Posted on 05/22/2010 8:24:34 PM PDT by Angelus
This is about the expansion of costs and beneficiaries in one of the Liberals most open and expensive welfare programs which is the Supplemental Security Income Program run by the Social Security Administration.
I was doing some research on the various entitlement programs and stumbled across this article from the Cato Institute from April 1995 (yes 1995 and it easily applies for today even more so then back then) titled SSI: The Black Hole of the Welfare State by Christopher M. Wright here is the Link to the article http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-224.html and to be quite honest I am truly amazed that we have not seen more articles like this at our current date or even debate about this particular Entitlement Program which has spun out of control and has lead to the draining of Social Security and the U.S. Treasury and is ripe with fraud, abuse, and waste.
Anyone who visits the Social Security Website and learns about this program will be shocked at how open and broad the definitions of Mental Disability are and how reforms are needed to this program (particularly in benefits to criminals). And with Social Security costing the taxpayers $700 Billion a year now (that’s more then the defense budget) and paying out more then it receives in people should start to pay attention to what is going on.
As stated on the Social Security website “Anyone who is: aged (age 65 or older); blind; or disabled.”
And who has limited resources qualifies for SSI. Now it is not the blind or the aged or the physically disabled that are SSI’s Problem. The Problem is the Program has such free and lose qualifications and criteria for what a Mental Disability is. And the Majority on the program are those who claim mental disability. The program is so Liberal anyone who suffers from
Substance addiction disorders (In other words drug addicts)
Personality disorders
Anxiety-related disorders (Ever feel Anxious or worried on the job? you may qualify for an entitlement)
Anyone with these disorders Qualifies for a $674 a month check! That’s $8,088 a year for doing nothing! AND YOU CANNOT LOSE THE CHECK. And on top of that there are numerous other little perks and goals that the SSI program has and that includes after 7 years on it you automatically get Medicare even if you are under the age of 65! From the SS website below I have the quotes from the SS website
1.“It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.”
2.And “If everyone in your home signs up for SSI or gets SSI, Social Security will help you fill out the food stamp application.”
3.And “If you have worked and paid into Social Security long enough, you also may be eligible for Social Security benefits while you are receiving SSI.”
4.And “If you are eligible for Social Security or other benefits, you should apply for them. You can get SSI and other benefits if you are eligible for both.”
5.On Medicaid it says “When you get SSI, you also may get Medicaid which helps pay doctor and hospital bills. Your local welfare or medical assistance office can give you information about Medicaid.”
6.And in case you are denied benfits Here is what their website says “Right to appeal” in bold letters and goes on “If you disagree with a decision made on your claim, you can appeal it.” And it gives advice on how to appeal.
7.There are even areas of the SS website that give advice on how to become a qualified Alien and receive benefits.
Basically they are saying lets give everything to everybody and forget about the costs involved.
The scariest part of SSI is that it goes to criminals Yes criminals, It sustains criminals. You cannot lose your benefits from SSI because you have a felony conviction, You can have multiple felony convictions and still retain benefits with no losses except if you are incarcerated for a full calendar month in which you will lose that month’s payment. In my opinion this is an unfair burden on society that the tax dollars from Law abiding citizens go to felons who claim mental disability and as a matter of fact the more crimes on someone’s record the easier it is for them to get SSI as it is easier for them to claim “My Bi-polar disorder made me commit that assault,” My Personality Disorder made me commit that Rape,” “My Anxiety Disorder made me rob that store,”etc. and they actually get away with it. The System as it is now and has been has allowed them to get away with it since its creation. Also think about those who fake mental disability to get benefits you would think there would be more monitoring of what benefit payments are made on and investigating if that person is truly disabled but there appears to be none. You would think felons would fake a mental disorder so they would not have to work and be more then happy to lie and put on an act to a psychiatrist from Social Security but our government does not think that way the current leadership and the liberals of the past who created this program feel that everyone is a victim and is entitled to everything money, food, medicine all at the tax payers expense.
And it should be noted that the majority of people on SSI are not aged or Physically disabled but “Mentally Disabled” and their numbers continue to grow and never cease growing. Nothing in this program has gone down it has spiraled out of control.
Below are the numbers that were provided from the Social Security website on the program and its history.
From the Website 01/01/74: SSI program went into operation as a result of the Social Security Amendments of 1972.
Year Beneficiaries Dollars
1974 - 3,996,064 $5,096,813,000
1975 - 4,314,275 $5,716,072,000
1980 - 4,142,017 $7,714,640,000
1985 - 4,138,021 $10,749,938,000
1990 - 4,817,127 $16,132,959,000
1995 - 6,514,134 $27,037,280,000
2000 - 6,601,686 $30,671,699,000
2001 - 6,688,489 $32,165,856,000
2002 - 6,787,857 $33,718,999,000
2003 - 6,902,364 $34,693,278,000
2004 - 6,987,845 $36,065,358,000
2005 - 7,113,879 $37,236,000,000
2006 - 7,235,565 $41,312,000,000
And now it is at 8 Million Beneficiaries and costs the taxpayers $ 49 Billion a year! Starting at $5 Billion in 1974 it is now $49 Billion and growing with plenty of new claims coming in every month they are even backed up with claims.
You would think that someone in our Government would realize the need to refine and reform this program! But none have spoken on it that I know of. Reagan targeted the program in the 1980’s but just purged the rolls and did not put any lasting reform or law on the books. But new rules are going to have to be placed on this out of control program and soon. A Conservative Congress after November should think about these reforms
For example 1.If someone has a felony conviction or gets one while they are on the program they lose their checks permanently. Make it like Section 8 Housing and Pell Grants you get convicted of a felony you lose the benefits.
2.End payments for people who have drivers licenses. If they can drive and have passed driving tests why can’t that person work as well as they already would have a means of getting to a job.
3.End back pay installments.
4.End the entitlement to Medicare.
5.End payments for illegal drug users.
6.Make criteria for Mental Disability more sensible instead of lose terminology that is very liberal and has lead to the problems in insolvency for Social Security with so many beneficiaries. But who am I kidding Congress would rather raise taxes and make new taxes for the working people then reform this insane program.
I need to add that in 2009 non voting delegates in the House of Representatives Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico, Gregorio Sablan of Northern Mariana Islands, Eni Faleomavaega of American Samoa, Madeleine Bordallo of Guam, and Donna Christensen of U.S. Virgin Islands have all attempted to expand the SSI Program to include all U.S. Territories around the Globe which if passed would bring tens of Thousands more people (non-voters nonetheless into the program at taxpayers expense). What do you think?
You would not believe how many people (able bodied people) I know who are on disability for reasons you would not believe..
yeah.. like alcoholism.
I know them, as well. It’s disgusting- people’s kids, too. ADHD qualifies. I have a “disabled” child (really, under any criteria...not just make-believe), but we don’t pull SSI, nor do we qualify, due to income criteria.
Very True I know a handfull too and It leaves me wondering if there is any oversight at all for this program and have come to believe that there is none.
There is none..you get a Dr. to set you up and there ya go. It’s amazing how many Doctors buy into this..it astounds me. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves and it must stop.
Alcoholism, carpal tunnel, bad back, bad neck, bad knee, depression, anxiety...you name it, you get paid for it. I know many waitresses who get on it because it pays just about as much as they make. I’m not making this up.
One I’ll gladly pay for: depressed, confused, Marxist ex-president dealing with universal rejection anxiety on 1.20.2013.
It basically allows for people to claim anything as Mentally Debilitating for why they can not work.
My biggest beef with the program is that it goes to Felons and Repeat felons nonetheless.
I know a woman. I’ll call her Patty. She was obsessed with a celebrity and was afraid her boss wouldn’t give her time off work whenever she wanted to go to one of the celebrity’s performances. So she went to a doctor and easily got him to sign a paper saying (falsely) that she was prone to seizures. With the signed document from the doctor, she easily got on SSI, receiving a check and food stamps. Even though people who have seizures aren’t supposed to drive, Patty has a driver’s license and apparently no one has checked up on her.
Her roommate, (I’ll call her Jane,) claimed to be Patty’s “aide.” Now, Patty doesn’t need an “aide” any more than I do, but Jane began to collect a SALARY for supposedly being Patty’s “aide.” Since Patty is supposedly “disabled” and can’t go anywhere without her “aide,” Jane gets to travel for free wherever Patty goes.
The two of them live like queens compared to me and most of the working people I know. They have full medical and dental. Patty visits a shrink for free. They have all the time in the world. They travel all over the U.S. and Canada, wherever the celebrity they’re obsessed with is performing. They buy him gifts. They have computers and nice cameras. All paid for by the taxpayers.
They learned how to do all this from friends of theirs who were doing the same thing. SSI is an incredible scam.
I know two individuals who haven’t worked in years and they say they’re not getting welfare, so it must be SSI.
All you have to do is know how to work the system, finding a way to get yourself labelled disabled in some broad, undefinable way. It’s a gravy train for able bodied moochers.
I know a few, and I want to motivate them with a big stick and a cattle prod.
ping
The key appears to be persistence. Nearly everyone is rejected with their first application, is what I've heard.
My adult brother had a breakdown and was hospitalized for awhile. When he came out, it was suggested that he apply for SSI. He could barely organize himself well enough to find his shoes, put them on and tie them. He was rejected. Family supported him or awhile after that, and he is self-supporting now.
yes, I would
and they live better than I do - (mid-seventies, soc sec) - and they get $200 in food stamps and No $100 a month for medicare payment or 20% co-pay or deductible And they don't pay for office visits And they have free counseling - all of which those of us who paid into the system all our working lives still pay.
It's never been a mystery to me why Soc Sec is going broke
Is it ever.
I was surprised when I read that the enrollees in the SSI program are 8 Million from my point of view that number seems too low. It seems there are way more.
20 Million sounds like a more realistic number to me and it may well be that in a few years.
You are right they do live like Kings and Queens with all their Food taken care of by Food Stamps, Their Medicine and Healthcare taken care of by Medicaid (which has dental too), and their Income of $674 a month for doing nothing.
It is the biggest entitlement scam and it needs to come to an end.
I wish there was at least one Conservative in congress or running for office who would even mention it.
Wait until comprehensive amnesty happens. That should double the SSI rolls easily.
With Programs like this and its sister program SSDI it is no wonder why we won’t have Social Security in the future unless practical reforms are made.
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