“Well, some of us are permanently disabled and that is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Obviously you are not ashamed. That was my point - not that you should be ashamed, but that you should be less eager to advertise your dependency.
The problem for taxpayers like me is that a good many of you on disability are not permanently disabled, if disabled at all, and that, too, in the new definition of “conservative” we live in is nothing to be ashamed of either.
What is deserving of my pity, and I do pity you, is your long-term planning for dependency, so much so that you are quite publicly inquiring as to how to purchase a house with you new entitlement revenue stream.
“So please stop thinking that everyone who does not work is a freeloader and doesn’t want to work. Your attitude does not serve you well.”
I won’t let you characterize the discussion incorrectly. You may or may not be a freeloader, I simply do not know. But you are definitely an entitlement state dependent. If the government did not send you a check, you would be destitute, correct?
That is sad, and it used to be nothing to crow about.
I think jodyel was looking for information from the freepers, not crowing about and advertising his condition. I understand and share your frustration though.
Oh ya think?? Still here you are making assumptions and accusations.
Wow, you are a piece of work!
Amazing that I am trying to become self-sufficient and buy my own home so that I do not have to depend on anyone other than myself and what I receive in benefits. Even that is not good enough for people like you.
What would you have the permanently disabled do since they cannot work again? And why do you think I am in an entitlement program when I worked for 35 years and paid into this program for disability or retirement.
I am not receiving welfare, nor food stamps, nor anything else. Just what I paid in and what I would have received had I retired instead. Will you be giving up your SS retirement payments when you retire? No, I didn’t think so.
So shut up and sit down if you have nothing helpful to contribute to my question. I don’t need you or your pity.
Just because a person become unable to work as in hold down gainful employment due to disability or disabilities doesn't mean they stop being an asset to family and society. I worked before disability on the average of 54 hour weeks and I was a full time medical caregiver at home. Actually I was caregiver to two persons and working. Our daughter was laid up for a few months from a car wreck. She was the caregiver when I was working.
Finally after about a year of increasing functional issues one night my body and brain said enough. Some life long neurological issues I had been able to function with while working had reached a point where I couldn't. I didn't see any point in getting someone killed tryi any longer.
I'm still a caregiver I have about as much knowledge & skills as a LPN. Because of than my wife can live at home. When dad a couple years ago was terminal with cancer I became nurse because I was the family member who knew what to do and could handle it mentally. Mom is up in years and yes I'm going to care for her as well.
Yes I've seen severely disabled persons work. I have a cousin that holds a government job. She has to have a full time assistant {government paid employee} to care for her needs and assist her at work. You want to talk about cost?
Some disabilities are visible and obvious some are not. Mine as of yet doesn't have a medical name because it is several overlapping conditions. It involves or started in the Inner Ears they know that much and I'm also one eye functional from birth. But the seizures that started happening and my loss of ability to concentrate and tolerate noises etc is what finally forced me to retire.
I look as healthy as a horse. My concentration ability on a lot of days is low. When that hit me so did PTSD from a bunch of events that finally brought me to the point. The PTSD I got over the rest I didn't.
For two days after my last night at work all I could do was answer yes and no questions. Would you want a Boiler Operator in that condition? Certain noises, certain visual stimulation set my condition off. Add to that my feet and legs are arthritic from 56 years of walking off balance. I wear corrective shoes but my walking especially on concrete is limited. Arches fell and I'm also Club footed both feet. The only visible hint of disability is a cane I use for balance and to lift myself back up from the floor if I have to kneel down to pick something up.
For 28 years my wife and I have done as much as we can for ourselves. She was a health care worker when she went quad. A 4'10" 85 lb woman lifting patients in and out of bed. Her body due to that and likely Polio at some point in her childhood said enough is enough. She was 35 when it hit her and in about an hour she walked no more.
But hey if she could get up and walk then by golly she darn well would. Now you want to do some basic math? When I retired 18 years ago I worked in a nursing home. Rooms were well over $100 plus a day just room and board.
Let's do some figuring here. Lets take a basic figure of $125 a day times one year. That equals out to $45,625 a year just for room not counting meds etc. Now lets multiply that yearly figure by 28 years and we get 1,227,528. OK now let's take a SSDI payment averaged out $500 a month times 28 that comes to $168,000 total disability payments my wife has likely drawn in 28 years. BTW medically she qualifies for a nursing home. Which was cheaper? 28 years and her check is now $620 a month. I draw a whopping $850. I only draw $850 because my last two years working I took every minute of overtime I could get.
You read about the abuses and yes I know there are gamers out there. Although the few persons I do know who are on disability besides my wife and I all had to hire a lawyer and wait two plus years. My wife was even turned down first time. A lot of people confuse SSDI with SSI as well. We do not draw SSI.
Working in a nursing home I saw something many don't see. Parents that could still live at home with some assistance placed i nursing homes because the kids they brought into the world turned out to be "I refuse to help my family" adults. Granted some persons due to things like Dementia and Alzheimer's must be placed in secure facilities for safety. Family would come in for their once a year visit to their parent. They were usually the ones wjhho also bitched the loudest about the care being given.