For an additional amount for ‘‘Limitation on Administrative Expenses’’ [which is the technical term for Social Security's operating budget] , $890,000,000 shall be available as follows:
(1) $750,000,000 shall remain available until expended for necessary expenses of the replacement of the National Computer Center and the information technology costs associated with such Center: Provided, That the Commissioner of Social Security shall notify the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate not later than 10 days prior to each public notice soliciting bids related to site selection and construction: Provided further, That unobligated balances of funds not needed for this purpose may be used as described in subparagraph (2); and
(2) $140,000,000 shall be available through September 30, 2010 for information technology acquisitions and research, which may include research and activities to facilitate the adoption of electronic medical records in disability claims and the transfer of funds to ‘‘Supplemental Security Income’’ to carry out activities under section 1110 of the Social Security Act: Provided further, That not later than 10 days prior to the obligation of such funds, the Commissioner shall provide to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate an operating plan describing the planned uses of such funds.OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERALFor an additional amount for the ‘‘Office of Inspector General’’, $3,000,000, which shall remain available through September 30, 2012, for salaries and expenses necessary for oversight and audit of programs, projects, and activities funded in this Act and administered by the Social Security Administration.
There is far more funding for the new National Computer Center in this bill than in the bill that will be passing the House of Representatives today. In fact, I have a hard time seeing how Social Security can spend this much money this quickly on a national computer center. It takes time to design and construct such a building. I would be surprised if Social Security is anywhere near ready to go on this. They do not need to spend $750 million on architects and engineers. $140 million for information technology?
The big thing is no additional funding for reducing the backlogs at Social Security. I find that surprising and disappointing.
At least the amount in the Senate bill is almost identical to the amount in the House bill. The difference is how the money will be spent, which is an important difference, but this sort of thing can get sorted out in later stages of the process.
By the way, notice that the Senate Appropriations Committee seems to want to keep Michael Astrue on a short leash? He would have to notify them before taking bids and notify them promptly of operating plans. I have not studied the bill, but I doubt that other agencies are being subjected to such scrutiny.
The big thing is no additional funding for reducing the backlogs at Social Security. I find that surprising and disappointing.
At least the amount in the Senate bill is almost identical to the amount in the House bill. The difference is how the money will be spent, which is an important difference, but this sort of thing can get sorted out in later stages of the process.
By the way, notice that the Senate Appropriations Committee seems to want to keep Michael Astrue on a short leash? He would have to notify them before taking bids and notify them promptly of operating plans. I have not studied the bill, but I doubt that other agencies are being subjected to such scrutiny.
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/01/28/good-morning-suckers/print
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Suckers
Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats are playing the voters for fools with the so-called stimulus package. The massive $825 billion package is not even targeted on programs to stimulate the economy. Instead, it is laced with runaway government spending for increased welfare, overgrown bureaucracy, pork, political payoffs, and other waste. That runaway spending is causing record smashing deficits of $1.5 trillion or more, equivalent to over 50% of the entire federal budget for fiscal 2008.
Then there is $500 million to speed the processing of applications for Social Security disability claims. This has already created one net new job in the employment of a person within the Obama Administration assigned to figure out what this has to do with stimulating the economy.
It's probably an utter waste of time to respond to the Herbert Hoover loving trolls that have appeared here lately. But for what it's worth, I would simply point out that hiring people (GIVING THEM JOBS) helps the economy. Jobs in the private sector would be better, but putting people to work is a good thing when the economy is tanking. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteNo troll. I'm an SSA employee that hasn't drank the Kool-Aid.
ReplyDeleteAs the bailouts and stimulus is BS and spending money we do not have and has the be borrow from countries.
If you had bothered to read the article and not just started name calling you would see how this does no good.
"The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that only $26 billion of the $355 billion in the stimulus bill would be spent this year, and only $110 billion by the end of 2010. But that is not the real problem with infrastructure spending as a stimulus strategy. The bigger problem is that the government finances the spending by first borrowing the funding from the private sector, taking out of the economy what it later puts in, for no net gain overall. In the process, there is no change in the basic incentives governing economic activity, which do have the power to revive growth. And after the government make-work project ends, then what? Steve Entin best explained the fundamental economics of the problem yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, saying that to end a recession:
Ultimately, labor and capital must shift from declining industries and areas to expanding ones -- but intercepting people as they make the shifts and parking them in government projects for a year just delays the adjustment. And the debt and future taxes raised in the process become permanent burdens that shrink private output and income forever after."
"A couple of weeks ago, I went over the data showing that even assuming Obama's claim that the stimulus package will create "or save" 3.7 million jobs, the cost would be over $200,000 per job. The government could just pay each worker $50,000 a year directly, and save taxpayers the rest. If we just count jobs actually created by the plan, then the cost is almost $400,000 per job. But under the analysis above, actually no new jobs will be created by this Keynesian stimulus bill on net."
Regarding the stupid article quoted above, note that is calls for deregulation and reduction in corporate taxes as the answer. Been there, done that, and look where it has gotten us.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, the CBO report cited in the article does not exist. Please try to find it. The CBO is misquoted to justify a partisan political position that has been discredited by the state of today's economy.
". . . I have a hard time seeing how Social Security can spend this much money this quickly on a national computer center." The quote you posted from the bill says, "$750,000,000 shall remain available until expended". Doesn't "until expended" mean that the money for the national computer center doesn't have to be spent "this quickly"?
ReplyDelete