Open Letter to the Disabled American Veterans and their members( DAV)

Disabled American VeteransATTN: Mr. David W. GormanExecutive DirectorDisabled American VeteransWashingtonSUBJECT: Use of Official Position in Political CommunicationsDear Sir,I will begin by quoting a published account of your statement regarding the character of Mr. Principi:" LETTERSVA contractor and its chairmanApril 28, 2006Re "VA Contracts Go to Ex-Chief's Company," April 23The Disabled American Veterans organization has intimate knowledge of the role of medical services company QTC Management Inc. in the disability evaluation process, and it has found no serious problems associated with the work the firm has performed for more than eight years. It has been our experience that QTC and its chairman, Anthony Principi, have consistently adhered to the highest ethical standards.Principi's service as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs was marked by his commitment to this nation's servicemen and women. He has always upheld the highest standards of his office, and no one on either side of the aisle in Congress has questioned his integrity and 100% commitment to serving veterans.DAVID W. GORMANExecutive DirectorDisabled American VeteransWashington "This above letter was published at the following web site:http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-lew- principi28apr28,1,2103298.story?coll=lanewscomment&ctrack=1&cset=trueso there is a reasonable expectation that it is accurate.I have a SEVERE problem with any official of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) who would speak out on behalf of a former Secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) who is now simply cashing in on his "alleged" expertise, and leading the veterans down a disingenuous pathway to a state of private care that the future veterans will eventually be forced to pay from their own meager disability awards or pensions. This has to be one of the biggest sweetheart deals of this or the last century for former VA Secretary. Anthony Principi has been responsible for the abuse of so many veterans in the claims process alone that he should be indicted - not praised as if he were somehow honorable, and deserving of any respect. The fact that you would spout off in this manner makes me question whether or not the leadership of the DAV has my interests seriously at heart, or is simply trying to suck up to the current political figures. I must also question why an organization that is so acutely tuned to not making any statements that can be considered political will allow one of its highest ranking officials to intervene in another political food fight with praise for a former government official who is simply being taken to task for the huge projected expenses that he will obtain. Additionally, these services will obviously provide tremendous personal benefits to Mr. Principi. On the face of it, sir, even though political party affiliations are not mentioned, you have entered political operations at the highest levels when you signed your statement as the Executive Director of the Disabled American Veterans. Plus your opening sentences are endorsements that go far beyond the pale of non-partisanship. In fact, one could almost infer you believe that the QTC Management, Inc. organization is even better qualified to handle veteran issues than the current staff of government employees. Well, that really is a fine hello for all the subordinate National Service Officers to contend with as they represent the individual veterans at various levels in the claims process. The State Commander of the South Dakota DAV has usually declined to even publish my written opinions because I do not hesitate to define the political parties by name. And, if you accept the current error rate made by the QTC Management, Inc personnel in medical evaluations as not worthy of consideration, then you ARE part of the problem.This deserves an immediate response from you sir, and should be published in the DAV magazine. Perhaps then you could also justify why the spending of an estimated 1.2 Billion Dollars on overcharged services from the QTC Management, Inc. is in anyway shape or form serving the interests of veterans. My God, sir, the staffing shortages in medical specialities alone could be immediately corrected with that kind of funding made available throughout the various hospitals across our nation.Next, there is absolutely no way to currently determine the actual validity of any evaluation conducted by a corporation that is so obviously linked to serve the benefit of NOT the veterans, but INSTEAD the governmental agency that in normal operations wrongly denies, delays, or even has employees lie to cheat a veteran from his claim. The VA lawyers that were convicted in federal court cases went to prison under Principi's reign. GET REAL, sir, do you really expect us to believe that this corporation will actually do anything that helps a veteran in his claims for disability compensation.I can only assume that if there is not an immediate response to this, then you have in essence told every single member of the DAV to go sit in the corner, and be content with what you have been given. If that is the case then you can expect my lifetime membership card returned with a complete sense of outrage that this organization is being led by people who will actually betray its very own disabled membership.Sincerely,SIGNATURE SENT