Welfare Razor gang leaked report - the night of the long knives comes to those on welfare

The ideologically stacked Welfare Razor Gang who are using voodoo math to force solo mothers, the sick, the crippled and the mentally unwell back to work in a high unemployment environment are having their report leaked and it looks like National are targeting the weakest members of society first...

Dear People,

I have had confirmation from the Benefit Rights manager at the People's Resource Centre in Wellington, that Work and Income are embarking on a programme of extermination of Invalids Benefits.

They are apparently starting with the "softer"targets, beneficiaries certified for alleged psychosomatic conditions such as backaches, depression, ME (a specific target, apparently - they don't like us), drug and alcohol dependencies, probably Fibromyalgia, and certainly any anxiety conditions.

It is those having their first two year reassessment who are bearing the brunt of this approach.

In addition, PHOs are being told by two MSD staff (Dr David Bratt is one) that GPs are doing their patients no favours by writing them off as permanently unable to work, and that being sent into part time work or course equivalent, is the best therapy for these patients.

Dr Bratt, of course, is one of many GPs who firmly believes that ME is a typical psychosomatic hysteria condition (which of course is why so many women have it...) and he fails to grasp the concept of a physical cause or genetic susceptibility leading to ME.

PRC in Wellington are acting in medical reviews for beneficiaries from all over the country. W & I have increased the frequency of their medical reviews from every six weeks to once a fortnight, to deal with the workload. The success rate of reviews is running at about 50%. Those who fail are dropped to the Sickness benefit with a significant reduction in income.

Long term IB recipients have not been addressed yet, but our time is coming. Even life long permanent IB grant will not be protection, as W & I will no doubt follow the ACC model and place a priority on getting the oldest cases off the books.

Our local support group members still on Sickness Benefit have been telephoned out of the blue by W & I staff and told "So, it's about time you went back to work then!" They are given two weeks to get a new medical certificate stating how many hours of part time work they can manage per week. Not many GPs can resist the PHO management demands to require at least 10 hours per week. This is for patients whose ME is under poor control, and whose long term health can be irrevocably harmed by such fascistic tactics.

I believe this is the greatest threat to the physical and mental wellbeing of ME patients ever perpetrated in this country, and needs to be urgently looked into. This process is not even permitted under current legislation, which so far only applies to those on Sickness Benefit. The IB attack was supposed to happen next year.

...the use of Medical professionals with a vested interest at denying people with any help for conditions they don't see as important is interesting. National tried to use controversial social theories to justify denying rape victims counselling from ACC which were based on research from professor Felicity Goodyear-Smith, a woman married to the son of Centrepoint community leader and convicted paedophile Bert Potter. Her work has been described as a rapists charter and an apologist position that denies any real harm from sexual abuse

Rounding up the depressed first and those too mentally unwell to defend themselves, you've got to give it to National - they are all class.

I love how the weakest of the poor are being asked to do with less because of a global economic crises caused by greedy American corporates.

If you are not angry, you haven't been paying attention.