Bill O’Reilly complained last night (7/5/12) that there are too many disabled people in America:
Twenty years ago in June 1992, there were 3,300,000 Americans receiving federal disability payments. Today, 20 years later, that number is a record 8,733,000 workers on disability.
O’Reilly’s not buying it for a second:
Why has the disability rate increased more than 100 percent? I’ll tell you why. It’s a con. It’s easy to put in a bogus disability claim.
And according to O’Reilly, who compares himself to Paul Revere, this is a big sign that that “the country is in steep decline”:
More than a 100 percent increase on the taxpayer dime. And that dime is getting a lot smaller.
In 1984, 85 percent of American workers paid federal income tax–85 percent. Now? 51 percent pay federal income tax. A decline of 34 percent. Why? Because of social justice, because the feds are allowing Americans who don’t make much money to pay no income tax.
Now you might say, well, that’s just fair. But the reality is America doesn’t have any money, we’re broke. And that is eroding our power in a big way.
One little problem with this analysis: Disability insurance isn’t paid for out of income tax–it’s covered by Social Security taxes, which all workers pay. (It’s actually a regressive tax, since it’s not paid on income over $110,000.)
This is the kind of mistake you make when, like O’Reilly, you rely on comic strips to do your research for you:
By the way, I want to thank our pal Bruce Tinsley who writes the Mallard Fillmore cartoon strip for tipping me off to the federal tax number.
P.S. U.S. GDP in 1992 was $8.3 trillion (in 2005 dollars). In 2011, it was $13.3 trillion. The United States is not broke; it’s richer than it’s ever been.
P.S.S. I do admit to regularly learning things from This Modern World. But Mallard Fillmore is no Sparky the Wonder Penguin.
Ye gods, “Mallard Fillmore” still exists? A clearer example of wingnut welfare would be hard to find.
Also worth noting that (a) the US population has increased by about 60 million in that period of time, (b) more disabilities have been recognized as being disabilities, and (c) there’s no doubt that a significant number of disabilities have been caused by decades of conservative stonewalling (and non-enforcement) of environmental and safety regulations.
The costs of negative impacts on merely-human people is one of the things that Repubs (and too many Dems) have helped corporate “people” externalize. And then their hirelings bitch and moan about the fact that they have to pay *any* of the costs.
Oh, so that’s the problem …
And here I was thinking that the *rich* weren’t paying their fair share.
Silly me.
So that probably means that the jobless numbers are hokum.
The jobs are there. It’s just that people don’t want to take them to avoid paying income tax.
It all fits.
Thanks, Bill. I don’t know what this country would be without brave souls like you sounding the alarm.
We’d might have something like “social justice”.
I don’t even want to think about it.
My personal experience do not “data” make BUT: my wife was turned down for disability. She had the doctor’s assessments and all that. I suppose bogus medical reports and official doctor’s affidavits are easy to get and submit too. Just promise them a cut of that sweet, sweet disability cheese, and they’ll sign anything you give them…
1. Mentally ill are now “disabled” instead of in hospitals – because that is much cheaper.
2. The numbers of Veterans injured in the endless GOP wars are up to an all time high.
@Bearpaw – There you go with facts, now how is a poor soul like Clown, er Glen Blecker, er Beck going to make his living selling poisoned truths and snake oils to cure it?
@Doug – You’ve been around enough to know that the Poor old Rich people are all broke, they only have a couple of billion left, they are nearly broke. What are they going to do, we must give them more tax breaks…..
Sadly I am on disability. I live on a little under a thousand a month. It is not picnic. My car is falling apart, my house if falling apart, and I am falling apart. I am lucky in that I own this place and only have to come up with taxes food and utilities. I don’t know how I could do this renting.
Why am I on disability? Well I wake up every day and go to bed every day in pain. Bad pain. Over the years I have gotten better at dealing with it so until I start doing stretches you wouldn’t know how much I hurt. This of course leads people to believe I must not really be injured. Believe me, if I could be working I could earn three times or more than what I am bringing in driving truck. I do not want to be on disability but I have no other choice to be honest. So thank you Mr O’reilly for promoting the stereotype of the lazy con artist collecting disability. It will serve to make my life even less enjoyable.
Whoever listens to Billo the Clown needs their heads examined.
I went on disability 8 years ago at 60 years of age. I worked as a single mother sometimes more than two jobs to support my children, often heavy work and many hours. I was misdiagnosed by doctors, messed up by doctors and live in pain that makes it impossible for me to walk more than half a block. I was laid off at the age of 56 from Wall Street, went back to school only to accrue student debt and fought for five years to get disability watching people even sicker than I denied. My 401K is gone my medical through AARP & Medicare is over $350 per month and my co-op apartment with a leaking roof (yep been to court but still no fix) is unsaleable in this economy. One of my brothers was mentally disabled and died because a doctor diagnosed him for peptic ulcers but didn’t treat him for over a year at which point he hemmoraghed to death in the hospital that kept trying to throw him out because Medicaid wasn’t going to pay (I got the NYS AG’s help keeping him in for a week but he died anyway.) Oh well we’re just a bunch of losers and can’t pay the taxes Bill must have to gag over. No pension 401K gone on living and medical expenses about to lose apartment for taxes over Student loan forgiveness. I remember when I loved this country. At night I dream about being able to walk and run and I’m back at work, one of the many low paid jobs I hated, but happy because I will have dignity when I cash my paycheck at the end of the week – will be able to buy myself a little bit of perfume or go to a movie. Then I wake up and there is reality with idiots like Mr. Reilly spouting off.
I WORKED FOR A COMAPNY 62 HOURS A WEEK GOT INJURED AND THE COMPANY ALSO COMMITTED CRIMINAL OFFENCES. THEY NEVER PAID ME THE 50,000 THEY OWED ME AND ALSO TOOK NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO ME . THEY HAVE A TAX EVASION FILE, A HUMAN TRAFFICKING FILE AND 10 COUNTS UNDER THE CRIMINAL CODE
I AM PERMANNETLY DISABLED AND BROKE AND PAID A LAWYER 235 AN HOUR TO TAKE THESE PEOPLE TO COURT WHICH IS STILL ONGOING
BY THE WAY THESE MEN ARE FROM THE REPUBLIC OF CONGO THE PROVINCE OF KATANGA AND RUN COMPANIES ALL OVER AND IN CANADA
I HAVE RECIEVED NO HELP FROM ANYONE TELL O RELLY I THINK HE SHOULD WORK FOR THESE MEN
Bill O’Reilly IS a cartoon. There is no trace of reality in what he says. RJ the Raccoon is accurate more often than Bill is, and RJ is reality-impaired. (“Over the Hedge”)
Lack of empathy is a growing and disturbing disabliity in America. It seems to strike pseudo journalists and regressive politicians particularly hard.
Let’s hope that Bill O’R is cured of his mysterious illness before it spreads.
Bill O’Reilly is part of the media’s incredibly successful campaign to convince a significant portion of the electorate that virtually all regulations and social benefits are bad. Unless his fans and other media-hoodwinked fools come to their senses, such nihilism could prevail, destroying the middle class and plummeting the economy in an irretrievable decline. Those with even a rudimentary understanding of the extent to which the economy depends on spending by those on the low and middle rungs of the income ladder should boycott O’Reilly’s sponsors. And the time to tune in Fox News is never.
Right Bill! Let’s all criminalize the sick and elderly. That way when they are all thrown on the streets to give billionaires more tax breaks, it will seem more like a public service than a crime against humanity!
One more point. If this were 1776, I have little doubt who O’Reilly would be siding with…. British monarchy
One more point. If this were 1776, I have little doubt who O’Reilly would be siding with…. British monarchy
Ah but there your not right; he would not side with anyone, he would be one of the ones in the middle getting everyone else to fight, and then he would side with the winner.
Recall, our “Revolution” was not a guaranteed success and the monarchist were fighting for their ‘rightful and lawful’ government.
One wonders if in his being “Paul Revere” did he ride about, shooting off his mouth, and warning the British the “F’ing-Moron” in coming.
Well his figures are correct.You may of course argue why disabilities have gone up 1oo%.Im sure there are legitimate reasons as well as fraud.If you can’t see fraud in that massive jump then i want a bit of what you are drinking.The “notion “that America is broke is no notion.We are beyond broke trillions of times over.How broke is the only argument.And the argument that DI insurance is “covered by SS taxes is the old joke that we need not worry- its paid for.Get this strait my little spenders.NOTHING is paid for.Not when you are printing and borrowing money hand over fist.
Anyone who has ever tried to be declared disabled knows, as some of the comments attest, that it is a very long, very agnonizing process. The light at the end of the tunnel is that you will receive back “pay” for the endurance you’ve had waiting, less taxes and your attorney’s fee. This sounds pretty good until you stop and ask what is it you’ve been living on up to this point. When I was watching my husband die it was agonizing. We were fortunate. I was working and paying bills. He agonized over how to come up with the $700 a month in meds that he needed. We both worried about just how we would pay for COBRA ($900 a month for two). I switched to my work insurance as soon as I could. Insuring him at that point was impossible. He had ALS which anyone knows is a severly debilitating disease leading to death, so there is no question about disability. Yet we waited several months to have the judgement made. It wasn’t the disability payments we needed nearly as much as the very inexpensive insurance that had maintained us while he was working. Since he wasn’t tenured, he was removed from that insurance until he could prove he was disabled. Wish O’Reilly could have joined us on that merry-go-round. I guess he believes that anyone who is disabled, out of work or otherwise should just be put into some kind of debtors prison or someplace where he doesn’t have to see or hear about them or maybe just die as soon as they can?
The topper of this was that once my husband did become disabled in the eyes of the government, he was reinstated and also qualified to collect on the disability insurance he paid for for many years. Guess what they paid? They paid the difference between what they promised and what Social Security paid. That is Soc. Sec. paid x which was x dollars less than the insurance guaranteed so the insuranced paid the difference. I found that pretty peculiar. Maybe I just didn’t get it. I guess if they declared they would pay the balance between what their policy states and what Social Security pays, not too many people would buy it. You have to love the insurance industry. (The figure the insurance paid amounted to less than $200.00.) Anyone see that as a government subsidy?
Oh yes, you should also know that when you die, you do not get benefits for any portion of the month. When my husband died on Oct. 27, I was told his October check would not come, as in we don’t pro-rate benefits. I appealed to the disability insurer and they actually paid up.
Of course, Daddy Bill will never have to deal with anything like this. He has the money to by-pass government help. This is what everyone would like to have. Some of just can’t make our living BSing on Fox.
If there’s any fraud occurring in the federal disability system I bet it’s extremely rare. It takes so long to be declared officially disabled — we’re talking YEARS here, a minimum of 3, I’ve heard — that there are very few people who would be able to withstand the wait and the hoop-jumping. As it is, many truly disabled people fall through the proverbial cracks, including sometimes dying, while waiting to be eligible for benefits. And that’s if they know enough to continue to appeal the denials from the SS Admin. I read that they deny most initial claims, but approve a large number (two-thirds, I think) of the same claims on appeal. It’s like they’re just trying to discourage people from applying. The SS Admin. is way under-staffed. Instead of staffing up, they just automatically decline most applications. Which is just what anti-tax right-wing wackos want.
This is what kind of hell we get letting Capitalism gain more freedoms. Why literally no one else would set up the kind of system we have. Being #1 in cost but #37 in quality of treatment is an anomaly. A dangerous one. Why we have post natal deaths equaling any 3rd world country. And it can only get worse as the oligarchs and their aims to put us wholly into the hands of the few plutocratic families who want to be the owners and movers of this country.
Night gaunt it is not intrinsic capitalism that is at fault here.Since this countries inception, there have been those who point to this or that negative result to our freedoms.Especially to our free markets.The debates along those lines in the 1790s were to put it mildly -very heated.Of course their were always two choices.Fix the problem or ……abandon our form of government and hand over the reins to the government, for the sake of us all.You join a long list of people over the last couple centuries who though meaning well ,demand that government step in.This is at its very heart un American.Eurocentric maybe.But American ,no.We have those who help govern us.We accept no rulers
@ michael e: Your comment above is incoherent nonsense.
Why does Bill O’Reilly hate America!? To say that “the country is in steep decline” – – – I’m sure that HAS to qualify him as one of those infamous ‘hate-America-first-ers’ that the right-wingers are always hyperventilating about. Maybe I missed it on Fox (very likely, since I never watch it!) where they undoubtedly called him out on that….
John Q what is it that is incoherent to you?If I can ,I will try to help you to understand the very simple idea of the linkage between personal freedom, and free markets( i.e capitalism).
Big em it is not against the conservative “religion” to say things are going badly.On the contrary.We see the problem and mean to master it.On 9/11 it would of been idiocy not to see America had been delivered a crushing blow.It would be un American…. to believe we will not make right ,those things that drive some to despair.In November we move to “fix” the problem.Bill is just bemoaning the fact that we have to wait that long to begin.To stop the backslide.And begin roaring forward.
It abslolutely is incoherent, dude. As usual. Just this one line alone–“Night gaunt it is not intrinsic capitalism that is at fault here.”–right off the bat, utter nonsense. What the fuck is “intrinsic” capitalism? Carry on, though–if self-delusion and an utter inability to see things for what they are help you to get along in this world, go get ’em.
Gee, O’Reilly. I don’t know. Could the significant increase in those on disability (physical AND mental) have anything to do with all the wars we have instigated since 1992?
O’Reilly, you are such a corporate whore it’s pathetic.
No wonder I was never able to get the point of “Mallard Fillmore.”
TIM N
Capitalism and freedom.The intrinsic(Belonging to a thing by its very nature) coupling of one to the other.Is this all beyond you?
Michael E:
Completely unregulated capitalism is guaranteed to remove freedom from a large majority. Without regulation, capitalism will naturally result in the accumulation of power into the hands of a few. That’s the whole point of unfettered competition. Thus, you must admit that at least some regulation is necessary, unless you truly believe that not all citizens deserve freedom. Then it becomes a question of how much regulation is needed, not whether any is needed. Anyone who argues that no regulation is needed is either ignorant or longs for a plutocracy.
Dan, do you mean regulation(administrated law) or the law…..as in judicious law?No one is really saying corporations are not following the law.They for the most part are.Most of you people are saying you hate the laws both legislated ,and judicial, that still allows some people and their corporations – to attaining great wealth and success.If they accomplish this you see only two “fair” outcomes.Punitively tax them for that success.Their money earmarked for redistribution by a government who has no track record of fiscal stewardship.And two…. dream up more restrictions(regulations),and laws to stop it from ever happening again.Best put in three words…….. EAT THE RICH!
I understand the theory behind this ideology.What I cant figure out is what country it is we are talking about.Certainly it is not the USA.My God how can you say “we “want no regulations?Look at the Obama healthcare tax.Thirteen thousand pages of regulation and enforcement(and counting).Thousands hired ,and trained to enforce them.No regulations?How about you enforce what is there and stop writing new ones as fast as your little fingers can type.Answer………………Because some people will follow to the letter every regulation you plop down and still succeed.It will never be enough for you because your real goal is held close to the vest.CONTROL!
We’ll excuse me for collecting disability. Before I became disabled with MS, I worked for thirty years. I never made $110,000 and paid into Social Security. I would rather be part of the working America but seeing I don’t have a choice in the matter, I do collect. MS is an incurable, progressive disease that we don’t ask for or do anything to get. Your comments should be about the people collecting that should not be. That makes it more difficult for the person who is truly disabled.
For the one Hundredth time – the First myth of the Free Market is that it exists.
A free market can not exist on it’s own because the minute that one corporation gets an opportunity, the first that it does is destroy all other competition and makes sure the playing field can not be leveled off with out huge outside effort from another source. This is why we don’t allow most monopolies, and that is why the Founding Fathers, who were not really interested in personal freedoms but had to come up with something to get the working class stiffs to die for their profits, started the Revolutions. The Corporations of the English Monarchy and Church are the quintessential hallmarks of Capitalism, and every major corporation since then has done it’s level best to wipe any freedoms, including Freedom of Choice, Freedom from oppression, and freedom from having your lands turned into dumping grounds for the ever higher higher and more elusive Profit margins
Corporate Free enterprise is antithetical to any freedoms, because all competition causes lower prices and thus lower profit margins. Ergo your corporation do not support any personal freedoms and if left to their own devices would ensure that no one has a choice. That is what Monopolies are all about, and there is no major corporation in America today that would not destroy every freedom we have because their charters demand they make as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time with no regards to the consequences of their actions.
Sorry but like usual Micheal E in his guise of Budgie of Despair peeping the Goodthink Insoc Doctrine of Fux Snooze and his gods, Limburger and Beckerhead, using Black/white doublethink to gloss over reality. Time to feed the Budgie a cracker it is peeping trash like normal.
Padramemellyrn.
Look I took philosophy too.I understand saying there is no freedom.Or free markets.Or Democracy for that matter.Philosophically speaking.But in the real world- short of absolutes, most people know what we are speaking about.Your tutorial on economics 101 is gobbledegook.The belief that all is pre stacked against you,and why bother, is disempowering defeatism.A standard liberal canard.
As far as your last paragraph…..I can’t make heads or tails out of it.Sorry
I love this one. Sure some people abuse SS Disability, just like some people do not pay their fare share of taxes. They use such things as off shore accounts. Lets talk about the very wealthy, they use their money to buy our politicians to get their taxes lowered. When I think of George Rommey paying 14/15% taxes and we have this huge deficit? And they want to go after food stamps, SS, Medicare, etc?When will the middle class wake up and do something about it. Just what would it take, another revolution?
Mary when you say Mitt is paying 15% ,you are playing numbers games.His effective rate when rolling all his state, local,fed – plus goods and services is over 60%.Let me explain it to you this way with an example.
Your tax is 100 thou over a given year, but the government needs a bridge built over the white house lawn so Obama can have a wishing fountain..So they allow you a “write off” of up to 100 thousand dollars to pay into that bridge.For what ever reason you take that “write off”.Now in one sense your federal tax payment is effectively zero!
The write offs Mitt takes are all legal and set BY THE HOUSE …for the house.Obama buys gold and has tax write offs of his own.It helps the government AND the tax payer.It is a win win.If you have a problem with how the house sets the odds on its slots….. yell at the house.Not the legal player.Mitt is a very rich man.Maybe two hundred mil.He has investment house handling his money.They are charged with investing wisely- his money.And paying all taxes legally and completely.Any mistakes and they pay the freight.Some jackass find those investment houses invest in the Caymans or buy and store gold in Switzerland and away you lot go.I dont care if he buys up all the beanie babies in the world, and stores them in Vietnam.Call me if he breaks the law!Cindy Wassermann shultz today was found to have 401Ks with accounts in(wait for it)Swiss bank accounts.The caymans.Drug companies ect.Maybe that will make her shut her pie hole.Doubt it.
Now we have people yelling that one year or four years is not good enough to see mitts tax returns,They want 12.Obama has not even released school records.Im sure at some point Mitt will release what people want.Im sure Obama never will.
Guys we have a president who promised a lot under the heading of hope and change.How small has he gotten?Yesterday he finally made his big financial play.A one year extension of Bush tax cuts for some .With no record to run on he now moves to sling mud at his opponent.That all you got folks.Im sorry for ya.We are all Americans.We all deserved better these last 4 years.
“Mary when you say Mitt is paying 15% ,you are playing numbers games.”
Reuters: [January 20th 2012]
Mitt Romney disclosed early Tuesday that he expects his [Federal] tax bill to come to $6.2 million on income of $42.5 million the last two years. Romney paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent on $21.6 million in 2010 income and expects to pay 15.4 percent on $20.9 million in 2011 income, his campaign said.
While the current GDP is $13.3 trillion (or at least it was in 2011), making us richer than ever, wouldn’t the debt cancel this out? (I’m relatively new to economics.)
P Ness
And using that same formula Obama is paying exactly the same.Around 15%.Because both have used government accepted(and that means good for the government)write offs.You literally are not counting that.If you add that in…. both men are paying well over 50%.Exactly what I mean by a numbers game.What you want is an end to all tax shelters ,and write offs.Find me even one economist that has all his marbles- that sees merit in that idea.These monetary placements are allowed by the house……FOR the house(government).Bill Gates give hundreds of millions every year to charity ,and yes that is a write off ,and yes that does deduct from the listed percentage of Federal taxes.Mitt has always paid all his taxes.This move to show the world his finances is simply a move to prove he is a rich man(how Obama sees himself is interesting).And in Obamas class warfare world ,that is a bad thing.How America got such a leader is bewildering.If I were Mitt I would say to Obama-you release all your school records and fast and furious info and hell I will give you all my tax records.Case closed…Bam is not going there.He DOES have something to hide.
Also, why no one mention that the Disabled Community in America is between 17% to 20% or around 61 Million people. O’Railly mention 8 million. So, how the other 53 million people survives? Incongruent Rhetoric.