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I'm glad I don't live in your world. I know a guy in his early thirties who ended up disabled---brain damage---in an accident involving a front end loader that took off a chunk of his head. He has three kids and a wife who had to quit her job to take care of him because he can't be left alone. Fast forward three years and they lost all their assets trying to pay medical bills and live on a small amount of S.S.D.I. He didn't "work" for a free cell phone but he has one which in your world means he shouldn't have one. For every person who might abuse the system to get a free cell phone I'll bet there are ten others who are like my friend who really need a helping hand.
For the love of God, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THE DISABLED!
There are a lot of chronic pain conditions that are hard to prove medically. There are also some mental health conditions that are hard to prove medically but very real as well. Yes, I know there are a lot of people that fake these to get disability, but that doesn't mean there aren't people who really are suffering from them as well.
If you don't want to pay into social programs, fine. Do I get to decide whether my money goes to military causes like the production of weapons and bombing other countries?
I don't think there is anyone who agrees with every single cause tax money goes into. But does that mean we should all just stop paying taxes?
For programs that are unnecessary or counter-productive, yes, we should not have tax money paid into them. Welfare is the most counter-productive program out there, it should be a hand UP, not a hand OUT. I support short-term varieties of welfare to help people get back on their feet. No more generations upon generations living off the system.
And since you want to keep coming back to defense, I support spending cuts there as well. I just don't know what specifically b/c I have really no knowledge of the military to speak of.
That example is a tiny tiny portion of our "disabled". I know a guy who drinks and doesn't feel like working who gets disability. I know people who decide they have chronic fatigue and don't work but are perfectly able-bodied.
How about we leave your friend on it but kick off all the people who still have their whole brain and healthy enough limbs?
No, it's not a tiny, tiny, portion of our disability community. Just because you've never been around brain damaged people doesn't mean they aren't out there in large quantities. I personally know at least 50 brain damaged adults---my husband included---as opposed to knowing only one alcoholic.
I think we can all agree that the people who try to scam the system should be caught and/or never allowed to get benefits in the first place. However, they should NOT become excuses to completely scrap programs that benefit thousands of deserving people. Hire more people to screen applicants, if that's what it takes, but with all the budget cuts going on it's probably cheaper to let a few scammers slip through than to employee enough people to properly screen everyone.
Why penalize all poor people for just a fraction of the poor demographic? Instead of penalizing the whole, why not just create a better filter?
I agree. However, when I advocate for that, the liberals lose their minds and just call me a poor people hater, etc. God forbid we tweak the system to weed out the ne'er-do-wells. It's better than the alternative of just removing the system altogether. But again, I only support welfare as a means to an end, not just creating a different means to pay bills for the lifetime.
For programs that are unnecessary or counter-productive, yes, we should not have tax money paid into them. Welfare is the most counter-productive program out there, it should be a hand UP, not a hand OUT. I support short-term varieties of welfare to help people get back on their feet. No more generations upon generations living off the system.
And since you want to keep coming back to defense, I support spending cuts there as well. I just don't know what specifically b/c I have really no knowledge of the military to speak of.
Would you propose a system that allows us to have control over which portion of taxes we paid, each as individuals?
SSI has a cap on it of like $640/mo and it's intended for poor people. In Florida at least, you automatically get food stamps and Medicaid if you qualify for SSI.
SSDI is disability, that is based on your earnings over the lifetime. I think this also has a cap on it due to SS being taken out only on the first like $105k of earnings. But I know high earning people who get over $2000/mo, so the cap is at least that high.
I agree. However, when I advocate for that, the liberals lose their minds and just call me a poor people hater, etc. God forbid we tweak the system to weed out the ne'er-do-wells. It's better than the alternative of just removing the system altogether. But again, I only support welfare as a means to an end, not just creating a different means to pay bills for the lifetime.
I am liberal and I haven't lost my mind. I actually agree with you and don't understand why you didn't suggest that in the first place. I think that option makes a whole lot more sense than getting rid of the program altogether. That's like getting rid of school because of the few unruly students and irresponsible teachers. I also only support any of these programs as a means to an end, and I'm sure that's the case for anyone who can use it that way. Most people who use it for life do because they have no choice. Abusers of the system obviously use it for life out of laziness, but again, that doesn't erase the fact that there are plenty of people out there who are really in need of those benefits.
Sigh...my God. This is such a lefty thing to do. Deflect from the topic and spin it to make everyone who is against the idea look like *****holes.
As has been said, COUNTLESS times on here, we are NOT, that is, we are NOT, again, we are NOT, one more time, we are NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT!!!!!!!!
NOT! TALKING! ABOUT! THE! DISABLED!
But this is relevant to the disabled because a lot of disabled people make use of these programs as well. A lot of disabled people are poor, because to be honest, even if you're getting SSI, it's just enough to get by at best. I had to be on food stamps for awhile, and that was part of a general program, but it was still a result of having a disability in a bad economy. I was on SSI but supporting two other people (not children). SSI was just not enough to feed three mouths. Even with food stamps we were all under-eating. $200/month (which is the max amount) is not that much in groceries for a family of three. But it definitely made a difference. It was the difference between starving to death and just getting by, which is exactly what these programs are intended to do.
Would you propose a system that allows us to have control over which portion of taxes we paid, each as individuals?
That's not what I mean. As a citizen, it is our responsibility to pay for certain things like defense and infrastructure. Those things are beneficial to the country as a whole (ya know, living...can't do that if someone attacks us and can't even really get food without infrastructure). Paying for poor people to eat is in the best interests of those poor people, not everyone. Sounds bad to say that but it's true.
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