National disability organizations have criticized a misleading CBS News 60 Minutes report on Social Security disability which relied on anecdotal evidence to deceptively portray the vital program as wasteful and unsustainable, despite the fact that award rates fell during the recession and that fraud is less than one percent of the program.
On October 6, 60 Minutes stoked fears that the Social Security Disability Insurance program is “ravaged by waste and fraud,” relying on Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) partisan investigation and anecdotal evidence to hype growth in the program while misleadingly claiming that it “could become the first government benefits program to run out of money.”
In response, organizations that advocate for and support people with disabilities nationwide have criticized the report. Rebecca Vallas, co-chair of the Social Security Task Force at the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities — a coalition of approximately 100 national disability organizations — told Media Matters the coverage was “sensational” and did a “tremendous disservice” to people with disabilities:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/10/07/60-minutes-report-denounced-for-disability-misi/196317
The Secular Jurist 