We talk all the time about the soaring Pentagon budget, every year setting a new record in the history of all mankind. Yet a large portion of these costs is dedicated to attacking and/or occupying nations around the world, and simply not doing that could see the Pentagon’s expenses plunge overnight.
Not so with the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is seeing its costs soaring with the returning disabled veterans, and no theoretical end in site. Unlike the wars, which could be ended at any time, the disabled veterans produced by those wars are simply on the books for the rest of their lives.
Nearly 6,500 US soldiers have been killed in the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. It is surely a large number, but an equally scary and much less well known figure is 633,000, the number of soldiers disabled during those wars.
Not all those disabled during the war will be kept from ever working, of course, but with the ever-worsening jobs market the Department of Veterans Affairs is seeing its costs soar, $57 billion in the next year, up 25% from the previous year. And as the wars continue the problem continues to mount.
There are two laws that govern child and spousal support income laws: A law that protects SSI benefits and a law that protects Veterans injury benefits.
IF a person never works a day in their life and gets SSI, they do not have to pay support.
If a person works for the military and gets injured during war, they have to use their injury money to pay support. Both have laws saying they do not use this money for a child or spousal support order, but apparently if you are injured in war you are not as important as those who never worked and receive SSI.
If you see ignoring this law as a problem, please sign the petition ♥ thanks : ) Enforce 38 USC 5301 to protect our Veterans' benefits. http://www.change.org/petitions/veterans-benefits…
Here's the problem: If the wars end then the American economy loses one of its 'crutches' and begins to falter even worse than it has so far. On the other hand fighting wars is not like going to work for 8 hours a day. It takes a heavy toll on those involved and wears them down mentally and physically even if they manage to avoid damaging injuries. Americans love war because the movies have shown us that we always win, and we're always right and Neville Chamberlain was a big fool who tried to appease a tyrant and that led directly to the Holocaust and anyone who proposes peace is therefore a traitor, working for the enemy and that's why we need our nuclear weapons and our $trillion dollars military and if we kill them over there we can continue to party and to shop til we drop over here.
633,000…. It would seem that it is past the time to make the American people graphically aware of this number – especially in contrast to what has been gained.
Anyone care to explain to this old curmudgeon how what has been accomplished (if you can 'splain that also it would be appreciated) justifies 633,000 maimed and 6500+ killed?
How many more maimed and killed are required before the American people are sufficiently outraged enough to stop the wars? That is if you can break through the shell of ambivalence around most of the American population, of course.
It's the same old argument used by war mongers. They believe that breaking windows stimulates the economy and so therefore they're constantly on the prowl to break every window in sight. Problem is this takes productive energies and useful lives best used to serve us all and funnels it into fewer and fewer hands. It inevitably leads to destruction but not before the current swine in charge milk as much as they can.
I had a 5 minute D&C interview that felt like a walmart greeter interview the got me a 10% Anxiety Disorder rating. On appeal the same sort of walmart greeter interview. Never came up that between the first and second D&C interview I'd gone to a VA hospital ER for problems and got (Florida) Baker acted and spent 11 days on a psychiatric ward, I got out due to a heart attack from improper medicines. I recently saw a PTSD check list to be done by a board certified psychiatrist (civilian) I don't trust the VA. Best I can tell I meant every one except I can still do abstract reasoning. My kids says I'm not the Dad I was 6 years ago. The current wars bother me, two months ago had a flashback to Danang. The Meds help but I'm not well. I not my friends should have died 19 April 68 i the A Shau Valley. Exaggerated startle respones, lots of sounds set me off, and do dreams of the past, cant find my rifle, can find my gas mask. Was there as a chinook crewchief door gunner, voluteered to fly dangerous missions like 106 mm recoiless rifle rounds low level to ARVNS in the Citadel during the Battle for Hue, the Relief of Khe Sahn, and the 19 April A Shua Valley campaign. My ship was down for maint so I didn't fly, but my best friends ship never came back. Yeah 10 % Anxiety disorder. The VA hopes I die first before I get a sucessful appeal.
SP/5 Wade Kane 1st Flight Platoon, Co A, 228th ASHB, 1st Air Cav June 67, June 68
I did get to do fun things like taking off during incoming 122 rockets at LZ Evans Feb 1968
Write a "letter of Disagreement" to Vet Affairs after checking out the 30% and 50% rating criteria for PTSD and disagree with your current decision if you think you have those symptoms. You will be assigned a Post Decision Review Officer who will review all your paperwork and hopefully give you a better rating. If unsure, get a lawyer who handles veteran disability claims. They admit P&C is an adversarial process so don't give up.
No sh*t! You think?