May 23, 2007

First Impression Of Senate Finance Committee Hearing

Michael Astrue has virtually nothing new to offer in his opening statement. The only things he said in his opening statement that he has not said previously is that he is "studying" and will "evaluate" senior attorney decisions and that some Field Office personnel will be detailed to help work up files for Administrative Law Judges to hear -- 5,000 hours of work, which is trivial. This sounds as if he will not try to go ahead with senior attorneys unless the Office of Management and Budget approves. Re-recon and short form decisions were not mentioned. He has referred only to the President's budget proposal as a goal, never to Social Security's own budget proposal.

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