Why are so many Americans on disability?

[Anonymous]

Why not get a job and work? There are quadriplegics on ventilators who work. There are people with severe multiple sclerosis who don't demand our tax dollar support them. Why can't you work?

[Anonymous]

Fat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not get a job and work? There are quadriplegics on ventilators who work. There are people with severe multiple sclerosis who don't demand our tax dollar support them. Why can't you work?

You talking about the vets?

When it comes to the Department of Veterans Affairs, these two instincts may be in tension. The department’s budget has surged over the past two decades, rising from $86bn in today’s dollars (then equivalent to 2.6% of the federal budget) in 2000 to $336bn (5% of today’s budget) this year. It now receives almost three times as much as the Department of Transportation. Remarkably, this boom has occurred despite a nearly one-third decline in the veteran population, which has fallen from 26m to 18m. Annual spending per veteran, as a consequence, has risen six-fold.
includes programmes such as the department’s medical services. But the main driver of its spending surge is mandatory outlays for disability compensation. Between 2000 and 2024, such payments ballooned from $26bn, in today’s prices, to $159bn. Last year alone saw a 17% jump. And the department’s latest budget request forecasts that compensation will soar to $185bn over the next two years.

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/11/28/american-veterans-now-receive-absurdly-generous-benefits

[Anonymous]

If you’re my BIL, because it’s a far better grift than working a real job.

[Anonymous]

Almost every ex-military gets some sort of disability now. PTSD is common. There was a small scandal about how mamy airlines pilots with military background were collecting VA benefits for mental health issues yet not reporting it to the FAA as required by law. VA wasn’t talking to the FAA so directly.

People can’t afford to retire so apply for benefits. Especially older Americans in their 50’s and 60’s who have trouble finding work or people living in poor areas where jobs are not easily available.

[Anonymous]

How many decades was our Military fighting in overseas wars?

You are in DC. You see the remfs. The Military people who work in comfy offices.

You don’t see the actual combat veterans who are broken by their service.

Cue: “my husband, my bil, my neighbor’s husband, he has been in the Reserve for 19 years and he’s ok! And he deployed to the United Arab Emirates for 6 months!! It was shockingly horrible and he made it through ok!”

Do you know how many Military members cycled in and out of IRQ and AFG for decades?

I doubt you do, and if you do, I doubt you care.

[Anonymous]

Right, the DC people don't see the pain, they just want to drag us into more wars and then complain Americans aren't good little worker bees when the come back from the war trauma

[Anonymous]

Some people are just broken.

We either help them stay housed or else they’ll wind up on the streets.

Fwiw, I’d rather have people housed than have even more people on the streets. Ymmv

I know people IRL who are on disability. One basically destroyed their body with drugs and alcohol starting as a young teen through their early 30s/40s. Anxiety and depression coupled with liver and kidney disease along with a few head injuries can get you a monthly disability check. No clue how they pay their bills though; I’m fairly confident their parents supplement the income since they live in a high cost area.

Anyway, it’s complicated. But I promise that if you kick thousands off of disability then you will see a dramatic increase in homelessness (which is already bad enough imho).

[Anonymous]

Many people do work on disability, but they are probably no longer able to do what they are most qualified to make money doing. So disability pay can make up the difference.

I'm sure there are some people collecting disability who don't really need/deserve it, but I think the vast majority needs the support and deserves the support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many people do work on disability, but they are probably no longer able to do what they are most qualified to make money doing. So disability pay can make up the difference.

I'm sure there are some people collecting disability who don't really need/deserve it, but I think the vast majority needs the support and deserves the support.

Exactly. What's crazy is to send so many young men and women to do unspeakable things in the name of war for the owner class, and then act surprised their minds and bodies are effed. Want less broken people? Maybe stop tossing them into the machine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right, the DC people don't see the pain, they just want to drag us into more wars and then complain Americans aren't good little worker bees when the come back from the war trauma

You got it!!

I went into a public 'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap.
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes," when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Tommy, fall be'ind,"
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!
-Rudyard Kipling


Wars are “over,” what are all these people needing help for? They broke their minds and bodies in war? That can’t be, my neighbor is a Reservist and he’s fine. My grandfather fought in WWII and he was fine!/s


Dcum can’t fathom that people who served in combat might have lingering issues? Hmmm.

[Anonymous]

Oh don’t worry! Once they gut Medicaid these people have maybe 5 years left. Dead people don’t need Medicaid, Medicare, or social security.
Problem solved, soft eugenics for the win.
So now turn your ire on the disabled and the poor that can’t be or stay employed due to medical issues, appointments, chronic pain, things you can’t see or haven’t experienced so they obviously aren’t real.
Scapegoat them for a while, Stephen Miller will be so proud.

[Anonymous]

My military service gave me a life threatening, disfiguring disability. They give me a disability payment not so that I won't work, but to offset the cost and loss of function. Think of it like a settlement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My military service gave me a life threatening, disfiguring disability. They give me a disability payment not so that I won't work, but to offset the cost and loss of function. Think of it like a settlement.

Thank you for your service. I am glad our tax dollars are available to people like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My military service gave me a life threatening, disfiguring disability. They give me a disability payment not so that I won't work, but to offset the cost and loss of function. Think of it like a settlement.

Thank you for your service. I am glad our tax dollars are available to people like you.

Thank you