http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903532804576564543481258206.html
Is it possible to revoke their US citizenship?
Ummm…wtf?
Seconded. Linden Arden, please explain your reasoning, whatever it is.
What is it about the nature of work that makes disability so pervasive there?
Maybe I am wrong.
In light of SSDI fraud I find this troubling.
If you think that’s bad, you need to visit the Deep South more.
If you read the article it’s about disability fraud where 290 laid off workers from one employer allegedly used the same doctor to claim disability. The article is looking at disability fraud. Your question about revoking citizenship is ill-advised at best, at worst kit could be pit-worthy material.
I’m sorry, what you’re saying isn’t remotely clear.
I trust that you’re being genuine and not attempting merely to stir up things, so please make your argument clearer.
Thanks.
I don’t understand; are you trying to suggest some sort of widespread state-sponsored fraud?
Part of the criteria for SSDI is whether the applicant can perform work that is available in the market. Puerto Rico has a much higher unemployment rate than the country generally (13.8%), so it stands to reason that there would be a higher number of applicants who are qualified for SSDI due to a combination of medical and vocational factors.
[QUOTE=Linden Arden]
What is it about the nature of work that makes disability so pervasive there?
[/QUOTE]
What is it about a potentially high rate of disability fraud that makes you think unilaterally revoking citizenship isn’t an asinine idea?
Well, commonwealth-sponsored, maybe.
I was using the more general version of “state” simply to mean the goverment.
Not that I think they should be denied statehood, but when 290 out of 300 of the people who were laid off apply, that’s more than “a higher number of applicants who are qualified”.
I know, and I was using the more specific term to be a smartass.
Yes, but that’s based (apparently) on the opinion of one physician; the OP is conflating that story and the generally high rate of SSDI approval in Puerto Rico. It’s a pretty good reason to investigate the Puerto Rican administrative law judges’ selection process and qualifications, and the physician, but it’s kind of a stretch to get from there to “let’s take away citizenship for Puerto Ricans.”
I’m not reading it that way…
To me, that says, before we even get to the physician:
300 people got laid off
290 of them applied for SSDI
Not unemployment. DISABILITY benefits. 290 people went from working one day to being disabled to the point they felt they couldn’t work shortly thereafter.
Hear, hear. In Owsley County, Kentucky, more than 50% of total county-wide personal income comes from federal benefits. Should they be expelled from the Union as well?
BTW, although that is fraud, working Puerto Ricans (whether in the US mainland, abroad, or in the island) do pay into the social security program.
If you can get them all on an island? Yes!
I’d think that a large contributing factor to the proportion of disability in these poor areas is that any upwardly mobile people move away to get jobs, rather than sticking around to work. The only ones that are left are the ones who can’t work (or lazy fraudsters).
So all the people working at one factory filed fraudulent disability claims. Does that say something about Puerto Ricans in general? Or, is it more likely that one of them did it and told everyone else?