The Big Picture -- A Credit Union Adjusts To a Downsized Social Security Administration

Sometimes you have to step back quite a way to see the big picture. There used to be an entity called the Social Security Baltimore Federal Credit Union. The winwin partnership reports that they are now called the Securityplus Federal Credit Union. The credit union had to change because the Social Security Administration's employment in the Baltimore area dropped over the last 15 years from 30,000 to less than 15,000. Because of the erosion in their customer base, the Securityplus Federal Credit Union has shifted its focus as well as its name. In addition to serving Social Security employees and retirees, the credit union now tries to serve underserved, presumably low income, areas in the Baltimore region. As a result, their business is growing.

Presidential Candidates On Social Security -- Democrats

Here are what the top tier Democratic candidates for President have said recently about Social Security, drawn from their campaign websites and senatoral websites:

Hillary Clinton:

I think it is essential that the Administration and Congress take the necessary steps to secure the solvency of this important program for current and future retirees. ... There are several key reasons why replacing Social Security with a privatized system would be harmful for Americans.

John Edwards:

I oppose diverting payroll taxes to private accounts but support offering matching accounts to workers on top of Social Security. I oppose raising the retirement age or cutting COLAs.

Barack Obama:

We need to modernize our social safety net to help senior citizens meet these new challenges, but we also must preserve those elements, such as Social Security and Medicare, that have enabled us to fulfill our moral commitment to our parents and grandparents.

House Ways And Means Committee On Backlogs And Budget

The House Ways and Means Committee has prepared a summary of information about the disability claims backlogs at Social Security which discusses Social Security's budget situation for fiscal year (FY) 2008, which begins on October 1, 2007.

Widows Not Getting All The Social Security They Should

Some excerpts from a report of Social Security's Office of Inspector General:

Some individuals are dually entitled to both disability benefits based on their own earnings history and widow's benefits based on their deceased spouses' earnings. Although disability benefits are generally not reduced based on the age of the beneficiary, widow's benefits are reduced when beneficiaries elect to receive them prior to their FRA [Full Retirement Age. However, if the widow's benefit started when the disability benefit began or later, the widow's benefits are adjusted-and the reduction for age is eliminated-when disability ends and retirement benefits are awarded. Usually, this occurs when the beneficiaries attain FRA. In December 2005, about 3.6 million beneficiaries were dually entitled to both retirement benefits and widow's benefits. ...

n November 2006, an SSA employee informed us of a population of 10,210 widows whose benefits appeared to not have been properly adjusted when they attained FRA. ...

We found that the benefits to most of the widows in our population were not properly adjusted when the beneficiaries attained FRA. As a result, the widows were not paid all of the benefits that were due them. Based on the results of our sample, we estimate that about 9,751 beneficiaries were underpaid approximately $113.7 million through November 2006. In addition, if SSA does not take action to correct the benefits paid to these widows, we estimate they will continue to be underpaid about $137.8 million over the rest of their lives.

Witness List For Wednesday Senate Finance Committee Hearing

Senate Finance Committee Hearing May 23 at 10:00

Funding Social Security's Administrative Costs: Will the Budget Meet the Mission?

• Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, MD
• Nancy Shor, Executive Director, National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
• Richard E. Warsinskey, President, National Council of Social Security Management Associations, Inc., Washington, DC
• Charles Schimmels, President, National Association of Disability Examiners, Oklahoma City, OK

An Image From 1965

Arizona Republic On Hearing Backlogs

The Arizona Republic has a story up on Social Security's backlogs in holding Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearings. That newspaper joined the growing list of newspapers running articles on this subject.

This backlog grew dramatically in 2001, but virtually no newspaper was covering the story. For several years, the backlog has been terrible, but there were few newspaper stories on the issue. One gets the feeling that the traditional media feels that the Democratic victory in the 2006 election somehow makes it "safe" for them to report on the situation.

Social Security And Terrorism Investigations Or Is It Just Illegal Immigration?

From the Washington Post:

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Social Security Administration's vast databases of personal information have become a resource for federal investigators, who have asked the agency to check tens of thousands of records for number misuse and identity fraud -- potential precursors to terrorist activity.

The Social Security Administration is "literally the Fort Knox of identity information in the United States," said James Huse, the agency's inspector general from 1998 to 2004. "That's a pretty impressive investigative tool that no other agency possesses."

From just after Sept. 11 through 2005, Social Security officials sent prosecutors 456 referrals that were classified as terrorism-related, according to statistics compiled by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. The review shows that 91 percent of those referrals led to prosecutions.

Only the departments of Justice and Homeland Security have referred more terrorism-related cases for prosecution, according to the Syracuse records, which are based on data compiled by the Justice Department's Executive Office for United States Attorneys."

Still, few if any suspects in Social Security cases are ever linked publicly to alleged terrorist activity. Most cases referred to prosecutors in the months after Sept. 11 involved document fraud by Latino immigrants working at airports.