Now if I was a conservative I'd be decrying how the government is paying someone to not work, giving away YOUR money to some malingerer.
And if I was a liberal I'd be saying how the government is helping out someone who's in need of some temporary aid.
I'm a realist. When they ask if the glass is half empty or half full, I ask if that's water or vodka. When it comes to SDI I look upon it as what that last word of the name says, insurance. You know, like when you pay into an insurance policy so you can get it back when you need it? The way I see it, I'm getting back the money I've spent 40 odd years giving to the government to hold in trust for just this occasion. It's not the government's money, it's not anyone else's money, it's MY money.
Just like any insurance policy, if I had never needed it, yeah I would have been paying into it for all these years to get nothing back., Just like I have paid home owners insurance for 25 years and have never had to put in a claim. Price of doing business.
Here's where I have a gripe. With my car insurance, after I make a claim I get a check and I might use it to fix or buy a new car or use it for some other purpose, it doesn't matter and the insurance company really doesn't care. The state of California sometime in the past few years stopped issuing checks for disability claims. Instead you get a gift card. That's right, a gift card like the ones you get from relatives who can't think of anything to buy you at Christmas. Now I can use the card to buy anything I want (so long as that store takes credit cards), but I know my banker won't take this card for this month's mortgage payment. And PG&E, Comcast, the gardener I have to mow, blow, and go also won't take it.
The Employment Development Department (EDD) which administers the SDI payment system, says they send the gift cards to make it easier to replenish accounts in a timely fashion. No waiting for the mail to come in order to get your money. Once the card is issued all they have to do is add money to the account the same way I added money to my kids' cards when they were in high school. And if I really and truly want to get the cash, I can go to one specific bank and get the cash from them so I can pay the mortgage, PG&E, Comcast, the gardener, etc.
So what's the problem?
First of all, not to brag mind you, but I'd feel uncomfortable carrying that much cash out of the bank each week. Second, why do I have to go to one specific bank in order to do this? Why not any bank in the state, like maybe, oh I don't know, my bank? Third, if you really are doing this in order to make it easy to replenish the funds, why don't you just do an automatic deposit into my checking account --- like my employer does? Fourth, aren't you pretty much telling me how I can spend my money, or at least who I can spend it with?
How did this system come into being? Allow me to make this as simple as possible.
Once upon a time there was this man called Mr. Lobbyist who was working for a company, oh let's call them Lisa, that processes gift card payments. One day that company thought, "gee, wouldn't it be great if we could get the state to use our gift card payment system instead of sending checks to make SDI payments to people?". And why did they think that boys and girls? Because every time you or I use that card they get to skim 1 to 3 percent right off the top. That's off the total, including the sales tax and the tip for the waiter. So Lisa got Mr. Lobbyist to do his magic with the state legislature and the state senate and the governor. Then they called in Mr. PR Rep to make sure that either the people of the state were told how wonderful and cost saving this system would be or, better yet, make sure they never heard about it at all. Then he'd drum into everyone's head that the private sector can handle this issue better than any "government bureaucracy". Mr. PR Rep is able to accomplish this because lazy Mr. Media would rather do stories about what celebrity is making whoopee with what other celebrity than do the hard work of reporting on things that actually effect the lives of real people. And besides, Lisa would just tell Mr. Media that if he ran that story, well they just might not advertise with him anymore. And Lisa would make sure to get Mr. PR Rep to tell everyone that Mr. Media has a disease called Liberal Media Bias that all good people should be afraid of.
The bottom line is some of the money I am duly owed goes to a company that I don't want it to go to. They get to make money off my recuperation. I haven't noticed any of their employees coming over to try to make my life a bit more comfortable (even though they all work just down the street -- ooh did I give away too much?). No one's come in to make me lunch or do my laundry or clean my house or wipe my ass, but they're sticking their hands in the pie, which they can do because they didn't have to wipe my ass.
I gave the state of California this money to hold until such time as I needed it. I'm the only one who is entitled to say who gets a cut. And yes, I do understand that if I were to use my credit card at Safeway then the credit card company would be making money off of the transaction. The difference is I willingly gave them the opportunity to make the money by using the card instead of paying in cash or with a check. In this case, I'm not given the option.
This is another case of our public services being co-opted by the private sector.Too much of our public policy is being determined by private companies wanting to dip their hands in the till. It's the same whether we're talking about SDI or Social Security or the Defense Department. There is no concern given to what's good for the country, the only concern is what's good for one specific company. The only ones who are bettered by this are those who control these companies. We the people is becoming we the corporation.
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