I spent 2 full days on my feet visiting
nearly every complaint committee and
building on Capitol Hill, and just like
the little Santa Clause that I am, I
have once again brought back goodies
for all to play with and look over.

I predict that this one Category of
Forums on this page, if handled well
by our readers, will eventually over
time bring the VA to it's knees and
will also bring sweeping change to
the bungled VSO system that most of
us are trapped in. Yes Kiddies, I
have unlocked the secrets of government
complaints. I went through their doors
and I sat down in their airspaces
and I dazzled them with my brains
and got them to cough up the goods on
what it takes to get something done
in Washington when your congressman
or senator is nothing more than
a Blob in a chair and a hairbrain
who snores all day.

Together we are going to walk down
the very road that VSO's just DON'T
want you to go down. Nor does the VA.
So follow the yellow brick road
in this Category of Forums and here
we go.

The collection of Forums which
builds under this category will
be your payback to a system that
has wrecked your lives and mine too,
and has done too much to ride on
your name while kicking you in the
pants on services.

At most of the agencies, complaints
are issued on FORMS and with the
VA there are only a couple of exceptions
to that.

At congress, the complaints are
FreeStyle and it is here that ya
really do take your chances.

On the one hand, they will say to
you that there are "no requirements"
and "no formatting" for what they
will accept as a public complaint.
BUT ---- then on the other hand,
just go ahead and not format your
submission and watch how fast it
boomerangs back to your doorstep
with a "thank you for sharing" note
attached to it. They will be very
glad to point out all of your screwups
from a complaint that has no requirements.

Complaint drafting is only for those
who can pull it off. If you have
major, major illiteracy problems,
then you will NOT survive the government
complaints venue. If every other
word is misspelled (yeh Sue, right ha ha!)
and if the words are not even in complete
sentences let alone rational and
coherent in a thought process, then
you can be absolutely sure that
you are wasting your time and money
and only writing a complaint to hear
yourself talk. They will NOT act
on a paperwork mess and they will
suspect you as the problem and not
the VA or the VSO's. That's how it
is, and I can't change it for you.

If you feel that you do a LOT better
talking, then my recommendation is
for you to do a Video submission
instead of anything written. Yes
do send a signature page with your
Video, with your complete name,
signature, address, phone, and
list out your congressionals for
your district. I put it in a single
line like this: district: mcnulty,
schumer, clinton

That gets it done. The entire congress
runs on knowing who your representatives
are and I can't really tell you why
this is so, except they all do it
and it is apparently required by
them and their systems.

When drafting a government complaint
there is something you have to hold
a mental picture of the whole time
you are writing. The entire Capitol
Hill in congress is in the hands
of and staffed by 20 year olds. I
was hard pressed to find a single
staffer that was all the way up
to their 30th birthday.

That means a couple of things to
YOU who is trying to get something
done. You have to spoon-feed the
information like you are talking
to your youngest child still in
diapers. These young people are
straight out of school and the
system has impressed into their
brains that it really does work.
So their loyalties first and foremost
are with the system and NOT you!

It is your job to present such
an overwhelming case to them that
it pops the bubblegum right
out of their young little mouths.

There is no such thing as too much
or "enough" proofing. You have to
prove your way out of this rathole
if you are to get any of them at
all to launch a congressional or
agency investigation on your behalf.

Jurisdiction is also another issue.
Too many Veterans "SPRAY" complaints
to any old address that they can
find, and all too often, those
destinations do NOT handle the
kinds of complaints that you are
all "spraying". If anything will
bounce your papers faster than
a bobsled on greased ice, it will
be Wrong Jurisdiction for that
destination.

As this catalog of Forums starts
to take shape, I will try and address
jurisdiction as I load in the entries
and try and take some of the guesswork
on Jurisdiction completely off your
backs.

Whether you send a complaint to
one single destination, or if you
alternatively try to do a Multiple
Destination Filing, is your choice
and up to you and your skill level.
If you send to multiple destinations,
(there are no rules) but I do recommend
this: Make the top sheet of your
submission say "DISTRIBUTION" and
then list out all of the addresses
where that multiple submission is
going to. They don't like surprises
and they want to know who else may
very well have their noses in this
entry that you just made.

Also, I create separate copies and
then place an original signature
on all of the copies to be sent.
That removes the excuse that they
only received a copy instead of an
original.

Again they will first say there are
no rules for the complaints, and then
turn around and crank out one excuse
after another as to why they cannot
accept it or act on it. So making
your submission the best possible
on formatting is going to INCREASE
your chances of getting action on
your papers.

Follow this format minimally and
in any order that you choose just
as long as the elements are within
your body of work.

Who Is The Complaint Against?
list out name, address, email phone
whatever you have. Give the agency
or committee that you are griping
against, and name the people too
if that applies.


Who Is The Complaint From?
do the same here and fully identify
yourself

What Is The Jurisdiction of the Destination?
corrupt practices, committee or member
ethics, rules and standards violations,
civil rights, discrimination, whatever.
I'll speak on this a little later on.
Match it up to the committee
or agency that you are filing at
for investigative action.


What Happened?

They do NOT want your life story and
they do NOT want your military oral
history. Keep it focused on the facts.
Speak to the Jurisdiction and do not
stray off on matters irrelevant to
your complaint. What did YOU do and
then what did you get back from the
craphead that you are complaining
about. Life Philosophy does NOT cut
it here, make sure you are pointing
to a valid breach of rights. Long
winded BlowHard does not go far in
this environment. They bore easy
as semi-teenagers often do. You
have to include enough facts and
description so that they fully
understand what happened and why
you are complaining, but then again,
don't bring out the family photo
album and get into when your first
child was born (joking). It has
to be FOCUSED and as exacting as
it can be.

If you have a photo of yourself,
I would throw that in with the
complaint. Run it on regular paper
so you it doesn't cost you a fortune.


What Do You Want From Them ??

Believe it or not, this is one most
consistent mistake that Veterans make
when they are submitting complaints.
They don't ASK FOR ACTION !!!
What do you want them to do?
Do you want an investigation? Do
you want a Firing? Do you want
to assert corruption and shut down
the fraud? Do you want them to hold
hearings on the issue? What course
of action are you asking them for
because they will NOT fill in the
blanks for you.

Sign the papers in your handwriting


Supporting Documents at The End

If proofing documents are pretty
substantial on your submission,
leaf in some insert pages which
describes what the papers are.
Put in a cover sheet that says:
"The following page is my paper
for so and so, and this is what
I said and did on that day" Then
do another description for the
next set of papers.

If you are griping on claims and
what not, most of the people in
Congress are CIVILIANS so to hand
them a bunch of VA papers without
explanation is meaningless to them.
They will look at it and say "Whatever!"
and send your papers back. You have
to take the time to explain to them
what the papers are that you are
proofing with.

If the complaint process is commenced
using Forms, then fill the forms
out as completely as you can, and
then create your very own narrative
and attach it to the form. Usually
the forms are too small to fit in
a large story. Use the Form as a cover
sheet and then follow the same format
above. If you write it by hand, make
sure it is legible because they
won't spend any time on something they
cannot read. I recommend that you
type it out on a computer and make
the entry as nice as you can make
it for legibility.

Unless you are complaining internal
to the VA, you do NOT need to give
your C number or social security number
unless they come back to you later
on and ask for it in the mail.

This is going to look a little daunting
to you at first, but as I start entering
the rest of the catalog, I'll sort
things out as I go along and try and
take the burden out of your brain
so you can get this done, whenever
and wherever you want to as your
need arises.

If you think you will have to rely
on Video a lot, then get busy and
find a camera that you can use
and create your videos with. Either
find somebody who will loan you
theirs as the need arises or go
out and make plans to buy one.

Capitol Hill is a place that almost
never acts on anything unless they
can see you in person. So bridging
that problem short of doing the
Heave-Ho to go there will help the
standing that your complaint receives.
Let them see you in some kind of
way either by photo or video.

Now let's get ready to give the
power back to the Veterans and
give this stinking VA a run for
their money !!!