It is now official

Dear All 535 voting members of the Congress,
It is now official: You are all morons.
The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 – you have had 234 years to
get it right; it is broke.
Social Security was established in 1935 – you have had 74 years to get it
right; it is broke.
Fannie Mae was established in 1938 – you have had 71 years to get it right;
it is broke…
War on Poverty started in 1964 – you have had 45 years to get it right; $1
trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the
poor"; it hasn’t worked.
Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 – you’ve had 44 years to get
it right; they’re broke
Freddie Mac was established in 1970 – you have had 39 years to get it right;
it is broke
Trillions of dollars in the massive political payoff called the TARP bill of
2009 shows NO sign of working.
And finally to set a new record:
"Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009! It took
good dependable cars (that were the best some people could afford) replaced
them with high priced (people who couldn’t afford to are now making
payments) mostly Japanese models so a good percentage of the profits from
the sales went out of the country. And lastly, the American taxpayers are
now going to be dinged with paying for yet 3 billion more dollars of our
governments experiments to make our wallets even thinner.
So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that "services"
you shove down our throats are failing faster and faster, you want Americans
to believe you can be trusted with a government-run health care system? 15%
of our economy? Are you crazy?
.
What is missed herein?…General Motors (Bankrupt) announced it will invest 293 millions of U.S. Dollars in China to begin building vehicles in China….After WE bailed out "Bankrupt" G.M. with U.S."Stimulus" Tax Dollars..they’re sending a part of that bailout for China..to build cars there…whilst Michigan has a 16%
unemployment rate largely because of dwindling auto sales.
>>>IF ANYONE CAN MAKE ANY SENSE OUT OF THIS
PLEEEZE LET ME KNOW<<<<<<<

VA Moves to Simplify PTSD Rules

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is taking steps to assist veterans seeking compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The VA  published a proposed regulation in the Federal Register to make it easier for a veteran to claim service connection for PTSD by reducing the evidence needed if the veteranf stressor claimed by a is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity. Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted over the next 60 days. The text of the proposed rule is available on the Federal Register website. Find, review, and submit comments on Federal rules that are open for comment and published in the Federal Register using Regulations.gov.

Swine flu jab link to killer nerve disease:

Swine flu jab link to killer nerve disease: Leaked letter reveals concern of neurologists over 25 deaths in America.

A warning that the new swine flu jab is linked to a deadly nerve disease has been sent by the Government to senior neurologists in a confidential letter.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206807/Swine-flu-jab-link-killer-nerve-disease-Leaked-letter-reveals-concern-neurologists-25-deaths-America.html##ixzz0PaIwB8PO

Surviving Spouse

Requesting guidance about applying for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). This is a monthly payment paid to a surviving spouse, parent or dependent child because the veteran’s death was service-connected.

Service-connected death can mean either that the death occurred while on active duty or the death was caused by a disability attributable to the veteran’s active duty service.

Regarding service in Vietnam, the Department of Veterans Affairs has established a causal relationship between Agent Orange or herbicides used in Vietnam and the subsequent diagnosis of several disabilities in veterans who were exposed to these chemicals. These disabilities include:

• AL amyloidosis.
• Chloracne or other acneform disease consistent with chloracne.
• Type 2 diabetes (also known as diabetes mellitus or adult-onset diabetes).
• Hodgkin’s disease.
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
• Multiple myeloma.
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
• Acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy.
• Porphyria cutanea tarda.
• Prostate cancer.
• Respiratory cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx or trachea)
• Soft-tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma or mesothelioma).

To file a claim for service-connected death benefits, you should complete a VA Form 21-534, Application for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), Death Pension and Accrued Benefits by a Surviving Spouse or Child, and return it to the local VA regional office. You can request a copy of this form and the address of the nearest VA regional office online at www.va.gov or by calling the toll free number, 800/827-1000.

In addition to the VA Form 21-534, you will need to provide a copy of your husband’s death certificate listing the conditions that caused or contributed to his death. If the undiagnosed nerve-related disease you mentioned is not included in the list above, you may wish to provide a statement from the Emory University physician and include a copy of the medical treatise on which the opinion is based.

Before Filing a claim with the VA…

Filing A Claim with the VA – What To Do
If you do the following you will have a better than average chance of winning your claim.
1. Gather All Military, Private and VA Medical Records
Gather all the military, private and VA medical records (get copies made). Make a Privacy Act Request at your VA Regional Office. They will have a copy of your Military Medical Record. Request Copies of Military Personnel Records http://www.archives.gov/research_room/vetrecs/ to include all restricted records, counseling statements and evaluation reports. Do not expect the VA to automatically have your medical records from your active duty. Those records will need to be requested either from your unit of assignment or the staging facility in St Louis, MO by completing an SF180. Call or visit your Service Officer from DAV, VFW, or American Legion for this form. Mail the SF 180 to the appropriate address listed on the back of the Form.

Click to access sf180_f.pdf

Written letters may be mailed to: The National Personnel Records Center (Military Personnel Records) 9700 Page Avenue St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. Response time varies dependent upon the complexity of your request, the availability of records, and workload. Please do not send a follow-up request before 90 days have elapsed as it may cause further delays. http://www.archives.gov/research_room/vetrecs/index.html
2. Obtaining medical records that are already within the VA system
Obtaining medical records that are already within the VA system can be achieved by faxing or mailing a written request providing a “release of information” to the VA Records Section. State the dates of records you’re looking for, doctors’ reports, lab and X-ray reports; your name, address, phone number, social security number, and signature. Label your request as a Privacy Act Request.
3. Go to your civilian doctor
Go to your civilian doctor, have him/her perform a C&P exam. Download a copy of the exam from the VA web site http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/exams/index.htm. Have your doctor perform all the test you should have. The VA rarely does the necessary tests. You need to have this done because the VA will not do a complete C&P examination. See #4 for further explanation
4. Get statements from all private doctors or other medical provider
Get statements from all private doctors or other medical provider, have them state that your problems and how they could be service connected. Get more than one doctor to say the same thing then write if two doctors say the same thing, then the reasonable doubt (§3.102) rule should apply and you state the probability is slim that the issue ISN’T service connected. Doctors don’t like to be pushed to give tenuous opinions – unless they are lousy doctors who will swear to anything. And the bottom line is that the opinion won’t be worth spit unless he has medical findings to support it. It is awfully easy to disregard a “definite” opinion given by some yo-yo who hasn’t made a decent exam nor recited any findings to give that opinion a sound basis. You need to tell the doctor what you were exposed to in the military. If you have documentation, then show that to the doctor, then ask the doctor to assume you were exposed to this hazard in service, and this is his work and personal history where he did not have other similar exposures, then assuming those things to be true ask the doctor to express his opinion based on reasonable medical certainty as to the cause of his condition? If the doctor is uncertain, then you need to him/her to say he/she it is probable. Obviously the more evidence the better. The fact is that one opinion of probable, based on the right assumptions and medical facts and findings, is enough to carry the proof because probable means that it is more likely than not, and the legal system operates on belief that truth is that which is most likely. Medical facts means the doctor can’t say it’s a particular disease with out the required blood tests, cat/MRI scans, and whatever is necessary to prove the doctors opinion.
An example would be, if the doctor says you have cancer and when there has been no cat scan, no biopsy, no blood test of antigen – looking pale, or an undocumented complaint doesn’t cut it. Or, to state it differently, when there are complaints that are not documented by physical findings, the doc can talk all day about how disabled this man is (because he says he is), and that really is unpersuasive.
There are exceptions. Connective tissue diseases exist which cannot be documented. There a doctor can say in his/her letter to the adjudicator: “the complaints are persistent, and this person who used to be happy and outgoing and very active has now adopted a very restricted lifestyle. There is a recognized medical condition called xxx. It causes the kinds of things which force a person into that sort of lifestyle.” There is no known test to identify and diagnose this illness (the doctor needs to be direct the comments to either a Judge or adjudicator by talking in the first person) The doctor should state he “believes in this person” and he/she should state “If you also believe her complaints and that she now lives this lifestyle, then you have to believe she has this disabling condition.”
5. Get statements from anyone
Get statements from anyone who knows you and your issues. Write your own statement too! Have these individuals state how the problems affect you (example: It is hard to bend over, or squat, or hear, etc.). This includes your wife, kids, parents, co-workers even the guy/gal walking along the street. All of these people can contribute! All their statements are evidence that must be considered. If you have them put their phone number down on the statement and request the adjudicator to call (not if they have any questions), the adjudicator is required to call. If they don’t call, you have grounds for appeal. The medical facts and findings speak louder than any of this testimony, and the veterans own testimony is quite powerful in describing the effect of this proven medical condition. The VA doctor’s report that seeks to negate the claim is wide open to attack when he fails to do procedures or make determinative tests.
6. Get the Vet Center Records
If you have been going to a Vet Center, get their records. They are independent of the VA medical system (CAPRI) so you need to get a statement or copy of your provider’s notes or both from your treating Social Worker.

7. Vocational Rehabilitation
If you have gone to Vocational Rehabilitation (Voc Rehab), you were evaluated by them too. Do a Privacy Act request and get all copies of evaluations and anything else (to include reports of contact [ROC]). The Voc Rehab evaluations carry some weight, since they are independent evaluations. Get copies of the contractor evaluations (the people that did the Voc Rehab screening) and the VA’s Voc Rehab evaluations.

8. Legal Research
Go to http://www.findlaw.com or http://www.veteransresources.net/database.html or http://www.va.gov/vbs.bva/ and look up all Board of Veteran Appeal, Court of Veteran Appeals, US District Court, US Court of Appeals and Supreme Court decisions that affect your issues. These legal opinions as well as the courts opinions narrows the focus of how the adjudicator can look at the evidence. Use these sites to support your other evidence. Do your own legal research! If you don’t have access to the internet or are not internet savvy, you can get copies of any appeals and decisions from the VA. They can be requested from Veteran Benefits Office or the Adjudication Office. A simple phone call to one of those offices, explaining that you are requesting a copy of those records for your own file should be sufficient. Keep the information of who you talked with and their phone/fax numbers and addresses in your notebook for ready reference! Again, you may need to provide this request in writing, but this can usually be accomplished by phone or fax. Some Service Officers from DAV, VFW, or American Legion will do this for you, but don’t depend entirely on them! Some mental health records are kept separate from the main medical records, so again, you may need to call the Mental Health Clinic in your VA to request copies of those records from that office.
9. Statements From VA Personnel
If you have been seeing a counselor at the VA Hospital, then get him/her to write you a statement of how bad they think you are. Plus, write up a statement on your own, let the adjudicator know about your background, your stressors and how this affects your daily life. Counselors are sometimes skeptical that people are acting out, pretending, not real. If the guy is really bogus, you might do better not to ask, but in truth, further questioning may well reveal that the skeptical counselor really believes the guy is pretty bad off or he wouldn’t be going through all of this. That it is the stress of daily life that drives him to it. And NO counselor ever treats a death threat as anything other than real!
10. SF 180
Use our system to create a customized order form to request information from your, or your relative’s, military personnel records. You may use this system if you are: A military veteran, or Next of kin of a deceased, former member of the military The next of kin can be any of the following: surviving spouse that has not remarried, father, mother, son, daughter, sister, or brother. If you are not the veteran or next of kin, you must complete the Standard Form 180 (SF 180). You can obtain this form from Fax-on-Demand, or download it, then mail or fax it to the appropriate address on the form.
The SF 180 may be photocopied as needed. Please submit a separate request (either SF 180 or letter) for each individual whose records are being requested. You may submit more than one request per envelope or fax. How to Initiate a Request for Military Personnel Records: Click on the “Request Military Records” button to start. This will launch a separate window. Enter the required information in the system to create your customized request form. There are 4 steps that you need to navigate. The system will guide you through the steps and tell you exactly which step you are on. Print, sign and date the signature verification area of your customized form. If you don’t have a printer, have a pen and paper handy and we will guide you through the process. This is important because the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) requires that all requests for records and information be submitted in writing. Each request must be signed and dated by the veteran or next of kin. Mail or fax your signature verification form to us, and we will process your request. You must do this within the first 20 days of entering your request, or your request will be removed from our system.
11. Reviewing Your Military Records
Review your military medical records and make a list of every ailment that you had while on active duty. Note each biohazardous exposure you may have had. For example, If you used cosmoline on everything to protect it from rust, and then we would be in carbon tetrachloride up to the elbows because that was what used to clean it off. Carbon tet is cancer producing. I am sure there are many other examples.

12. Cross Reference All your Military Ailments With Your Civilian Ailments
Cross reference all you military ailments with your civilian ailments. If the problem persists or a secondary issue has cropped up as a result of the issue that developed during your time in the military then you need to apply for that issue (as a secondary issue). An example of a secondary issue would be if you hurt your right knee and had to put weight on your left knee and now the knee is damaged. You can claim the left knee as a secondary issue to the injured right knee.
13. Downloading
Go to the VA web site and down load all the Fast Letters, Memo’s and any other documentation that will support your case. http://www.va.gov.

14. Go to the DAV, PVA and any other VSO Web Site
Go to the DAV, PVA and any other VSO web sites and bookmark them (and down load anything related to your claims).
15. WARMS
Go to http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/bookc.html Look up what your issue is and determine the percentage that you want to apply for. Now 98% of the Veteran Service Rep’s (VSR’s) will tell you not to give a percentage, but if you don’t ask for a percentage and you are awarded 0% for an issue, you can’t complain because they gave you exactly what you asked for. If the adjudicator denies your issue and you did not ask for a certain percentage, then you have to prove the VA didn’t follow proper procedure (this is very hard to prove). Your VSR will tell you that the law can change. If it increases then just fax, email (w/receipt) or mail in an updated request. If the percentage decreases, you don’t need to do anything. The Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 allows the law that is most favorable to you to be applied to your claim so don’t change your percentage.
16. Current law favors the Vet.
The VA fights it but you can use this to your advantage. Invoke VCAA. Read, understand and learn what VCAA can do for you. If you are within a year of the VCAA letter you received, then you have rights to reopen old cases, don’t let the time limit pass.

17. You need to tell your story
You need to tell your story as to how you were injured. You need to compile all your evidence by issue. Yellow highlight those portions that pertains to you and your issues. Cite this in your narrative. You need to write up a narrative of how you were injured, under what circumstances (Who, What, When and How). List anyone who might have witnessed it. If you have a phone number or address, you need to provide that with your statement, cite the times you went to the medial facility, and later the follow-up care you have received from your private doctor. Invoke the reasonable doubt clause as well as all legal citations and regulations that support your claim VCAA. Site VBA and Court of Appeals legal cases that support your claim that you are entitled to a certain percentage rating. You will refer to evidence that you collected. Review the ratings percentages. Think of your worst day (pain, etc.) and rate yourself on that basis. After a few years your pain will probably be at that level, unless you can get the symptoms reversed somehow. Look up medical studies to support your claim and provide those studies to help in the adjudication process. VA or DoD or NIH medical studies are the best. It’s hard to argue with yourself when yourself (the government) has come to the conclusion that the problem exists and what the symptoms are (which are the same symptoms you’re reporting).

18. Eligibility
You are entitled to claim all periods of active duty, all periods covered under Vocational Rehabilitation and any injuries suffered under the care of the VA for the purposes of disability claims (issues). You need to list all periods of active duty, to include ADT and reserve time. There are limited benefits for non-active duty personnel. By stating the periods of active duty, and providing documentation (such as copies of orders), you will increase your chances of winning your claim.
19. C&P Examinations
Go to the C&P office at your local VA Hospital (if you’re too far away, having them either email or fax to you the exam criteria). Go to your private doctor. Have him do the C&P exam the correct way. Make sure he is a specialist (preferably board certified) in the field. Then show him the exams you were given by the VA as well as all your personal medical records on this issue. Ask him if he concurs with their exam. If he doesn’t, get him to put it in writing and cite the different tests that he performed to support his conclusions. If he can cite any medical studies, that would make his statements stronger too. Thus you beat them at their own game. When you write it up, make sure you had the “COMPLETE” C&P exam done by a private doc and the VA doc’s refused to perform the proper tests. Under the reasonable doubt rule, you have proven your case, and they failed to prove theirs. Get the doctor to explain the disease and the disease process, and the way it develops and what it can lead to, as well as describing the tests that prove or disprove its existence. Let the doctor describe a little of the misery involved. Then after you have agreed as to what needs to be done schedule the client for that examination. That raises you to a reasonable level of function as to the medical aspects. This way the doctor is explaining the disease to the adjudicator so the adjudicator will understand the disease and better informed and able to make a fair decision.
20. Idiot Proofing Your Claim
List every time you went to the doctor, provide a copy of that medical record, highlighted the medical record and bunched them together in a group so the claims examiner does not have to hunt for the information. You need to idiot proof the claim! You need to give your claim to a third party and see if they can find holes in your arguments. Try and anticipated the weaknesses in the claim and find the law or regulation that turned the weakness into a strong point.

21. Finalizing Your Claim
After you finished pulling your information together, you need to find an organization that will represent you before the Veterans Administration. If there is any supporting evidence you can not find, either the veterans representative can try and find it or the VA is required under the Veterans Claims Assistance Act to find the documentation for you. You need to point out what documentation they need to assist you and you need to provide them enough information necessary to find it (Who, What, When, Where and How Much).

Vets at Miami VA Put at Risk for HIV

March 24, 2009
Associated Press
MIAMI – Officials say more than 3,000 patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Miami had colonoscopies with equipment that wasn’t properly sterilized
They’ve been told they should be tested for HIV and other diseases.
The VA insists the risk of infection is minimal and only involved tubing on equipment, not any device that actually touched a patient. But it’s the second recent announcement of errors during colonoscopies at VA facilities.
Last month, more than 6,000 patients at a clinic in Tennessee were told they may have been exposed to infectious body fluids during colonoscopies.
The VA also said 1,800 veterans treated at an ear, nose and throat clinic in Augusta, Ga., were alerted they could have been exposed to an infection due to improper disinfection of an instrument.

What H.R. 45 Does

The legislation has three main components.

1. Increasing requirements for firearms purchases.
2. Creating a national firearms registry overseen by the Federal Government.
3. Stiffen penalties for bookkeeping errors related to the Federal Firearms Database formed in section 2.

To purchase a firearm a person would be required to pass a written firearms examination, release all health records — including mental heath records — to the Attorney General’s office, and submit to a two-day waiting period, as well as pay an “appropriate” fee of $25 per firearm.

Additionally, every firearm sale would be recorded in a database, which would track the serial number, make, model and identity of the owner. The legislation would also make all private sales of firearms illegal, and a felony offense.

In addition to these regulations, the legislation includes excessive regulations and penalties for bureaucratic missteps from simple failures to report address changes to failure to report stolen weapons.

Provisions of H.R. 45 include:

Requires passing a written examination to purchase a firearm.

Releases medical records — including confidential mental health records — to the Attorney General for Government review.

Requires a two-day waiting period on all firearms purchases.

Institutes a fee of $25 or more on all firearm purchases.

Creates a national database with all firearms and firearms owners registered by serial number with the Federal Government.

A Federal ban on all private firearms sales.

Increases in penalties for clerical errors related to this national firearms registry.  

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Who’s sponsoring H.R. 45

H.R. 45 — President Obama’s National Gun Registry and Citizen Disarmament Act — was written by Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush (D). It currently has no cosponsors.

Representative Rush was a founding member of the Illinois Black Panther Party in 1968. The Black Panthers are a radical and militant organization.

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But will it pass Congress?
Congressman Rush’s bill an outrageous destruction of Constitutional Rights, but it’s the compromises that are truly dangerous

Though far-left gun-haters routinely sponsor pie-in-the-sky legislation (anyone remember the days of Sen. Moynihan’s annual 1000% tax on ammo?), H.R. 45 has set new lows for the depths to which hoplophobes will sink.

Is H.R. 45 dangerous? Yes.  But is it likely to pass?  No…. it’s too far-reaching.

What is likely to pass, though, is a compromise, a deal cut with the gun-grabbers and the group that ostensibly represents gun owners, the NRA.

Think that can’t happen? Rewind to the summer of 2007, when arch gun-hater Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy sat down with NRA board member Congressman John Dingell to craft a deal to expand Brady Checks into new realms of mental health records. A few months later, H.R. 2640 passed…with the approval of the NRA and McCarthy.

Congressman Rush’s gun control ideas are much, much more dangerous as amendments to legislation that is already advancing.

Remember the Brady Bill? It didn’t pass as a stand-alone bill. It passed as an amendment.

Even more frightening was that it passed with the approval of the NRA (click here for that full story)

The same is true of the Lautenberg Domestic Abuse ban, the Assault Weapons ban, 1986 McClure-Volkmer (which bans the manufacture of transferable machine guns), the 1968 Gun Control Act, and numerous other examples (especially if you look at state legislation).

Yes, we’re watching H.R. 45.  But beware the slight of hand — it’s often more dangerous.

Welcome to the Orange Blog

Hello this is a blog about you, the Veteran. A place for you to ask questions or just leave a comment.