A Smokingly Bad Policy

Another thing that this country desperately needs to do is Social Security disability reform. We currently have far too many mildly handicapped individuals who are fully capable of working (and, in many instances, who ARE working) and who are instead collecting a disability check once a month. It's an absolute drain on the system and, unless we can somehow come to grips with it, the baby-boomers are more than likely going to get screwed in the end............................................................................................Here, folks, is an example of what I'm talking about. I have a friend who suffers from paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, an intermittently irregular heartbeat. Yes, it's kind of a pain in the ass (this, in that it sometimes makes him anxious and tired) but it isn't life-threatening and he's been able to navigate his way through life without a lot of difficulty. Since I've gotten to know him and his condition, I've encountered several other people with the same condition and they're BOTH on disability. And, get this, folks, one of them is a 26 year-old woman who works 26 hours a week....and the only reason that she doesn't work more than that is because it will cut into her disability check. I mean, there is definitely something wrong here. The woman can work 26 hours a week but she can't work 40 hours a week? And she frigging lives with her boyfriend who basically supports her, too. It's an absolute miscarriage of justice, in my opinion..............................................................................................And then there are the drug-addicts and alcoholics who are also collecting. I mean, I know that this is a little bit dicier in that a lot of these people are basically unemployable at a certain point and it probably doesn't serve society to have them out on the street. But they should at least be made to stay sober and/or in treatment as a condition for payment. I mean, just from my own experience, I had a co-worker whose sister was a crack addict and she was still smoking crack while collecting. Seriously, does that sound at all compassionate to you? It sure as hell doesn't sound compassionate to me as a tax-payer, that's for sure.