[nfb-talk] my ideas for ending SSI & SSDI

John G. Heim jheim at math.wisc.edu
Thu Apr 29 15:03:44 UTC 2010


You're probably right. In fact, I think there used to be a tax credit for 
hiring someone on SSI but they dropped it because people didn't want to go 
into an interview and admit they were on SSI. I was just thinking that maybe 
attitudes had changed in the past 30 years.

I'm not totally convinced though. It seems to me that part of the problem 
here is pride. What's really wrong with paying a disable person less if it 
gets them off SSI? After all, I wasn't advocating a permanent exemption from 
the minimum wage.  Isn't it more gutsy to take that job even if you're 
getting less than minimum wage? To me that says I want to work so much that 
I'd even take less than minimum wage for a while just to get off SSI. It 
seems to me that that's something we should respect.

But I suppose we have to be practical. Not everyone would see it that way.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 9:33 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] my ideas for ending SSI & SSDI


> Indeed I would oppose the removal of the minimum wage for people with 
> disabilities, and I recognize that raising the minimum wage results in 
> fewer jobs available to those who need them.
>
> If we're bellyaching here about how a tax exemption makes people think we 
> are incapable of being equal, how does being exempt from the minimum wage 
> or government subsidized employment make us look?  That's a giant leap 
> backward, in my opinion.  That's especially true when you start 
> considering the government paperwork and bureaucracy involved in such a 
> program.
>
> What John doesn't seem to get was that the NFB was founded to bring about 
> the END what he proposes to create.  Maybe the notion that you do the same 
> work for less pay and don't dare question the voc rehab agency that 
> (literally) feeds you is acceptable to some members of the Progressive 
> Party who would gladly give government total power and zero oversight. 
> The rest of us have heard and lived enough government horror stories to 
> politely decline.
>
> Not that politely declining means anything to the Progressive Party. 
> They'll ram it through no matter what, because them having a dictatorship 
> is good for you.
>
> Joseph
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 10:11:51AM -0700, ckrugman at sbcglobal.net wrote:
>>The modification of minimum wage laws would actually be a step backward as 
>>it undermines equal pay for equal work and would not receive support from 
>>organized labor. Either we are competing equally in the work force or not 
>>competing. You can't have it both ways.
>>Chuck
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "John G. Heim" <jheim at math.wisc.edu>
>>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 8:07 AM
>>Subject: [nfb-talk] my ideas for ending SSI & SSDI
>>
>>
>>>Well, technically, these are not ideas for ending SSI and SSDI.
>>>
>>>1. Companies should get tax credits for hiring someone on SSI or SSDI 
>>>equal to the amount the person would have received if they'd stayed on 
>>>SSI or SSDI. The tax credit could last for one year, two years, three --  
>>>whatever it takes. Note that this idea is revenue neutral. Of course, 
>>>someone would have to be on SSI or SSDI in order to go off SSI or SSDI 
>>>this way. So my idea doesn't do away with SSI and SSDI. But we don't 
>>>really want to do that anyway because some people simply cannot work and 
>>>can never come off SSI or SSDI.
>>>
>>>2. Waive minimum wage laws for people on SSI or SSDI for 2 or 3 years 
>>>after they are hired.  The disabled person would continue to get SSI or 
>>>SSDI while they're working because they'd only be making $1 an hour (or 
>>>whatever).
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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