As of now the Veterans Compensation is being attacked by the new Trump Budget. If you don't believe me read it for yourselves. Just go to any VFW or DAV site and read about this BS. (Veterans Budget)
Our good friend, you know, the guy that "Loves His Vets" has proposed a budget that basically singles out for Cuts Veterans that are on Social Security and drawing IU. Someday these morons might learn the Difference between, "VA COMPENSATION" and "SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME". Their not the same, bub!~
This is just another lame idea from an idiot trying to take from one group of Veterans and trying to balance the budget on their backs.
If your affected sound off to congress.....If your not affected sound off anyway because give em an inch they will take it all.
FROM THE VFW
1. FY 2018 Budget Request for Veterans Affairs: A 6 percent increase to VA’s discretionary funding, up to $82.1 billion, would increase community care, long-term care, mental health and gender-specific care, and expand services to help end veteran homelessness. Concerning is the proposal to end Individual Unemployability benefits for certain severely disabled veterans who are unable to work due to their service-connected disabilities. This rollback would impact veterans with 60 to 90 percent disability ratings who reach minimum Social Security age. An attempt to reform the IU program was made a decade ago, but it had little traction in Congress. Another concern is a proposal to reinstitute the rounding down of cost-of-living disability pay increases, something the VFW will always oppose. The VFW is also against extending the mandatory funding authorization that created the Choice Program three years ago. VFW National Commander Brian Duffy said “the continued failure of Congress to eliminate sequestration is forcing the administration to propose cuts to veterans’ benefits in order to expand the Choice Program under mandatory spending instead of including the much-used program in the VA’s discretionary community care account.” He said the FY 2018 budget process has just begun, and the VFW will now work with the administration and Congress to secure a quality budget for military and veterans’ programs in order to fulfill our nation’s first obligation to provide for a strong national defense, and to care for the men and women who answer the call to serve.
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FROM THE DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS
INDIVIDUAL UNEMPLOYABILITY AND SOCIAL SECURITY OFFSET
The Administration's budget proposal also contains a provision that would scale back VA's Individual Employability (IU) program for thousands of veterans. DAV strongly opposes this ill-conceived proposal.
The IU program allows VA to pay certain veterans, who are determined to be unemployable as a result of service-connected disabilities, disability compensation at the 100 percent rate, even though VA has not rated their service-connected disabilities at the 100 percent level. This proposal would terminate existing IU ratings for veterans when they reach the minimum retirement age for Social Security purposes, currently 62, as well as cut off IU benefits for any veteran already in receipt of Social Security retirement benefits.
We oppose this and any measure that proposes to offset the payment of any other federal benefit or earned benefit entitlement against VA compensation payments made to service-connected disabled veterans. Benefits received from the VA, or those based on military retirement pay, have differing eligibility criteria for different purposes than other federal programs. Social Security benefits are an earned benefit for retirement while VA disability compensation is an earned benefit derived from injury or illness from military service. Reducing the Social Security benefit provided to a disabled veteran in receipt of IU is simply an unjust penalty and would place an undue hardship on all veterans in receipt of IU and their families.
Furthermore, we are vehemently opposed to limiting disability compensation benefits due to a veteran's age. Many disabled veterans might not have income replacement available-especially those who had been on IU for an extended period in advance of reaching retirement age. Arbitrarily cutting off IU eligibility for veterans who turn 62, an age at which millions of American's continue working and saving money for their retirements-a luxury that many disabled veterans do not have-would be grossly unfair to the men and women served.
We are calling on all DAV and members and supporters to contact their members of Congress and urge them to reject these harmful proposals that would negatively impact injured and ill veterans, their families and survivors.
Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/tg-SuBYWrhU2RqUp1voz7A
