Good essay Bray.
I’m so sick of that stupid Obama, YEAH I SAID IT! If he were near me in striking distance I’d reach out and punch him in the face for constantly talking silly nonsense about how well we are doing.
This economy is so bad it sickens.
I was quite intrigued over that interesting stat re disability claims recently being so darn high.
Like Rush Limbaugh said last week, softly....”You gotta eat.”
This rise in SS disability claims is no surprise. It’s the BEST way to be assured of a regular check each month PLUS health insurance.
Just need to be disabled is all.
There’s the rub. “Disabled” is a substantive term after all.
Again, like Rush pointed out, all you gotta do is get a lawyer. Almost ANYBODY can get a disability classification nowadays, so long as one is ready to go six months without money and willing to slug it out.
Bi-polar is a good one. Can’t prove it, go nuts enough times to disallow a steady job, maybe enter some kind of rehab program.
It’s anecdotal but folks, by coinkydink, all around me I’ve known several folks who’ve gone on disability and by me, none of them were all that handicapped.
Still and so, for example, one guy had a motorcycle accident when he was in his 20’s.
Terrible thing, messed his leg bad, but he returned to work and worked very hard for many years. He’s a bricklayer, now in his 50’s and....well I dunno, he just can’t get a steady job. And when he does he’s got all kinds of problems doing it as bricklaying, while a well-paying job, is tough work.
In exasperation he applied for SS disability and he got it and frankly he probably should have. He likely could have been collection disa all his life but he could get work, he was young.
Another guy I know (these are boyfriends of my nieces)...nice guy, worked all his life. Same thing. He’s close to 60, always had health issues but he too worked and supported his family.
He got laid off, he’s 60, he’s got health issues that are bad enough, obviously, to have him collect SS disa. IF he was still employed I suspect he would keep on working.
Point is that the economy is effectively culling down those older, not so hale and hearty folks, onto the disability rolls.
IE, it’s another sign of a failing economy.
Again, my stories are anecdotal but I suspect fairly typical.
People are dropping out of the work force and like Rush says, they gotta eat.
I know several people who are now on SSD who are in their 20’s and 30’s. The biggest reason—Drug Addiction! Yes, you can get SSD for doing drugs now.
I recently taught a class for the regional Social Security office here. They told me they’ve been directed by the highest echelons of their agency to approve more SSD claims as quickly as possible!
They’re not happy. They told me fraudsters and ne’er-do-wells they’ve previously rejected are now getting approved in record numbers.
When they’ve brought up the costs issue and how this will further erode the deficit SocSec is currently under they’re told to shut up and not worry about it.