Social Security has posted its "Annual Report 2008 on The Plan to Eliminate the Backlog and Prevent Its Recurrence." Interestingly, the report is signed not by the Commissioner of Social Security, but by the outgoing Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, Lisa de Soto. Should we ascribe any significance to this?
De Soto reports that "Fiscal Year 2008 was a tremendous year filled with impressive accomplishments" and, in a sense, it may have been since I am sure that everyone involved worked hard and some productivity gains were achieved, albeit usually at the expense of quality. However, the backlog still grew and that is the subject of this report, so it is hard to see how the last fiscal year could honestly be described as "tremendous."
The report predicts that the backlog will decline dramatically in coming years, but this prediction appears to be based upon an expectation of unprecedented increases in productivity.
Putting things in a positive light is one thing. Crowing about great successes when you have failed miserably is another. I do not know whether to call this spin or just fantasizing, but this report does not seem to be based upon reality -- a common complaint about the outgoing Bush Administration.
De Soto reports that "Fiscal Year 2008 was a tremendous year filled with impressive accomplishments" and, in a sense, it may have been since I am sure that everyone involved worked hard and some productivity gains were achieved, albeit usually at the expense of quality. However, the backlog still grew and that is the subject of this report, so it is hard to see how the last fiscal year could honestly be described as "tremendous."
The report predicts that the backlog will decline dramatically in coming years, but this prediction appears to be based upon an expectation of unprecedented increases in productivity.
Putting things in a positive light is one thing. Crowing about great successes when you have failed miserably is another. I do not know whether to call this spin or just fantasizing, but this report does not seem to be based upon reality -- a common complaint about the outgoing Bush Administration.
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Unfortunately, there is no way to solve the problem unless we know the nature and severity of it. As you correctly point out, the Bush administration has been more propaganda minded than informative. It makes one wonder whether they even know what the problems really are.
We know the nature and severity, and have for a while. There is catastrophic failure of the Social Security Administration's mission to deliver benefits due on time to the people due them. Hundreds of thousands of backlogged hearings cases are only a fraction of the problem, and the most visible and easily identified. The entire scope of the problem cannot even be grasped until and unless tens of thousands of employees are hired and trained and begin to work the unimaginably horrific backlogs of all types of cases at all levels throughout the entire agency. Short of that, SSA is doomed to failure into years and decades ahead. And this is an optimistic assessment.
Huh? You already "know" the nature and severity of the problems? Sounds like what you "know" is the result of the problems -- catastrophic failure, etc., rather than what the problem are. I suspect some problems relate to personnel, some relate to insufficient staffing, some relate to a patchwork approach to planning for the future, and some relate to a commissioner who can't see around his ego.
But, maybe not.
omg are you kidding--yes, after 33+ years, i do know the nature and severity of the problem--staffing, staffing, staffing. Other considerations play a minor role, lack of staff is 90 percent of the problem. No one inside the agency, outside Baltimore or the regional offices, has any doubt about that fact. If they do, that is the first clue that someone is incompetent and should be canned.
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