Fran Cannon, a Californian who depends on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for her livelihood, has started an online petition to protest the recent reduction in Social Security disability benefits for SSI recipients in California.
With California being faced with a budget crisis, steps have been taken to reduce payments of benefit recipients in that state. While SSI is a federal program, many states supplement the monthly income benefit checks from their own budgets. Recently the amount supplemented by California has been reduced two times, to levels that were extant four years ago.
This is such a shame. A key characteristic of a mature political society is the willingness and ability of that society to support those who cannot otherwise support themselves. People who live on Supplemental Income Benefits (SSI) are already faced with financial difficulties that few Americans truly understand. These are people who have been declared wholly disabled and unable to earn a living, including people who are blind, elderly, or mentally disabled.
While economic downturns and budget shortfalls can be expected from time to time, one would certainly hope that our civic leaders and public officials would weigh very carefully all options, alternatives and consequences of such a decision, considering the social and economic ripple-effect impact across the spectrum. Decisions like this should be made after all other solutions have either failed.
#1 by Fran Cannon at August 10th, 2009
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Thankyou for posting a blog about my petition.
I was terribly upset when SSI was cut back twice, and I do believe society needs to help society, not’ cut ‘fixed, taxed based programs to ‘help the budget.’ I wish there was some way to get the Govenor to realize this is selfish, and to at least add some money back to SSI and social services. My petition won’t make a difference unless I get a 1000 signatures, 940 now. I’m afraid it may not make a difference at all. I am worried about the California buget and about the cuts he has made. I believe California is in trouble.
#2 by Fran Cannon at August 11th, 2009
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I have car payments, car insurance, and transferred balance credit card payments to pay, besides household bills. For some reason I didn’t get LIHEAP benefits for the central air in my apartment. The 56$ a month less, seems to actually make a difference. I’ve been using my savings to supplement my Supplemental Security Income buget! Someone needs to do something. Other programs and ssi checks have been cut! It’s so unfair. Why can’t someone talk Arnold out of alot of these cuts. It’s bad for California!
#3 by Fran Cannon at August 26th, 2009
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supplemental security income is different than social security disability. SSI is for those who can’t get social security, and haven’t worked long enough or are too disabled to work at all and won’t get social security. SSI is funded by federal and state gov taxes… Which was no good reason to reduce it.
#4 by Fran Cannon at October 9th, 2009
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I made another petition, jusst like the first one. I goofed. I have 70 signatures on the 1st one and 49 on the second one. It’s Change.org, and the 1st on is care2 petitionsite. I’m trying to put them together. Not sure how.