[lbo-talk] Who knew? John McCain on disability, gets checks

sawicky at verizon.net sawicky at verizon.net
Thu Jun 12 10:12:50 PDT 2008


I didn't say the benefits should not be taxable.

I don't see why they shouldn't be.  Don't forget, "taxable"

does not imply "taxed," the latter depending on total income,

deductions, etc.

One could argue that if you're able to work, then you ought

not to get disability payments, except perhaps to defray extra

costs of working due to the disability.  Social Security/DI is fundamentally

insurance for not being able to work due to disability -- replacement of

lost wages.  McC may be under a separate military program, since vets

in the U.S. have their own little welfare state, in some ways better than

the one everyone else lives under.


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: B.
> Sent: 06/12/08 01:01 pm
> To: LBO Talk
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Who knew? John McCain on disability, gets checks
>
> Okay, so basically everyone (who's responded on
> LBO-Talk) thinks it's okay that McCain gets over $50K
> per year in untaxable, taxpayer benefits for being
> "retired" and "disabled" (not my words, the
> government's) even though he is a millionaire (on his
> own earning's, not his wife's) -- but, nonetheless,
> *is* married to a multi-, multi-millionaire beer
> heiress, and has 8 homes, etc.?
>
> Maybe I am victim to some reflexive, reactionary way
> of thinking here. But I mentioned the "McCain gets
> $50K+ per year for being disabled" to my girlfriend,
> who knew nothing about this, and her immediate,
> possible reactionary (???) response was, "John McCain
> gets over fifty thousand a year because he says he's
> retired and disabled, but he is running for President
> and is a millionaire??"
>
> So, is that kind of gut-level reaction just not the
> right to perceive this...?
>
> Now, maybe it is wrong and PLAYS INTO THE HANDS of
> some reactionary trope. Joe Schmoe on $30k a year
> getting disability checks is one thing. But, honestly,
> falling-into-the-clutches-of-right-wing-thinking
> though-I-may-be, it still seems counterintuitive,
> screwy to me. Maybe he could donate that $50k to the
> Social Security trust fund? Or, something...? (Not a
> church, please.)
>
> McCain's injuries are from his time as a POW, being
> physically abused (notice he has limited use of his
> arms), it is said.
>
> He also had his teeth replaced, or something, but he
> has had socialized medicine since birth not privvy to
> it while POW, though), and all these problems have
> been dealt with at taxpayer expense, not to say they
> do not cause recurring emotional or even physical
> problems. Bt i thought, by definition, "disability"
> mean well, it *dis*-abled someone from, say, doing
> X-Y-Z, when McCain, if anything, is one of the more
> able folks one could imagine seeing in our society.
>
> -B.
>
>
>
> Jenny Brown wrote:
>
> "So what are his injuries from? I agree with you about
> the disability payment, the moment you start means
> testing you bring in a new level of burden to prove
> you're eligible."
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>



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