I don't even know where to start in writing about the latest column from George Will. It couldn't be more misleading or more full of hatred if it were written by Rush Limbaugh. Just read it yourself.
Update: Let me start to respond to this garbage. Anyone who compares Social Security disability as it was in 1960 to what it is today is deliberately trying to mislead you. The Social Security disability trust fund was only created in 1957. In 1960, disability insurance was in its infancy and growing extremely rapidly since people were just discovering the existence of the program. (Believe me, even today, there are people who are surprised to learn that Social Security pays disability benefits.) The number of people on Social Security disability benefits grew by 56% between 1960 and 1961 alone! The definition of disability was quite different in 1960, requiring that disability be permanent and that one be 50 or older to get benefits. Today's population is dramatically older than it was in 1960. The incidence of disability increases sharply with age. The aging of the baby boomer population has dramatically increased the number of Americans in their 50s and 60s who are in their prime years for onset of disability.
By the way, I hope that George Will tells his friends who are approaching knee replacement surgery their pain is no reason for them to restrict their activities. I hope he tells the parents of a schizophrenic or the survivors of a person who committed suicide because of depression that mental illness isn't, you know, really real.
The loony right and the supposedly respectable right are rapidly becoming indistinguishable.
Further update: Will wrote another column recently in which he seems to have predicted violent revolution in the United States if Social Security as we know it and other similar programs are not terminated. He also calls for an end for representative government since it has led to programs he disagrees with such as Social Security. He quotes Macaulay as asking "On what principle is it that, when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us?" He then answers the question by saying, in effect, that "Of course, there's nothing but deterioration before us because the government is doing things I don't want it to do!" Will may be calling for a monarchy by next week.
Update: Let me start to respond to this garbage. Anyone who compares Social Security disability as it was in 1960 to what it is today is deliberately trying to mislead you. The Social Security disability trust fund was only created in 1957. In 1960, disability insurance was in its infancy and growing extremely rapidly since people were just discovering the existence of the program. (Believe me, even today, there are people who are surprised to learn that Social Security pays disability benefits.) The number of people on Social Security disability benefits grew by 56% between 1960 and 1961 alone! The definition of disability was quite different in 1960, requiring that disability be permanent and that one be 50 or older to get benefits. Today's population is dramatically older than it was in 1960. The incidence of disability increases sharply with age. The aging of the baby boomer population has dramatically increased the number of Americans in their 50s and 60s who are in their prime years for onset of disability.
By the way, I hope that George Will tells his friends who are approaching knee replacement surgery their pain is no reason for them to restrict their activities. I hope he tells the parents of a schizophrenic or the survivors of a person who committed suicide because of depression that mental illness isn't, you know, really real.
The loony right and the supposedly respectable right are rapidly becoming indistinguishable.
Further update: Will wrote another column recently in which he seems to have predicted violent revolution in the United States if Social Security as we know it and other similar programs are not terminated. He also calls for an end for representative government since it has led to programs he disagrees with such as Social Security. He quotes Macaulay as asking "On what principle is it that, when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us?" He then answers the question by saying, in effect, that "Of course, there's nothing but deterioration before us because the government is doing things I don't want it to do!" Will may be calling for a monarchy by next week.
1 comment:
He didn't blame lawyers in this piece. Thanks George.
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