(07-15-2018 12:06 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(07-14-2018 09:00 PM)BadgerMJ Wrote:  

(07-14-2018 08:34 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(07-14-2018 08:16 AM)BadgerMJ Wrote:  

(07-13-2018 09:33 AM)bullet Wrote:  http://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/...the-middle

"...When it comes to immigration, the public also is at a far more sensible place than most politicians. The voters are squarely behind offering work permits and even a path to citizenship to DACA recipients and others here illegally, as long as we do whatever it takes to fix the problem of border security to stop people from coming in on an unregulated basis and to limit chain migration and lotteries. Less than one-third support closing down ICE, and the data makes you wonder what could be behind the left’s new rallying cry, given its very limited support...."

I don't really see the polls that support all of this that Clinton's pollster sees. But he suggests not looking to the fringes of the parties.



https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articl...37517.html

"...Can our leaders in Congress be inspired, or shamed, into working together? The existing power structures in both the Democratic and Republican leadership have long been able to resist it, but those are breaking up. Rep. Paul Ryan is retiring and Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi will not be speaker either. New hierarchies will form and, with them, new opportunities to change the way Congress works. Partisanship won’t disappear but a far more closely divided House next year will force one of two paths for leaders -- paralysis or problem solving. While much could change, if Republicans ultimately hold their majority they will likely have fewer seats. If Democrats take the House back they aren’t likely to pick up many more than the 23 seats required to flip control. No speaker has control with a five- or seven-seat majority...."

Article suggests rule changes within the House to make compromise across party lines more likely and to enable the "problem solvers" group within the House.


There are some problems that need to be solved on a bi-partisan basis. Medicare, Social Security, Health care. We need a consensus on defense. I'm not sure that we need to go there on everything.

I doubt an immigration deal will ever get done.

The left wants a "path" for DACA and would probably like some sort of amnesty as well. The right wants border security and a wall. Neither side will get what they want without allowing the "other" to get what they want. Hence no deal.

Medicaid and SS could get done, but I think the only way to do that is to package some sort of deal that would raise the retirement age to probably 70 and raise the income cap which one can be taxed on. I doubt anything else will ever gain traction.

Raising the retirement age wouldn't accomplish very much because it will increase the number of people qualifying for disability and increase the amount of time people are on disability.

If you compare people who attain age 62 their mortality rate is strongly related to lifetime earnings. People performing skilled work who earn more, live longer and are more likely to defer retirement (my father retired at age 74 and only because he was going to be off-work 6-10 weeks recovering from rotator cuff surgery).

Disability has been declining because so many boomers are now eligible to retire. All 1952 and earlier boomers are off disability along with about half of the 1953 boomers.

Any particular cohert becomes increasingly likely to apply for disability as they age with bumps at 50, 55, and 60

The problem there isn't with the age, it's that we've watered down the requirements of what it means to be "disabled" to the point where many who have no business getting it are.

"Disabled" doesn't mean you can't do YOUR job anymore, it should mean you can't do ANY job anymore. Just because your back prohibits you from driving truck (for example) doesn't mean there aren't hundreds of other jobs you're perfectly capable of doing.

That's just not accurate.
In 2008 approximately 63% of all applicants for disability were approved, today it is around 43%.

The only "watering down" was when the so-called GRID rules. The rules presume that if a person can only regularly lift 10 pounds or less and is unskilled that at age 50 there is basically very little chance of finding full-time employment and at age 55 if you can regularly lift 20 pounds or less and are unskilled that you cannot find full-time employment. When adopted those ages were 15 and 10 years from retirement age, now they are 17 and 12 years from retirement age.

Truck drivers don't find a great deal of success applying for disability because they typically hold the skills required to be dispatchers.

Private disability plans typically pay if you cannot do your job. Social Security disability requires that you be unable to hold a forty hour a week job unless you fit under the GRID rules.

Actually the approved rates have remained within a few percent between 2003-2017. The number of applicants went thru the roof, especially from 2008-2015. The result is the number of approved applicants per year have been pretty close to the same.

The problem I have is why should we change the "rules" for unskilled people? Last time I checked, everyone has the opportunity to get an education. Everyone has the opportunity to stick with a job and acquire additional skills and experience. I someone chose not to, tough. The country shouldn't have to pay of the nose for people's bad choices.

As for truck drivers, I know two personally who pulled the "disabled" scam. One supposedly hurt his back yet managed to drive his family across country every summer in the RV for vacation. The other hurt his leg in an accident and couldn't drive anymore. Was granted "disability" at 35 even though three were dozens of jobs he could do. He's 50 now, still milking the system and will continue to mile it until he transfers over to SSI. If he lives to 80, that will be 45 years of not doing a damn thing but taking. BTW, with all the tales we hear of doctors "over prescribing" pain meds, is it really out of the question to think that some of those same doctors would fudge "disability" exams?

We're $21 trillion in debt. The time for playing the sympathetic nice guy is long over. If we need to crack down and crack down hard so the vast majority can get what they were promised then so be it.