VA disability, unlike SSDI, has to be related to your time in service or manifest itself within one year of getting out. I was a veteran’s representative at the state unemployment office for 15+ years, so I’m more familiar with veteran’s benefits than the average bear and all the cases I’ve ever seen were service-connected in some way. The VA, unlike Social Security, doesn’t throw money at people and is very stringent about ratings, from my experience. Again, unlike SSDI, there is no “means testing” of VA disability. If Warren Buffett, Don Trump or Bill Gates were disabled veterans, they’d be drawing their monthly payments, working or not, no matter their income from other sources.
Put simply, the able bodied and lazy shouldn’t get anything.