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No mattert what there is not the moneyy to actaully continue a increase in SS disabilty cliams at the present rate bascially.Its really the governamnt who makes the fraud claims. But no matter what more and more claims can not chase lese and less money and will have to be addressed one way or the other.One way would be to just equte disabilty with normal SS payments without paying any more than at 62.That is the most likely to happen IMO.
A lot of government expenditures are chasing less money but that hasn't slowed down the US war machine or the taxpayer financed bailouts of the upper class. The powers that be seem to always find the $$ they need for their own agenda. In my view that's the sick part of our society, that we spend a ton killing people around the globe but can't seem to agree on what amount we should spend on the living here in our own country is truly revealing.
The reasons for all this consternation regarding the cost of government can be found on bluster radio/TV programs that are really fronts for the moneyed class who use this medium to rile the proles and rally them to scrutinize their neighbors lives instead of the real culprits who rob them unmercifully. It's just one of the many factors that speak to the terrible lack of knowledge in our country. Careful reading can be the key to thinking for oneself and then understanding who should be kicked in the butt, however, you'd need to read and that's just a whole lotta work compared to listening to someone shout and point fingers because he's paid to do so.
A ton of our countrymen now figure that the likes of Glenn Beck and others are just average guys who got their own platform on TV and are merely sharing their outrage, the puppet nature of these shouters is seldom questioned, but when I hear them speak I hear not their voice but the voice of the ultra conservative factions that would bring back the poor houses and child labor, if they could...
What's more is that these pied pipers are nothing new. They crop up in every generation and every society. To the rube they appear to be self made, but nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, they are merely Leninesque "useful idiots." Their over simplified and malignant ideas are useful to the monied interests and as a result they are fast tracked to the top. They are spellbinders who keep the masses distracted and discombobulated.
In addition, a careful examination of the ideas of Beck and others like him reveals that what they are selling more closely resembles a radicalized right wing populism than actual traditional conservatism. This is particularly interesting and worrisome considering that populist movements and the conspiracist scapegoating that usually accompanies them are known building blocks of fascist regimes. This was certainly the case in WWII Germany. But then as you pointed out, you would have to do a "whole lotta work" in the form of reading to actually understand these things which would definitely be in conflict with Joe Blow's "Ballgames and Budweiser" agenda.
I myself was on SSDI for @2 yrs. I couldn't live on the 700 bucks a month they were giving me so I went back to work, Been working since '92 but still physically qualify for benefits.......People will say everyones different but 70% percent of people injured as bad as I was don't live and 50% of those that do, don't walk again...............If I can do it anybody can.......
I myself was on SSDI for @2 yrs. I couldn't live on the 700 bucks a month they were giving me so I went back to work, Been working since '92 but still physically qualify for benefits.......People will say everyones different but 70% percent of people injured as bad as I was don't live and 50% of those that do, don't walk again...............If I can do it anybody can.......
Congrats on your can-do attitude and your strong will! Hopefully it won't be too much longer before you can claim your SS retirement benefit and that it'll be a lot more than $700 per month.
Several people have posted here, correctly I believe, that Social Security disability benefits are not the biggest or most serious problem our society faces. As the OP, however, I chose to inquire about this topic, and I see nothing wrong with that. While it may appear to some that I am a fan of Glenn Beck, that is absolutely not so. I am well aware of the culpability of big banks, Wall Street, big insurance, big pharma, the whole off-shoring trend, and others in bringing the middle class of the country to its knees, and I have personally acted on that knowledge by taking my banking business away from the mega-banks and giving it to local banks and credit unions.
My critics on this thread are right that in the broadest possible persective, there are more important things to talk about. But I am suggesting a more tolerant kind of perspective in which any matter of public policy is a legitimate topic; I never did intend to imply that SS disability was somehow of the ultimate importance. After all, there are people in other forums here talking about their pets, what kind of toys they buy for them and what kinds of lavish attention they bestow on them; that makes me shake my head in disbelief.
Personally, I think it is a very good thread you started. It remained a sane and controlled debate for the most part. The debate between the moral principle of social welfare and the hard logic of individual responsibility in a capitalistic society has been debated since the founders created our governing documents. I expect it to be so for a long time. The two sides of the issue are diametricly opposed on principle.
I haven't read all of thread and had a long post written and lost it all. But, when I saw the heading, my blood pressure went waaaaayyyyy up.
A new social security office has been built across the street from us and two separate law offices have been built facing the office, merely across a small parking lot.
I have a fellow doing some yard work for me and he is applying because he has been in prison several times and has post traumatic stress syndrome from being in prison. He said he was told the odds of getting it were very good. His exwife is applying because she has a bad back (so do I) and bipolar disorder and she has been and probably still is a drug addict.
I know whole families that are on SS disability. I know of a young woman, less than 30, who is on it, bipolar disorder. Of course, she drinks like a sailor and has been deep into drugs.
the fellow from the prison, his brother applied because he couldn't work because of his feet....(?). I don't know if they told him to lose weight or what......
It is a racket and a scam, just like the disability parking sticker. Anyone can get it if they get the right doctor.
I have to quit or my blood pressure will really be high.
Several people have posted here, correctly I believe, that Social Security disability benefits are not the biggest or most serious problem our society faces. As the OP, however, I chose to inquire about this topic, and I see nothing wrong with that. While it may appear to some that I am a fan of Glenn Beck, that is absolutely not so. I am well aware of the culpability of big banks, Wall Street, big insurance, big pharma, the whole off-shoring trend, and others in bringing the middle class of the country to its knees, and I have personally acted on that knowledge by taking my banking business away from the mega-banks and giving it to local banks and credit unions.
My critics on this thread are right that in the broadest possible persective, there are more important things to talk about. But I am suggesting a more tolerant kind of perspective in which any matter of public policy is a legitimate topic; I never did intend to imply that SS disability was somehow of the ultimate importance. After all, there are people in other forums here talking about their pets, what kind of toys they buy for them and what kinds of lavish attention they bestow on them; that makes me shake my head in disbelief.
I personally don't have a problem responding to the OP in a more direct manner, and it isn't that there are more pressing issues on the national table that bothers me. What I have noticed is that any subject that expresses the OP's concern with government expenditures hardly gets moving before the thread is one big rant about the evils of fraud in government and stories of the neighbors screwing the government. These initial respondent posts get to the point where I know I'm hearing the gospel of the reactionary agenda that would happily throw the baby out with the bathwater.
The drive to do away with SS altogether is gathering steam, Wall street will not be satisfied until they can "manage" it, most federal expenses that feed and clothe the poor are now being attacked by the most fervent enemies of any program that looks like it may be eating the lunch of private enterprise. This hatred of entitlement programs is being embraced by a ton of our youth who are being told that this is where their and their kid's future is being spent, on cheating bums who don't want to work. A real conversation/debate would follow along the lines of addressing the overall system not the anecdotal revelations about the neighbor that is on SSDI but still walks around looking none the worse for wear.
My short answer is that of course the fraud should be dealt with, and yes anyone found to be getting benefits unduly should be denied further benefits. How do we get rid of fraud? Hire more people to spy on the recipients and break even on the cost benefit? I'm sure that we could probably retain the services of a well known private security firm to weed out the offenders, again at what cost? It's certainly not an easy question and unfortunately there really are no simple good answers.
I'm always for fixing the wrongs in our country but I do fear the cabal of reactionary gangsters who would toss SS, welfare, medicaid, and any other benefit that we on the lower rungs may need to depend on. Just getting angry about the issues has become a replacement for thinking through the most obvious faults of government, a lot of young people are notorious for their lack of reading and applying the critical thought necessary for the much needed public discourse, worse, they are being led to believe (Glenn beck) that these programs are simply wasteful to the point that we should just get rid of them.
We'll never get to the point of 99% valid participation in these entitlements, the cost of vigilance is a very real cost and probably serves as a deterrent to a more costly scrutiny. All the thread starters are for the most part valid and decent questions regarding the problems we all face, but, if the thing degenerates into a another righty vs lefty shouting match not much gets revealed in the way of solutions. It's not about the topic....
The SS system is a progressive system that essentially takes away from the well -off to provide for the middle class and poor. It is a fact that the wealthy get a far less percentage back relative to the taxes that they paid in during their working lives. The poorer ppl can collect what they put in plus SSI payments if they qualify. when SS was created, it was sold to the American public as a program which would benefit EVERYONE. I find it disturbing that those who plan well, work and earn a lot would be "punished" for doing so by receiving lesser SS entitlements.
I also beleive that immigrants should be barred from receiving anything beyond what they put into the system. Too many of them are collecting far beyond what they put in by qualifying for all the gravy train entitlements like medicaid, SSI and medicare.
I disagree with this statement. You "only" get taxed on the first 106K of your earnings. Those contributing up to the capped ammount every year get the maximum benefit at time of retirement, regardless of wealth accumulated. Fairly equitable as far as government entitlement programs go. I hit the contibution cap in August of this year, my take home pay increased by @ $600 a month. A big deal for me every year when that FICA deduction stops hitting my paycheck.
There have been discussion on removing the cap and taxing FICA on all earning. Now that would be inequitable for the well-to-do.
Personally? My answer to the fraud in the system is this; If you receive ANY form of government financial assistance, you should be subject to random drug testing. If your testing comes back with anything other than what you have legal prescriptions for, you should lose all assistance for a minimum of 5 years.
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Perspective
