If by some small chance Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky’s Tea Party darling, somehow wins the Republican nomination in 2016 in his bid for the White House, disability advocates should be shaking in their boots as Paul has indicated he wants to cut benefits to the program to make it sustainable.
Imagine the notion of balancing the entitlement program budget on the backs of disabled Americans who are unable to work and who are collecting much less in benefits than when they were working to make America strong.
Paul previously said that “over half the people on disability are anxious or their backs hurt.” It is a shame that a medical doctor by profession would mock Americans who have had to fight for their disability benefits and have proven they are disabled within a system that boasts the highest and strictest burden of proving disability.
Just a few days ago Paul was at it again when he said the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) “program should first of all prioritize those who are truly disabled” because the disability trust fund “runs out of money this year.”
First of all, the disability trust fund is not projected to be depleted to a point where it can only payout 81 percent of benefits until 2016 not “this year.” Second of all, who are these people “who are truly disabled,” Paul is talking about? Is he suggesting that over 50 percent of Social Security disability recipients are not “truly disabled” because they are anxious or have back pain?
Paul did unleash some of his wisdom of how Social Security could keep better track of who is really disabled and who are just lazy and collecting benefits. He mentioned disability recipients going through annual exams by independent doctors to determine whether they are still disabled. Unfortunately Paul doesn’t realize there is already a funding shortage as Social Security does not have the resources to accommodate such a wish and where is the money coming from to pay the doctors and increase the number of Social Security employees?
To read more about Paul’s plan click here.
