Stew Peters Show - Valor vs The VA: When the Real Fight Starts at Home

Nov. 2, 2025 - Stew Peters Show

01:10:55

Valor vs The VA: When the Real Fight Starts at Home

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	We all know that we have recently, and when I say recently, I mean the last five-ish years, have ended the longest war in our country's history.
	And because of that, we have now more veterans in our communities.
	We have more veterans using systems like the VA and other things, local, state, county, city, federal benefits for their service.
	The question is, is it burdening the system?
	It's all expensive, but it's all things that are earned.
	And the question that I have is, was this thought about?
	Was this thought about years and years and years ago?
	Should we ever end up in another war that lasts longer than a week or two?
	If we end up in a war that lasts longer than three or four years, is our system going to be able to support taking care of all the men and women that have sacrificed everything for this country?
	And seemingly, as time goes by, as we know, that the answer to that is maybe not.
	So today we're going to have a discussion centered around this idea that veterans are scamming the system, stealing from the government, and maybe the system that provides all of us benefits, monthly compensation, health care, all of those things, may not be able to afford it.
	And there's proposals for reform.
	So we're going to have a discussion around that today.
	So stick with us.
	Don't go away.
	We start now.
	Hey, everybody, and welcome.
	Welcome here to the next installment of the Richard Leonard Show.
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	And so before we get started, of course, the housekeeping, get yourselves on over to AmericaFirstRetirementPlan.com.
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	Okay, so we've got the housekeeping out of the way.
	Veterans benefits.
	Right?
	Recently, the Washington Post published an article about how veterans are scamming the system and that this system that pays our monthly disability compensation, pays for our education, helps with things like home adaptation.
	Do you need a ramp?
	Do you need that power chair that goes up and downstairs?
	Things that will help to keep you thriving, to help you stay in the good, and also help you to age in place.
	We all know that there's VA homes, there's nursing homes and care centers and things like that.
	But I believe that there is some pretty good value in veterans staying where they're at.
	That's why I believe, we believe here at the Richard Leonard Show, that programs like the VA Caregiver Program, which is a mess, but the idea of the program and how it should be ran is a great idea.
	It keeps veterans in their homes.
	It allows people that are close to them, that they trust, that also care about them to be their caregivers and also be compensated for that.
	But now we find ourselves in this place where the powers that be are questioning whether or not the warriors of this country are scamming the system.
	They're lying, they're cheating, they're stealing just for money.
	And I would be completely ignorant and naive if I were to think that none of that happens.
	It does happen.
	I believe that we know it happens without a doubt.
	But the question is: is it a big enough problem that this system needs to go away?
	It needs to get smaller.
	It needs to do something other than what it's doing.
	And my belief is no, it doesn't.
	There are millions of veterans in this country that rely on these benefits.
	And not so much.
	And maybe the biggest misconception is that it's all about money.
	I believe that having some financial security is an attraction, of course.
	But for a lot of veterans, what doesn't really get talked about in these types of conversations is that it's not always about the money.
	Medical care is expensive.
	It's hard to come by if you're not a person that is, for example, able to work a full-time job or able to work a job that will pay you a decent enough wage to survive.
	And veterans are hindered by the ailments, the diseases, the injuries, the conditions, whatever you want to call it, that was incurred in their service.
	So I believe that these types of systems should 1,000% stay in place.
	But if there is fraud, then yeah, we need to take care of that.
	Because it's no secret that this system pays out a lot of money every month.
	Probably every day if we're going to talk about medical bills and paying contractors and all kinds of other things.
	But there's a lot of questions.
	And so recently there was a hearing, right?
	The VA hearing, the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs had their hearing, and this was one of their topics.
	It was just, I think it was Wednesday or Thursday of this last week.
	So let's go over a little bit about what they talked about, what the proposals are, and we'll just talk about it.
	This article that I found on it, which really isn't an article, it's just more of an outline of what was talked about, who said what, and these types of things.
	So let's go through this here.
	It was on militarytimes.com.
	The article is titled GOP Senator Proposes Commission to Study VA Disability Rating Systems.
	So here we go.
	In the wake of a Washington Post investigation into fraud within the Veteran Affairs Disability System and watchdog recommendations that the VA modernize its rating schedule, a Republican center has suggested creating a commission to review the VA's disability compensation program.
	Now, first of all, I don't ever think that it's a horrible idea to review what's going on.
	In fact, it probably makes a lot of sense that these systems get reviewed yearly, if not every other year.
	Because like we said, it's a lot of money.
	These benefits are, for some people, they're lucrative, right?
	If their disability rating is high enough, there are many benefits to keep you thriving, to retrain you, to be able to still work and get out in the community and be a contributing member and have a mission, which I think is the most important part.
	We know that when veterans have no sense of purpose or no mission to work towards, for the most part, that's when trouble happens.
	That's when depression sneaks in.
	That's when idleness sneaks in.
	That's when all of these things kind of sneak in and it kind of just pulls you down.
	And I think that there's more than enough studies and research and all that to prove that that for sure is true.
	At a setting, man, I'm having trouble speaking today, so I apologize in advance.
	At a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, it was Wednesday in Washington, Senator Tubberville, who is a Republican from, is it Alabama?
	I think it's Alabama, questioned whether the Veterans Benefit Administration, the VA arm that manages disability compensation, pensions, and employment benefits, needs subject matter experts to examine the claims process and recommend improvements.
	So off the rip, like I don't believe that that's a horrible thing.
	I think that as time goes by and the veterans and the people who are working with veterans age, we should be reviewing these things.
	There's fresh blood coming in.
	There's younger veterans coming into the system to use these benefits.
	So, having reviews and bringing in subject matter experts on different topics, it might be helpful.
	It might be helpful to keep the system working properly, fairly, and then also weed out the bad actors because, again, it's expensive.
	And how long and how many billions of dollars can we keep shoveling into it before the system is too strained and goes away?
	And so, like, I hate to make it sound like, yeah, this we need to do something different because if not, it's going to go away.
	But it's the truth.
	If the system is overburdened and there are multiple people taking advantage, well, in order to save it for everybody else that does deserve it, that is doing it legit, we need to have some reform, probably, right?
	According to Senator Tubberville, the panel would be similar to the VA Commission on Care, which reviewed the VA's healthcare system back in the mid-2010s and made recommendations on veterans' medical services.
	The VA also had an asset and infrastructure review commission that reviewed the VA hospital system in the early 2020s and it made recommendations to modernize the facilities.
	And so, I can say that I'm not a thousand percent clear on what that commission, the infrastructure review commission, came up with.
	But what I do know is that for the last several years, at least here in Minneapolis, the VA has been under constant construction.
	It is being modernized.
	It is getting a facelift.
	It doesn't smell like piss in there when you walk in for your appointment anymore.
	There are many things to provide ease of access to places and services and things like that.
	And I got to say, I believe that it's been a long time.
	They've been working on it a long time, but it's coming together and it looks nice.
	It looks modern.
	It feels good to go in there.
	When I first started using the VA back in 2007, it was late 2007, early 2008.
	Man, the place was dismal.
	It was difficult to go in there.
	It smelled like pee.
	It was dingy.
	It was dark.
	And, you know, it just was tough going in there and then remaining positive about the issues you're there to have treated or solved.
	Yeah, it was tough.
	But they've done a good job.
	Let's see.
	Those efforts resulted in mixed success with some recommendations adopted, such as consolidating VA's community care programs and expanding access to urgent care and emergency care.
	But others, including the AIR Commission, the Air Commission, recommendations to realign or close dozens of medical centers and clinics were blocked.
	And I remember when this conversation came up about we need to consolidate services, we need to consolidate buildings and infrastructure.
	We need to consolidate all of it.
	And it's a decent idea, but the problem with that is, and thankfully, closing medical centers and clinics got blocked.
	They did not do that.
	Because the problem that we run into is when you get to, I'll use Minnesota because that's what I know the best.
	Here in Minnesota, when you get outside of the metro area, when you get outside of the Minneapolis-St.
	Paul area, well, we have one VA hospital in the Twin Cities.
	We have one VA hospital in St. Cloud, and that's it.
	There are a lot of V-Box or C-Box rather, community-based outreach clinics where veterans can go and get their primary care.
	They can do their mental health.
	I believe they can do physical and occupational therapy at these places.
	And those are in more rural areas of Minnesota.
	But we already have a lot of veterans who have trouble getting to those places.
	Just because there's several doesn't mean they're easy to access.
	And I believe that probably most of the veterans that live out in rural Minnesota that need to travel 200 miles, 100 miles, 75 miles to get to the VA are probably older.
	So these types of things may not be a huge issue down the road.
	But if we start closing these places, well, that's going to be a problem.
	And we see here that they already recommended, where does it say here?
	They already recommended to reduce community-based care.
	And what community-based care is, if you don't know, is, for example, I use community-based care.
	I think it was last year.
	I had contacted the VA to do my annual eye exam.
	Well, they couldn't get me in at the VA hospital for like four months.
	They were book solid.
	And then they'll ask you, well, do you want to be on our callback list in case somebody cancels or whatever?
	We have a list of people and we just go down and offer the appointments.
	Sure, I'll do that.
	But community-based care said that if it can't get you in within X amount of time, the VA will pay for you to go out into the community and get the care.
	So what happens is the VA then contacts the closest eye clinic to me based on my location, my address.
	They schedule an appointment.
	I go, I show up.
	I show my VA ID, my driver's license, and then the VA pays that tab for that care.
	A very good program.
	And if I'm not mistaken, that was a program that President Trump solidified in his first term.
	And so it's a very convenient program to use.
	And for many people, they would rather go to community care.
	As we know, the VA has not always had the best reputation for providing impeccable care.
	And so some veterans, depending on where they're at and what VA they use, would love to go out to the community and get their care.
	And so I believe that it's a good program, right?
	And you have to be to use it all the time for all of your appointments.
	You have to be, I believe, 50 miles away from the nearest VA facility.
	And believe it or not, there are a large amount of veterans that live 50 miles from a VA medical center or hospital or also a C-BOC, a community-based clinic that is VA property.
	So like this is a delicate conversation, I believe, because we can't say that we want to reduce community-based care and then also close clinics.
	Because now, not only are we taking away veterans' ability to go out in the community and get the care, should the VA not have space for them at that given time, but now we're also going to close and consolidate buildings and facilities, which further limits their ability to receive care.
	And so, like, it's a double negative.
	So, good thing.
	It's a good thing that they blocked this closing of medical centers and clinics because they're so important for the veterans to have the ability to get the care they need when they need it on time and then not have to make a 300-mile round trip out of doing it.
	And sometimes I think that these types of conversations do make veterans look like crybabies.
	Well, I don't want to drive 300 miles and go to the doctor.
	But when you really think about it, who does?
	How many people, how many populations of people in this country need to drive three hours to just go see a doctor?
	And the way that the VA does it, if you are somebody in a rural area and you got to come a long way, here at the Minneapolis VA, they do have billeting.
	They have a place for you to stay if you need to come the night before because you have an appointment at 8, 9:30, 11, 12:30, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, and then go home.
	I mean, a lot of these guys schedule all of their appointments for the whole month in one or two days, and they make the trip.
	They'll stay in the little room that the VA provides, which isn't anything extravagant.
	It's not very nice, but it's a dry, warm place to lay your head.
	And then do their whole day of appointments.
	The poking, the prodding, the blood draw, the physical therapy.
	Maybe you got a mental health appointment, all of these things, and do it all in one day.
	And for a lot of guys, especially older veterans, it's a daunting task.
	It weighs on them.
	And so then what happens is that veterans stop going.
	They can't go to a civilian doctor because they may not have the coverage or be financially able to do that.
	So they rely on the VA system.
	But then they're overburdened twice a month and they're getting shots and they're getting blood drawn and they're getting poked and prodded and then they got to go and spill their guts to a shrink.
	And so a lot of times for a lot of people, these types of long days at the VA are they're a daunting task.
	And so they stop going.
	And then what happens?
	We get sicker, we get more depressed, maybe they get all kinds of different, and just these things compound.
	And, you know, I don't want to say that it leads to suicide.
	I don't want to say that it leads to untimely death of veterans.
	But for some, maybe it does.
	But I don't know that that's true for everybody.
	Let's see here.
	The Government Accountability Office, or the GAO, has recommended the VA improve management of compensation programs and update its disability rating schedule.
	It has put VBA or the Veterans Benefit Administration in its high-risk list for significant waste management and needs broad transformation.
	And this came from Elizabeth Kurta.
	If I but you your name, I apologize.
	Elizabeth Kurta, she's the GAO's acting director of health care.
	And so she was there this last Wednesday testifying as well.
	And so, like, this piqued my interest, right?
	Because I would assume that VBA is on the high-risk list anyway because of the amount of money.
	And I believe that it's like $160 billion or something a year that goes out to the veteran benefits.
	I could be wrong about that number, but it's a lot of money.
	But it is what was promised.
	It is what men and women are told when you join, if you get hurt in the act of your service, don't worry.
	We got your back.
	And so that's what makes me prompt the question: were these things thought about years and years ago when these programs came about?
	And full disclosure, I am extremely grateful for the VA benefits that I get and I take advantage of.
	But it's not only me.
	My kids get education benefits.
	My wife gets benefits.
	Our whole family gets benefits because of my service and my disability rating.
	But if the system is overburdened, or even if they thought it was going to be at a later date, these are the things that I'm not saying I'm not grateful, but maybe they are programs that shouldn't have been started.
	They shouldn't have been granted.
	Because there's nothing worse.
	There's nothing more frustrating about the VA than them saying, well, you know, sorry about your luck, guys, but we just can't anymore.
	We can't pay this.
	We can't provide that.
	We can't do this for you.
	We can't do that.
	And the problem with that for me is if it is something that wasn't going to work for the duration of the veterans administration, however long or short their lifespan is, hopefully it's quite long, then don't promise it.
	Don't tell us.
	Don't have that be a recruitment tool.
	Don't say the things that try to ease the minds of these men and women before they join by saying, don't worry, we got your back.
	Please be safe.
	Do the best you can.
	Act professional.
	All those things that are taught to you while you're in the service.
	But if something happens, don't worry, we got you back.
	And then we run into problems.
	And like, this is not the first time, and this won't be the last time.
	But the idea that some people in our government at the top and in all these places, sometimes their first idea is, well, we just got to get rid of it.
	Well, I don't know that that's appropriate.
	I think that this country could certainly afford to take care of its veterans as they are intending to do, or at least they say they're doing, if we didn't do a lot of other things, like send billions of dollars all over this world and not have programs that are redundant or just completely ridiculous and unneeded,
	which is why I was a fan of Doge, simply for the fact that there was an unveiling of all the ridiculousness that your money, your tax dollars, my money, that our tax dollars were going to for what?
	For nothing.
	Nothing that was impactful, nothing that was going to help the American populace get ahead or sustain them and allow them to be comfortable as American citizens.
	And so like having these things and then just saying, well, you know, we probably just got to get rid of it now.
	It was nice that we had it, but we just can't do it.
	I don't know that the system needs to be changed because of things like this.
	Maybe the systems elsewhere need to be adapted and changed so that things like this can continue to exist.
	But I'm just one guy, and I can tell you that the VA probably doesn't give two shits about what my opinion is and what my recommendations might be.
	I'm just a dude who uses the system as was earned.
	And so it's just my opinion.
	A commission to address these concerns may not be the right approach.
	And this is coming from a gentleman by the name of Ryan Gallucci, who is the executive director of the VFW, Veterans of Foreign Wars, in Washington.
	He said veteran service organizations generally have welcome commission reviews, which is great, but will object to any recommendations they see as reductions in VA services or facilities.
	And I 1,000% agree with that.
	Before we reduce services or facilities or access to care or benefits or any kind of help to veterans, we need to make massive changes elsewhere.
	We need to find the money elsewhere.
	If there are programs or initiatives outside the borders of this fucking country, that needs to go first, in my opinion.
	If it's going to help anybody but Americans, well, if we need another $10 billion for VA for VA bills, whether it's benefits or facility maintenance or whatever it is, they go without first.
	The frustrating thing about all of this is that anybody that's sitting at this dais in these committee hearings has the idea that we need to cut this out before we cut out any kind of foreign aid.
	It's absolutely bullshit.
	And it's not just for veterans' benefits, right?
	Like we know that there are all kinds of different systems that are going to go without, but yet all of our foreign aid is still going out.
	Now, is it significantly less?
	Has President Trump reduced our foreign aid?
	I don't know what the real answer to that is.
	Some people say yes.
	Some people say nothing has changed.
	And I haven't dug into all the numbers because numbers, quite frankly, frustrate the shit out of me.
	But clearly, we have not reduced it.
	If we're now talking about, after all this time, we're now talking about getting rid of veterans' benefits.
	Just my two cents.
	Here's another thing, another statement from Mr. Gallucci.
	I get nervous about the prospect of a commission.
	I remember with the Air Commission, which is the what is that one?
	That's up at the top.
	With the Air Commission, I couldn't make it past, it couldn't make it past the first marker, and now we're seeing repercussions of that.
	I would argue that a forum like this is certainly a good place to start these discussions.
	And what he's talking about here is when they were considering closing down facilities and hospitals and reducing community care.
	It didn't even get past the first stage of the commission's recommendations because what they did was increase community care And left the places open.
	So none of it got done.
	And as he says, now we're seeing the repercussions of that.
	Like, meaning this is expensive, right?
	This is too expensive.
	Now we really need to do something.
	And so I think that it's a good thing that the VSOs, places like the VFW and the Disabled American Vets, and Amvets, and the Legion, and all these veteran service organizations are open.
	At least they say they're open to reviews and they're open to having these discussions.
	Because if the real problem is that veterans are scamming the system, we need to find who those are.
	So maybe we leave the system in place.
	We pull money from foreign aid of some sort or some bullshit program that isn't really doing anything to help anybody that matters and get investigators in there and investigate this shit.
	And these veterans who are scamming the system put them in jail.
	We all, the one thing that we all for sure 100% have in common that served in the militaries that we all were taught some had to have some damn integrity, work as a team, all of these types of things.
	And so if we have members of our community taken advantage of something that wasn't meant for them, then yes, they should be punished.
	They should be dealt with.
	They should be cut off.
	But the idea that we just cut it out for everybody, possibly, that doesn't jive, and it probably wouldn't jive with most veterans and hopefully most Americans.
	Because the one thing that we can all agree on is whether you support the war, whether you're a fan of government or not, the men and women who, of their own free will, maybe trusted the government, chose to do this.
	And they chose to do this under the promise that they will be taken care of if they need it.
	I guess I don't see a problem with pulling from other places to fund this.
	And especially coming from bureaucrats and politicians who will sit at that dais or they'll stand in front of a TV camera or stand at a podium on the floor and talk about how veterans are we need to take care of them.
	They're the lifeblood of this country.
	All that happy shit.
	And then go into a committee hearing and talk about, well, maybe we need to just do away with some of this stuff.
	I don't think that that should be an option.
	Anyway, folks, we got to take a break.
	We'll be right back.
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	Hey folks, welcome back here.
	Let's just...
	Let's just continue.
	There's quite a bit left to get through, and hopefully, we'll get through it all.
	So here we go.
	The Washington Post, which we referenced earlier in the show, like I said, they had done an article about veterans and defrauding the system and scamming the service, the VA services.
	It says here, the Washington Post recently published several articles showcasing veterans who have abused the VA disability compensation system.
	They said that $193 billion program is a target for fraud, including veterans who fake injuries or illnesses for money.
	Now, I think that it's plausible.
	It's probably more than plausible.
	I'm sure.
	I'm sure that it's true that there are veterans that scam the system.
	There are veterans that fake illnesses.
	And so I'm not very surprised to hear that.
	And actually, to be quite honest, I'm glad that they figured it out and that they know the question is what are they going to do about it?
	The hope is that the remedy isn't to decrease programming.
	The hope is that the veterans who do deserve it, who have been properly evaluated, and who have been granted services, are doing so with some integrity.
	But how do you prove that until you start investigating?
	So the idea that it's out there and that they know, and we all know, I believe is a good thing because it is extremely important that these programs are preserved.
	We don't want them to become extremely overburdened and overstressed because the folks who do need the assistance, who do need the care, who do need the financial support deserve to have it because that's what was promised to us.
	And the other thing that we do know is that everywhere you look, in every profession, in every system, in every corner of all of it, there are shitbags.
	They're in law enforcement, they're in the military, they're in your office, they're in your neighborhood, they're on your sports team, they're everywhere.
	There's always shitbags doing something, some kind of bullshit shitbaggery.
	That was a lot of shit in one sentence.
	Sorry about that.
	The Post cited VA's own Office of Inspector General reports and Freedom of Information Act documentation that showed veterans who claimed to be paralyzed for years could walk or faked blindness to collect.
	And in one case that they outlined in the Washington Post article, one veteran was able to scam about $400,000 in VA disability benefits before they were caught, before it was identified.
	Nearly universally at the hearing, witnesses and lawmakers panned the reports, calling them harmful and shaming, and that they are blaming veterans for the actions of outliers and not addressing the system itself.
	And I agree with that.
	I don't think that we should conduct reform and decrease benefits and services and access because of some outliers.
	I think that the response to that is we need to do a better job at taking action against these outliers.
	And what in the system allows somebody who has scammed the system for $400,000?
	That's just one person.
	And out of all the millions of veterans, let's just say 20,000 are scamming anywhere from $50,000 to $400,000 from the system.
	It's a lot of money.
	It's a lot of money that could do a lot of things for somebody who actually needs it.
	And so, like, these programs, in my opinion, are not a whole lot different than, you know, things like Social Security, for example.
	There's Social Security, there's Social Security, disability, there's grants, there's all kinds of different ways for people to be able to get support and assistance when they need it.
	And there's a lot of fraud that takes place in that.
	I mean, just look at this government shutdown, right?
	The whole argument, as I understand it, is about health care for illegal immigrants.
	Why is that even a conversation?
	Why is it even a conversation for us to just make some of these things go away because we have whatever certain number of outliers, we have a certain number of shitbags that are scamming said system?
	Why is that an option?
	That I don't know.
	So, nearly universally, they all said just about everybody that was sitting there at the dais, all the elected officials, they did not like what they saw.
	Like they say, they called it harmful and shaming, and that we shouldn't be blaming veterans as a whole for the actions of some outliers in the system.
	The articles fail to understand or capture the purpose of disability compensation.
	Instead, they cherry-pick anecdotes to wrongly claim that disability benefits, that system is overburdened with widespread fraud.
	That quote came from Senator Blumenthal, who's from Connecticut.
	And he's a Democrat, not that that matters in this instance.
	Blumenthal conceded that fraud does occur, and he'd be an idiot not to, but said that the system should not be abandoned as a result.
	And I agree 1,000% with that.
	They also had this gentleman by the name of, he's a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel.
	His name is Daniel Gade.
	He was a West Point graduate and a veteran of the Iraq War.
	He was the one voice in the room, apparently, that was criticizing the system.
	And he said that it incentivizes veterans to increase their disability ratings and discourages them from working and taking steps to improve their well-being.
	And part of that is because the VA doesn't force you to get care or treatment for the things that you have been service connected for.
	And to a certain extent, I agree with what he's saying.
	I agree that part of the problem is that veterans work through this arduous task of getting disability benefits.
	And then once they get it, sometimes the VA never sees them again.
	But what isn't taken into account is that a lot of veterans who have tried using the system but got discouraged for whatever reason, whatever the reason is that they don't want to go anymore, they do use community health care.
	A lot of guys get jobs that provide them insurance or their married, their spouse covers them on their insurance.
	A lot of people use VA care if they qualify for secondary.
	And so I don't disagree with what he's saying, but my question would be, did you take into account that many veterans who have disability use different systems to get their care?
	For example, In 2021, I was medically retired from the U.S. Army.
	And so, because I was medically retired, I get access to TRICARE as a retiree.
	TRICARE, I can use four blocks away at the clinic.
	I can use TRICARE if I'm on vacation and come and become sick in Arizona or Texas or New York or Connecticut or South Carolina.
	It doesn't matter.
	I can find anywhere to go.
	Now, the same is true for the VA.
	Any state I go to, if I find a VA clinic and I need care, I can walk in there and get it.
	But it's not as easy to access because the buildings, the facilities, and the personnel are limited.
	And it's always been that way.
	Mr. Gade said that the current system robs veterans of purpose and identity, trapping them in idleness and despair.
	This system, he said, is anti-thriving, anti-productivity, and ultimately anti-veteran.
	Further, it discourages future generations serving by painting veterans as a troubled problem class.
	And so, Mr. Gade, who said these things, used to be at some point, was Virginia's Veterans Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Services.
	So, at the state level, he was the top dog as it relates to veteran services in the state of Virginia.
	Moving on, accordingly, to VA Inspector General, her name is Cheryl Mason.
	She says only 3.7% of fraud cases investigated by the VA Inspector General's office involves things in fraud and scamming that was perpetrated by veterans.
	The largest percentage of fraud investigated by the OIG was against the veterans and against the VA.
	So, what that means is, so there are a whole lot of different ways for vets to get services.
	One instance that I can think of that this would be applicable to that I know about is that when veterans become incapacitated or they have conditions in which requires them to have a fiduciary to manage their finances, a lot of these guys get taken advantage of and they get defrauded and they find these fiduciaries that take over their finances.
	And a lot of times these veterans don't know who these people are because they're appointed by the VA.
	There's a social worker that appoints one.
	In my experience, and this may not be the same everywhere else, but in my experience, the veterans that I have worked with in the past that required fiduciary services only came to me for help because somebody in their family or somebody close to them noticed that there wasn't something, there just wasn't something right about the numbers as it pertains to their finances.
	And so then digging into it, they find that, well, you know, this person is doing some awkward shit with my grandfather's money.
	And after investigating and researching, we found that in this one instance that the woman that was helping this veteran, who was a Korean War veteran, by the way, at the time that I was working with him, I believe he was 82 or 83 or something like that, but He was in rough shape, mentally, physically, all of the above.
	Certainly couldn't manage his own finances, couldn't get his bills paid, couldn't wisely spend his money, you know, draw it out, those types of things.
	But this person had initiated a claim for this veteran to increase his disability rating so that he could get more money.
	And then we found out through a lot of research and talking to folks and getting help about what this means and that means that she was taking about 45% of his monthly income.
	She would make sure that his bills were paid and that he had some walking around money, you know, so he could go to the corner store and get a pack of smokes and a six pack of beer or some pop or go out to lunch or whatever.
	But majority of the leftover money after the bills and everything were paid, she was taking.
	She would go to the bank and withdraw money.
	She would wire transfer, ATM withdrawals, all kinds of it got really, it got really involved and in-depth.
	And she ended up going to jail.
	But these are the types of things when they say that the largest percentage of fraud investigated was against VA and against veterans.
	And so these types of things happen too.
	And I think that these are instances in which the community doesn't really know.
	If you're not in it or you don't work in it or you haven't heard about it from somebody that happened to, you just don't know that it happens.
	You don't know that this is a service that the VA provides veterans.
	And so now we run into an issue where it's not just, excuse me, it's not just veterans scamming the system, but the people that we rely on to help veterans and care for them are scamming the veterans and the system by proxy.
	So like that kind of brings a little bit different perspective into it because if the claim like the Washington Post made was that veterans are thieves and they're stealing the system and they're overburdening the American people and there's no money left and we can't be shoving, what did they say, $198 billion a year?
	Well, we can't be shoving $198 billion a year at this thing and then just getting screwed over for it, right?
	I think it was $198 billion.
	So these types of things are sensitive to a lot of people because they know they've lived it, they've experienced it, and they also don't want to see these programs diminish or go away.
	The veteran services organization that testified had several solutions for fixing the system, ensuring that veterans receive appropriate compensation.
	A gentleman by the name of Jeremy Villanueva, I didn't have a problem with that name, Villanueva, associate, he's the associate legislative director of the Paralyzed Veterans for America, said that the department needed to improve oversight of compensation and pensions exams done by contractors and conduct more thorough reviews of claims, paperwork submitted by veterans.
	John Retzer, who is the Assistant National Legislative Director for DAV, Disabled American Veterans, said the VA must resource its claims department and optimize technology to streamline the application and approval process.
	And I agree with that.
	If they can streamline the process, they don't have to pay as much money to people to adjudicate and to and to type out things and make phone calls and all this other stuff.
	Like if we can streamline that process and it takes 28 to 35 days to process a claim versus six, seven, eight months, sometimes a year, well, it'll just kind of make things go smoother, right?
	And we can get on to helping more people and spend less money doing it.
	But this up here, when he was talking about the department needs to improve oversight of compensation and pensions exams done by contractors and conduct a more thorough review of claims paperwork, what I will tell you is that this whole thing about contractors doing comp and pen evaluations, it seems to be pretty convenient.
	The question is, is it effective?
	And what I mean by that is, are the people who are contracted to provide these evaluations to veterans in lieu of them going to the VA, are they doing it right?
	Are they being forthcoming and honest?
	And so it's a double-edged sword, probably, because I think that there's people, doctors, nurse practitioners, LPN, all this stuff.
	I don't know what all of the different doctor nomenclatures are, but there are a lot of do-gooders out there, right?
	And they'll evaluate veterans for different conditions, like let's just say paralysis.
	Instead of going to the VA, because there's such an influx in disability claims as a result of getting out of the longest war in our history and thrusting way more veterans into the community, on top of the amount of people who left the military during COVID because they refused to take a shot, I'm sure that that started to overburden the system.
	I don't know that anybody saw that coming per se.
	Maybe it was a thought, maybe it was a discussion, but who knows if they really ever thought about it.
	And so now the VA couldn't handle bringing all of these veterans in for evaluations to the VA hospital, to the community clinics.
	So they came up with a plan to hire these medical services to provide these evaluations.
	And what they do is they go to like close down mini malls or abandoned churches and they set up these medical trailers in the parking lots and they staff them with nurses and doctors and their whole purpose is to be there for veterans to come for disability competent and disability and compensation evaluations.
	So if I claim that I am deaf in my left ear, that I blew out my knee and I can't do the things I used to can't play ball anymore.
	I can't walk properly.
	I walk with a limp and I can't sleep at night and I snore like a fucking bear.
	My wife keeps throwing shit at me at night.
	I think I got sleep apnea and I claim all of these things.
	They don't schedule me an appointment at the VA.
	They send me to this abandoned church or closed down mini-mall where there's a trailer, and I talk to some other medical professional.
	And the VA pays them an exorbitant, in my opinion, an exorbitant amount of money to do these things versus having veterans go to the VA and speak with VA doctors and VA nurses in the facility in which was meant for these things.
	But they just can't handle it all.
	They can't handle treating all the veterans day to day in the facilities, whether it's physical or mental health or occupational or physical therapy, whatever it is.
	They can't do all that.
	And then also have thousands of veterans who are coming out of the military come for evaluation because everybody wants to get their disability rating so that they can go get care.
	They can get a monthly financial paycheck.
	They can get education benefits.
	So there is a sense of urgency among veterans, especially ones that have issues.
	Now, my thing is, if you're a vet and you're not enrolled in the system, whether you plan on applying for disability or not, just go enroll.
	And the important thing for veterans to know is that if you are a veteran not enrolled in the system, you're hurting the team.
	The way that the VA is funded is based on participation.
	So if we have 20 million veterans in the United States of America, just an arbitrary number for conversation's sake, if we have 20 million veterans in America, but only 14 million of them actually use the VA and are enrolled, well, that's all that the VA is going to be granted for funding.
	And so then we run into issues like this.
	Well, hey, we got a lot of people scamming the system, maybe.
	We got a lot of people coming for care, and we're paying out a lot of money in monthly compensation.
	Seems like we got more than 14 million veterans using the system.
	But really, we don't.
	But we have 6 million veterans who choose not to enroll because they don't want anything to do with the government.
	They don't trust the system.
	They don't trust the VA.
	So I'm not even going to go and enroll.
	And I'm here to tell you that that's a mistake.
	Whether you use the services or not, everybody who served should at least be enrolled.
	Go to a VA facility, get a VA ID card, bring your DD214, enroll in VA services.
	Because you may not want it or need it now, but when you're 70 or 80, you may need it or want it.
	You may need to go to a VA home and you may qualify, but you never know if you don't enroll.
	And of course, you can enroll at any time.
	But the point is, if you haven't and you are a veteran, I believe that you should because that helps to secure the funding that we need for everybody to get the care and benefits that they were promised and that they deserve, if they deserve them.
	I think it's very important to outline that.
	Of course, we're out of time here.
	So we didn't get through all of it.
	But basically, the way that it ends is that the committee chairman, Senator Moran from Kansas, said, don't worry, we are going to have more conversations about this.
	It's not the first and it certainly won't be the last.
	My hope is that they do decide to investigate the people who are frauding the system or defrauding the system, veteran or not, and take care of that problem.
	Preserve these programs, preserve the system for the folks that do need it, who are qualified, who did go through it the right way.
	much similar to what's going on in all of america it's not it's weird how these things happen right it's it's not just um It's not just veterans, but people who defrauded the system by coming here illegally and then getting benefits, getting driver's licenses so that they can vote in elections, taking money for health care, taking money for substance allowance, taking money for this, taking resources for that.
	All that's meant for American citizens.
	So of course our system is overburdened.
	Of course, inflation is high.
	And of course, eggs are expensive as shit because the system was not designed to take care of 47 million people.
	And maybe a large amount of those shouldn't be eligible and shouldn't be getting it.
	Of course, the system is overburdened.
	And the fact, and one last thought before we take off, the idea that 47 million people, for example, are on SNAP benefits, whether they're Americans or not.
	Isn't that alarming?
	Isn't it alarming that 47 million people in this country, and some claim that they're all American citizens, they're all Americans that are getting it, which I think we all know is bullshit.
	But if we have, let's say we have 38 million people that are Americans that aren't going to get their SNAP benefits, isn't it a problem that 38 million people aren't able to fend for themselves?
	Isn't it a problem that 38 million people may not have good enough employment, can't afford to eat or feed their kids?
	I'm not saying that the program is bad.
	I think it's a great lifeline for people when they need it.
	Hell, when my son was very small, me and my now ex-wife, we used SNAP benefits.
	We used WIC.
	It was important that she was getting the nutrition she needed when she was pregnant.
	It was important that our baby was able to, I was working 50 hours a week and we still were having trouble.
	So we did apply for benefits and we did use them for about eight months.
	So it is a good lifeline for people when they need it.
	But when we have millions of people on these benefits and then have the balls to say, well, if you don't turn it on, I'm going to go rob these people.
	Well, that's going to be a problem.
	Many around the country are calling it the hunger games and it starts yesterday or today, whatever day.
	It's going to be interesting.
	Anyway, folks, thank you for being here.
	I apologize.
	I had a little rough show.
	I got an issue talking today.
	Maybe it's the TBI kicking in, but take care of yourselves.
	We'll see you next week.
	Thank you for being here and have a great, great rest of your night.
	Bye-bye.
	I can control what I feed to my child.
	I can control how I grow my food and if I want to spray pesticides or not, but I cannot control the experiments over my head.
	Within an hour, it spreads out, it creates a blanket.
	We're in a war.
	This is a war against me, you, our children, our grandchildren, and generations to come.
	This is war raged upon us.
	These programs consist of spraying tons of patented aerosol pollutants into our skies without public consent.
	This includes aluminum, barium, strontium, and more.
	It's targeting your food, your water, and it's coming in multiple different ways.
	If people want to know if this is a real thing, states have bills to ban it.
	I think there are now 32 states that have taken an attempt at this.
	This has become a huge issue.
	If your average citizen knew the truth of what's going on and what they're being exposed to without their consent, they would be outraged and they would take action.
	I don't want some creep ramming chemicals down my throat without my permission.
	We need to prosecute those people that are doing it.
	Do we stand in one spot and say enough is enough?
	And if they don't listen, we take it to the next step.
	You've been doing this for a while.
	Yep.
	Long time.
	People do care.
	We care deep.
	I know that.
	So we're now getting really involved.
	and now we're going to bring something legal against your company.
	As Christians in a Christian country, we have a right to be at minimum agnostic about the leadership being all Jewishly occupied.
	We literally should be at war with fucking Israel a hundred times over and instead we're just sending them money and it's fucking craziness.
	Look at the side of Israel.
	Look at the site of Tel Aviv and look at the site of Philadelphia.
	You tell me where this money's going.
	You tell me who's benefiting from this.
	I am prepared to die in the battle fighting this monstrosity that would wish to enslave me and my family and steal away any rights to my property and to take away my God.
	Go fuck yourself.
	Will I submit to that?
	And if you've got a foreign state, you've got dual citizens in your government, who do you think they're supporting?
	God, right now, would you protect the nation of Israel and protect those of us, not just our church, but every church in the world and in this nation that's willing to put their neck on the line and say we stand with them?
	You go to Trump's cabinet, you go to Biden's cabinet, it's full of Jews.
	I'm a black friend in school.
	I have nothing against blacks.
	She has nothing against me.
	She understands where I'm coming from.
	Excuse me, I'm a Jew, and I'd just like to say that, you know, in our Bible, it says that you're like animals.
	The Jews crucified our God.
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