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Tax Rant
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penzt8 Offline
#51 Posted: Thu, Mar 11 2004, 4:42 AM EST
Joined: 06-05-2000
Posts: 1,771
I'm not against all forms of support but I think there is too much abuse of the system. I think that disability and Medicare insurance are good things. But they shouldn't be expected to last a lifetime unless the individual is physically incapable of returning to work. I don't think social security as a retirement plan is good or economically viable for the future. Hopefully, your health will improve and you'll be able to re-enter the workforce some day.

Life is all about choices. You chose a profession as did your wife. Those choices come with certain advantages and disadvantages as well as risks. I also made choices. I joined the military when I was 17. I got married the day after I turned 19 and we had our first child shortly after that. We rented a furnished apartment in the Philippines that was very inexpensive. When we left the Philippines to move to California we owned a dining table, papasan chair, and a crib. When we got to California we bought a used mattress set and put in on the floor in our bedroom. We used cardboard boxes for everything else (dresser, coffee table, night stand). For the first year, we didn't even own a TV. We walked everywhere or took public transportation because we didn't own a car. Hell, we didn't even have driver's licenses. We ate a lot of spaghetti. Life isn't always easy but that doesn't mean that someone else has the responsibility to take care of us.
Cavallo Offline
#52 Posted: Thu, Mar 11 2004, 6:24 AM EST
Joined: 01-05-2004
Posts: 2,796
penzt: my own rant wasn't really against what you had to say. it's the notion that ANYONE who is on ANY kind of govt program is lazy scum. first off, i PAID for social security; not just anyone gets on this -- you have to have worked a certain number of years for a certain number of hours at certain types of jobs to be eligible, and even with disability, it can take YEARS to get a) accepted and b) paid.

i MADE good choices. i climbed out of the 'hood and got good grades and worked my butt off to go to college (for six years) and i got the good job(s) and put my money aside for a rainy day/retirement -- but all of that changed in just a few seconds. all of that can be GONE in an instant, and good choices have nothing to do with it. all the money i saved and put aside? doesn't take long for that to disappear when you get slammed by a disabiling health condition.

not a single year of my work in law enforcement counts towards social security, btw. the years i worked without a badge and uniform are the only ones that count. luckily i've worked for enough years in the corporate and academic world ON TOP OF my work in law enforcement to be eligible. it's still no cake walk, though. after over 1 year of red tape, i've had to do as most do and get an attorney -- and he'll get 25% off the top of my retro benefit award.

yeah, i do hope to be able to return to work someday. it's not looking like a possibility, though. there's no retraining program for me -- i am HIGHLY skilled in several viable areas-- corporate, municipal/
government, academic; that's not the problem. the problem is strictly physical, and that is not something very likely to get better unfortunately; it's likely to continue to worsen.

as for choices -- yes, we all have them. when i faced an injury on the job in law enforcement that left me unable to walk for a year, i had to make a different choice career-wise, and i did so successfully. it's not that i've made one career path choice and it didn't work out -- i have a very impressive resume. :)

the intelligence is there. the skills are there. the good choices are there. but when the body is FUBAR, it wipes out all of that.

do i expect for you good folks to put aside your jacuzzis and beamers so that i can eat and have medication? nope. i don't. however, i DO expect to benefit from a system that I PAID INTO -- and that has already taken care of OTHER people who came before me.

if your grandmother's on social security, i helped pay for that. if your dad is disabled, i helped pay for his health care. i certainly wasn't getting a thing out of it when i was paying my taxes and fees and such; someone else benefitted from that.

do you want to live in a country where, when someone is old or disabled, you kick them out into the streets to beg as best they can? wow. i sure don't want that. i didn't want it when it was my money going for their care, and i don't want it now that lightning has stricken me -- and it can happen to you, too.

any one of you can do all the right things now and tomorrow find yourself in my shoes.

two years ago, i was making the same rants.
penzt8 Offline
#53 Posted: Thu, Mar 11 2004, 7:34 AM EST
Joined: 06-05-2000
Posts: 1,771
I don't think that everyone that benefits from a government program is lazy scum. Hey, I get a military retirement check and a VA disability check every month. I also have medical and prescription coverage. I served in uniform for 21 years and earned them.

I also know what you mean about the workers comp system being slow and bureaucratic. My sister in law had to go through the same thing to get her workers comp and medical benefits when she was injured at work. She worked for a company for about 14 years and ended up with a work related shoulder injury that prevented her from continuing to due the job. Her injury was basically a repetitive stress injury from lifting and operating the same equipment for many years.

She took all of her sick leave to get treatment and recover and when it ran out, they basically cut her loose. No medical and no workers comp. She has not made a full recovery and will not be able to return to her previous employment. She had to get a lawyer to sue them. She won her case but like you said, her lawyer is going to get a chunk of the money. She is working again but had to take a job making significantly less money than she was earning prior to her injury.
penzt8 Offline
#54 Posted: Thu, Mar 11 2004, 7:46 AM EST
Joined: 06-05-2000
Posts: 1,771
Excerpt from Greenspan article:

Greenspan said that erecting protectionist barriers was not the answer to foreign competition and that Congress would at some point have to address the problem of the pending retirement of 77 million baby boomers. He repeated his warning that Congress will have to trim future Social Security benefits.

Greenspan said the issue was that government did not have the resources to meet all the retirement benefits currently pledged under Social Security and Medicare and that choices would have to be made and "all the choices regrettably are negative."

Full story: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=3&u=/ap/20040311/ap_on_bi_ge/greenspan

Cavallo Offline
#55 Posted: Thu, Mar 11 2004, 7:58 AM EST
Joined: 01-05-2004
Posts: 2,796
penzt: again, that wasn't directed to you personally -- or to anyone here personally.

and my apologies for the rant. i've been on a roller coaster painwise recently, and i'm considerably grumped out about it. add a change of medication to the mix, and i feel about like a pit bull with pms. :)

i'm sorry to hear about your sister, and i hope things out okay there (i'll keep her in my prayers). :/ my situation's not with worker's comp but with social security -- same kind of hurdles, though.

i had the opportunity to file a worker's comp claim and declined to do so -- i didn't want to hassle my employer over a sprained ankle. i declined to take worker's comp years before when i hurt my back on the job in uniform, too. i've been told that i was stupid for not doing so, but at the time it just didn't seem like the Right Thing To Do. after getting screwed over by the city, i did eventually get an attny and settled with them for my medical costs only -- again, i've been called stupid and naive for NOT requesting worker's comp because, as i've been told, i could still be collecting from those injuries today.

sorry, but i don't see getting hurt on the job as being a ticket to free money. (just so you know, i'm not accusing your sister of doing that at all). i've seen it happen, though, and it pissed me right off.

it's another system that gets abused. frankly, it's a lot easier to get WC than it is to get SSDI. it's a shame, too, because it seems like the folks who REALLY should be eligible are the ones who have to fight the hardest to get it while those who get hurt at work (often for something their own fault) end up sucking money out of their employers for years.

i guess i would just like to see all things like this operate as they were intended to -- if you need it, it's there; if you don't, then don't try to scam it. unfortunately, a lot of scammers win out, and a lot of folks in genuine need (and who genuinely have earned it) get screwed. that goes for everything from workers comp to SSDI to welfare of all kinds. :/

and i do hope we can find a way to reform ALL of these programs to make sure it's fair to all concerned.

btw, my ex-gf was absolutely against military bennies -- "once you're out, that's it!" she'd say. she was ticked off that "her" money was going to give medical treatment, for instance, to someone who was no longer active military. i disagreed vehemently with her on that, but there was no convincing her that "her" money wasn't getting "wasted" on "these bums" who CHOSE a job that was dangerous. so why should SHE have to pay for it if they were hurt?

oy.
Cavallo Offline
#56 Posted: Thu, Mar 11 2004, 7:59 AM EST
Joined: 01-05-2004
Posts: 2,796
er, sorry -- i meant your SIL, not sister (in post above).
penzt8 Offline
#57 Posted: Thu, Mar 11 2004, 11:45 AM EST
Joined: 06-05-2000
Posts: 1,771
Well, I think we've run this thread into the ground.
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