Bass: Some Disabled "Simply Lost the Will to Work"

Interesting. . . . (4.00 / 1)

Especially since, if memory serves me, Charlie had several gaps in his own work history before his election to Congress in 1994.  And he wasn't disabled.

Of course, if I had my very own Model T collection, I would probably "lose the will to work," too.

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 05:08:56 AM CDT

The instinct-driven tend to be self-centered without knowing it. (0.00 / 0)

This may account for why their interpretations of other people's behavior and/or motivation is often a revelation of their own.  The sub-conscious reveals things of which the conscious brain is not aware.  That the self-centered are lacking in self-awareness is not self-evident, but upon reflection, it seems a reasonable hypothesis and would account for the clueless.

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by: hannah @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 08:03:56 AM CDT

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Well, they have to have a reason (0.00 / 0)

to get rid of Social Security.  Alan Simpson says the elderly are just gaming the system, they don't need the money nowadays (I would love to have him explain how we get our 400 state reps if we don't have Social Security to make sure we can have a car to drive to Concord!) Charlie Bass says there are jobs just waiting for the disabled, like the rest of the unemployed.  He is simply unwilling to share.

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by: Lucy Edwards @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 05:54:20 AM CDT

These are not "reasons" (0.00 / 0)

these are expressions of envy and jealousy and righteous wrath that someone has something they don't have.

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by: hannah @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 08:05:44 AM CDT

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In one way, he's right... (0.00 / 0)

...some disabled people lost the will to work.

By even greater numbers, many non-disabled people have lost the will to work.  In fact,the number of Americans who are now "discouraged workers" - who have been looking, unsuccessfully, for jobs for more than two years in the worst economic downturn since the great depression - may be at an all time high.

Gee, Charlie, what conditions let to this?

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by: Thomas Simmons @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 06:01:40 AM CDT

Lost the "will"? (0.00 / 0)

How long can you afford to go looking for a job?  

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by: Lucy Edwards @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 06:10:16 AM CDT

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please understand, I'm using the term very generically... (0.00 / 0)

...the economic depression is accompanied by a society-wide psychological depression among the unemployed who have knocked on doors, distributed resumes, gone through interviews and remain under- or unemployed.  

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by: Thomas Simmons @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 06:44:49 AM CDT

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Well, actually, they are fully employed trying to stay alive. (0.00 / 0)

What they really are is unpaid.  Their access to currency, which is now necessary if one doesn't want to resort to theft, has been denied.  
Having gotten people hooked on the use of money, our financial gurus now have the power to decide who lives and who dies.  And there's no panels involved.

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by: hannah @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 08:09:42 AM CDT

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Good old Charlie (4.00 / 6)

Yep, my husband lost the will to work tow jobs, after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and his bones started breaking all the time. He had to limp through a lot of hoops in order to be able to collect Social Security disability payments.

It must be nice to have chosen wealthy parents, and never have to actually work for a living - while making pronouncements about the peasants from the lofty perch of the castle. Given his unfamiliarity with working people, he really ought to stop pretending that he intends to represent them.


member of the professional left  

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by: susanthe @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 07:46:00 AM CDT

You Sum It Up... (0.00 / 0)

...very nicely.  Those born with the silver spoon don't relate with those of us who often are served with plastic spoons when, and if, we can afford to go out to eat.  

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 07:50:24 AM CDT

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I'm convinced... (4.00 / 4)

I'm convinced that the Republicans want to take Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and turn them into one program tht will provide welfare to indigent elderly and disabled. In order to qualify you will be forced to spend all your assts, similar to medicaid eligibility today.

Putting aside the theft issue (stealing the money we all have put into social security) and the breach of trust issue (the feds promised us all that we would receive our social security benefits), there is the issue that the monthly social security check has kept a lot of people out of poverty - so that they can live independently after retirement, in their homes, or their apartments, and pay their bills. Republicans like Bass and Ayotte will force Americans into poverty by stripping them of the guaranteed retirement benefit.

It is an absolute disgrace.  It is all very well and good for wealthy individuals like Bass to call for destroying the social security system - he doesn't need the monthly check to pay his rent.  For a lot of seniors, that monthly check, combined with lifetime savings, keeps people independent.  

They will try to quiet the fears of current recipients, and people in their late 50's, by saying, oh, we won't touch the benefits of people "near retirement". but they also want to push retirement out, so all of a sudden the 50 year old is 20 years away, and not "near" retirement.  And, if they steal from everyone 50 and under, what makes seniors think that they won't be next?

This really annoys me, as some of these Republicans are the same ones screaming about the JUA being a "theft", yet when it comes to our social security contributions, they are lining up to take the money away.  Hypocrites.
 



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 14:03:41 PM CDT

Crushing the middle class (4.00 / 1)

I realize it's kinda creepy to think about what our parents leave to us, after they pass. But both my folks are gone and I know that they wanted to leave as much for us as they could.

The Republican scheme would force the middle class to live hand to mouth. There will be little to no passing of wealth from generation to generation. What wealth is accumulated will be squirreled away in the vehicles that professionals manage. These vehicles will be leeched from.

The middle class will be nickled and dimed to death.  

Whack-a-mole, anyone?

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 14:20:32 PM CDT

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Yup (4.00 / 2)

I think this social security battle is going to be huge, and should be a major piece of campaign strategy for this election.

The Republicans want to preserve assets of the wealthy passed from generation to generation - i.e., get rid of estate taxes - and make the middle class spend their assets to zero.

Such a scam. And there are Democrats who support this idiocy.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo...

Maybe it is because out of touch inside the beltway pundits just don't get the importance of the dignity that the small social security check provides each month.  I have had seniors for clients who literally maintained their independence because social security, along with the savings and small pensions they cobbled together over a lifetime of work, provided the means to pay rent, buy food and have a life.  

This social security thing really frosts me. It is such an assault on the working and middle class, and such a total betrayal of the promises made to working people.  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 14:52:42 PM CDT

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We better get the word out quick (0.00 / 0)

http://www.gallup.com/poll/142...

Whack-a-mole, anyone?

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 15:58:28 PM CDT

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I don't know why (4.00 / 1)

I don't know why candidates, the DSCC, the DCCC,  and whatever other groups out there are not pummeling Republicans on this. They better not be giving up the fight on this one. If the Democrats roll over on the one program that is for the middle class and working class in this country, well, that really would be a standing at the window, trying to figure out which ones are the humans, moment, wouldn't it?




"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 16:13:50 PM CDT

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It would help if there was more honesty in the discussion.... (0.00 / 0)

....You can't keep saying things like "Putting aside the theft issue (stealing the money we all have put into social security) " and expect to increase support.  The objective reality is that the money we/you/I put into the SSA over the years was gone long ago...it's not there to 'steal.'  People pay SSA taxes TODAY to pay for the social security of those collecting TODAY (or in the very near future) - and that is why there is support for changes to the system where your interest is compounded over time rather than paid-in-and-paid-out.  I'm waiting for someone who wants to preserve social security to actually acknowledge that the money they paid into the system is no longer there, and isn't there by design.

Second, the entire system was designed to be supplementary income (not sole income) for those in need of help...at this point, we continue to pay our social security to very wealthy folks....and somehow, unbelievably, liberals are often supporting this concept.  The result is the very thing you otherwise rail against: a transfer of wealth from workers to the wealthy.

REAL reform means more than raising income caps.  It means not allowing long-living, wealthy, healthy white pensioners collect 35 years beyond their retirement while working stiffs collapse and die at 63 after a lifetime of paying into SSA with not a thing to show for it upon their death.

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by: Thomas Simmons @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 17:25:42 PM CDT

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Slippery slope (0.00 / 0)

When Ayottte and others talk about means testing, they aren't talking about shutting off Donald Trump.




"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 19:55:27 PM CDT

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Remember the boogie man? (4.00 / 1)

Having a boogie man to scare people and intimidate them into submission strikes me as the primary objective.  Now that guns, gays and god have lost their effectiveness, they're back to that old reliable, turning social security into insecurity.  The promise of security isn't worth much if people aren't insecure to start.  It's sort of like seeding a gold mine to sucker the gullible.
Conservatives still believe that the best defense is a good offense.  So, they're offensive.  What are they defending?  Their privilege.  What does it consist of?  Their ability to freeload--to enjoy the perks of being an American without fulfilling the obligations of citizenship.

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by: hannah @ Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 17:16:00 PM CDT

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