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Sen. Tom Coburn's claim on percentage of SSDI, SSI recipients is on the mark.
tampabay.com ^ | December 18, 2010 | Louis Jacobson

Posted on 01/02/2011 11:36:02 PM PST by Angelus

The statement "One in 19 Americans today get SSDI or SSI. That's one in 19 Americans (who) are disabled." Sen. Tom Coburn, Dec. 1, 2010, in a meeting of the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission.

At a meeting of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform — the Simpson-Bowles commission tasked with finding a solution to deficits — one panel member, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., cited disability payments as an example of government spending "out of control."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: ssdi; ssi
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To: Gaffer

Call the national number and make an appointment, those are seen FIRST over walk in’s.


41 posted on 01/03/2011 7:31:34 AM PST by GailA (DEMOCRATS and RINOS are BAD for the USA.)
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To: bushwon
Been people gaming the system since the 70s!

All I've got to do is increase my drinking from occasional to daily, and they'll send me MONEY? Where's the downside with that?

< /sarc >

42 posted on 01/03/2011 7:31:43 AM PST by JimRed (Excising a cancer before it kills us waters the Tree of Liberty too! TERM LIMITS, NOW AND FOREVER!)
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To: Angelus

There are 2 adults less than 2 miles from me who are brother & sister. They are in their late 30’s or very early 40’s.

They each collect $800 a month in ‘Disability” payments-—and have been for a number of years.

Because they are TOO FAT!!!

They claim they are TOO FAT to be able to work!!!

Neither one will ever make any attempt to lose weight & actually get some skill sets & get a job—instead they continue to eat their way thru life on their $800 a month each from NObama.

They squat for free in the home of their mother & stepfather. The mother is just as much of a parasite. Another story......

A contrast? I started work when I was 15 on a payroll. Part time when in High School. I am now 71.

This is the 3rd consecutive year I am collecting a FROZEN Soc Sec amount of $1039.00 Prices on everything have & are going up.


43 posted on 01/03/2011 8:38:51 AM PST by ridesthemiles
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To: cva66snipe

Thank you. Most people don’t realize they are 2 separate programs. One I welfare and one is not.


44 posted on 01/03/2011 9:04:15 AM PST by sheana
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To: cva66snipe

I guess I am having a hard time understanding why anxiety disorder is something that should get a person disability payments.
I understand paralysis, MS,cancer, brain damage, etc.- but anxiety disorder?
It also seems to me anxiety disorder can be easily faked.
This is why the system- well intentioned when it started- is now going broke.


45 posted on 01/03/2011 9:05:21 AM PST by kaila
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To: cva66snipe

You seem to write lucidly enough, had you ever considered trying to get a career in writing? It’s not a very big field, but for the lucky or hard-working it can be a career.

I do it as a hobby, so my income is miniscule, about $30 a column, but if I had ever figured out how to sell my column to, say, 49 other publications a week, that would have been $1500 a week for about 6 hours of work.


46 posted on 01/03/2011 9:33:00 AM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: cva66snipe

You are living in a dream world.

SSDI/SSI is the biggest scam in the world.

Particularly for children.


47 posted on 01/03/2011 9:38:49 AM PST by GatorGirl (Eschew Socialism!)
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To: cva66snipe

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes): It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income; and It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.

Sure sounds like a disability program to me. Yes, it is for people with limited resources and income, but it’s not welfare for anybody, you also must be disabled, old, or blind.


48 posted on 01/03/2011 9:40:40 AM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: kaila
I guess I am having a hard time understanding why anxiety disorder is something that should get a person disability payments. I understand paralysis, MS,cancer, brain damage, etc.- but anxiety disorder? It also seems to me anxiety disorder can be easily faked. This is why the system- well intentioned when it started- is now going broke

Never seen anyone in a full blown attack have you? My first attack was like a stroke. I lost all sense of where I was at, what I was doing, how I got there, where I was going, etc. I was on an interstate driving BTW. My last night at work I went into one of those attacks that lasted nearly two days. Many if not most anxiety disorders except when related to traumatic events have an underlying NEUROLOGICAL cause. The problem is many doctors do not go through the trouble to pin it down and shrinks sure won't.

IOW anxiety is a secondary disorder or a symptom produced by a medical disorder as in my case. In this case it can not be treated by a shrink nor by conventional text book meds used such as antidepressants as that only makes it worse. It took me a while to even find a doctor who could treat it. Xanax is my medication friend. A God send for someone like me.

This also greatly effects my concentration. I was a maintenance mechanic when this hit. I was trained and experienced in Commercial Electrical, HVAC, and boiler operations. Before I had to quit I was having serious problems with concentration. IOW I could have gotten myself or others killed. I was working on equipment 460 volts three phase as well as operating boilers when I wasn't repairing other equipment. I wasn't a typical maintenance man this was in a commercial health care facility environment. Now I'll show you part of what I'm talking about by letting a doctor explain some of it. Cognitive Aspects of Vestibular Disorders

I got a lot further in life with this simply because I got help when I was about 12. I spent two years in physical rehabilitation. There I learned to get by till my mid thirties when my sensory system began to fail. My attacks are complicated by Myoclonic Epileptic Seizures which occur at the same time.

Stress also complicates this. I don't just sit around drawing a check. I am a full time 24/7 caregiver. By caregiver I mean I am a trained medical care giver. I don't get paid for it. Familiy does not get paid for taking care of family. I've done it 25 years including the years I worked a full time job.

Can it be faked? The onset of MS can be faked so can brain damage. Sure anythings possible. I have 16 years documentation of my disorders. I suppose my wife could be faking her quadriplegia also. Man if I ever catch her up and walking is she ever in trouble /sarcasm.

49 posted on 01/03/2011 11:13:35 AM PST by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: CharlesWayneCT
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes): It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income; and It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. Sure sounds like a disability program to me. Yes, it is for people with limited resources and income, but it’s not welfare for anybody, you also must be disabled, old, or blind.

I've been on it once. It's been 25 years so I forgot a few things. Actually my wife and step kids were eligable I wasn't. We used it for about a year when my wife first went quad till I could get my wife stabilized and family trained so I could return to work. Our combined disability monthly income is about $1400 so we don't qualify.

50 posted on 01/03/2011 11:21:09 AM PST by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: cva66snipe

To be fair, I overstated my objection to your comment. You weren’t wrong in pointing out that it’s like a welfare program; I was only noting that it requires both being poor AND having a disability (or being old).


51 posted on 01/03/2011 11:30:33 AM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: REPANDPROUDOFIT
I worked in a public school. There were two full time counselors on staff and they spent a large part of their time processing SSI claims for ADD and ADHD students. It was a severely abused process. Made us sick to see these moms, who didn't work at all, come in with paperwork for 3 or 4 kids. They were always "very anxious" to start getting those SSI checks! You assume that we are all heartless creeps with no sympathy for the disadvantaged! Wrong! The truly disabled deserve help. But, we have no sympathy for those who refuse to help themselves or those who contrive to get benefits!

Nah I don't think anyone so far is a heartless creep. But I do know the solution to the ADD ADHD issue. Most kids I'd guesstimate 90% diagnosed as ADD ADHD are actually C.A.P.D. and would not be entitled to any special funding. C.A.P.D. can only be tested by Audiologist which stops Big Pharm Lobby. Audiologist can only prescribe hearing aids LOL.

52 posted on 01/03/2011 11:40:05 AM PST by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: GailA

I had and appointment. It took that long to get to see someone.


53 posted on 01/03/2011 11:56:38 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: rambo316

I worked as an SSI claims rep. right out of college for a year. Absolutely disgusted me to the point I quite and went back to grad school rather than promote that evil program.

Most of the applicants had “bad nerves” or a “bad back”. Nothing wrong other than a streak of lazy in 90% of the cases. If I could disqualify them on financial grounds I would, but once it went to the dept. of determinations it was all on the medicos then.

One thing you could count on, if a man or woman got it, within 6 months you could bet the house payment their significant other would be in there filing with the same ailment.

This was 20 yrs. ago and the full check was around $700 or $800 then, and they always wanted that “good medical card, cause it pays for everything!” that came along with SSI.

The tipping point for me was when the office manager came into the weekly staff meeting and informed us they were beginning an advertising campaign because we were not getting enough applicants for SSI.


54 posted on 01/03/2011 12:01:55 PM PST by sarge83
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To: cva66snipe
First off, you can detect MS from a MRI. Probably not at the beginning stages, but i doubt people with MS are claiming disability right after diagnosis. It is after a few years of increasing problems with the disease, that they then claim SSI.

I think anxiety disorder is a neurosis, not a psychosis.
Many Americans have neurosis, I just do want to pay for it with my tax dollars.
If you have a psychoses like schizophrenia then you do deserve SSI. However, anxiety is a neurosis. I have anxiety, also. My anxiety is the stress of my job, and that my husband and I have to work longer,and delay retirement so that people with neurosis can live on my increasing tax burden.
There is such a thing as job retraining. Especially prior to the last recession, you could have retrained into a different profession if the one you currently are in does not suit your physical abilities.
I especially suspect people who have a laundry list of ailments to support their disability status.
It is great that you are able to take care of your wife ( who deserves SSI).
But some people ( including my coworkers) have to support ailing family members while working full time.
I have a brother who collects SSI. he suffered high jaundice as a newborn, and caused kernicterus. he deserves SSI, as he is very disabled. I would have loved it if he only had an anxiety disorder.

55 posted on 01/03/2011 12:10:50 PM PST by kaila
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To: Angelus
I have some apartment rentals and would estimate that about 3 out of 4 applicants list SSI disability as their income. Most of them "appear" to be quite able.

Also, when I fist moved to where I live now, I hired a guy who lives on his sailboat at a nearby marina to mow my lawn on a regular basis. He had been fighting to get his lifetime disability for about 3 years (for falling off a ladder). He finally got it, along with a retroactive payment. He kept working mowing people's lawns, and spent most of his spare time sailing (solo) and boozing. He did however manage to finally drink himself to death.

56 posted on 01/03/2011 12:12:41 PM PST by Cementjungle
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To: CharlesWayneCT
You seem to write lucidly enough, had you ever considered trying to get a career in writing? It’s not a very big field, but for the lucky or hard-working it can be a career. I do it as a hobby, so my income is miniscule, about $30 a column, but if I had ever figured out how to sell my column to, say, 49 other publications a week, that would have been $1500 a week for about 6 hours of work.

LOL Let me post to you without any editing. I can't see my own grammar or sentence structure mistakes. My brain has trouble with recognizing then correcting such mistakes. My concentration window per day can be as little as 15 minutes and is fatiguing. You may not understand that part but it is a common trait in Vestibular Disorders.

I stay busy as much as my mind and body will allow me. I have a full time 24/7/365 job at home. People complain about cost let me throw some figures out there. Our annual income is $17,000 roughly. Thats for two person both on SS disability combined income. Now then if I wasn't taking care of my wife she would be in a skilled care facility. That would run anywhere from $50,000-$75,000 per year. Which is cheaper? If I was able to work I would but my own medical issues plus my wifes medical issues make it impossible. Taking care of both of us is about my limitations.

I do have a realitive who has only finger movement and works. A person has to assist on the job including driving etc. That means that person also must be paid. The job? Government funded created make work. Going around interviewing other disabled to work in government make work programs. These back to work programs usually do not pan out due to the realities of the diabilities. They are however a windfall for the contractors running such training programs.

This afternoon I took our van to a repair shop for a repair 16 years ago I could have done myself which is a water pump replacement. Like I said if I could I would. I haven't been under a vehicle in 15 years. Vertigo hits me hard when I do.

57 posted on 01/03/2011 2:06:50 PM PST by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: Angelus

The Boston Globe ran a great series on the SSDI scam. Had 2 democratic congressmen promising to bring it up this session.

ADD and ADHD now qualify for SSDI payments. One family was receiving $800 a month/child for ADHD “disability”


58 posted on 01/03/2011 2:11:25 PM PST by Hoodlum91 (There's a strange odor coming from the White House. Smells like BO.)
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To: GailA
We had a man in our Sunday School class who needed a heart transplant, couldn’t work even if he wanted to. Took him 3 tries to get on SSDI. Was on it 2 years before he could find a ‘match’. A year after the transplant when he was stable, he was back to work and off SSDI.

He was very fortunate in many ways. I knew one of the first kidney transplant patients in our state. He had to remain on it till he died. I know a person who has a severe heart condition. Can't be by-passed no more and the arteries are clogging around the heart ruling out transplant. This is from hereditary issues. The person has been told it's a matter of time. It took that person two years and a lawyer to get SSDI. To look at him and talk to him you'd think healthy as a horse. He's by no means healthy or able to do even minimal work. He can care for himself that's about it.

This is what some are not getting though. Just because a person can walk and talk and you can't see with your eyes a disability doesn't mean they don't have one..

59 posted on 01/03/2011 2:24:20 PM PST by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: kaila
First off, you can detect MS from a MRI. Probably not at the beginning stages, but i doubt people with MS are claiming disability right after diagnosis. It is after a few years of increasing problems with the disease, that they then claim SSI.

One of the first things they checked me for due to my symptoms was MS. Like I pointed out many anxiety disorder patients are ones like myself that have other neurological issues and Anxiety is A SYMPTOM of that disorder. One very common disorder is Inner Ear Infection. It can trigger major anxiety.

The problem is most doctors no longer do enough detective work nor ask the right questions so these disorders are detected and treated before permenant damage happens.

I had a cousin who had anxiety real bad. Loud noises etc would set him of. He spent thousands on test and doctors. I told him he likely had Inner Ear issues. He finally went to a semi-retired old geezer GP who asked the right questions. Questions like were you in Nam? Were you exposed to loud noises like artillery fire while there? Did you have ear infections as a child? Five shrinks did not ask me any of this line of questioning nor did my doctor by my medical history pointed toward it as well.

You don't get it though. I have been told by all doctors who have treated me I can not work. You have no idea about stress. You likely would walk out of the situation I am in and say no not me. Part of what made my physical decline arrive sooner rather than later was stress. I worked 12-14 hours a lot of days. Then I came home and cared for my wife who depends on me for all her needs. I worked till I could not work anymore then I went back to work and did more damage? You happy now? You know about as much about anxiety disorder and differing causes as you likely do rocket science.

Let me school you on a few things. Try this web search. Anxiety +Vestibular Disorders. Better yet here ya go http://vestibular.org/vestibular-disorders/symptoms.php a very respected source. Not all anxiety didorders are mental illness or neurosis but rather a symptom of neurological impairment.

Excerpepted from that site as Vestibualr symptoms related to anxiety

Cognitive and psychological

* Difficulty concentrating and paying attention; easily distracted
* Forgetfulness and short-term memory lapses
* Confusion, disorientation, difficulty comprehending directions or instructions
* Difficulty following speakers in conversations, meetings, etc., especially when there is background noise or movement
* Mental and/or physical fatigue out of proportion to activity
* Loss of self-reliance, self-confidence, self-esteem
* Anxiety, panic
* Depression

That was not from a mental health site BTW.

60 posted on 01/03/2011 2:54:47 PM PST by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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