If you listen to the noise out of Washington, the right is once again attacking Social Security! The latest target of the conservatives in Congress are disabled Americans receiving Social Security benefits. I am sure you’ve already heard the messaging: Social Security disability fraud is rampant because it’s so easy to receive benefits and people would rather collect a hefty check from the government than work. It’s the 2014 incarnation of “our nation is full of ‘welfare queens’ and ‘greedy geezers.’” It also suffers from the same basic problem...it’s simply not true.
The timing of this attack on Social Security’s disability program is not an accident. It’s the cornerstone of Congressional Republicans’ campaign to oppose both President Obama’s nomination of a new Social Security Administration Commissioner and the routine reallocation of the Trust Fund to prevent a 20% disability cut in 2016. Rather than address the disability shortfall head-on, as Congress has done many time before, conservatives hope to hold the disability program hostage in return for cuts throughout the entire Social Security program.
Brothers and Sisters, we are smarter than this. We cannot fall for the old divide and conquer politics that the GOP loves to promote. “Welfare queens and “greedy geezers” are simply villains created by disingenuous politicians to grossly misrepresent the truth. It infuriates the masses and builds support to fix a problem that doesn’t exists. This takes the focus off of the real villains. Those who seek to destroy Social Security.
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) stated, “There is a quiet, covert war being waged on Social Security. The tactic? Divide and conquer. Today, detractors try to use Social Security Disability Insurance as a back door to cut the program as a whole. And, we will organize and fight back against today’s attacks aimed at some of the most vulnerable Americans: the disabled.”
Jim Centner, SOAR Director
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