There's a whole bunch of people that I see on a regular basis at work that don't have to work anymore - but they still get paid! They have all found out about the "Disability Train". Apparently, there's legions of doctors and lawyers that enable these people to collect their "free" paychecks. If you ask them what their disability is, invariably it's a bad back, bi-polar disorder, nerve damage in their feet, etc - stuff you can't see & pretty much have to take the patient's word for the "pain" they are feeling.
These are able-bodied people that go out & about, doing whatever they want - but for some reason - are able to get a monthly check for some "disability" that doesn't keep them from shopping & having a great old time. These people are no longer looking for jobs & are therefore, not in the statistics of the unemployed.
To me - if you can drive a car, walk up & down the street, shop until you drop, read the newspaper & talk on the phone to your friends all day - you certainly should be capable of "working".
When budgets were cut and as a result, her staff, the pain and daily struggle it took to work were no longer worth the effort. She retired.
Perhaps some people make an extraordinary effort to work as long as they can until a layoff or corporate restructuring increases workloads to the point where they just can't do it anymore.
But we should be grateful for disability retirements, they give us low unemployment numbers and make the economy look better than it is.
To me - if you can drive a car, walk up & down the street, shop until you drop, read the newspaper & talk on the phone to your friends all day - you certainly should be capable of "working".
Why wast time being envious of someone who lives in constant pain or with a mental disorder?
I believe these freeloaders use the illegals as a convenient excuse to fake illnesses. After all if I think I'm worth $20.00 per hour for unskilled labor and illegals are willing to work for $10.00 per hour, then I feel justified in sticking it to the system because I am a victim. Just going on welfare is the equivalent of minimum wage and you don't have to do any work.
There are some unskilled, semi-literate, Americans in this country that are getting overrun. I can understand their anger and frustration, and I guess this is how the system accommodates them. There are also many addicts, bums, and others that take advantage of the free ride.
F.Y.I. Every illegal who applies for 'welfare' benefits with Medicaid are required to apply for SSI in order to 'prove' why they are unable to be employed. And because they are required to do so and because their applications are processed through the same SSA as those Americans who are truly disabled, it has caused people like me, who once had a very successful career, but who absolutely can no longer work, and with overwhelming evidence of disability, to wait 3 years for Disability determination! I doubt most any of us have a savings that will allow us to live for three years without being humbled by the need for assistance. "But for the grace of God..."
I do agree however, that when the 'welfare' laws were changed and the two year limit enacted, those who were using 'welfare' as a paycheck decided that a 'disability' paycheck was the answer to their complete and utter laziness. Regardless of how little merit their claims may have, (stubbed my big toe) their applications too are processed through the same SSA and have caused a backlog here in Ohio of 10,000 plus.
The system needs to be fixed and no benefits given to illegal aliens. I've said this before and I'll say it again...I recently received a notice for renewal of medicaid. I was told that as an American Citizen, I was required to show proof of Citizenship. Non-citizens are not!
Many servicemen and women are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious disabilities and will receive checks the rest of their lives, while others are claiming disabilities of a nature you describe and will be receiving $5,000 to $6,000 per month for their 'hidden' injuries.