# Social Security Disability attorneys **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-disability-attorneys/744115 "2016-01-24T22:03:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-disability-attorneys/744115/41 "2017-01-19T23:48:25Z")
> [@UberArchetype](#): > > But somehow I feel that is not answering your question, as posed. It seems to be begging for a question something more like: How do we minimize the amount we are paying veterans? Especially the goldbricks? So I would offer similar guidance as suggested to slash: There are much, much bigger low-hanging fruits for the government budget wonks to chew on. Pick one and consider increasing VA funding. Those bureaucrats will take of the business as seen fit by the powers that be. It’s always up for a vote on some bill being batted back and forth. What’s the point of shielding THIS program from scrutiny? Aren’t you just validating Dinsdale’s original point in #25 (“any questioning of benefits to presumably disabled vet’s gets little traction”)? The amount spent on disability benefits for veterans now exceeds the amount spent on VA medical care ($80 billion in FY 2016, versus expenditures of $63 billion for the Veterans Health Administration). It’s larger than SNAP (food stamps–$75 billion), and twice as much as the feds spend on all K-12 education ($40 billion). As recently as 2000, the government spent only about $20 billion on VA disability benefits, meaning the program has quadrupled in spending in less than two decades. Given current and projected federal budget issues, that’s not a sustainable rate of increase. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-disability-attorneys/744115.md?page=2)