UPDATE ON DISABLED VETS SCREW JOB

The Retired Officer Association | Today

[advocate10]

Please contact the WH with the link provided.

[advocate10]

Please contact the WH with the link provided above. The letter is already written for you!

I am writing to urge you not to veto the FY 2003 Defense Authorization Bill over Congress' support for concurrent receipt of military retired pay and VA disability compensation. Military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation are two entirely different things. Each is earned in its own right--retired pay for a career of arduous service and disability compensation for the pain and suffering, and lost future earnings, resulting from service-connected disabilities. In many cases, military members with decades of service must forfeit most or all of their earned retired pay to receive the same disability compensation paid to a similarly disabled member with just a few years of service. 90% of House members and 83% of senators recognize the right answer and have made it a national priority to fix this major inequity. In this time of heightened national awareness of the sacrifices inherent in military service, I cannot conceive that you would veto the defense bill for the express purpose of denying disabled military retirees their earned retired pay. I urge you most strongly to ignore any such misguided advice and to help bring closure to the great disservice our disabled military retirees now suffer. Sincerely,

[advocate10]

Ping!

[Militiaman7]

Done

You can do the same though the DAV at Disabled American Veterans

Press the Go button in the TAKE ACTION NOW box.

[Militiaman7]

Whitehouse contact numbers

A phone call is worth many emails so I've been told.

Give GWB a call and let him know you support Retired Disabled Vet and for that matter all vets.

[advocate10]

Good idea!

Thanks!

[old school]

Thanks for the heads-up!

[MJY1288]

Done deal, I sent a letter yesterday when I first heard of this, From what I have read, the veto threat did not come from the White House on this issue, The White House has said it would veto the bill if the "Crusader" weapons system was included.

[Kaisersrsic]

I must be missing something. Military retirment pay and veterans' disability compensation should both be generous, and a person eligible for both should get more money than a person only getting one, but why should anyone get full benefits under both programs at once? Most of us are both Patriots and Taxpayers here at FreeRepublic. I guess I should go back to work.

Before I put the gas can down and let the flames ignite, I better remind everyone that this anniegetyourgun started a "Complement Week" thread this morning so that we could be nice to each other.

[Jumper]

Wonderful News! It is sad that many of the Nation's most deserving Vet's, the one's who fought WWII and Korea, will not ever see a penny of this much deserved Compensation.

The Retired Military are the only people who pay their own disability; my DOD Civil Service coworkers who served a few years draw both their full Civil Service Pay Checks and their VA Disability and have the nerve to think a Retiree is double dipping.... I sometimes feel that it would be only fair to endorse taking Civil Servant's pay to offset their VA Disability Compensation just to shut them up.

[surely_you_jest]

The actual OMB message, which contains the threat to recommend to the President that he veto the bill if concurrent receipt in included is linked here - http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ legislative/sap/107-2/S2514-s.html/

The Crusader is also discussed.

[surely_you_jest]

My mistake; the link does not include the final "/" mark, therefore

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ legislative/sap/107-2/S2514-s.html

[MJY1288]

Thanks for the link

[advocate10]

I read the "Concurrent Receipt" crap on the WH site. Did Bush mean what he said about veterans benifits during the campaign, or not!

I guess he is just another candidate who will say anything to get elected!

Am I disappointed in him?!

[cva66snipe]

I must be missing something. Military retirment pay and veterans' disability compensation should both be generous, and a person eligible for both should get more money than a person only getting one, but why should anyone get full benefits under both programs at once? Most of us are both Patriots and Taxpayers here at FreeRepublic. I guess I should go back to work.

What if you put in your 20 years at the Ulcer Factory in your town? You had retirement benifits earned with a potential to work another 20-30 years but an injury disabled you at 20 years to where you could not work those remaining 20-30 years either at the Ulcer Factory or the Heartburn plant across the road. Now do you think it is right for your pay to stop and for you be told to live on the 20 year retirement pay at the Ulcer Plant? Especially when you had the potential to earn 20-30 years more wages there or elsewhere? That's what this is about. Military Retirement like any other retirement is a condition of employment.

Disability payments are not retirement benifits but disability benifits. It's not double dipping by any means. They like you have paid for their Socical Security dues and disability coverage in case this unfortunate event should occur.

[Militiaman7]

Additional threads on Concurrent Receipt.

Senate Oks pay for Disabled Vets

Let's End Inequity to Disabled Vets

Administration Threatens Veto Over Concurrent Receipt

[surely_you_jest]

While I suspect that this thing was written by some military-hating bureaucrat in some flyspecked cubicle somewhere in DC, responsible adult leadership should never have allowed this to go out. (I'm attempting to be charitable here.)

My wife and I were on active duty during the last election (since retired) and cast two of the now-famous Florida Military Absentee ballots, in favor of Dubya. We are, to say the least, very disappointed.

What is really interesting is what a firestorm this has started down in SW FL, where I live, which is normally very solidly Republican. In the last 24 hours, I have been into my VFW, DAV and American Legion posts. Those guys are sorely PO'd about this. As are some of my TROA brethren in other states. The local guys are threatening to take it out on Jeb at the polls, who is up for re-election this fall, just to get Dubya's attention, and so on. I believe that this OMB letter has managed, at a stroke, to create a sizable number of one-issue voters amongst folks who normally try and see the big picture.

One this is for sure - this is going to be interesting.

[Militiaman7]

It isn't only Florida. DAV'S in Virginia are fired up too.

Any Pubbie running will feel the pain.

[Kaisersrsic]

You should not compare the veteran's disability payments to private sector disability insurance because in almost any private sector disability plan benefits would cut off completely after only two years if the person could hold any job. The VA plan sounds alot closer to Worker's Compensation, which is no picnic because employers actually fight claims.

You said: Now do you think it is right for your pay to stop and for you be told to live on the 20 year retirement pay at the Ulcer Plant? Especially when you had the potential to earn 20-30 years more wages there or elsewhere? That's what this is about

Even if the 60% limitation were put in place, that does not mean that a vet eligible for both retirment and disability benefits will not also find good work. If this was really just about vets who can no longer work then Congress then I would agree with you. Congress should write a bill that fixes that problem rather than throwing together two programs that were specifically designed to have an offset.

[Militiaman7]

Many 60-100% DAVs are unemployable and therefore cannot earn a living.