So what - part 2.

I guess we're meant to feel sorry for this man, but I guess I'm just not a very sympathetic person.

John Dodds is 58 years old. He has been on SSI for 20 years. He also gets food stamps and Medicaid. In other words, you and I are supporting him.

John recently had a $1000 winning scratch-off lottery ticket. He received a notice from SSI that his yearly payments would be cut by $980. He gets $20. He says, "I'm sort of laughing about it, which is a lot better than crying."

SSI is not like disability. Social Security Disability is paid out according to your work record. You pay "premiums" on that disability every paycheck you earn. SSI is a "needs based" giveaway -- you don't have to have paid into the system to draw it.

So, just to clarify for you John, the taxpayers bought the ticket, so the taxpayers should get the payout. We're the ones who should be crying!

"Lottery win eats into disabled man's aid." The Dallas Morning News; January 3, 2010; p. 3A.