Disability, Biking, and the Gathering Storm.

Read Jon Lender’s Courant column today to see why the public has lost faith in government to perform the most basic tasks.  Gina Layman has been collecting disability payments for a shoulder injury suffered as a state employee in 1996.  She receives $28,692 a year in payments, plus health insurance for herself and her family, which includes three children. You can read the full info here in this article to know more about the law firm that helped them.

Ms. Layman is an ardent, competitive cyclist and takes a turn at martial arts, too.  She’s not convincing in reconciling her menu of physical activities with her doctor’s description of her severe limitations.  He wrote, “She tries to protect the arm and not use it for any significant capacity.”  That must be some scene when she visits him at his office for an update on her condition.

The New York Post ran a story last week about city firefighter John McLaughlin, who snagged an FDNY disability retirement with a lung ailment.  He gets $86,000 a year, which gives him time to compete in the New York Marathon and various triathlons.  His friends call him Johnny Lungs.