Just like the Sun Times has photographed "disabled" workers doing manual labor jobs and going on safari hunts..etc. I would bet that 2/3 of those on disability could easily be working. Most probably just see disability as a means to collect money without having to work for it. Pathetic.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!

Well Lobbys and Corporations are pretty much the same thing in this discussion

You cant be fine with one and want to get rid of another.

How much of that 2/3 is trolling?

I know you dont believe that. Give me a real number you actually believe.

Sorry, here is the link.


http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/

That much we can agree on.

And an educated voter is the best place to start.

_________________

i like how people can get on disability for being an alcoholic for 10 years, but i cant be on it because i have chrons disease- a disease doctors have no fucking clue how to cure or even treat. shit, they dont even know how to diagnose it. but its ok, its not like it was my fault... if i just drank this whole time that would be perfectly ok- just send the checks. such horseshit.

_________________
the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

question for you, ike: dan o'bannon, one of the writers of "alien", created the "chestbursting" scene because he said "that's exactly what it feels like", referring to his crohns disease. a friend of mine who also suffers from it said it was 100% accurate. you agree?

My sister has MS and they are jerking her around. Yet when I do my yearly visit to the office and I interact with some of the people who are there for the same reason as me it pisses me off.

_________________
When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

Are you unable to learn a new, non-physical trade? Computer programming? Something like that? You said you had a 120 IQ. Why not work in a lab or somewhere not requiring physical stress?

_________________
"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Would if I could but with all the medications I am on plus I can not sit,stand or lay for very long. I am trying to do homebased work with customer service stuff through Ticket to work companies. Once I do that I would be able but I am having time typing now because the meds make me shake like a Parkinson sufferer.
See I could just sit at home do nothing and coat but I am trying. The problem is there are so many people looking for the same job. DHS approved me for Dragon Speak so if I get a job like that I will not have to worry about typing. The other bad thing is I am on meds for depression. Because of all the shit I went through said something to my doc he then sent me to a psychiatrist so now I take that shit too and people don't want people on that shit.

_________________
When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

I thought it was understood I meant born equal.

Generational wealth isnt what you did with your years its what your parents and grandparents and in some cases going back several generations did with theirs

As a society we seem to believe that "hard work" is virtuous. That being the case, shouldn't there be incentive to work hard regardless of your situation?

Obviously, there are finite resources in the world. Do you think that the resources are actually divided correctly according to merit? Are the main bad allocations welfare and disability cheats?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Society would be a lot better if the truly qualified actually got the jobs. Instead it is usually someones neighbor or relative. Which works out sometimes, but in th epublic sector they tend to screw shit up and never get fired.

_________________

If we lived in a virtuous society, hard work would be it's own reward.

_________________

The guy on top is setting the tone. The guy gaming disability is simply reacting. That doesn't make him virtuous. But it just seems like the average middle class guy reserves all his disdain for the scumbag on the bottom and shows nothing but admiration for the scumbag on top.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Yes. There are obviously exceptions both at the high and low levels but almost certainly the resources are divided correctly. Just like anything in life, success depends on using what is at your disposal and figuring out how to overcome the disadvantages you have. Some start out with less disadvantages and others start off with more but for virtually every person there are multiple decisions you can look at that could have changed the financial outlook they have. The obvious exception are kids who are born to multimillionaires who are simply handed money and told to sit by a pool all day but those kids mostly end up wasting their lives and aren't successes.

It's not just about working hard. I could go out and collect cans for 18 hours a day and that would be really hard work. It would be stupid to do though as there are better ways to make money. It's about working hard and smart.

I would argue that Paris Hilton has worked harder and smarter than almost anyone who posts on this board, especially those with high post counts. On her own, she's made more money than most will in their lifetimes.

Most of the rich people I know worked harder and smarter than everyone else. The biggest advantage many of them had was that college was paid for, which is an advantage but no guarantee of success.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

That whole post is so wrong, I don't even know where to begin.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

paris hilton worked very hard to get a spot on "the simple life", which gave her the stardom she finally deserved after years of simply being the heir of a fortune. now she actually had a face of her own, which she used cleverly to exploit pornography under the guise of "sex tapes" and finally got to live her lifelong dream of starting fragrance lines.

there is no better example of the great american dream realized than paris hilton.

Bullshit. If you are healthy enough to challenge people to fights, and visit women offering special services, then you are healthy enough to hold a job in some capacity. Just admit that you enjoy cheating the system.

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

No you would not make that argument


Maybe its the business Im in, but most of the rich people I know have a II or III in their names and started out their careers with a safety net of having rich parents. That makes risks a lot easier to take. Yes, a lot of them work hard, but I think your downplaying the advantages.

Disability trust fund about to run dry

Nearly 11 million people depend on federal disability payments ... but the system is on the verge of running short of money.

According to a government report from last year, the Social Security Disability Insurance program is expected to exhaust its trust fund in 2016, years before either Medicare or Social Security. If that happens, the revenues coming in would only be enough to cover about 80% of the payments due to the disabled and their families.

"It means benefits would be cut," said Virginia Reno, vice president for income security at the National Academy of Social Insurance. "That has never happened before."

The trustees of Social Security and Medicare will release an update on the health (or lack thereof in this case) of the disability program on Friday. The annual report will also provide new estimates for the exhaustion of Medicare's hospital fund, now predicted in 2024, and of Social Security's retirement trust fund, currently set for 2035.

Though the disability program is the smallest of the three, it will be the first that Congress has to deal with. And there's not much consensus about entitlement reform on Capitol Hill these days. Attempts to rein in Medicare spending have gone nowhere recently.

The Social Security actuaries have calculated two ways to shore up the disability program. The simplest solution -- and one lawmakers have agreed to in the past -- is to divert more of the Social Security payroll tax to the disability program and away from the retirement system.

Here's how it would work.

Currently, the combined rate paid by employers and workers is 12.4%. The disability program's rate is 1.8%, while the retirement system's rate is 10.6%. Congress could authorize increasing the share going toward disability payments to 2.6% for two years and then slowly cut it back to 1.8% by 2030. This would keep the disability fund solvent until 2033, but it would shorten the retirement system's predicted lifespan by two years due to lower payroll tax revenue.

The other approach, which is more controversial, would be to raise the disability portion paid by workers and employers by 0.2% each. That would keep the program solvent for 75 years. But there's little appetite among lawmakers to raise taxes these days.

Related: Disability claims skyrocket: Here's why

While there has been a lot of attention paid lately to the surge in disability payments since the start of the Great Recession, the Social Security actuaries predicted the trust fund would run out in 2016 way back in 1995. That was just after the last time Congress diverted tax revenues to it.

There are several reasons why the number of people collecting federal disability has soared to nearly 11 million, up from 8.7 million in April 2007.

The aging of the baby boomer generation is one of the primary drivers. Workers typically enter the disability program in their 50s. So the spike in recent years is not a huge surprise for simple demographic reasons.

Also, more women have entered the workforce in recent decades, making them eligible for the program should they become disabled.

Certainly, the economic downturn pushed more people into the disability program too. It can be much harder for the disabled to find jobs when the labor market is tight, experts said.

But some argue that Americans are abusing the system. It's too easy to get into the program and too easy to stay in it these days, they say.

"It's morphed from a program that pays benefits to stroke victims and cancer patients to people with mental illness and back pain," said Mark Duggan, an economics and public policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "A ton of people are super needy but it's grown way beyond what it should be doing. It's crying out to be reformed."

What Congress ultimately does remains to be seen, but if they don't take action, the disabled will have to make due with smaller checks.

_________________
Hawaii (fuck) You

I'm pretty sure that someone could have terminal cancer and still have the ability to challenge someone to a fight over the internet. Same with getting some action from a special lady at a special massage parlor.

Doesn't mean one is healthy enough to hold a job.

How do you figure that she was "deserving" of stardom...as you put it?

I don't consider her to have ever really achieved stardom. Sure she became famous, or infamous at least. But her reputation was as a dense pincushion who liked to go out drinking/clubbing a lot. These days she keeps a low profile, which I am sure her family appreciates.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!

Steven, you don't really believe that post was serious do you?

_________________

Many of the advantages force them to work harder though. Tougher schools mean you have to work harder. Having expectations from birth that you will enter certain high profile fields means you have to work harder. Working high stress and competitive jobs that pay well means you have to work harder. I am pretty sure I would have had to work a lot harder to compete at a prestigious private school rather than an above average public school.

Obviously, there are people of all economic backgrounds that coast by in school, and some of them get lucky and things work out great for them but it's not like it's easy for anyone to get into a high profile job.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

RPB makes some good points. You're never going to have a society where people are 100% equal at birth. Our country has a very high gini ratio compared to most other developed world countries. It means there is a high level of inequality. To try to equalize everyone's starting point would require onerous government actions that would violate private property rights and many of our basic values.

Where we can help out the most is by providing all children with a great education. We already spend a lot of money on education (like health care), but we get very poor outcomes. There is unlimited opportunity for anyone to succeed in this society, but lower rungs of the economic ladder have a hard time changing their social status. Education, including technical skills training, would go a long way towards improving upward mobility.

_________________
Hawaii (fuck) You

That's the crux of it right there. More than any other society in the history of mankind, America has placed the rights of the individual over the those of the collective. That's our legacy. But that doesn't mean that will never change. Ever since the New Deal we've been chipping away at the concept that the rights of the individual trump all and addressing the responsibilities individuals have- or should have- to society as a whole.

A guy I know wrote a book that just came out called America 3.0. I recommend it, particularly for you, denis.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

He can fight people anytime, anywhere, but he can't do a job that involves little physical activity?

He can sit in a chair and type on a keyboard all day, but he can't do some type of data entry job?

He is the eternal victim, who feels sorry for himself, and cheats the system, while looking down on others for getting what they can. It's disgraceful, obnoxious, outrageous.

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Man, you definitely do have Chas on the brain, he seems to have taken up permanent residence in your skull.

He did say he is on a ton of meds and such, maybe that wouldn't be good for a data entry job?

You sure have gotten a lot of mileage out of that one. He wanted this, so I am just giving him what he wants. His stated goal was to call me out on all of my bullshit. I'm just playing his game.

I could say the same thing regarding you, and your need to respond to me, on matters such as this. I have heard your complaint, and it's obvious that I don't care what you think. Feel free to ignore me, if you don't like what I have to say.




He says a lot of things, many of which I suspect to be untrue. His stories seem to change as each lie gets exposed. He still hasn't answered why a guy with an IQ in the 120's, and who is physically fit enough to fight people, can't work. A lot of people are on meds, and can't earn what they used to, for whatever reason. Perhaps, he would get the benefit of the doubt, if he wasn't the first person to point the finger at those who he feels are takers. As far as I know, he doesn't have terminal cancer, so your previous analogy is ridiculous.

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way