The truth about Obama's Economy

1. Disability Enrollment Skyrockets

"Since President Obama's 2009 inauguration, 5.9 million people have been added to SSDI [Social Security Disability Insurance), a 23 percent increase over the last five years... SSDI rolls have swollen to almost 11 million recipients (translation: 1 in 14 U.S. workers)." (Robert Ehrlich Jr., The Baltimore Sun, March 3, 2013.)

2. Millions Have No Intention of Going Back to Work

According to the Social Security Administration's 2009 survey, "Returning to work is not a goal for 71 percent of the SSDI recipients, 60 percent of the SSI recipients." There are seven million on SSI or "unearned disability." (SSA 2009/ Washington Examiner, July 30, 2013.)

3. Millions Don't See Themselves Working

"75 percent of the SSDI recipients don't see themselves returning to work within five years, 65 percent of the SSI recipients don't." (SSA 2009/ Washington Examiner, ibid.)

4. Childcare Not the Issue

"Lack of childcare is not the reason they don't work for 95 percent of the SSDI recipients who are looking for work, 84 percent of the SSI recipients who are looking." (SSA 2009/ Washington Examiner, ibid.)

5. Cash Under the Table

"72 percent of the small number of SSDI recipients who started a job while on disability got cash under the table, as did 70 percent of the small number of SSI recipients who started a job while on disability." (SSA 2009/ Washington Examiner, ibid.)

6. Under-Educated Disproportionately Likely to Sign Up

24 percent of the SSDI recipients lack even GEDs, as do 43 percent of the SSI recipients." (SSA 2009/ Washington Examiner, ibid.)

7. Unemployment & Disability Trend Together

Unsurprisingly, nagging long-term unemployment and labor participation rate lows since the late 1970s means more people will find other ways to make ends meet. (Image: NPR.)

8. Welfare Reform?

"But disability has also become a de facto welfare program for people without a lot of education or job skills. But it wasn't supposed to serve this purpose; it's not a retraining program designed to get people back onto their feet. Once people go onto disability, they almost never go back to work. Fewer than 1 percent of those who were on the federal program for disabled workers at the beginning of 2011 have returned to the workforce since then, one economist told me." (Chana Joffe-Walt, "Unfit for Work," NPR.)

9. Number of Children on Disability Rises

Over the last thirty years, the number of children on disability has gone up seven times over; soaring Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama. (NPR, ibid.)

10. Millions Leave the Workforce, Resulting in Increasing Budget Strain

"The two big disability programs, including health care for disabled workers, cost some $260 billion a year. People at the [SSA], which runs the federal disability programs, say we cannot afford this. The reserves in the disability insurance program are on track to run out in 2016, Steve Goss, the chief actuary at Social Security, told me." (Chana Joffe-Walt, NPR)

11. Two Added to Disability for Every New Job

"Since the recession ended in June 2009, the number of new enrollees to Social Security's disability insurance program is twice the job growth figure." (IBD, "Disabled America," April 20, 2012.) Not only has that trend continued, the Obama administration has presided over two Americans added to the food stamp rolls for every job created - 15 million new recipients.

12. Running Red Ink

"The federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, which takes in money via a federal payroll tax and pays it out in disability benefits, ran a record $31.2 billion deficit in calendar year 2012, according to the Social Security Administration. That means the trust fund has run a deficit in each of the first four years of the Obama administration." (CNS News, "Disability Trust Fund...," April 4, 2013.)

http://www.ijreview.com/2013/07/693...-stats-show-many-americans-dont-want-to-work/

 

American Dream Slipping as Homeownership at 18-Year Low

The U.S. homeownership rate, which soared to a record high 69.2 percent in 2004, is back where it was two decades ago, before the housing bubble inflated, busted and ripped more than 7 million Americans from their homes.
Enlarge image Lowest U.S. Homeownership in 18 Years Seen in Decline

Pedestrians stop to look at flyers listing homes for sale at a realty office in Berkeley, California. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Enlarge image American Dream Erased as Homeownership at 18-Year Low

With ownership at 65 percent and home values rising, housing industry and consumer groups are pressing lawmakers to make the American Dream more inclusive. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

With ownership at 65 percent and home values rising, housing industry and consumer groups are pressing lawmakers to make the American Dream more inclusive by ensuring new mortgage standards designed to prevent another crash are flexible enough that more families can benefit from the recovery. Regulators are close to proposing a softened version of a rule requiring banks to keep a stake in risky mortgages they securitize, according to five people familiar with the discussions.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/american-dream-erased-as-homeownership-at-18-year-low.html