Another doorway

Another day spent working on the calendar and I think I'm making good progress.  I'm still looking for the last couple of images, but another day might do the trick.

I read today that Trump is considering making recertification for Social Security Disability mandatory every six months.  Not only is that ridiculous cruel, it is dreadfully short-sighted.  Just getting certified in the first place is a daunting task; the majority of applicants are rejected the first time they apply.  They then have to hire advocates or attorneys to prepare to refile in hope of being allowed the benefit.  Having to refile every six months would be dreadfully burdensome and for many folks impossible.  At present there are reviews every two years; if they go to a six month schedule, many more evaluators will have to be hired, whose salaries will eat up the funds that should be going to the disabled.  And the seriously disabled who have to live in special facilities would be unable to stay if they stood to lose their benefit every six months.  People would be homeless and dependent on the public hospital system.  People would die.  The Republican insistence that no one should "get something for nothing" - Social Security, unemployment insurance, affordable healthcare, good schools - is destructive for the entire society.

This issue is particularly significant to me because I myself received SSD payments for a number of years.  My original application was rejected after a perfunctory evaluation and it was only through the help of a friend who is a vocational counselor that I was able to put together a dossier that made my case.  Without that income I would not have been able to make a life for myself.  The cruelty of this proposed change is truly devastating.

Pardon the rant.

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