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AMERICA'S BROKEN CONTRACTS

VHA DIRECTIVE 98-052

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AMERICA'S BROKEN CONTRACTS

(A Proposal)

The problems of benefits retention for (1) the military employees and veterans, (2) civil service employees and retirees, (3) social security recipients, and (4) Medicare recipients can be summarized in primarily three words, "America's Broken Contracts." That is, the refusal of Congress and the White House to honor it's "contracts" with those Americans who do or did earn their promised benefits through their monetary contributions and work for their nation. Every politician when writing or standing in front of these people always tells them that he is going to work for their earned benefits. But nevertheless, historically, when they get together as a group in Washington DC, the contracts are being broken. When they need money their first thoughts are to obtain those funds from these four groups of beneficiaries. It is always where and how much can they cut out of those programs; never to leave them alone or how much can they be increased. History is replete with these dictatorial tactics of Congress and of the White House. These beneficiaries are finding upon retirement, that their Congress and the White House does not want to honor the "contractual commitments" that were made to them to entice them to commit their life's work to their country. Contracts, both verbal and written, are agreements between two parties that are enforceable in court. The parties can be forced to comply with the terms of the contracts; that is, each must complete his end of the bargain. But the courts have added unless you are a veteran or a federal or military employee or retiree, then these "contracts" are "not contracts" and are not enforceable. They say that federal retirement benefits come under our nation's "entitlement" programs" to be forever manipulated by the will and whims of Congress and the White House; that is, to forever to be a pawn in the political chess game. (Are military and civil service recruiters telling this to potential recruits? Many federal retirees and veterans, resent Congress calling their "contractual" retirement benefits by the name of "entitlements." Entitlements as used by our government are freebies estimated at approximately 400 separate programs nationwide. Retirees' and veterans' benefits are not freebies. They are deferred income, paid for with a lifetime of work and with cash donations to retirement funds under what was at the time understood to be a "contractual" agreement. But now during retirement, the courts say "no." Studies over the years have shown a decreasing confidence in government and especially in protection of our earned benefits. Confidence in our government is essential for continued economic growth. Congress and the White House are undermining that confidence. If the bond of trust between the people and the government continues to deteriorate, ultimately democracy could be directly endangered. Only a government that will honor its commitments and can admit its mistakes will be trusted by its people. "During the Eisenhower administration almost 75 percent of those questioned told pollsters that they could trust the government most of the time. Today, that figure is down to 23 percent and sinking steadily." (US News & World Report, Dec. 25, 1995, p68) A survey of public attitudes toward Washington indicates substantial distrust of the federal government. Americans show more confidence in federal employees than in their elected officials to do the right thing. Another poll showed that 91 percent of respondents said they had little or no confidence in Washington to solve problems. What do those figures show today? What will they be in a few years from now? Many of our senior citizens seem overcome with despair as they realize that even though they made this country, they feel powerless as politicians attack their benefits. However, they actually have more power than they realize. They are just not using it collectively, cohesively and forcefully enough History has proven that all of our talking and writing is not enough. The numerous beautiful speeches of many affected Americans over the years and their expertly written articles in their organization magazines are not doing the job. Since elegant oration and writings have not sufficiently gained the support of Congress and the White House to eliminated the shabby treatment of these Americans, it is time for action; action that will get their attention and force them to honor their contracts to their own people. I am not talking about violence. I abhor violence. I am talking about lawful, legal action. Essentially, it is a boycott of miscellaneous everyday activities that separately are hardly noticed, but if constantly applied on a nationwide scale can get the word out to the nation of our shabby treatment sufficiently to force Congress and the White House to honor its commitments to us. Enough is enough! It can be stopped. It will be stopped; if we stand united; if you will join me in taking the following recommended actions that will get our message out to the nation. Nationwide awareness of America's Broken Contracts will force Congress to take corrective action.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

1. All veterans and civil service retirees actively boycott military and civil service recruiting offices; at the doors, on site.
Tell potential military recruits and civil service recruits the real story of military life, of civil service, and of broken contracts in retirement, backed up with our historical reams of documented proof of our charges. Tell and show recruits that they cannot trust their careers and future retirement to the manipulation of Congress and the White House. Federal employees and military enlistees and those contemplating federal employment and military enlistment should seriously consider this uncertainty in their promised benefits for later years. Tell potential
recruits that present retirees no longer recommend federal or military service of any kind as a career. And tell them why. Retiree and veterans associations membership are almost at the point of open rebellion with talk of a march on Washington. Maybe all retirees and veterans cannot physically go to Washington, but all across the nation they can and should take local positive action that Congress and the White House will be compelled to act on. This action is a physical on-site boycott by veterans and civil service retirees of military recruiting offices, colleges, federal buildings and federal offices with their briefcases full of historical evidence of America's Broken Contracts. (News clips, association publications, private correspondence to and from politicians, etc.). This will produce nationwide repercussions. The immediate problem this action would precipitate would be a decrease in military enlistment, which is already a serious problem. This will result in an increase in the call-up of more Reserves and National Guard probably followed by a return to the draft of World War II. The draft was good for the nation then. Maybe it would be good for the nation again. Congress will be forced to take some kind of action.

2. Buy only US flag stamps when they are available and turn them upside down on all correspondence. (No, this is not illegal. I have checked it.)

3. Use on our personal correspondence the gobs of return address stickers, which we have received in the mail, but turn them upside down. (No, this is not illegal. I have checked it.)

4. Put a copy of our broken contract message in all personal correspondence; bill payments, etc. that we mail; a simple six-sentence paragraph (attached). An alternative would be to simply write on all correspondence in large conspicuous letters, "America's Broken Contracts." These three actions will get the message out to our friends and to the world with whom we correspondence. That is what we need and want; the awareness of "America's Broken Contracts."

5. Return all junk mail envelopes with "NO POSTAGE NECESSARY'" and include only a copy of our "America's Broken Contracts" message inside. (No, this is not illegal. I have checked it.)

6. If the junk mail is a "NO POSTAGE NECESSARY" post card, even those tear-outs in magazines that you usually throw away, write "America's Broken Contracts" on them, or any other message you want on them, and mail them back to the advertisers. Get our message out. (No, this is not illegal. I have checked it.)

These two actions on an individual basis would be a straw in a whirlwind but, if practiced by all Americans who are affected by America's Broken Contracts, would collectively be extremely expensive to the advertising industry. Such costs would cause them to scream. And when they scream, they scream with dollars to the pockets of Congress. Congress listens to the voice of dollars.

7. Cash in all Savings Bonds that are not earning interest and do not buy any more.

More than $7 billion of Savings Bonds remain outstanding that are not earning interest. If all of these were cashed within a relatively short time, would it get the attention of Congress? Again Congress listens to dollars.

8. All volunteers decline to show up for work on the first and the fifteenth of each month, no matter what the job. We go out on strike on these days.

This action could also be severs, even to possibly costing lives. But, the present action is costing lives also. Ask any disabled veteran. I once asked a superintendent of one of our large national parks what would happen on any day that his volunteers did not show up for work. He told me without hesitation that he would close the gates. Let us close some gates. Let those visitors knock on the doors of Congress.

9. Everyone that possibly can, if you owe taxes, mail IRS and State tax returns on the same day, April 10th.

10. Everyone that possibly can, if you are due a refund, mail IRS and State tax returns on the same day, Feb. 10th.

11. On tax returns use decimals, do not round off to nearest dollar.

These three actions will impose a heavy workload on IRS and the post office, which is regrettable. But they will some day be subjected to America's Broken Contracts if the situation is not corrected. And they will talk. That is what we want; to get the word out.

12. All veterans send in to VA a request to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, even if you are not sure where you want to be buried or may not be eligible. The request will be tabulated by VA for statistics to Congress.

13. All veterans, when the US flag goes by or the national anthem is presented, stand and salute instead of putting your hand over your heart regardless of your headgear. If you only put your hand over your heart, you are only one of the patriotic crowd. You want to be separated and distinguished from the average crowd. You want the crowd to know you are a veteran.

14. Limit local veterans organizations' funding of local organizations to smaller amounts so that your limited funds go out to a larger number of local entities. Insure media coverage of these donations. This will get our message out to a broader local populace. Use this funding to get local recognition.

15. Always wear some form of conspicuous identification as a veteran or federal retiree. Let the public see and begin to be aware of the large number of us and our impact on the community. The public is not generally aware of our presence.

16. All of those who can afford it purchase veterans license plates for their automobiles. Again this is a highly visible and constant reminder of our number and presence in the community.

17. Vote your conscience in every election. Do not stick to the party line. Follow the voting records of Congress and vote for those that protect our benefits and are advocates of our benefits.

18. Everyone, write or e-mail something, especially our message, to your Congressman every month. Flood their office with messages from us about America's Broken Contracts.

19. Display "DANGER: CONGRESS IN SESSION" bumper stickers. Take them off only when Congress has earned their removal.

20. Keep and do not spend, save all of the pennies you can obtain. Then on the last banking day before the Fourth of July, we will all take all of our pennies to the bank, en masse. What would this action do to the nation? There is already a shortage of pennies nationwide. What would the news media have to say about this? This is what we need to get our message out. Furthermore, if we take out of circulation all the pennies that we can, it could have a secondary benefit. The nation's copper mines might reopen.

21. Visit no nation but the good ole' US of A. This will be difficult for some people. But I would dare to say that "No one has seen all of the wonders of this good ole' US of A. See America first."

22. When sending checks by mail to whomever (bills, etc.), overpay by one cent and include our message.

23. Purchase none of the funny money from the U.S. Mint, such as the Olympic Coins. They are probably not much of an investment anyway.

24. Others will be added as we think of them.

Most of American's everyday lives and our economy are structured around everyone doing things in a certain way. Anyone, and especially groups, that have the audacity to do something different, and especially consistently different, will draw attention to these groups and question us as to why. That is what we want. We want to tell them our story. Individuals who may not want to engage in all of the above actions could do only those actions they wanted to do. Even limited activities in the above actions would draw attention to our message. We might be surprised at the response. Retiree and veterans organizations spend much of their time wining, dining, and dancing
members of Congress and the White House to protect their promised "contractual" retirement benefits; benefits that were promised them to entice them to spend a lifetime of work in federal and military service; benefits that were they promises between private or corporate parties would be interpreted by the courts as "contractual" and would be legally enforceable benefits. This wining, dining, and dancing is not working. And it should not be necessary. What we want from Congress and the White House is simple, just what we were promised, without having to continually fight for it. Just think how much better off our nation could be if all of the energy and time of these able bodied Americans that is presently spent on trying to protect their contractual rights could instead be diverted to other, more productive and worthwhile volunteer efforts for our nation. What would then be the story of veterans, retirees and volunteers as to their confidence in our nation and their message to military recruits? What could be better for our nation than a cadre of these beneficiaries volunteering all over the nation and broadcasting their happiness and confidence in our nation? Maybe someday our nation and our Congress will see the benefits of honoring its "contractual" commitments to its dedicated people. And America can be greater for it. If America cannot honor it's commitments to it's own people, how can other nations expect us to honor our commitments to them? Ask any senior citizen, veteran, or federal retiree about America's Broken Contracts; a national disgrace. (Will the above beneficiaries support me in this proposal?) (In fact any one or all of the above actions are available to any American who is not happy with their Congress and White House.)

Submitted to whomever will read it by:


Mel Barlow,
1283 Wingate Rd.
Las Cruces, NM 88001
505/523-1595
Fax 505/523-5406
e-mail: "mbarlow@zianet.com"
Civil Service Retiree and
Member American Legion Post 10
Las Cruces, NM

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VHA DIRECTIVE 98-052

November 18, 1998

Department of Veterans Affairs

Veterans Health Administration

Washington, DC 20420

 

 

MODIFICATION OF RESTRICTIONS ON VA PHYSICIANS TO PROVIDE OPINIONS FOR VA PATIENTS

 

  1. PURPOSE: This Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive establishes nationwide policy permitting VHA healthcare providers, when requested, to express opinions and to complete forms for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients with respect to patients' health, employability, degree of disability, and requirements for licensing such as for the operation of motor vehicles.
  2. POLICY: This new policy modifies the restrictions on VA physicians defined in M-1, Part I, Chapter 9, section 9.50. Restrictions on the ability of VA healthcare providers to express opinions and to complete forms for VA patients are inconsistent with the goal of VHA to provide comprehensive care and place a serious burden on veterans who depend on VHA for their care. The new policy must, however, be implemented in a way that avoids conflict and ambiguity with the role of VHA in the official process that determines eligibility and the extent of disability for purposes of VA claims adjudication.
  3. ACTION: Medical center Directors will implement this policy change immediately.
  1. Medical Opinions and Form Completion for Non-VA Purposes. Veterans may ask VA healthcare professionals to assist in completing forms that require a medical professional's opinion. Examples of these forms include but are not limited to:
    1. Family Medical Leave Act forms.
    2. Life Insurance application forms.
    3. Social Security Disability forms.
    4. Department of Education forms for loan repayment exemptions based on disability.
    5. Non-VA disability retirement program forms.
  1. Support by Treating VA Physicians of VA Benefits Claims. Veteran patients may request statements and/or opinions concerning their medical condition from their personal physician to support their claims for VA compensation or pension. VHA healthcare providers may now provide such opinions concerning the patient's medical condition. The veteran patient must be informed that decisions concerning VA compensation and/or pension benefits are:
    1. Decided by VA regional office rating specialists based upon the law, regulations and the totality of medical evidence pertaining to the disability claimed, and
    2. Not controlled by the physician providing their care or the medical facility furnishing treatment.

 

THIS VHA DIRECTIVE EXPIRES SEPTEMBER 30, 1999

 

  1. Requirement for Disclaimer. In all instances, whether for VA or Non-VA based applications, the veteran patient must be asked to sign a statement indicating the veteran's understanding that the opinions of the treating VA physician do not constitute an official VA determination of service connection, degree of disability, or eligibility for VA benefits. The disclaimer document below is being added to VA Form 10-5345, Request for and Consent to Release of Medical Records Protected by 38 U.S.C. 7332, to facilitate its use. In the meantime for releases of information covered by this directive, incorporate a statement like the following, signed by the veteran, in the Consolidated Health Record:

 

I understand that my VA doctor's opinions are not "official" VA

decisions regarding whether or not I will get other VA benefits. They

may, however, be considered with other evidence when these

decisions are made at a VA Regional Office that specializes in benefit

decisions.

  1. REFERENCE: None
  2. FOLLOW-UP RESPONSIBILITY: The Office of Patient Care Services, Forensic Medicine Strategic Healthcare Group (11F) is responsible for the contents of this directive.
  3. RESCISSION: This VHA Directive expires September 30, 1999, and may not be extended.

S/ by Thomas Garthwaite, M.D. for

Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., M.P.H.

Under Secretary for Health

 

DISTRIBUTION: CO: E-mailed 11/20/98

FLD: VISN, MA, DO, OC, OCRO, and 200 - FAX 11/20/98

EX: Boxes 104, 88, 63, 60, 54, 52, 47 and 44 - FAX 11/20/98

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