Maryland Injury and Disability Law : Washington DC Metro Injury & Disability Lawyer & Attorney : Greenberg & Bederman : Accidents, Falls, Medical Malpractice : Maryland, DC, Virginia

There don’t seem to be a lot of history majors in politics these days. Nor are there a lot of fans of English literature. But, there are a great many people in the political professions who seem to think that our system of safety nets (Social Security, Social Security Disability) are at best unnecessary and at worst some sort of tyrannical theft by the government. They also seem to think that if we just got rid of the safety nets and quit taxing the citizens, or if we just privatized social security or even just cut everyone loose to fend for themselves, then somehow the magic of the free market would sort everything out.

Anyone who believes that has either a tenuous grasp on reality or no knowledge of history, or both.

Back before Social Security, it used to be believed that the poor were being punished by God for their lack of industriousness and poor moral choices. While this might not be the mindset of those who wish to do away with Social Security nowadays, their current thoughts on the matter are hardly much better. “Why haven’t the poor done a better job of looking after their investment portfolios?”

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There is this idea among many Americans that everyone should just “walk it off” when something bad happens to them. As in, “You got injured, accidents happen, move on.” They believe that utilizing the court system in cases like this is primarily a sign of greed rather than a sense of restitution.  We’ve noticed that this mindset primarily exists in either those who have never been on the receiving end of an unfortunate event, or those who are directly responsible for an unfortunate event. However, once the tables are turned, that mindset changes dramatically. Some of the most ardent supporters of tort reform are usually the first ones at the courthouse when things aren’t going their way.

It is difficult to “walk it off” when, as a result of the actions of someone else, you can’t walk anymore. We consider that an injury. Tort reformers consider that “bad luck.”

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There is a great deal of pessimism regarding Social Security benefits. In survey after survey, people in their twenties and thirties believe that by the time they are old enough to be eligible for Social Security, there won’t be any money left. Many of our clients have a tendency to believe this too.  A significant part of our practice involves helping the disabled navigate through the Social Security Disability process. Many of them have asked “Why bother applying for Social Security? There’s no way it’s going to last that long.”

We can certainly see how they would believe it. There are plenty of news stories and press releases from politicians who believe that Social Security is doomed. Even President Bush said so in his 2005 State of The Union address.

President Bush’s alternative to “save” Social Security was to allow people to set up their own “investment accounts,” which would have meant that everyone would have been able to invest their Social Security money into private stocks. We can’t imagine that would have been a good thing, especially when you consider how badly the stock market has performed over the past three years.

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Social Security Disability Insurance vs. Supplemental Security Income

It wasn’t really all that long ago that life as a disabled person was barely worth living. There was no mechanism for financial support to the elderly or those who couldn’t work. People survived off of the charity of others or simply didn’t survive at all. Fortunately, our government put the Social Security safety net in place, and while it is by no means enough to live extravagantly, it is surely better than having nothing at all.

Everybody who works for a living has at least some awareness of what Social Security is. After all, it’s hard to not notice that a significant portion of your wages go towards it every time you receive a paycheck.

A lot of people think Social Security is simply a retirement program for Americans once they get to a certain age, and while that’s certainly true, Social Security also serves other functions. The premise is that we don’t want people who have been disabled or people who are otherwise unable to work to have no source of income whatsoever. It’s the difference between how we live as a society now and how we lived in the 19^th century.

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For the sake of argument, let’s say that you are employed in a place where there are absolutely no consequences for doing a bad job. Let’s say that it doesn’t matter how bad you screw up. It doesn’t matter if you get everything wrong; it doesn’t matter if you deliver terrible customer service and it doesn’t matter if you show up three hours late every day or don’t show up at all. It doesn’t matter if you are incompetent. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what you are doing. Nothing that you do or don’t do will cause you to get fired. You won’t even get reprimanded. Would those parameters affect how you did your job? Many of you would probably say that you would do your best, just out of principle. But could you say the same for all of your co-workers?

If this hypothetical place of employment was a restaurant, or an accounting firm, or even a law firm, the performance issue would most assuredly be solved by what are called “market forces.” In other words, if your business delivers a bad product, no matter what it is, then people will simply stop patronizing your business and take their dollars elsewhere. But what if your business happens to be a hospital? What if the line of business is helping the sick, injured or wounded? And what if all the businesses in the area were run under the same “no consequences” guidelines? What if there was no “elsewhere” to take your dollars to?

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The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution often causes a bit of confusion, particularly among those who are involved in civil lawsuits. A lot of our injury clients have to wait for quite some time before they get within sight of a courtroom, and every now and then somebody asks about “the right to a speedy trial.”

While it’s true that the Sixth Amendment does cover the right to a “speedy trial,” it only makes that promise to those involved in criminal cases. If you are accused of robbing a bank, arson, purse snatching, murder, or any other crime, then yes, you do have a right to a speedy trial. One of the reasons that this was written into the Constitution was because back in the 18^th century, the British authorities thought nothing of locking up undesirables for long periods of time. People would be put in prison for months or even years, and no actual trial would ever happen. This was a way to keep people locked up without having to actually sentence them.  

This happened often enough that our founding fathers decided to actively address it in our founding document:

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When was the last time you took a driving test? Many of you would probably answer that question by saying something like “I take a driving test every day just getting to work.” While we are sure that’s true, we mean the sort of driving test where you have to sit down and answer a series of written questions about traffic signs, appropriate driving behavior, etc.

Most of you probably haven’t taken one since the day you passed your initial driving test. In Virginia, you only have to re-take the written exam if you’ve let your driver’s license expire for more than a year. In Maryland you only have to take it on your initial test.

The reason we’re wondering when the last time anyone took a written driver’s test is because recently, it seems that quite a few people have forgotten one of the basic rules of the road, which is this:

YOU ALWAYS STOP FOR PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLISTS AT CROSSWALKS WITHOUT TRAFFIC SIGNALS.

Not some of the time. Not every now and again. ALWAYS.

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