"TOMMY, GO AWAY":

A key reason the Department of Veterans Affairs offered recently to explain the wide disparity in veterans monthly disability checks across the country is undercut by the agency's own data. The data show that on average veterans of the same war receive vastly different payments, depending on where they live. ...

As an example, the inspector general's report pointed out that Vietnam veterans on average bring home bigger checks than those from World War II - and that "states with a high percentage of Vietnam veterans and a low percentage of World War II veterans have higher average compensation payments."

But World War II vets in New Mexico not only get more money than World War II vets in Illinois - they also get more money than Vietnam vets in Illinois. It suggests that the wide differences aren't due to what percentage of World War II vets live in a particular state but how the VA officials in those states decided claims.