OK, so this one's not related to national defense, but there's definitely more than a little politics involved, and for this old dog it's a very personal matter:

Social Security Disability Cases Last Longer as Backlog Rises

I've been too sick to work since 2003. I applied for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits in August of 2004, was turned down, hired a lawyer on a contingency-fee basis and was turned down again, requested a hearing with a judge, and finally got one over two years later. The judge ruled in my favor and if I live that long I'll receive a check in 3 or 4 months for benefits the judge says I should have been receiving since 1 July '03. If I hadn't been entitled to a Veterans Pension (about half of what Social Security should be giving me) I'd probably have committed suicide by now. As it is the government owes me tens of thousands of dollars, an amount that's growing by about $1800.00/mo, and my sister's sitting in the next room stressing out over how to pay the gas bill so they don't turn us off tomorrow. The length of time it takes to get benefits is costing people their homes and businesses, and in some cases their lives. Does anyone besides those of us affected even give a damn?

Quick hits:

• Video: Michael Yon on Iraq’s “concerned citizens”

• Michael J Totten: After the Battle of Al-Fajr

• UK Telegraph: Iran 'hoodwinked' CIA over nuclear plans
• British intel source on new NIE: You got suckered, Yanks;
  Update: NIE was a “quasi-putsch,” says Bolton
• Brits To CIA: Psyche!

• Thank God the church wasn't a "gun-free" zone.
  • Sunday horror: Church shootings in Colorado; gunman killed by armed female church security staffer; Update: Church volunteer rushed toward the gunman; victims ID’d; Who is the shooter?; Gunman reportedly ID’d
  • Video: Colorado church shootings are probably connected
  • Gunman ID'd in Springs shooting

• Chavez Tried Rigging Referendum Vote

• Sen. John McCain and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani stood alone among the Republican presidential candidates in last night's Spanish-language debate in calling for some illegal aliens to be granted a path to citizenship.

Contributed by Bill Faith on December 10, 2007 at 01:09 AM | Permalink

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