LIRR To Part Ways With The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
If the writer of this editorial had their way, the Long Island Rail Road would part ways with the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board. The call for such an action stems from the ongoing scandal which has led investigations into how over 90% of retired LIRR employees qualified for disability benefits from the board. Here is the editorial which appeared in Newsday yesterday:
New York’s federal representatives are moving swiftly to remove the rubber stamp from the hands of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, which for years has approved disability benefits for nearly everyone who applied – including more than 90 percent of Long Island Rail Road retirees. The reforms announced last week are a good start.
Officials must now turn their attention to the much more difficult task of removing the LIRR from the federal system altogether. As a commuter rail line, the LIRR is a bad fit in a federal system set up for freight transportation. Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has said that he will discuss such a move with others on the committee.
Click here for the complete editorial.
While I can understand the author’s frustration with such a corrupt system, I don’t see this relationship ending anytime soon. The chances of the federal government moving the largest railroad agency in the country to Social Security is slim to none. This would open the floodgates for every other agency to attempt to do the same & too many people have a vested interest in things staying status quo. Put it this way, you will see pigs fly or hell freeze over before such a move takes place.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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