The Trump administration’s war on people with disabilities continues full speed ahead, while the wealthiest among us are making out like bandits.
The administration has been working closely with the Social Security Administration in an effort to reduce false claims believing that social media holds a cache of information regarding eligibility of Social Security Disability Benefits. They believe that by monitoring the social media accounts of disability benefit recipients, they can root out false claims and reduce the overall amount of money spent on the programs.
Disability advocate Imani Barbarin explains why this vicious proposal is terribly misguided. It unfairly targets people with disabilities. Basically, it shames an entire group of people, because of an inherent distrust and bias rooted in ableism.
The proposal, like many of its policies regarding disabled people, shows a fundamental misunderstanding of disability and takes advantage of how social media operates in order to cut them off from the support they need. Disabled people don’t all function in the same way, and disability is not a set of stereotypes like taking selfies staring longingly at the world. They live lives while managing their energy for the activities they can handle and trying to make those they cannot more accessible.
Additionally, studies have shown that a majority of social media users show only the good in their lives, not the hardships or difficulties. Disabled people should be allowed to share the full scope of their existence without fear they’ll be accused of lying—and even fraud—by the United States Government which will likely reason that if a disabled person is seen going to the mall or taking time to swim or jog, they can be working.
Unbelievable, but not coming from this administration. Let me get this straight—the deficit is ballooning out of control, because of the GOP Tax Scam and NOW surveilling people with disabilities, based on what they share on social media, will help solve the debt problems the Republican party created??
People with disabilities aren’t a problem. It’s Trump and his wealthy cronies who are.
The massive tax cuts signed into law in December, which Republicans said would pay for themselves, will balloon the U.S. deficit in years ahead, the Congressional Budget Office said
. . . .
“That amount is far greater than the debt in any year since just after World War II,” CBO said, adding that the debt is now about 77 percent of GDP, a measure of the size of the economy.
The contempt the GOP has for Americans who receive disability benefits, and the trope they sling about it, is well-known. For example, it’s even highlighted here by Republican Senator Rand Paul.
I tell people that if you look like me and you hop out of your truck, you shouldn’t be getting a disability check. Over half the people on disability are either anxious or their back hurts. Join the club. Who doesn’t get up a little anxious for work every day and their back hurts?
Privileged Rand should talk to Americans with disabilities who want to work, and without the social safety net of disability, could not survive. Living with a disability is not a choice. These deplorable Republicans like Rand know it.
Before his body started to fail him, Pitts, a 43-year-old in Lake County, Tennessee, was a public servant. He loved his job as a 911 dispatcher for the county’s emergency services; he recounts with pride the story of the day he kept residents calm as trees crashed around them in an ice storm. He was elected county commissioner, a position he used to champion solar power.
Then in 2013, Pitts, who already had moderate arthritis and herniated discs in his back, was diagnosed with renal failure, an extreme form of kidney disease — the beginning of a chain of events that would leave Pitts and his family dependent on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which offers assistance for workers who develop disabilities and illnesses that render them incapable of working any longer.
People with disabilities often have a hard enough time trying to live “normal” lives, due to structural and systemic problems in our society, without fearing their government is spying on them. This is despicable and it’s the norm coming from Trump administration and the entire privileged Republican party.
We will never accept this as a norm because we fight for Americans with disabilities like Mr. Pitts. We have to vote Republicans out in 2020, so we can save programs like Social Security and Supplemental Income disability that saves many, many lives.