[Gimpy]

The Veterans? Disability Benefits Commission (VDBC), supposedly an ?open? commission, sure is good at keeping veterans in the dark.

The VDBC released their List of Potential Research Questions questionnaire on September 1 , 2005. It was posted on the VDBC web page sometime after that, just in time for the Labor Day weekend. They wanted responses from veterans by Monday, September 13............THIRTEEN FREAKIN DAYS!

This is ?mushroom? politics at its best. Keep them in the dark and keep shoveling manure on their heads.


The deliberate, last-minute posting of this questionnaire designed for ?public review? can only be interpreted as an attempt to stifle comments from the veteran community.

This is not surprising coming from a commission that is stacked 9-4 with appointees from the current administration and has as the focal point of its charter the charge to determine ?whether a veteran?s disability or death should be compensated.?

It should be pointed out that the VDBC is, in their words, ?independent of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.? That?s the bad news and there is no good news.

As an independent commission appointed by politicians and the President they only have to answer to politicians and the President. There is NO Congressional or departmental oversight. Can you believe that $hit?

What?s at stake here? Everything! The VDBC has the power to rewrite the VA benefits handbook starting at page one. And judging from their List of Potential Research Questions that?s exactly what they are going to do.


Let?s look at question #2 in the first section. ?How well do benefits provided to disabled veterans meet implied Congressional intent to compensate for impairment in quality of life due to service-connected disabilities??


Note the use of the word ?implied.? Congress doesn?t pass bills that ?imply? anything. Veterans? benefits are mandated, not ?implied.? And pay particular attention to references about ?Congressional intent.?


The latest maneuver by the current administration, a mad charge lead by Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN), is to question the ?intent? of previous Congresses who passed the legislation mandating veterans? benefits. Again, Congress knew exactly what they were doing when they passed that legislation. Now, politicians who don?t like that legislation are trying to parse the ?intent? and dismantle veterans? benefits as we know them.


Then there?s question #3, also in the first section. ?How well do benefits provided to survivors meet implied Congressional intent to compensate for the loss of the veterans/service members? earning capacity and for the impairment in quality of life due to service-connected death??


Again, note the use of ?implied? and ?intent.? But, the overriding issue here is, why are they even questioning death benefits? Why don?t they just ask a veteran?s widow? I can guarantee you she has an answer for them.


And, you?ll like question #8. ?Does the disability benefit provided affect a veteran?s incentive to work?? The implication here is that giving a veteran a monetary benefit is akin to welfare.


The questions go on and on. There were 25 pages of them. All of them are leading in that they imply something is wrong and a change is needed. Most of them are demeaning and even insulting to veterans.


Every question is designed to cast doubt on the efficacy of a particular VA benefit. The list is too long for me to present here. But, believe me, these are questions to which the VDBC will find answers. And, veterans are not going to like those answers.



I cannot understate the power of the VDBC. These are politically-powerful people whose connections with the elite of Washington D.C. got them where they are. They have their marching orders and veterans? benefits are about to get trampled.



I urge all veterans to respond to this insulting and obviously underhanded attempt by the organizers of this commission to further their motives of undermining and reducing benefits to military veterans and their dependents by writing to their own Senators and Congresspersons with our outrage and concern.


Please find a way to do this, get mad and then start writing. These are YOUR BENEFITS! There is also an email address for your comments to this commission at: vetscommission@va.gov.


Any and all correspondence with local and national news media (TV, major networks, newspapers, etc.) to get the message out to the average American citizen would be welcomed as well. The DAV web site has a section designed to guide you to the media of your choice if you would go there.


Be sure to include your name, service, dates of service, highest rank and decorations. Also include whether or not you are a veteran with a service-connected disability and explain what benefits you receive. Be calm. Be strong. Be truthful. Let the VDBC, Congrees and the American public in general know all the good that VA benefits, as they exist today, have done for you and your family.


As the VDBC tries to rewrite the VA benefits handbook we must fight them at every step. We have the law on our side because we know the true ?intent of Congress.?


And, when you write your letters you might want to include the words of former VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi who said, "History is littered with governments destabilized by masses of veterans who believed that they had been taken for fools by a society that grew rich and fat at the expense of their hardship and suffering."


Please help......................before it's TOO LATE!