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NOVEMBER 10, 2013 |
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A Veteran's
Perspective of the VA |
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Today's guest:
Jessie Olsen - U.S. Army Retired |
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About
Jessie |
Jessie Olson is a former Veterans Service Officer from
Butte County. She is an accredited veterans' service officer for the
American Legion, American Veterans, CA Dept of Veterans Affairs,
Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart,
National Association of County Veterans Service officers, The
Retired Enlisted Association, and the Vietnam Veterans of America.
She is a 90% service connected Army veteran of the Gulf War era.
This show will go into the process our veterans follow to file with
the VA for benefits, what Jessie has experienced over the years in
helping them and what she has experienced with her own claim that
has been pending for over 8 years.
Jessie is one of thousands of veterans whose lives are being
adversely affected by the Veterans Administration. Many of you are
veterans and have experienced the grueling ordeal our military men
and women go through to file for the benefits they are due after
serving our country. Injuries sustained while in the military are
causing them to monumental stress both mental and financial. Many
are unable to continue working and without their veteran's benefits
they are losing their homes. Many, like Jessie, have been forced to
live on the streets. THIS is NOT what Americans are hearing about
the treatment of our veterans. It's time we told the truth so the
public can finally demand their tax dollars be spent on the services
the VA is tasked to provide!
As we prepare to celebrate and honor our veterans both living and
deceased this Veterans Day we hope you will join us in what will be
the beginning of breaking VA news as patriotic Americans everywhere
demand better from this federal agency.
It is time to counter the ridiculous propaganda that we read and
hear every day:
As disability backlog drops, Shinseki will use overtime sparingly
The Department of Veteran Affairs has eliminated more than 200,000
cases from the backlog of disability claims, a 34 percent decrease
since its peak of 611,000 in March, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki told
reporters Thursday. But he said the department will make sparing use
of mandatory overtime next year, an initiative credited as an
important part of the reduction.
Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters (Charles Dharapak/AP)
Shinseki said the department was easing back on overtime, which was
begun in May, to avoid exhausting the workforce. "You can only run
full throttle for so long," he told reporters during a media
roundtable at VA headquarters.
Progress on the backlog slowed during the partial government
shutdown, when the VA was forced to stop mandatory overtime. "We
took a 17-day pause and watched a flat line," Shinseki said.
The overtime was reinstated when the shutdown ended, but only until
Nov. 23, and then will be reinstated in late January.
Shinseki said the department will monitor what impact stopping the
overtime again for two months has on continued progress.
He said the department would continue overtime use in 2014 "with a
fine hand on the tiller. We're sensitive to the concerns of a
workforce that we're already asking a lot of."
Shinseki said that since launching an initiative in April to
eliminate the oldest cases, the VA has completed 93 percent of
claims older than one year. |
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FOR VETERANS DAY: |
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Video:
To Our Veterans |
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http://youtu.be/QA1GF9dlXJw
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Video:
Ronald Reagan's 1984 Normandy Address |
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http://youtu.be/1Leb7ynduCU |
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