Congress Seeks to Change Civil War Law (Veterans' Rights)

[brooklynite]

WASHINGTON - Soldiers who survived the Civil War often fared less well with dishonest lawyers who cheated them out of pension money. Congress is now trying to do something about the backlash, lasting 140 years, that has barred veterans from hiring attorneys to help them with benefit claims.

Bills introduced in both the House and Senate would lift the ban on veterans paying attorneys to represent them during the lengthy administrative process of filing a benefits claim with the Veterans Affairs Department.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., sponsor of the Senate bill with Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said he understood that some people still resist the idea of lawyers making money off veterans. "But the bureaucracy of 2006 is a maze," he said. "Our veterans need legal assistance."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060508/ap_on_go_co/veterans_lawyers_1

This is the same Republican Party that likes to beat up on "trial lawyers" and "frivolous lawsuits", isn't it?

[WildClarySage]

1. The simple answer is to add protections for veterans, but since this

appears to be a republican endeavor...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. not to mention funding it properly.

[FloridaPat]

2. OK, I agree with this. What is the catch? They only can hire repub

lawyers? The repubs have done everything they can to screw the military people.

[MindPilot]

4. A very sad commentary: "Our veterans need legal assistance."

The real problem is not that veterans are prohibited from seeking legal assistance to secure their benefits; the real problem is that they need to.

[jarab]

5. I oppose this unless ....

there's a reasonable cap on the fee ... and not the usual 33 1/3 percent or thereabouts.
I suppose - to be perfectly honest - I oppose lawyers; frankly I've never met one I could stand. I don't trust em.
As with most areas in our system, if you can't afford a good lawyer, you're screwed. If you can afford one, you'll likely win even if the facts are in opposition.
We can't breathe without the blessing of the legal profession.
Apologies to any honest lawyer, if there be such.
jmo
...O...

[Bandit]

6. "But the bureaucracy of 2006 is a maze,"

The Republicans have been in complete control for over a decade so why is it a maze? "Our veterans need legal assistance." Why should our veterans need legal assistance? Is this Administration trying to cheat them? Remember folks the Republicans are in complete control and have been for almost a decade so why if they are so damn great are there so many problems with our veterans?

[noel adamson]

7. $10 cap

The law enacted in the wake of the Civil War capped the amount lawyers could receive for helping those veterans was $10 and was a reasonable safeguard for veterans who were being cheated by unscrupulous attorneys (redundant?)...in 1865. I though it was a joke when I needed help in 1970 but found out differently when I went in to the VA seeking help after 3 trips to North Vietnam. There was <i>no</i> action without attorneys involved either. Nothing. The Disabled American Veterans will help. Sometimes.

Now we see veterans returning from Iraq with missing limbs, blind and very often extremely disturbed from the killing they were involved in. The latter group are not welcome in Gee Dub's 'Murka either. Here in Eureka small, but vocal, groups of extreme right wingers have taken such groups as the Vietnam Veterans of California to court to prevent them from providing transitional housing for such veterans in their neighborhoods. (I have some of these legal documents and have not put them on line in order to protect the identities of the guilty parties who "fear for the safety of their women and children" "fear that veterans may do repair work on their cars and pollute the environment" and so on.)These demoralized and traumatized veterans will make up a grossly disproportionate percentage of the homeless. Instead of having their trauma mitigated upon their return they are further traumatized and their alienation increased. It is nearly impossible for veterans with good mental equilibrium to navigate the maze of the VA's system and literally impossible for these veterans.

It is, of course, disgusting that veterans need to fight with the Veteran's Administration as are stories of veterans being sent huge bills for services rendered in their treatment for serious wounds while still <i>in</i> the military. It is also reasonable to think that bogus claims will be filed and there is a legitimate need to weed these out. Then there is the problem of abuse of military secrecy. In my own case I discovered that almost everything we did was still classified many years later because it was "special" operations. The original purpose of this secrecy was to hide as much of what we were doing, bombing the densely populated regions of North Vietnam, from the American electorate. That secrecy is also abused to make it difficult for veterans to file claims who must dig up evidence themselves.

A law enacted a few years ago officially placed the burden of providing evidence on the V.A. has not helped and made matters somewhat worse because the VA simply does not do it.

Litigation costs for the VA will increase when veterans are given the ability to retain attorneys other than on a pro bono basis further diminishing the VA's budget which does not keep pace with the flow of disabled veterans being produced by the chicken hawks.

[anotherdrew]

8. they just want these guys to waste money on lawyers? fund the programs!

then there wouldn't be so many denials.

[NorthernSpy]

9. veterans shouldn't *need* lawyers...

... because we shouldn't be trying to screw them over.