More Socialist (Mental) Disability Handouts

Picture By Gary Varvel - May 08, 2012

In February, I wrote this article discussing how many unemployed file for Social Security Disability (SSDI) at week 100 of unemployment, when the unemployment handouts run out. At the time, 43% of those claimants filed for "mental disability" due to depression and anxiety (and, I'm guessing, laziness).

The recent U3 unemployment figures came out claiming a drop in the unemployment rate to 8.1% (before the adjustments come out in a couple of weeks). However, the news is not good news. 169,000 more unemployment claims were filed than job positions filled last month. Once again, this drop in the rate is due to a decline in the workforce participation rate.The rate saw its greatest decline in 2009 after the Obama Administration took over. Those policies instituted by this administration in conjunction with the PPACA (Obamacare) have brought us to a point where of the participation rate of those of legal age and status to work is now at 63.6% That means more than 1 in every 3 people who could work are choosing NOT to. Combine that with the fact that now approximately 49% of the population is dependent upon government handouts, this is disgusting. This is NOT prosperity.

People have given up. The trend of people to claim "disability" once they hit week 100 unemployed has continued. There are now 2.2 million citizens on SSDI. Once on SSDI, people are removed from the workforce participation rate. They are, by law, limited in the number of hours they can work and income, if any. If they violate that amount, they are taken off of SSDI and lose those handouts. 43% or more of those are due to "mental disability". With counseling, medication, desire, and will, they could be part of the workforce. However, they have grown accustomed to living on government handouts instead of striving for self-sufficiency. Of course, many of them will vote for those who will keep them enslaved to those handouts. They have given up incentive to work and traded it to be enslaved to a nanny state. They are not truly disabled. They are stealing from the Social Security fund that hard-working citizens contribute into in hopes of receiving their share of the fund upon retirement.

"I've been out of work for 99+ weeks now. I'm depressed because my 'gender studies' degree won't land me a $100k a year job. I have anxiety that I will have to learn a skill and work my way up to a $50+K a year job. Here's a doctor's note. Give me my handout. I give up trying."

Out of the approximately 8.65 million people claiming SSDI, there are legitimate disabled people who did work and contribute. Many of them do still work those part-time hours. They should be outraged at those who file these fraudulent claims and steal from this fund. there are about 946,000 of them. The average monthly payment is $1,110. That is $1.05B a month in these payments, over $12.6B a year. (By my calculations, that amounts to $1,105 or one payment a year for each of these individuals each working taxpayer has to cough up.) Add that to the $4.2B in average fraudulent earned income tax credits paid to illegal immigrants utilizing forged and stolen ID and we have $16.8B we can cut from the budget just from actually enforcing the current laws. Of course, this is before we calculate Medicare and Medicaid fraud into the numbers.