Same for right to repair, universal healthcare, SaaS etc... Companies much prefer to spend 100 million make things difficult than using that 100 million to make things easy. As long as we lose.
Well, if people could see that positive change is completely possible, they might get the idea that they could actually demand that change. We can't have that.
My wife is on disability.
We worked with an attorney to submit the application and go through the process. When she initially applied, she was denied, as I would guess most people are.
She gathered paperwork and submitted it for the appeal. We had a hearing scheduled, and on the day of the hearing, I took the day off work to take her into the city.
When we got to the lobby of the building, we walked up to the security desk told the guard where we were going. Without looking up he asked which one of us was applying for disability, but before we could answer he looked up and said, "oh. She is", which seemed a bit unnecessary to me, but it gives you an idea of her situation.
So we get up to the office where the hearing would take place, and we check in, and there is a bit of confusion. My wife's attorney goes to talk to them, and comes back to say that our hearing was cancelled. He said he's waiting to talk to the judge to find out what's going on. When the judge comes out, she apologizes and says someone was supposed to contact us to let us know the hearing was cancelled. She said she had reviewed the paperwork and decided in my wife's favor so the hearing was unnecessary. When the attorney told us, he said it was pretty amazing because the judge rejects *every* appeal. He didn't want to tell us that before the hearing because he didn't want us to give up, but he said he wasn't expecting it to succeed. Now, my wife submitted the same information in the initial application. If that information was enough to convince the judge we didn't need to bother with the appeal hearing to approve her disability, why the hell was the initial application rejected?When my partner tried to apply for disability, she was initially denied. So she appealed with the help of a lawyer to try to put things in her favor.
The lawyer showed up with a massive stack of papers, said "wow, this is the most proof I've seen, this should go smoothly."
My partner goes into the hearing. She comes out quite quickly, and tells me what happened. The judge confirmed her identity, asked her about her transgender-related healthcare, then said there's no more questions, it seems like she can work, and that the appeal was over.
The lawyer said nothing in the appeal. On the way out, he said "huh, I thought that was a sure thing." We never heard from the law agency again. They were the biggest agency in a major city.
Of course the denial letter didn't mention being trans at all, instead it said she's just lazy, and even had a claim that her medical history is likely faked.
It's an amazing system -- very successful in denying people benefits.
Family has a disability attorney in it. Basically because they almost always get denied as a practice. It's a bit weird.
I support UBI because I am a fiscal conservative.
There is, no joke, a surprising amount of libertarian support.
The two most prominent libertarian supporters of a UBI are Matt Zwolinski, a libertarian philosophy professor at the University of San Diego, and the economist Michael Munger.
In Australia we have a system called the NDIS and while it still requires all of the above once you're on it there is a little freedom to decide how to spend the funds that you are allocated for support.
Despite the fraud percentage rate being in single digits (even including genuine mistakes) people are still up in arms about it because they're brainwashed morons who don't understand that fighting this minuscule amount of fraud costs more than accepting it. They just want disabled people, whom they see as beneath them, to suffer.
Meanwhile, we spent the last decade handing out billions in corporate welfare and that was perfectly okay. We're also going to purchase several hundred billion in US subs and piss off our neighbours because of "China" fear mongering.
We also had robodebt.
I’m in the UK and have a number of chronic illnesses that would be debilitating on their own. All together it’s honestly a struggle to survive. When I was first diagnosed 17 years ago we had a labour government. I applied for Disability living allowance (now called PIP) and Employment and support allowance and based on the medical evidence I submitted I was declared “permanently unable to work due to disability”. I was to inform them of any changes to my health but otherwise I was done. No more assessments, no more forms. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was enough for food, clothes, rent and utilities.
Then the Tory government took over and decided that my genetic, incurable and life threatening illnesses might somehow resolve themselves if they just kept bugging me enough. So every 3 years for the last 15 years I’ve had to go through increasingly lengthy and humiliating assessments, conducted by staff who are less and less qualified to make these conditions. I’m currently 15 months into my latest review. Over a year of stress, uncertainty and worry on top of what I already deal with. By the time they make their decision (and there is absolutely no guarantee the decision will be in my favour) I’ll have about a years peace before having to go through this dehumanising process again.
It’s disgusting.
It takes 15 fucking months for you to get what you deserve? I thought German bureaucracy is slow but damn. I hope for you that this changes. That's disgusting.
I and my wife are going through this now. SSDI is all like "nah, we dont believe you've lost your sight". This is why I wholeheartedly advocate for violence as a means for change because NO OTHER WAY WORKS.
You first hot shot
Weak
What could ever go wrong if just got their support approved, no questions asked?
(not sure if that was sarcastic)
If it truly ever got to that point, then yes, things like spot check audits to act as a deterrent could make sense. But when our current system penalizes a community for abusing a privilege they don't even have, it's hard to look at the huge and unnecessary costs and say "we're making the most out of our tax dollars."
That can't be right.
Maybe in upfront costs, but not the cost of losing a taxpayer
Yeah and there's also that thing where people will abuse a system that doesn't have any checks.
Certainly we could be living in a utopia if no one ever tried to exploit the system for personal gain, but unfortunately a lot of people suck.
I've lived next to people who abused the system, all these checks don't even slow them down. They're practiced at this shit and know exactly what to say to get the maximum benefit claim. All it does is make it more difficult for honest people who aren't gaming the system.
Still cheaper.
And even after they do that, the people STILL try to put him back on the ballot
And yet I know someone, and know people who know someone(s), who is on disabity that shouldn't be. Same for people who have been denied of jerked around for
Good people are struggling and suffering that don't want to but do need the extra help. How does that build a fair system? You try so hard to prevent anyone taking advantage but they will always slip through the cracks somehow. The solution should not be to punish everyone - and it impacts us all. We are one stroke of bad luck away from being unable to work for whatever reason.
It makes more sense when you realize that half the lawmakers voting on these bills hate poor people. Like a lot.
In my neck of the woods, the infamous disability attorney Eric C. Conn made his practice and of course cleaned up through some crooked means. Though to his credit, cut through all this bureaucratic bullshit and delivered relief to a bunch of folks in dire need of it. In that respect he's a freaking humanitarian.
Sadly, when he was finally busted all those claims got thrown back onto the dumpster fire and many got denied by default or are still in dispute.And the death penalty costs more than living in prison for the rest of your life. Sometimes the most profitable/cheapest way is the good way.
I wouldn't call life imprisonment in any way "good" but I take your point.
