Democrat Proposes Panel On Cutting Social Security

From the Washington Post:

Leaders of the Senate Budget Committee want to assemble a bipartisan panel of lawmakers and administration officials to deal with the skyrocketing costs of Social Security and other entitlement programs, with the goal of bringing a reform proposal to a vote in Congress later this year.

Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said he and his predecessor, Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), have asked House and Senate leaders to consider appointing the panel, which would be composed of an equal number of Republican and Democratic lawmakers. They said they have also asked the White House to participate.

Conrad declined to provide many details of the panel, saying too much information could "kill this baby in the crib."

CIGNA Hires Social Service Coordinators Disability Services

CIGNA, an insurance company which writes long term disability (LTD) insurance, has issued a press release saying that it has hired Social Service Coordinators Disability Services to represent its insureds on their Social Security disability claims. Insurance companies writing LTD insurance have a huge interest in their insureds obtaining Social Security disability benefits, since the LTD benefits are offset by the Social Security disability benefits. In recent years, LTD insurers have preferred dealing with non-attorney groups for this representation. From Social Service Coordinator's website, it appears that to this point the company has been involved in helping states get people off Medicaid and on Medicare.

Split Circuits On Internal Manuals

Professor A. Benjamin Spencer of the University of Richmond Law School reports in his Split Circuits blog on a split among the Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals on the issue of whether Social Security's internal policy manuals such as HALLEX and POMS are binding upon the Social Security Administration. The 9th Circuit held that these manuals have no binding effect upon the agency, while the 1st and 5th Circuits have held that Social Security must generally follow its own internal guidelines.

For Those Worried About Social Security Furloughs

Make of this what you will. It is from Gov.Exec.com:

We had an interesting lunch in our offices today with Paul Anderson and Susan Becker of the public affairs shop at the Government Accountability Office. They noted that like executive branch agencies, GAO has been working through contingency plans for what to do if Congress enacts a measure essentially freezing its funding this year. And also like other agencies, among the possibilities GAO is considering is employee furloughs. Interestingly, congressional staffers have responded to this possibility by asking GAO officials what would happen if the House and Senate prohibited them from using furloughs to cut costs.

Inspector General Issues Report

Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued it Fall 2006 report to Congress. It is surprising that the report is an expensively printed full color document, which sounds like a questionable use of public funds, especially for an agency which may have to furlough staff because of its short budget. The OIG is supposed to be fighting waste.

Astrue's Nomination Sent Back To Senate

Michael Astrue's nomination to become Commissioner of Social Security was not acted upon during the last Congress. President Bush has now renewed Astrue's nomination in this Congress, as well as Andrew Biggs' near hopeless nomination to become Deputy Commissioner of Social Security.

House Ways And Means Business Meeting Posponed

The House Ways and Means Committee business meeting scheduled for today has been postponed. The members and chairmen of subcommittees, including the Social Security Subcommittee, will be up for decision at this meeting. No new date has been announced.

Texas Woman Pleads Guilty To Social Security Fraud

Pamela Gwen Green of Port Arthur, TX pleaded guilty to Social Security fraud, according to The Examiner, a Texas newspaper. She was working under a relative's Social Security number while drawing Social Security disability benefits.

Social Security Fraud In Sacramento

KCRA reports on Angelica Ferrer of Sacramento who pleaded guilty to Social Security fraud going back 25 years and involving $131,000.

The President's Notion Of Social Security Reform

The following excerpts from a Dow Jones article seems to confirm that the White House is seeking a plan to "save" Social Security in which Democrats take the blame for cutting benefits and raising taxes, while President Bush takes the credit for some sort of private account.

U.S. President George W. Bush would prefer not to boost Social Security taxes, but is ready to listen to all ideas on entitlement reform, the White House said Tuesday, declining to explicitly rule out the idea of a tax hike. ...

Bush has tasked Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson with working with lawmakers on a fix for the ailing Social Security system. The talks, conducted behind closed doors, have triggered speculation that a bipartisan compromise could include raising the $97,500 limit on income subject to the Social Security payroll tax and adopting Bush's proposed personal retirement accounts.

Asked if taxes were off the negotiating table, Snow said, "We never said that they were on the table." ...

Democrats have shown no willingness to accept retirement accounts, particularly if they are funded by payroll taxes. Investment accounts, however, remain at the top of Bush's Social Security reform agenda.

"We'll let the debate proceed, but you know what the president's bright lines are: he believes it's important to have an investment component that allows people to take advantage of the far superior rates of return that one gets investing in a market place," Snow said.