L. Greg Jones

@PubWanghaf The freedom crowd sure is free with our money and not too permissive of us asking questions.

The VA fraud is a perfect example of why nothing gets done in this country The lines are so blurred between genuine disability and fraudulent claims that bringing it up inevitably offends people and nothing gets done I know from MANY firsthand experiences how fraudulent many of these claims are. Too bad I guess. The topic is saturated in feelings and emotions. So bringing it up causes an outpouring of whining and totally missing the point.

@79illwill Oh the war heroes all come out getting offended. They know we are talking about them

Yeah man. I was 22 ordered invade Iraq got shot at with AK-47s, RPGs and watched my friends burn to death in a helicopter crash. Fuck you

@LeighWolf The old crusty navy guys are disgusted by these DVs who claim every ache and pain.

The veterans who are mad that there’s even a discussion about VA disability reform are the same people who go to a dozen restaurants on Veterans Day to collect as many free-meals-for-vets as possible.

@mrs_alyse Glad to see more people are waking up to the giant welfare system known as the VA

What's ignorant is thinking you only get PTSD on deployment. There's plenty of jobs that cause high stress without being on the front line. Training accidents happen. Assault, abuse, and the nature of certain jobs can cause problems, too. All service related.

@ebrockwayink People leave military every day.

Stop comparing veterans’ disability to firefighters’ workers’ comp like they’re interchangeable. They’re not. One is built around discrete incidents. The other accounts for years of exposure and delayed damage. And one more thing: you can quit being a firefighter. In the military, you’re chased and controlled by the UCMJ. You don’t just opt out and quit when the risk shows up. Using one system’s flaws to tear down another isn’t reform, it’s a lazy excuse to deny benefits.

@autocorrect2_0 It’s our money !

Less than 1% of the population ever serves in the military. So maybe hush about VA benefits when you couldn’t be bothered

@Exacerbater1 @Frontier44444 @ebrockwayink Firefighters do way more dangerous stuff on a daily basis and most serve 25 years. You have military vets serving 18 months getting crazy benefits. And they were clerks and x-ray techs

@Frontier44444 @GregsTakeOn @ebrockwayink Firefighters also don't have a contract obligation signed by their employer that they will be compensated for injury the same as service members. It's surprising how many people don't realize that it's literally part of the contract we sign going in.

The heart of the VA “disability” debate isn’t policy, it’s the word itself. Disability is a term loaded with misunderstanding and stigma. Uninformed veterans and civilians negatively react to the idea of compensation for someone who appears physically “able.” That reaction is conditioned by decades of Hollywood cultural imagery that includes disfigurement, prosthetics, and World War I–style shell shock. In that frame disability is limited to something visible and severe. But that’s not what the VA system is built around. What veterans leave service with are limitations. Some immediate, others latent but predictable based on exposure, wear, and mathematical and science-based risk. These are measurable, actuarial realities. The system isn’t designed for public adjudication based on anecdotes or subjective thresholds of “hurt enough.” Yet many people implicitly treat VA disability like workers’ compensation, which invites a kind of vigilantism and an eagerness to identify fraud. It mirrors the logic of true crime culture: find the bad actor and expose the scam! In practice, that instinct often targets legitimately suffering veterans, turning them into suspects and criminals rather than beneficiaries. What’s missing from the conversation is the underlying purpose: the VA Disability program is, functionally, a quality-of-life compensation model. It acknowledges that service imposes lasting costs, not just on the individual, but often on their family and long-term well-being. But of course the current terminology obscures that reality. “Disability” narrows the public’s understanding to visible impairment, when the system is actually compensating for diminished lifetime capacity and risk exposure. If the goal is clarity and legitimacy in the public mind, the VA should reconsider the term itself. The whole damn thing… its language, framing, and branding. Because as long as we rely on a misunderstood word, we’ll keep having the wrong debate. And veterans will lose.

@BerserkerBoy13 @bryster3413 I can actually try to fix it with or without fixing the others.

@GregsTakeOn @bryster3413 Again. These people agreed to go die for our country. Granted, most didn't. But if you want to fix every other social assistance program first, then you can come back here and bitch about the amount we're spending. I agree there's waste. But government causes that not veterans.

@kyledevita3323 @ebrockwayink Yeah. My opinion is it is excessive but fraud generally implies illegal and I can’t really say if it is illegal or not. But it is very excessive and expensive and I think over used

@GregsTakeOn @ebrockwayink Excessive Doesn't Equal Fraudulent. I do not disagree with your statement, but there is a fine line and difference.

@hooah_mac @RealUCBfosho People leave the military every day.

@GregsTakeOn @RealUCBfosho No other profession requires you to do dangerous and injurious things as a regular part of the job. In dangerous civilian jobs, an employee can look at the crapstorm coming and say "I'm out". Military doesn't have that luxury.

I order to get a 100% VA rating, there are many combinations of the percentage math. One examples is 1 x 50% 1 x 30% 1 x 20% 16 x 10% So that’s 19 specific issues that have to be filed, confirmed/supported by medical exams (doctors), and approved by the VA. Even that only gets a person to 94.8%, which rounds to 95, which then rounds to 100%. People can be mad, but hopefully they can be mad with understanding of the system/process.

@SydneyLWatson Very well said !!

This response is so weird. In fact, all the responses I've seen so far about veteran benefits being abused are so weird. Fraud is fraud is fraud. Small, large. It's still wrong. We can acknowledge that veterans are often left behind by the system while simultaneously admitting that shitbags abuse the VA and probably do it at high rates. I know it's more comfortable to believe EVERYONE in the military is there for noble reasons and therefore they must be defended at all costs. But that isn't the case. And a lot of people only give a shit about themselves. Hence why they're fine abusing a system that's there to support actual servicemen and women who have real claims of injury/trauma/etc. "Well, you can't comment on fraud because YOU don't serve in the military" is about as retarded a position as you can take.

@LeighWolf Mad respect !!

Just because you can collect VA benefits doesn’t mean you should. The visceral reaction some will have to this statement underscores why the VA system is so broken. Finding a way to get the VA to sign your paperwork doesn’t make your benefits ethical or moral if you know you shouldn’t have them (or know you don’t need them). Fraud is both a legal and ethical question. The system is there for those who need it, not those who want it. While normies slog through years of BS to get compensation for real issues, the gray market “consultants” get bogus ratings for thousands of others. Sure, it may not flag on an audit for illegality, but it’s still unethical and immoral. (And also still fraud). The military is at it best when troops act with the highest integrity in all things, it’s very sad to see we’ve been debased to mere legalese as we decide who will receive our finite resources for disabled veterans. To put it more bluntly, you should be embarrassed to show your face in public if you did two years in the Navy reserve and are collecting disability for “anxiety.” I don’t care if the VA said yes, if that’s the totality of your chart, what you’re doing is unethical and immoral. I guarantee you there will be many who cannot even comprehend the concepts I’ve outlined here. To them the VA is just an infinite free money machine and they’re going to take as much as possible even if they know deep down they don’t really rate it or they don’t really need it. Many haven’t even considered the ethical and moral component of their decision on whether or not to pursue these benefits. For the record I am entitled to VA disability benefits but have never pursued a VA disability rating…mainly for the reasons I’ve outline above.

@kyledevita3323 @ebrockwayink Only veterans get this and it is excessive. Army clerks riding on the coattails of combat veterans with true injuries and illness

Yes, clearly UNINFORMED. The official, legal term used in the United States Code (U.S.C.) and by the Department of Veterans Affairs is "Disability Compensation." ​shortened to "VA disability" the term "Compensation" is legally significant because it defines the benefit as a payment for the loss of working capacity resulting from military service

@BerserkerBoy13 @bryster3413 It really isn’t. It is the 5th largest budget item

@GregsTakeOn @bryster3413 Compare the number of Veterans receiving benefits to the number of people receiving benefits who've never done anything for the country. If we didn't simply hand out money to people who could work. Money for food. Money for housing. Money for medical. Veterans r a drop in bucket.

@JacobKantola @WinfieldM72 @ebrockwayink I’m going to steal this because it is perfectly stated !!!

@WinfieldM72 @GregsTakeOn @ebrockwayink The vast majority of vets are not combat related jobs. The support personnel dont live that life. They still get outrageous amounts of comp as if they did. The cross those guys carry is used by the other 95% of vets to get these payments.

@u11278604alt @ebrockwayink I take my paycheck from the front.

@ebrockwayink @GregsTakeOn Big mad online he can't get the same benefits?

@Exacerbater1 @Frontier44444 @ebrockwayink True but it is clear many of these service members aren’t really injured. And before you come at me, my info comes from veterans who say it is called the race to 100%. The rules need tightening

@BerserkerBoy13 @bryster3413 Too many receiving benefits for basically aging

@bryster3413 VA benefits are the only form of governmental social safety net that I approve of. You can always be called to lay down your life. You may not be, but the possibility was there, and you put your safety secondary to all of ours. Thank you for your service.

@bryster3413 Civilians pay the bills. And more people are noticing

@jake_demichele @infantrydort Truth. How many service persons actually see war ? Few

@infantrydort As a civilian with a lot of army/marine friends, it's hard to describe how the average civilian/NPC is completely out of touch with the idea of war/sacrifice/violence.

One thing I’ve learned this week. It doesn’t matter how awe inspiring your military service is/was. In this world of polar-factionalism, it will be forgotten, and you will be despised eventually. For many reasons. Not saying service=sainthood. But damn, the hate is venomous.