GAO Report On Social Security Indexing

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report on different ways that Social Security benefits might be indexed for inflation. Basically, the report concerns the possibility of using a different formula that would reduce cost of living adjustments of current or future beneficiaries in order to save money. This report is a sign of the continued interest of Republicans in the Congress and the Executive Branch in reducing Social Security expenditures.

Non-Attorney Reps Who Passed July 2006 Exam To Obtain Withholding Of Fees

Below is the list of non-attorney representatives of Social Security claimants who passed the July 2006 examination to obtain withholding and direct payment of fees by the Social Security Administration:

Adkins, Marcia P. Fort Payne AL
Agosto, Daniel E. New York NY
Anderson, Cheri B. Leesville LA
Anderson, Edward R. Old Hickory TN
Arnett, Cynthia D. Yulee FL
Betts, Pamela R. Jefferson City MO
Brown, William L. Roanoke Rapids NC
Burns, Overton B. Leesville LA
Butler, Susan A. Jacksonville FL
Camacho-Mart, Felix M. Caguas PR
Collins, Kenneth W. Duncanville TX
Contreras, Dennis Concord CA
Cooper, James F. Leesburg FL
Coppage' Jeffrey A. Winston-Salem NC
Costa, Claudia Selden NY
Cowles, Alan L. Lawrence KS
Dorr, Timothy A. Leesburg FL
Dorsey, William L. Tyler TX
Ferrer, Victor M. Bronx NY
Francis, James S. Henderson KY
Goff, Colleen M. Covington GA
Hampton, Wanke H. Lakeland FL
Hartley, Patrick E. Rancho Mirage CA
Heyborne Rita M. Kansas City MO
Hinshaw, Douglas A. Gainesville FL
Hofer, Pamela D. Morehead KY
Hultine, Barton W. Hastings NE
Hundal, Richard S. Union City CA
Jennings, Christine H. Charleston SC
Johnson, Mary E. Highland CA
Johnson, Robin R. Baltimore MD
Joiner, Georgia K. Ocala FL
Kimbrough, Monica L. Cleveland OH
Kojoian, Rouben Los Angeles CA
Lamarca, Hillary A. Cleveland OH
Loiacono, Christopher L. Commack NY
Manukyan, Ruben Glendale CA
Maselli, Lisa K. Evans GA
Mathias, Lorna M. Fargo ND
McBride, William Baltimore MD
McCormack, Julie Jamaica Plain MA
McGreal, Georgia E. Sacramento CA
Miller, Erica A. Milford CT
Minich, David E. Springfield MO
Murphy, David J. Chicago IL
Nelson, Karen L. Edmond OK
Nielsen, Aaron M. Bonita CA
Nolden, Rodger W. Charlotte NC
Owen, Jeffrey L. Enid OK
Pancoast, Richard W. Ingleside TX
Persad, Randy Ingleside TX
Pittman, Kathy K. Bartlesville OK
Ramnauth, Mark New York NY
Rodgers, Carolyn R. Nashville TN
Rost, Linda S. Pittsfield MA
Rousseau, Rita L. Novi MI
Siderman, Lucy Brooklyn NY
Simpson, Chadwick Q. Irvine CA
Smothers, Vernon H. Lubbock TX
Spruance, Gilbert O. Jacksonville FL
Stovall, Baskin K. Nashville TN
Szydlowski, Richard K. Livonia MI
Terracina, Gloria B. San Antonio TX
Turley, Lucy J. Lexington KY
Vasquez, Jose A. New York NY
Warhola, Edna G. Henderson NV
Warren, William T. Anderson IN
Whatley, Teresa C. Alexander City AL
White, Brenda D. Baltimore MD
Wollman, Benjamin J. Milwaukee WI

Wyatt, Catherine T. Wadesboro NC

Astrue's Political Contributions

Below is a list provided by Newsmeat of the political contributions of Michael Astrue, President Bush's nominee to become the next Social Security Commissioner. This list may not be complete and it certainly looks like it is not up to date. However, if it is anything like accurate, Mr. Astrue has not been an easy touch for campaign funds.

Astrue, Michael Belmont, MA 02178 Transkaryotic Therapies/Executive	VOLUNTEER PAC	$5,000 primary	06/30/03
ASTRUE, MICHAEL J BELMONT, MA 02178	HATCH, ORRIN G (R) Senate - UT HATCH ELECTION COMMITTEE INC	$500 primary	11/04/02
ASTRUE, MICHAEL BELMONT, MA 02178 TKT INC	COLLINS, SUSAN M (R) Senate - ME COLLINS FOR SENATOR	$1,000 primary	01/14/02
Astrue, Michael Belmont, MA 02178 Trans. Therapies &Boston Univ./Sr.	PORTMAN, ROBERT J (R) House (OH 02) PORTMAN FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE	$1,000 primary	07/12/01
ASTRUE, MICHAEL J BELMONT, MA 02178 BIOGEN	FRIST, WILLIAM H (R) Senate - FRIST 2000 INC	$1,000 primary	02/22/00
ASTRUE, MICHAEL J BELMONT, MA 02178 BIOGEN	FRIST, WILLIAM H (R) Senate - FRIST 2000 INC	$-500 primary	02/22/00
ASTRUE, MICHAEL J BELMONT, MA 02178 BIOGEN	FRIST, WILLIAM H (R) Senate - FRIST 2000 INC	$500 general	02/22/00
ASTRUE, MICHAEL J BELMONT, MA 02178 BIOGEN INC	AMORELLO, MATTHEW J (R) House (MA 03) AMORELLO FOR CONGRESS	$200 general	09/29/98
ASTRUE, MICHAEL BELMONT, MA 02178 BIOGEN	FRIST, WILLIAM H (R) Senate - FRIST 2000 INC	$500 primary	04/10/97
ASTRUE, MICHAEL J BELMONT, MA 02178 BIOGEN INC	WELD, WILLIAM F (R) Senate - MA WELD FOR SENATE INC	$1,000 general	09/27/96
ASTRUE, MICHAEL BELMONT, MA 02178 BIOGEN	BLUTE, PETER I (R) House (MA 03) PETER BLUTE FOR CONGRESS	$250 primary	06/27/96
ASTRUE, MICHAEL BELMONT, MA 02178 BIOGEN INC	TEAGUE, EDWARD B (R) House (MA 10) TEAGUE FOR CONGRESS	$250 primary	04/24/96
ASTRUE, MICHAEL J BELMONT, MA 02178 BROGEN INC	DOLE, ROBERT J (R) President DOLE FOR PRESIDENT INC	$50 primary	11/02/95
ASTRUE, MICHAEL J BELMONT, MA 02178 BROGEN INC	DOLE, ROBERT J (R) President DOLE FOR PRESIDENT INC	$1,000 primary	09/28/95
ASTRUE, MICHAEL J BELMONT, MA 02178 BIO-GEN INC	MCINTOSH, DAVID MARTIN (R) House (IN 02) DAVID MCINTOSH FOR CONGRESS	$250 primary	01/31/94
ASTRUE, MICHAEL BELMONT, MA 02178	LARKIN, PATRICK JOSEPH (R) House (MA 01) LARKIN FOR CONGRESS	$300 primary	08/11/92

Social Security Touts Online Services

From a Social Security news release picked up by The Weekly, of Georgia:

ATLANTA, GA (September 13, 2006) - Social Security’s Internet site, www.socialsecurity.gov , is among the most popular of government websites. In fact, in a survey conducted by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, four of the top five services evaluated are located on Social Security’s website. Our Social Security Benefits Application was number one, followed by the Application for Extra Help Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs page and the Social Security Business Services Online page. In fifth place was the Social Security Retirement Planner.

It is perhaps a minor matter, but this is an example of a Social Security press release that Social Security chooses not to post on its own website that is supposed to show its press releases. There have been a number of these lately. If the best that Social Security's press office can do is to get a press release like this published in a tiny local news media, it is hardly worth the effort of even doing the press release in the first place. One would think that Social Security would at least post these press releases online so that those few who are genuinely interested in what the agency is doing would be able to find them more easily.

Mark Warshawsky

Mark Warshawsky, one of President Bush's other appointees to the Social Security Advisory Board, has worked at the Department of the Treasury. He campaigned publically for President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security, as this press release from 2005 shows.

Sylvester Schieber

Sylvester Schieber, who has just been appointed by President Bush as Chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board, is the co-author of The Real Deal: The History and Future of Social Security. Here is his publisher's blurb on the book:

Will the Social Security system founder as millions of baby boomers enter their retirement years? Is the frightening vision of an impoverished old age a glimpse into the real future for Americans of the next generation? The authors of this book put debates about Social Security reform into historical perspective, consider various reform ideas, and elaborate a proposal to ensure that the system can continue to meet the claims of the retired and disabled. Sylvester J. Schieber and John B. Shoven, leading experts on retirement issues, set forth a carefully considered plan to change the way we finance Social Security and thereby secure its future viability. Exploring the history of the Social Security system from its origins during the Depression to its current troubled prospects, Schieber and Shoven analyze the program's economic structure and introduce the remarkable personalities who influenced its evolution. The authors show how Social Security today differs from the program Franklin D. Roosevelt envisioned an how the shift to pay-as-you-go funding has led to the systems current problems. Seen in historical context, some reform approaches are revealed as a renewal of attempts to fund Social Security through means that have repeatedly failed. The authors a true mandatory private retirement savings account. For workers -- a proposal that would lighten retirement-security burdens for future generations, avoid tax increases, and preserve the system's progressivity. This book is essential reading not only for policymakers but for anyone else who wishes to understand what Social Security reform will mean for us as a nation and as individuals.

SSAB Appointments

From the White House:

The President intends to designate Sylvester J. Schieber, of Maryland, to be Chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board for the remainder of a four year term expiring 01/21/09.

The President intends to nominate the following individuals to be Members of the Social Security Advisory Board:

Mark J. Warshawsky, of Maryland, for the remainder of a six year term expiring September 30, 2012.

Dana K. Bilyeu, of Nevada, for the remainder of a six year term expiring September 30, 2010.

Comptroller General Praises SSA Response To Hurricane Katrina

David Walker, the Comptroller General, has commended Social Security for its effective response to Hurricane Katrina. Walker indicates that while many other agencies failed, SSA excelled.