Senate Finance Committee Written Statements

The written statements for the Senate Finance Committee's hearing today barriers to work for Social Security disability recipients are now available online.

The only witness whose written statement suggests a strong attachment to the delusion that some change in policy could return vast numbers of disability recipients to work was Dr. David Stapleton of the Cornell University Institute for Policy Research. Stapelton has been receiving a good deal of grant money from Social Security. Could considerations of his own self-interest have something to do with this paragraph at the close of his statement?

I urge this Committee, all government leaders, and advocates for people with disabilities to support the design, testing, and eventual implementation of transformative disability policy changes – changes that will help people with disabilities achieve both greater economic self-sufficiency and more fulfilling lives. Within that framework, the highest priority should go to efforts that will reduce the premature exit of workers with disabilities from the labor force and
into SSDI.

I would like to read even one report or statement from one of these researchers that did not call for more research dollars to be funeled to them.

Social Security Indendent On Budget

An anonymous poster responded to something I had written to say that regulations of the Office of Management and Budget prohibit federal agency heads from lobbying for appropriations in excess of what is contained in the President's recommended budget. This is true and an important fact for agencies other than Social Security.

However, the Social Security Administration is in a unique position. The Social Security Independence Act now only allows, but requires Social Security to submit its own budget request directly to Congress, which means that the Commissioner of Social Security is free to lobby Congress for whatever budget he feels that his agency needs. Indeed, if the Commissioner of Social Security is unwilling to do so, there is little point in the Social Security Administration being an independent agency.

In refusing to advocate for his own agency's budget, Michael Astrue is making the case that the "independence" of the Social Security Administration is a sham and that in the next administration Social Security should either be returned to the Department of Health and Human Services or made a cabinet level department. Either of these would put Michael Astrue out of a job, which might not displease a newly elected Democratic president.

Schumer And Barton Added As Witnesses For House Social Security Subcommittee Hearing

Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Ed Markey have been added as witnesses for today's House Social Security Subcommittee hearing on Social Security numbers and identity theft.

Stem Cells And Social Security

From the Associated Press:

President Bush hasn't seen the last of legislation to allow federal funding for new embryonic stem cell

Supporters are answering his veto with an effort Thursday to add to an appropriations bill permission to use taxpayer dollars for new lines of embryonic stem cells. ...

The pushback was expected to begin Thursday. The Senate Appropriations Committee was to vote on a must-pass bill for the Labor and Health and Human Services departments that includes permission to use federal funding for embryonic stem cell lines derived after Bush in 2001 banned taxpayer dollars from being used on new studies of that kind.

The Labor-HHS appropriations bill includes the Social Security Administration. This has the potential for delaying a new funding bill for Social Security.

By the way, since when does the Associated Press' style manual permit contractions in a story -- and in the lead sentence, no less?

Astrue Appearance On CSPAN

I have receieved an anonymous tip about a recording of an appearance by Michael Astrue on C-SPAN. Here is a link to a streaming video. This was taped on June 14. I have not had a chance to watch it.

Congressional Three Ring Circus On Thursday

There will be two Congressional hearings and one appropriations markup session affecting Social Security on Thursday, June 21. The hearings, but not the markup session, should be available in live streaming video. Here is the list:

• 10:00 Social Security Subcommittee of House Ways and Means Committee Hearing on Protecting the Privacy of the Social Security Number From Identity Theft
• 10:00 Senate Finance Committee Hearing on Barriers to Work for Individuals Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits
• 2:00 Senate Appropriations Committee markup of appropriations bill including Social Security

Disappointing Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Report

From a press release issued by the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee:

Social Security Administration (SSA) -- $9.7 billion is included for the administrative expenses of the SSA, $125 million over the President􀂶s budget request and $426.38 million more than FY 2007, to ensure that the backlog of disability claims will decrease, as opposed to increase as assumed under the budget request. Within the recommendation, $476.97 million is dedicated to program integrity activities, including disability reviews. SSA reviews current disability cases to ensure beneficiaries remain eligible for Social Security. As a result of those reviews, some beneficiaries are found to be no longer eligible for benefits - for example, their situation may have improved such that they could return to work. If so, there are savings to the Social Security trust funds and estimates show that for every dollar spent on these activities, SSA saves $7 for redeterminations of eligibility reviews and $10 for continuing disability reviews.

We had been hoping for about $400 million over the President's recommended budget. Basically, this budget will do little more than keep things from getting worse. Michael Astrue seems to have been successful so far in his efforts to keep his agency's budget down.

Witnesses For House Social Security Subcommittee Hearing

The House Social Security Subcommittee has announced the following witness list for its hearing on June 21 on "Protecting the Privacy of the Social Security Number from Identity Theft":

The Honorable Ed Markey, a Representative in Congress from the State of Massachusetts

The Honorable Patrick O’Carroll, Inspector General, Social Security Administration

Joel Winston, Director, Division of Privacy and Information Protection, Federal Trade Commission

Dan Bertoni, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security, Government Accountability Office

Justin Yurek, President, ID Watchdog, Denver, Colorado<

Stuart Pratt, President, Consumer Data Industry Association

James D. Gingerich, Director, Administrative Office of the Courts, Supreme Court of Arkansas, on behalf of the National Center for State Courts, Williamsburg, Virginia

Annie I. Antón, Associate Professor of Software Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, on behalf of the Association for Computing Machinery

Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center

Gilbert T. Schwartz, Partner, Schwartz & Ballen LLP, on behalf of the Financial Services Coordinating Council

Amazing Claim

From the Senior Journal:

The immigration bill being debated by the Senate would allow over two million illegal workers who received Social Security numbers prior to 2004 to receive more than $966 billion in Social Security benefits by 2040, according to the TREA Senior Citizens League.

How did they come up with that figure, which is almost half a million dollars per illegal immigrant? And how much will those illegal immigrants pay into the Social Security trust funds? There are probably many good reasons to support or oppose this immigration bill, but its effects on the Social Security trust funds is not one of them.

Sacramento Woman Accused Of Fraud

The Sacramento Bee reports that Valerie Jean Rogers has been charged with submitting false information to obtain almost $35,000 in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) over seven years.