2/20/26 Blog: A VA Rules Change Needs Feedback, Veterans, And Baseball

GOOD NEWS FOR DISABLED VETERANS, BUT ACTION IS STILL NEEDED At 12:30 today my friend and tireless advocate for veterans Rob Williams is going to join me at 12:30 to talk about a rules change that COULD have drastically affect disabled veterans and their disability rating. The VA was considering a rules change that would LOWER the disability rating of veterans whose symptoms were controlled via medication. Read this for more, but I have an update at the end:

Interim Final Rule titled "Evaluative Rating: Impact of Medication" in the Federal Register.

Because this is an "Interim Final Rule," it is effective immediately. This means the VA is already instructed to use these new standards for claims starting today.

However, the law requires them to accept and consider public feedback for 60 days before the rule becomes permanent.

Here is exactly how you can take action and what you should know about the process.

How to Submit Your Public Comment:

The VA is specifically looking for "substantive" comments. You don't need to be a lawyer; you just need to explain how this rule impacts your life as a veteran.

Online (Preferred): Go to Regulations.gov and search for Docket Number: VA-2026-VBA-0067-0001.

Direct Link: Submit a Comment Here:

https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/VA-2026-VBA-0067-0001

Deadline: You must submit your comments by April 20, 2026 (60 days from today).

Tips for Writing an Effective Comment

to make your voice heard effectively, consider including these points:

1. Identity: State that you are a 100% P&T veteran.

2. The "Medication Trap": Explain that this rule creates a "catch-22"—if you take your meds to stay healthy, you risk losing the financial support you need to afford a stable life.

3. Adherence to Treatment: Argue that this rule may discourage veterans from taking necessary medications for fear of a ratings reduction.

4. Reference the Court: Mention that you support the Court’s findings in Ingram v. Collins and believe the VA should honor the "baseline severity" of a disability.

What Happens After You Comment?

The VA is legally required to read and respond to every unique, substantive comment. If there is a massive wave of opposition (which the DAV is currently organizing), the VA may be forced to:

• Delay the permanent implementation of the rule.

• Amend the rule to add more protections for P&T veterans.

• Face further lawsuits where your public comments can be used as evidence of the rule's "arbitrary and capricious" nature.

DO NOT STAY SILENT! Do your part!

S/N:

Even though, this might not impact the veterans who are 100% disabled P&T, no one is safe!

Here’s a sample comment letter, adjust it to your specific situation before posting your comment in the direct link above!

Subject: Public Comment on Interim Final Rule: Evaluative Rating: Impact of Medication (Docket No. VA-2026-VBA-0067-0001)

To the Department of Veterans Affairs,

I am writing as a veteran currently rated as 100% Disabled, Permanent and Total (P&T) to express my strong opposition to the Interim Final Rule regarding the use of medication in determining disability ratings.

This rule represents a dangerous shift in how the VA fulfills its obligation to those who served. I am concerned for the following reasons:

• Penalizing Treatment Adherence: This rule creates a "perverse incentive" for veterans to stop taking life-sustaining or symptom-managing medications. If a veteran’s rating is reduced because medication masks their symptoms, they are effectively being punished for following their doctor’s orders.

• Disregard for Judicial Precedent: The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has been clear in cases like Ingram v. Collins and Jones v. Shinseki that disability should be measured by the baseline severity of the condition. By bypassing these rulings, the VA is ignoring the legal protections established to ensure veterans are compensated for the actual damage to their bodies and minds, not their ability to "manage" that damage with pills.

• Impact on 100% P&T Stability: For those of us with "Permanent and Total" status, this rule introduces a level of fear and instability that the P&T designation was designed to prevent. Even if we are not scheduled for routine exams, the existence of this rule creates a "trap" should we ever need to seek secondary service connections or additional care.

• Medical Inaccuracy: Medication does not "cure" a service-connected disability; it merely manages the symptoms. A veteran with hypertension or a mental health condition remains disabled even if their symptoms are currently controlled. To rate a veteran based on a "medicated state" is to ignore the underlying, permanent injury.

I urge the VA to rescind this Interim Final Rule and return to a rating system that respects the baseline severity of a veteran's disability, as dictated by the courts and the VA's own historical mission.

Respectfully,

[Your Name]

[Your Branch of Service, Optional]

[Your City, State]

*You can also submit anonymously!

But there has been an update from VA Secretary Doug Collins, whose phone must have been blowing up. He posted this yesterday:

But you still need to comment! Send those emails, make those calls, do it TODAY. This is the same kind of idiotic logic that led to the US emptying out our mental hospitals because medication was going to "fix" everyone. In case you guys are wondering, this would NOT affect Chuck, my interest here is in making sure all the veterans I do know whose lives are made much, much better by various medications don't have their lives upended by this idiotic rule.

I ASKED THE FBI IF THERE WERE AN INVESTIGATION INTO PEDOPHILES THE COLORADO HOUSE As was alleged in this interview by Rep. Scott Bottoms yesterday. I reached out to the Public Information Office and got this response, it in its entirety here:

While individuals are free to speak about interactions they might or might not have had with the FBI, we do not, as a matter of practice, discuss or describe any contact we have or allegedly have with individuals.

The FBI receives many complaints of criminal activity, and how we handle them is a confidential process. Similarly, to protect the privacy of people who contact the FBI, we cannot confirm or deny any particular contact.

As a general matter, allegations of criminal conduct are reviewed by the FBI for their merit, with consideration of any applicable federal laws. Such a review does not necessarily result in the opening of an investigation, an arrest or a referral to the U.S. Attorney's Office or local district attorney for prosecution.

The FBI does not confirm or deny any investigation. If there is a criminal prosecution, that information is made public by the prosecutor or court at the appropriate time.

 So....maybe? Perhaps not? You decide.

THE SUPREME COURT STRUCK DOWN TRUMP'S TARIFFS But the Court did not rule about whether or not the $200 billion dollars collected so far will have to be refunded. Read about the split decision here, with Roberts, Comey Barrett, and Gorsuch siding with the three liberal chick justices.

MICHAEL BENNET HATES WOLVES AND WANTS THEM DEAD* Note the asterisk there because I was merely getting a jump on wolf advocates (who live on the Front Range where they weren't reintroduced) are going to be shouting that at Senator Michael Bennet, who told a newspaper that suspending the wolf reintroduction program is the right thing to do unless it can be done the way it was promised by those same wolf advocates. That actually makes sense, but the wolf advocates don't care and they must have gotten in his ear about it because a few days later he went all nailing-jello-to-the-wall about it with a different newspaper.

IS IT TIME TO BAN CHILD MARRIAGES? Or make the process for teens under the age of 18 to get married more stringent? I can see both sides of this issue really clearly. I also know people who got married at 16 because they were pregnant who are STILL married some forty years later. But I also believe teen girls who are groomed by predators need protection. So what do we do? Instead of banning marriage under 18, I say make the process to get that marriage license more stringent, giving those groomed women a chance to see they were groomed. Maybe? I don't have a great answer here if I'm honest. The legislature is taking up a bill to ban marriage altogether for people under 18 now.

BASEBALL EATS THE SHOW AT 1 Yep, it's that time again. Spring Training starts today in Scottsdale and I wish I were there (I'm serious). The Rockies have made a few moves this off season that don't suck, and if they can get the perpetually hurt Kris Bryan off the payroll I know they will make even more.

TAKE THAT, CHICOMS Our very own Alysa Liu won gold and Freedom Enos Kanter congratulated her in the best way.

LESLIE HEROD RUN NON PROFIT BLOWS WADS OF CASH And the worst part is this is a TAXPAYER FUNDED non profit whose stated goal is for mental health services, drug abuse prevention and facilities for those with mental health needs.. The fund is administered through DDPHE and awarded more than $185 million in grants to 270 organizations last year. So why would this organization spend 11% of its budget on non-allowable things, like booze with meals?? And the other 89% of "expenses" the audit labeled "questionable" as well! But that's not all. From the Denver Gazette:

Through reviewing 734 expense reports from January 2022 through January 2025, O’Brien found that 81% were related to meal reimbursements, while the remainder was for more official uses. Additionally, 94% of all the expenses did not have the proper documentation — including transaction date, amount, description and approval — necessary to support them based on city rules.

I wonder which "executive" that was? Just curious as former State Rep. Leslie Herod is at the top of the food chain there. But it gets better. Because the non-profit is run under the auspices of Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE), they don't believe the rules apply to them. From the same story:

When presented with the recommendation to amend the contract between the city and foundation to keep Caring for Denver in better compliance with Denver’s fiscal accountability rules, the agency disagreed, saying that, as a nonprofit, the organization does not have to comply with the city’s fiscal responsibility rules but rather those implemented by health department.

I certainly hope the department is working RIGHT NOW to make the rules to bring these high on the (taxpayer) hog folks back down to reality. But wait, there's more! They aren't even following the rules for the grantmaking they are responsible for!

At least one grantee’s application listed a partnership directly tied to its funding request that did not exist and was awarded $310,000 over two years for the non-existent program, according to the report. Moreover, 14 of the 35 applications were completely missing required financial documents.

Two grants totaling $26,000 went to two grantees for self-care, wellness, quarterly full-day staff retreats, healing circles, hazard pay, and paid time off for their staff, according to the release.

The seven grants the agency gave itself totaled nearly $1 million. Managers said that the money was used to pay for services that would be provided to grantees, according to the report. Additionally, at least five of the grants Caring for Denver awarded to itself were reviewed by the same staff member who submitted them — a violation of the organization’s own policies.

Why is this organization even still a thing. This looks like blatant fraud dressed up as incompetence to me. You should click through here to see all the ways Caring for Denver Foundation DISAGREES that they need better accountability with taxpayer dollars. This is insane. The entire report is worth a glance, but a bare minimum it shows that the Executives running the joint don't have even a rudimentary understanding of how to properly list expenses or do their job. The entire Executive Board needs to go. Oh, and Leslie Herod already found another gig at another non=profit she can bilk until they catch up to her. You know what happens when I submit an expense report without proper documentation to IHeart? They don't reimburse me. It's really that simple.

TUCKER CARLSON IS PURE GRIFTER AT THIS POINT You may have seen the breathless reporting about his "detention" at the airport in Tel Aviv when he was leaving Israel after meeting with the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. Now video has emerged of him being "detained" in the VIP section of a secure area where he was asked standard questions asked of many travelers. THE HORROR.

I don't know how he survived. But I do know what it looks like when someone sells their soul for money, just follow his career.

WHO DOES EPSTEIN'S "ESTATE" BENEFIT? We know Jeffrey Epstein had no children, so why is his "estate" paying victims now to get his co-executors out of trouble? That is today's question. Read more here about why I'm asking the question.

DENVER LOOKS TO DESTROY ALAMEDA BOULEVARD And they are going to use pedestrian deaths as an excuse to take the buy four lane road down to two. I have a question. When a pedestrian dies on Denver roads, whose fault is it? Is it ALWAYS the driver, or is it because people don't use crosswalks and wander into the street? This is all based on the Vision Zero plan that was going to reduce deaths to zero. How's it going?

Vision Zero, a Swedish-designed program created to bring an end to road deaths and severe injuries, has been widely adopted in the U.S. The program was hailed after its introduction in Europe, but its record in American cities is mixed, with many, like Denver, experiencing no improvement or actual increases in deaths since its vision was applied.

Over the span since 2017, when Denver adopted a Vision Zero-inspired traffic program, deaths in Denver are up 82%. Crashes resulting in serious injuries in the city during the period have climbed 22%.

It's almost like a plan developed for a bicycle riding culture of natural rule followers doesn't work for a city full of drug addicted folks wandering around. Huh.

EPSTEIN'S ZORRO RANCH IS BEING INVESTIGATED As accusations have surfaced that two foreign girls who died during rough sex were buried on the property. I'm not sure how they are going to search 7600 acres of land, but we'll see.

THE DEM POWER GRAB IS COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY First off, add "unnecessary" to the list of words I never spell correctly the first time. Then read this column by our pal Jimmy Sengenberger about the latest moves to subvert OUR democratic process here in Colorado for the whims of national Democrats.

ALWAYS TRUST THE DOGS This is super cool.

THE BEST FROM DOGGY DAY CARE

THAT TIME DAN RATHER WARNED ABOUT IMMIGRATION This is fantastic and who knew Dan Rather was a fascist?

CHARLIE MUNGER GIVES THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION ADVICE And though he was half of the team along with Warren Buffet that made Berkshire Hathaway billions doesn't even talk about money.

MAMDANI VOTERS ARE SUPER SALTY They really should have asked some follow up questions before falling for his lines of crap. Like Republican voters here should do with certain candidates. Just saying.