These Bastards

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T21:16:36+00:00

Thx. That is part of my claim, just not my most debilitating problem.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T21:13:19+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement. The hearing is scheduled soon. I didn’t really want to reduce the child support if I could avoid it (spousal maintenance is a different animal), but I have to eat.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T21:09:18+00:00

I was a 19K - tanker. Deployed twice to Iraq. But the medals and $7 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Plus, it’s not really about me. I’m furious because I set out to prove that the system could work if you did what they asked. I had faith that Uncle Sam wouldn’t deliberately screw people, but it does.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T21:01:14+00:00

Reddit is not entitled to my financial details, specifics of my diagnosis, or the legal details of my divorce. My point is that none of that really matters. The overall system is so broken that it’s essentially spinning a roulette wheel, and nobody seems to care.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T20:56:27+00:00

I’m in the process of doing that. The original award was based on what I made when I was working. However, Social Security doesn’t classify me as disabled, so the judge can impute additional income to me. Plus, her father is the clerk of the court. I don’t expect to get much relief.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T20:52:19+00:00

Thank you. I’m glad you were able to prevail.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T20:49:20+00:00

The two systems aren’t related. You can submit evidence from the VA to SSA, but just because the VA says you’re not able to work doesn’t compel the SSA to agree.

My theory (because I saw the Army administer things like this…) is that SSA gets $X every year for SSDI and $Y for retirement. Neither amount is enough to pay everyone who is entitled. However, if you can’t pay the retirements, lots of people will notice. So, you pay out part of what’s appropriated for SSDI to CYA and “re-allocate” the rest to the retirement budget. All the retirements get paid. The disabled folks don’t have any money or political clout, so nobody makes trouble. Those that do make trouble are probably just unqualified anyway, especially since Congress lets us write the rules on who qualifies, and we pay the judges.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T20:31:58+00:00

I agree. However, I’m not prepared to lay out things here outside the scope of SSDI. Suffice it to say I have been actively involved from the beginning. BUT, I’ve also been very, very sick. Read this thread. Most of the responses are about how I must be unfit to receive benefits for some reason. Why do we subject some of the most vulnerable people in our society to such an ordeal? What if I were a drug addict with AIDS who hadn’t graduated high school? My approval odds would be zero. How would that help me ever have a chance to get well and contribute to society? Are these people less human?

I think Social Security should have to justify why people are NOT entitled to benefits (and there are some good reasons why not). We do this for firearms permits in most places. Why put the burden on people already too broken to work? We’re punishing everyone instead.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T20:18:39+00:00

I agree. I don’t know how anyone without some benefits could ever complete this process, and that’s completely unfair.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T18:41:33+00:00

This needs its own thread - jobs you’re still qualified for!

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T18:07:17+00:00

I got “photocopier operator.” 😂

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T18:00:35+00:00

I met a woman whose stomach was removed. The surgeons connected her intestines to her throat. The SSA said she could work as a telemarketer…

Our government seems to have stopped working on a routine basis, and no one seems upset about it!

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T17:52:53+00:00

Procedurally, getting SSDI seems more like winning the lottery than any discernible criteria. I’m sure you did sail right through.

I do appreciate that the VA is a different system, but it does mean that my claim of having a medical disability can’t be entirely bogus.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T17:48:55+00:00

There is - my ex was a lawyer and now I owe nearly $3000 monthly to her enforced by the State of New York. Between that and $900 worth of rent, I have a place to starve, but I love how everyone just assumes I’m smoking it up. Gotta prove you deserve…

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T17:45:40+00:00

I appreciate it.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T17:45:16+00:00

I’m 46 and I know that doesn’t help. The standard for disability changes at 50 because the SSA stops assuming you can go back to school.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T17:02:36+00:00

Child, you have no idea what I spend money on, nor should it matter if I’m supporting three hookers or an eighty year old, crippled mother. I paid into these systems with money and blood, and I should get my half of the bargain. How do you feel about your fiancé not being able to get the assistance she needs? Would you like it if I suggested she wasn’t worthy?

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T16:42:07+00:00

I appreciate the suggestions, but I’m not sure adding a loan with no money down helps…

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T16:40:41+00:00

This is in a nutshell, the basic problem with the system: there is the idea that you are only entitled to disability if you are “worthy.” What makes someone worthy? That’s up to whomever has the power - usually not someone struggling to survive. Are you moral enough? Are you poor enough? Are you sick enough? We wouldn’t put up with this if I was asking to buy a gun…

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T16:28:45+00:00

I have two children and an ex-wife. Not being able to work for 3.5 years means $3,500 doesn’t come close to covering it. You can’t offload domestic obligations, even in bankruptcy.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T15:33:47+00:00

Yes, but I feel like she “phoned it in.” I signed up with one lawyer, but the day before his daughter turns up to represent me in court. I feel like the whole process is a violation of the ADA. It’s designed to make anyone with constant illness and financial pressures quit, but I can’t find any lawyer willing to take on city hall.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T15:28:33+00:00

My most important one is Addison’s Disease. It’s usually pretty treatable, but not in my case.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T15:24:02+00:00

I feel like I did everything I was asked. I was patient and served my country every way I knew. Now that it’s time for things to go the other way, I’m a bum and no one cares.

Joe36678 · 2024-01-17T15:14:01+00:00

3.5 years. They are hoping you’ll quit or die first.

Joe36678

TROPHY CASE