anyone have access to workman comp figures?

[annabanana]

You know that the MSM always runs those tapes of 'cheats' doing roofing & construction while they're collecting disability payments. I see this constant negative exposure as the first salvo in the tort reform wars.

Can anyone give figures as to what percent of disability recipients are cheating, or have been caught cheating? My initial guess was 95% legit and 5% cheat. My husband (not paying as much attention as I am about ANYTHING) was incredulous. "No", he says "This cheating thing is huge! I'll bet that MOST are cheaters."

Can anyone give best guess figures, and how can we begin to stop this train. Those evil "trial lawyers" are the public's last chance at redress.

[salvorhardin]

1. Oh man! You'd have no idea....

...how often I hear that special kind of ignorance around here, except most people around here mix in the disabled (those permanently unable to work) too as all being massive cheats**. I think a lot of it comes from our society's notion of what "disabled" means. All to often the word evokes images of people in wheelchairs or bed-bound. The reality is there are so many people with injuries and disabilities that just aren't apparent on the surface. I also think that in recent years the right wing has fostered a kind of envy of people getting workman's comp. or disability as part of their attempt at turning the lower and middle classes on each other so they're too busy fighting each other instead of fighting the real enemy.

**Note: I live in a very rural area. Randi Rhodes on yesterday's show talked about her trip to northern rural Maine. One of her observations was that everybody's sick. She's absolutely correct in that observation. In very rural areas everybody is sick. They can't afford healthcare (hell, we have people out here that still heat with wood -- not because it's stylish, but because they can't afford oil or propane -- and depend on the deer and other critters they kill to eat during the winter) and usually by the time they do go to the doctor it's too late. I swear, people living in urban areas have no idea. It's like scenes out of Michael Harrington's The Other America (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/068482678X). The thing is, our area didn't used to be like Appalachia. I grew up here. Yeah, it's always been poor but people used to get by. The scary thing -- they all vote straight republican.

[JDPriestly]

2. I'm so sorry to hear about the terrible conditions

in your community. Where do you live? I grew up in rural Iowa, and, yes, people were poor, but not as poor as you describe. Poor people vote Republican because the Democratic Party does not offer them hope. So they turn to the Republicans, who offer the sadistic joy of revenge and the sense of being part of the oppressor class, not one of the oppressed.

Things are not much better in big cities. The pay in Los Angeles probably sounds high to you. But, when you live here, you realize that the cost of housing, health insuance and transportation are out of reach on an ordinary wage. People are suffering -- living in substandard, very crowded housing. But, look at how they voted in hordes for the Terminator for governor. He is dismantling social programs, guaranteeing that the poor will suffer still more. Yet they support him and all his greedy schemes.

We can only change reality by changing ourselves. We have to offer people hope instead of cynicism. We have to be creative, not just critical. In our area of Los Angeles, we have started a liberal/progressive book club. Thus far, our group is small, but you would not believe how energizing it is to meet together and talk about our hopes and dreams for a better, more just America.

Maybe that is the answer in your area. Just invite a few friends over to talk about a book -- or a tape of an Air America program. You'll be surprised at the positive ideas that will out of your group. And, you will be even more surprised that as you begin to feel empowered and reach out to change your community, you will attract more and more people, even some Republicans who will, gradually, become liberal/progressive. You just have to take the first postive step.

In our book club, we are discussing Democratic/liberal/progressive moral values. Our first book was Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning." I recommend it.