And that the eligibility test for SSI children is so severe that nearly two out of three children who apply for SSI get turned down?
Nowhere does Mr. Kristof seek out or cite a Social Security Administration source regarding the role that school academic performance may or may not play in qualifying for SSI child disability benefits, or make reference to any relevant SSI child disability law or policy.
On the contrary, this is something that I discussed at length with the pro-SSI advocates and spent a good dealing of time exploring on the SSI websites.
The SSI had not only withdrawn its own men, emptied its prisons and destroyed archives; among documents that did leak onto the internet, some appeared to be plants designed to throw up a smokescreen.
Calls to dissolve the SSI, as Tunisia recently did with its similar secret-police organisation (even announcing the move on Facebook) have so far been rebuffed.
But unlike SSI, DI is not a substitute for welfare; DI requires beneficiaries to have worked for five of the past ten years.Ageing would seem another obvious explanation, as those aged 50-64 account for almost 60% of DI awards.
The "ticket to work" programme, for example, is intended to help DI and SSI beneficiaries get jobs.
On March 15 the ministry of the interior announced the dissolution of the SSI.
More than half of the 207 Teesside-based steel firms which supplied SSI said the closure impacted their business, according to Tees Valley Unlimited, the local enterprise partnership.
Dozens of SSI workers were paraded before kick-off at the club's recent home game against Fulham while Middlesbrough players also wore t-shirts bearing the 'Save Our Steel' slogan before last month's meeting with Leeds United.
Anna Turley, MP for Redcar – where the SSI steel plant closed with the loss of 1,700 jobs – tweeted that his remarks were "disgusting" and showed his party were the "same old Tories".
