Nowhere in the reforms under consideration by the new Republican Congress will the distinction between lean government and mean government be more obvious than in the $25 billion Social Security program known as Supplemental Security Income (SSI). These are the abuse-prone grants described in detail recently by Sun reporters John B. O'Donnell and Jim Haner.
There is no question that the SSI program needs a thorough examination, along with some better ways of screening applicants and monitoring those already on the rolls. But it is equally clear that SSI provides an important safety net for many families in this country. It is a safety net that should not be ripped away lightly.
Yes, it is maddening to hear about families who coach children to act dumb and do poorly in school in order to qualify for SSI, or to discover that alcoholics or drug addicts find it difficult to kick their habits when a steady income enables them to binge on drugs or drink each month. But it is also important to remember that for every case of abuse, there are plenty of families like those on the Eastern Shore featured recently by reporters O'Donnell and Haner. These are the families whose children would be institutionalized without SSI, or who would lose medical insurance if they were rendered ineligible for grants. They could face bankruptcy and perhaps even homelessness.
In its rush to reform, Congress should remember that many of the most egregious SSI abuses are its own fault. Carelessly written rules and needlessly burdensome red tape can turn any well-intentioned program into a nightmare. That's why Congress should not attempt to reform SSI in haste.
The easy way out of the SSI dilemma is simply to slash the program, even if indiscriminately. That seems to be the approach many House Republicans now favor -- in large part because they are more concerned about meeting an artificial deadline in the Republicans' Contract with America than with crafting a program that makes wise and effective use of taxpayer dollars.
There are many families like the Carloughs in Rock Hall on Chesapeake Bay, whose daughter Elizabeth is mildly retarded. With her family's support and SSI she has a hope of learning to live on her own. Without SSI, sooner or later she will almost certainly end up in an institution, at great cost to the taxpayers. Few people would call that a wise or cost-effective policy. SSI needs fixing -- but not with a sledgehammer.