The Tribune and Disability

Here is a column from the Salt Lake Tribune last week on the rise of Social Security disability claims. You will see my comment at the bottom. I did not mention that the assertion that 13% of cases are approved at the administrative law judge level is laughably false. It is over 50%. I wrote a letter to the editor pointing this out as well as why a couple assertions by Mr. Allsup are ridiculous. They refused to print it. We know newspapers are in trouble, but when I read stories like this on an issue I know something about, and they are so wrong, I wonder about other stories. This is lazy journalism. Get a couple quotes from somebody, no matter how disrepected he is in the professional community, and a response from somebody else, and call it journalism. And explain nothing. The aging of boomers has already caused an increase in disability claims and this recession has been hardest on older men. If you lose your job, you are less likely to get hired for another job. Disability rules reflect age. If you are over 55 and cannot do your past work, the rules are more lenient. Of course, when many are unemployed and prospects are slim, people are looking for a way to get by. But the author could have at least explained what "silver tsunami" means and why it is occurring.