More to Make You Gag

Just in case the last post didn't make you sick, this from Senator Tom Coburn should push your gag reflex to the point of no return:

Do you realize that 1 in 20 Americans have now been officially qualified as “disabled” by the Social Security Administration, meaning they can longer work a full time job, and thus qualify for Federal disability benefits? If you’re at all skeptical that such a large number of Americans are truly eligible, you are right to question.

It is true that many Americans meet the test for these benefits, and receive much needed assistance. However, a recent investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) paints a troubling picture of the $159 billion program.

Its findings include:

• The program was responsible for at least $10.7 billion in overpayments from 2004-2008.
• 600,000 Americans receiving disability benefits have been issued commercial drivers licenses (CDL).
• A smaller sample of disability recipients also carrying CDL’s, estimated that 43 percent of these permit holders qualified for their license after the Social Security Administration determined they were eligible for full disability benefits. As a physician who has had to certify patients looking to qualify for a CDL, I can assure you that the two categories are mutually exclusive. One cannot qualify for a CDL and be classified as disabled.
• By comparing federal workforce and disability program data, the GAO discovered that 1,500 Federal employees may be improperly receiving payments, at a cost of $1.7 million per month.

This type of fraud is widespread throughout many federal benefit programs, and costs taxpayers billions each year. It will not stop until Congress does its job.

The next time you hear a politician say that raising taxes is the only way to balance the budget, remind them of the $350 billion that federal agencies lose each year to pure waste, fraud, and duplication. Demand they do the necessary work to oversee bureaucracies, and demand they eliminate fraud and waste before they ever mention raising our taxes again.