Do you think the government should be able to deduct SS from a veterans VA disability compensation each month?

It prevents “double dipping”.

Yes.

@marinelife How do you figure it is double dipping? One has nothing to do with the other.

@Rangie The source of the money is the same—the government.

@marinelife So what? The causes are very different. Let’s see, you would deny a veteran some of his compensation, which isn’t very much anyway, if he is receiving SS, which he paid into?

Are you saying there is Social Security tax on the income, just like a paycheck?

Or is the person receiving Social Security benefits, and an equal amount is deducted from the disability?

He is receiving VA compensation for combat wounded activity, and SS that he paid into, and they are deducting his Amount of SS from the VA compensation because the VA compensation is the greater of the two.

@thriftymaid Do you have a reason for saying yes? Just wondering.

@marinelife Uh, what is double dipping? If you could enlighten me, please..

@OliverYoung Uh, what is double dipping?

It’s when you stick it in both holes.

Letter from a Vietnam Veteran: link

Letter from a Vietnam Veteran

He’s a whiner. Also a liar or badly misinformed.

For example: “There’s a 25-year-old illegal immigrant woman living in Florida, with eight kids. Yes, eight “anchor babies” and she receives just shy of $1,500 per month per kid, plus medical, plus food stamps.”

He claims she’s getting $144,000 per year from the government for not working + free medical care + food stamps.

I bet you $144,000 that’s not true. I accept PayPal.

@jaytkay I can’t prove it, can you?

@Rangie

No, I don’t have to “prove it”, it’s obviously false. There is no reason to believe it.

If I am wrong, there’s $144,000 in it for you. Are you taking the bet?

Public expenditures are public record. Go ahead. Think about how sweet hat $144,000 would be in your pocket!

@jaytkay I can’t prove it either, but how can you say it is “obviously false”. I can just as easily say it is “obviously true”.

@plethora
Again, $144,000 is a lot of money. It’s worth your time to prove it. Let us know how you do.

@jaytkay $144,000 is peanuts when you are talking trillions. Check out

But that wasn’t the question. The question was “How can you say it is obviously false?” Could be obviously true.

@jaytkay Are you singling out just the 25 year old woman, or did you read the whole article? The part about deducting the SS amount from his VA compensation. Are you saying that is a lye too? If you were shot up in the war, and came home disabled and were very limited in what you could do, wouldn’t you think you were entitled to compensation? And then when you did some work to the best of your ability, because you could never live on just the compensation, and you paid into the social security, don’t you think you earned a return on what you paid in. Why should the government be able to deduct the ss from the VA compensation?

@plethora I know it is obviously false because I know something of real life in the United States and I know welfare recipients do not receive anything like $144,000/year. What they are paid is spelled out in law, and you can absolutely prove or disprove the claim. It’s not a secret or mystery or “fuzzy math”.

@Rangie From his ridiculous anecdote I know the guy is not a reliable source of information. As I wrote, he’s either a liar or misinformed. I do not care which.

@jaytkay Whoa, Obviously you never served this country in any capacity. How about answering my Q, instead of bashing that poor veteran.

@Rangie Blaming his troubles on some imaginary welfare queen – he’s an angry ignorant bigot.

@jaytkay That is not what I asked you. Why can’t you try to answer my question?

@Rangie I admit I don’t know the details to answer the original question. There is VA disability and there is Social Security disability and there are Social Security retirement benefits and I do not know the law about how they interact. And without more specifics I could not begin to find out.

If you or someone you know is in this situation, you need specific documentation for all your claims, to show how the law was not followed.

If you don’t get satisfaction, you need a lawyer. Not me. Not Fluther. Not the Letter from a Vietnam Veteran guy.

@jaytkay Please excuse….was unaware I was basking in the ultimate source of brilliance.

@jaytkay I was just asking if you think this is fair.
VA compensation for disabled veterans….........$0000.00
Social Sec. retirement….......................................-000.00
Balance to the Disabled Veteran….................. .000.00
Does not look fair to me.
Some say double dipping huh.
If you @marinelife were a contractor and did a job for the Federal Government making pathways in the forest for hikers. Then you also did a job clearing the underbrush in the forest on a completely different contract. Would you think it is fair for the Federal Government to subtract your due compensation (the lesser of the two) from the greater?

@Rangie

If I understand correctly:

Veteran gets
+$1.00 Social Security
+$0.50 VA disabled benefit
-$0.50 Social Security
TOTAL $1.00

Average Joe gets:
+$1.00 Social Security
TOTAL $1.00

Is that the issue?

@jaytkay yes.

@jaytkay Except the VA benefit is usually the large of the two. So they still get 2 checks, but now the VA disability is much less.

@Rangie

It splits into two questions and I cannot answer either.

1)
Is this particular veteran getting the maximum benefit given by law?
If not, there is a procedure for fixing it, in extreme cases a lawyer might be needed.

2)
Is the law fair?
Congress wrote the law. Congress can repeal and replace the law.

@jaytkay The Veterans Disability Compensation is arrived at by the degree of disability. This one is 100%, so there is a set figure they are to be paid. This person was shot everywhere but his head. He suffers daily from the shrapnel still left in him. It is too dangerous to remove. This check should have nothing to do with his social security that was earn in another manner. In my opinion it is just like my description in the 5th comment up addressed in part to @marinelife, because he says it comes from the same pot. Silly answer, That is when, one should let people think they are ignorant, rather than open their mouth and prove it.

@Rangie

It still boils down to the two questions.

1) Can you get more under current law?
If so, work the VA and SS systems

2) Can the law be changed?
Lobby Congress

@jaytkay I don’t know. I will have to take some time to check it out for my friend. He doesn’t have a computer. I will call his wife and get more information to see just exactly what is going on. I find it hard to believe the government could do something like this.

@Rangie Is he getting SS retirement benefits or SS disability benefits? If it’s disability benefits, then I can understand why it’s deducted from the Veteran’s disability benefits. One can only become disabled once, and shouldn’t be paid twice for the same disability. Therefore, he gets to receive the higher of the two amounts, which is the Veteran’s check. If I were disabled in the same way, but not in military service, I would only get the SS check. So, he gets a bigger benefit for being a disabled vet, but he can’t have both. I think that’s what @marinelife meant by double dipping.

He is getting SS retirement benefits. Yes, I think so too. However, I thought @FutureMemory was out of line. made me not want to come back and read anything. For some reason I was having difficulty explaining the situation. Guess I am tired.