The federal government's disability fund is set to run a $75 billion cash-flow deficit this year, and the program's own judges are reportedly responsible for running it into the ground. Congressional reports have highlighted allegations of disability judges' rubber-stamping cases, snoozing on the job, sexually harassing colleagues, and colluding with corrupt lawyers – but the Social Security Administration continues to be more concerned with shielding questionable judges from much-needed scrutiny that it is with protecting the disability fund's financial integrity.
In August, on behalf of National Review Online and the Franklin Center, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the SSA, asking for correspondence that could potentially reveal misconduct, conflict of interests, or other worrisome, illegal, or unethical behavior on the part of some of the top rubber-stamping disability judges identified by the House Oversight Committee. But the SSA refused to offer even the most minimal response, telling me it 'can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such records.'
The SSA's justifications for this nonresponse are quite simply hogwash, and we're fighting back, submitting an appeal today, as we attempt to investigate this issue affecting millions of Americans, and billions of dollars. Continue>>>
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