World News Korner

Sarah Palin pimps a 60 Minutes "expose" on the Social Security Disability Insurance program. Well you know what THAT means!

One time Palin supporter, who may be having second thoughts.

Courtesy of the Heartless Harridan's Facebook page:

In case you missed it, "60 Minutes" did an excellent segment on the waste and fraud in the Federal Disability Insurance Program. Kudos to Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and his staff for leading the investigation into this. And thank you, CBS, for covering it!

She then links to this story on 60 Minutes in which Steve Kroft, with the help of Senator Coburn and some shady attorneys, supposedly lays bare the overwhelming fraud within the Social Security disability programs.

Now in my job I actually do some work with this program so I was surprised at how aggressively and unfairly 60 Minutes seemed to go after them. And apparently I was not alone, as indicated in the comments section of their own website.

Here is a sampling:

I am a Social Security Disability Attorney in New York City. I watched the website recording of a 60 Minutes spot that aired last night and was disheartened by the sophistry I witnessed. Anytime I hear words like "It's been called a Secret Welfare System," which has been ravaged by waste and fraud, I cringe. First of all, I would like to know who has called it a secret welfare system --incendiary remarks like that must be backed up with facts. Secondly, who says it has been ravaged by waste and fraud -- this uncorroborated remark was left hanging out there as if it accurately reflected the System as a whole.

I also find it troubling and unacceptable that the only attorneys discussed in the program were Binder and Binder and Eric C. Conn. There were so many others you could have contacted about their experiences with the System.

Mr. Kroft, this irresponsible and short-sighted report should never have aired. I am surprised and disappointed in 60 Minutes, a program I have long admired, Please go back to the drawing board and deliver a revised program worthy of the name 60 Minutes.

Here is another:

Agree with all that this is a shameful 60 Minutes segment. Not that I doubt some lawyers are making money or that some of our fellow citizens are marginal disability recipients. Rather that 60 Minutes has what I hope is sheer ignorance (and not something else) wrapping the sheep's clothing of revealing fraud around the wolf of Tom Coburn who is a fervent advocate of Republican efforts to destroy America's safety net. Coburn's fundamental mission is not to reform Social Security Disability, but to destroy it by privatization. Too bad 60 Minutes is an enabler in his efforts.

And another:

I am one of the allegedly evil attorneys on TV .It might help for people to learn the day I heard of this story the two clients I signed up are typical of our business. The first was a fellow with very bad sarcoidosis affecting many aspects of his ability to work including hands , feet, breathing ,stamina. He was trying for many years to learn what was wrong with him but could not get access to treatment or meds. He is a very religious , humble man who would love to work and has been unable for years ; his church may not be able to help any longer.

The second was a family whose mother described an adult daughter unable to work for many years now with debilitating psych issues since age 8 including a horrific set of symptoms associated with obsessive compulsive disorder along with severe depression . Ridicule and stigmatize her associated panic attacks after you have spoken with her and her family. The mom called because she reported she never wanted to bother with a claim before , but recognizes she can no longer support this adult daughter whom she had home schooled .

The truth , as I tell interviewees each day, is that contrary to the harsh stereotypes now circulating with the help of 60 Minutes and other media is that it is very hard to get Social Security disability ;they're gonna think and treat you with cynicism and sometimes almost like a fraudster . Scapegoating those on the receiving end of " hard things happen to good people " is not fair reporting and does great damage. Tom

Then I did a quick Google search to find out if any other news outlets had addressed this obviously biased report.

I quickly found this over at Media Matters:

Sarah Palin pimps a 60 Minutes "expose" on the Social Security Disability Insurance program. Well you know what THAT means!
National disability organizations have criticized a misleading CBS News 60 Minutes report on Social Security disability which relied on anecdotal evidence to deceptively portray the vital program as wasteful and unsustainable, despite the fact that award rates fell during the recession and that fraud is less than one percent of the program.

On October 6, 60 Minutes stoked fears that the Social Security Disability Insurance program is "ravaged by waste and fraud," relying on Senator Tom Coburn's (R-OK) partisan investigation and anecdotal evidence to hype growth in the program while misleadingly claiming that it "could become the first government benefits program to run out of money."

Lisa Ekman, Director of Federal Policy at Health & Disability Advocates, said the organization was "extremely disappointed that 60 Minutes chose to air such a one-sided story based on anecdote and supposition ... Misleading media reports like the one on 60 Minutes distract from focusing on the real issue of helping American workers with and without disabilities achieve economic security."

The myths pushed by 60 Minutes have been repeatedly debunked by experts. The report admitted that the vast majority of people applying for benefits are denied, but ignored the fact that the majority of appeals are also denied, and that award rates have actually fallen during the economic recession. In April, the Wall Street Journal called the claim that federal disability benefits were to blame for people leaving the labor force "exaggerated," explaining that disability was in fact the least common reason individuals left the workforce.

As the Center for Economic and Policy Research's Dean Baker noted, the report also "completely ignored all the comments from experts in the field ... pointing out that fraud is in fact not rampant in the disability program." Indeed, the Government Accountability Office has repeatedly found that fraud accounts for approximately one percent of all disability payments.

In other words Palin is endorsing an episode that seems to have been a hatchet job and which completely misrepresents the truth about this very necessary program.

I know, shocking right?

But then a thought occurred to me that is the result of my own interactions with the Social Security Disability program. They also serve children born with disabilities, including Down Syndrome.

In fact in my experience gaining to access Social Security Disability insurance is a godsend for some of the kids with physical, cognitive, or behavioral disabilities which make them fall behind their peers and suffer from low self esteem and hopelessness.

The insurance can get them extra support in the home, tutoring in schools, help out in the community, and therapies that can really open doors for them and dramatically improve their lives.

I have little doubt that Trig qualifies for this insurance, even if his mother is well off, and it will last his entire life, so even as an adult he will have services and supports that he will likely always need.

If Palin has NOT taken advantage of this, she is a terrible mother.

And if she HAS, and has then turned around and attacked them along with Senator Coburn and the 60 Minutes crew using trumped up and false information, than she is simply a terrible person.


Or does that latter statement now go without saying?

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