A champion is someone who gets up when he can't.
Jack Dempsey
Image of the Day
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| NSA: Call Your Mother, Our Records Indicate It's Been a While Courtesy of National Review Online |
Will You Still Need Me? Will You Still Read Me? When I'm 64...
From The Writer's Almanac on this date:
George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four was published on this date in 1949 (books by this author). Nineteen Eighty-Four begins with this famous line: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." Orwell wrote most of the novel on the island of Jura in the Scottish Hebrides; grieving the loss of his wife and overwhelmed with all the demands on his time that arose from the success of Animal Farm (1945), he retreated there with his son. The weather was bad, and so he stayed inside and wrote. He kept on with the book even as he became more and more ill with tuberculosis. He died in 1950, less than a year after the book was published. Orwell said: On the whole, human beings want to be good — but not too good, and not quite all the time.
29 Years Later...
The IRS Is Losing the Confidence of Everyday Americans
Maryland is Part of the Problem
Somewhere in this discussion is a very salient point: if I cannot legally record a conversation without that other person's consent, how is it the government has that right? I have less concern with video surveillance, after all, if I'm on a street, others on the street can see me. I don't buy for a second that a sign on the bus constitutes informed consent.
Disability Fraud: The Price is
Cathy Wrench Cashwell, a "disabled" former USPS worker, filed for workman's comp in 2004, claiming her work-related shoulder injury kept her from lifting mail trays to trucks:
She allegedly claimed as recently as 2011 that her injuries hindered her ability to bend, reach, grasp, sit or engage in other activities. However, in September 2009, she was seen spinning the big wheel two times while appearing on the CBS game show [The Price is Right]. A September 2012 indictment filed against her worker's compensation claim that was obtained by WRAL-TV states that Cashwell first "raised her left arm above her head and gripped the handle with her left hand." When she got to spin the wheel again, she "raised both arms above her head and gripped the same handle with both hands," according to the indictment. The indictment also mentions Cashwell ziplining with her husband during a vacation in August 2010 and carrying heavy items such as grocery bags and furniture on multiple occasions in 2011.Cashwell recently pled guilty and will be sentenced in 3 months.
According to The Fiscal Times:
Today, 8.8 million Americans – nearly 6 percent of our workforce – claim they are physically incapable of working. The Social Security Administration spent $137 billion on disability last year; Medicare costs for this group tack on another $80 billion, since folks on disability automatically qualify for Medicare."If you build a government program, they will come." Current recipients receive about 90% of the income of a full-time employee working at minimum wage:
The recession has doubtless played a role, making jobs harder to find and government handouts more appealing. This is nothing new; claims have jumped in every recession since the 1970s. Between 1969 and 1975, payments skyrocketed from 1.4 percent to 2.2 percent of GDP, but then settled down as the economy resumed growing. Looking to explain the phenomenon, Veterans Administration Scholar Jonathan Sunshine suggested that the “higher the benefits relative to earnings, and the higher the unemployment rate, the more people will make use of the programs.”What's also worse is the federal government in 1984 loosened eligibility criteria:
In 1984 Congress changed the criteria for those applying for disability, allowing more input from the applicant and a broader variety of ailments. Critics claim that it became far easier to fabricate a case of severe back pain or depression, for instance, and in fact it has been such conditions that have fed the recent rise in claims. It became easier, in other words, to game the system.Besides obvious steps of tightening criteria and adjusting benefit levels (actually I would prefer privatizing this nonsense, so taxpayers aren't taking on the risk of fraud, but being a pragmatist in the short term), there is the occasional item I would like to see increased in the federal budget with a high rate of return--it better than pays its own way:
In a report to Congress last month, the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration reported that its investigations program (CDI) had “resulted in almost $340 million in projected savings to SSA’s disability programs—the program’s greatest single-year savings total” in fiscal 2012, mainly from uncovering those who “purposely withhold, exaggerate, or fabricate work or medical information to collect benefits that they are not eligible to receive.”
The report notes that the short-handed CDI could have saved taxpayers more had it been able to tackle the extensive backlog of questionable claims. Further, “SSA estimates that every $1 spent on medical CDRs [continuing disability reviews] yields about $9 in SSA program savings and Medicare and Medicaid over 10 years.”I Like McCain, but Stay the Hell Out Of It!
NO MORE NATION BUILDING!
Political Humor
President Obama has called on Congress to pass a media shield law that would allow reporters to do their job without fear of government prosecution. Don't we already have that? It's called the First Amendment. - Jay Leno
[What Obama really means is a law to shield his administration from the media.]
The mystery is over. After a month of waiting, it turns out that an 84-year-old woman in Florida has won the $590 million Powerball lottery. As for how much tax she’s going to have to pay, the IRS said it’s too early to tell because they don’t know whether she’s a Republican or Democrat. - Jay Leno
[But IRS is working to implement the ObamaCare tax hike, and HHS is doing its part, staffing the death panel, expediting collection of the death tax...]
The IRS spent $4 million on a conference in Anaheim that included luxury hotel suites, passes to theme parks, and tickets to sporting events. They say they're not sure of the exact amount they spent because they didn't keep any receipts. I think Wesley Snipes is saying, “Hey, what about me? I didn’t have my receipts.” - Jay Leno
[The IRS explained it was doing due diligence tracking millionaire travelers, millionaire athletes and families whom can afford $94 per adult and $88 per child per day admission at Disney World Base.]
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Michael Ramirez and Townhall |
Simon & Garfunkel, "The Dangling Conversation". After a trio of Top 5 smashes, Simon was surprised this hit enjoyed only modest pop success; I definitely remember the song, but it wasn't on their greatest hits LP. I would have put it on the album in place of other material there. I think the song is brilliant and definitely underrated. I would put it in a category of art folk/rock comparable to some classic Moody Blues, the Stones' "She's a Rainbow", etc.--I love the orchestral flourishes, the angelic harmonies...
