Bush: Failure On Social Security Reform My Biggest Disappointment

From a Fox Business Network interview:

"The biggest disappointment is not getting a Social Security package, Social Security reform, because that truly is the big deficit issue," he told David Asman. "I'm sorry it didn't happen. I laid out a plan to make it happen, to enable it to happen. I'm the first president to have addressed it as specifically as I did. I wish Congress wasn't so risk-averse on the issue."

I can think of something else that would disappoint me more if I were him.

Fee Payment Stats

Below are the recently updated statistics on payments of fees to attorneys and others for representing Social Security claimants. This is an excellent analogue for how quickly or slowly the agency is paying benefits to claimants after a favorable decision, since the attorney and the claimant are paid at about the same time. Obviously, things have slowed down dramatically since the end of August.

Fee Payments
Month/Year	Volume	Amount
Jan-07	15,331	$55,149,991.81
Feb-07	19,301	$69,731,683.72
Mar-07	26,505	$94,396,916.02
Apr-07	26,889	$96,650,134.82
May-07	24,429	$86,625,391.60
June-07	27,716	$99,357,038.71
July-07	21,807	$78,273,082.88
Aug-07	28,607	$101,523,346.40
Sept-07	21,409	$75,663,579.78
Oct-07	21,903	$79,209,567.01

SSA Appropriation Vetoed

The New York Times reports that the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill, that includes the Social Security Administration (SSA), has been vetoed by the President. Override of the veto is, apparently, out of the question.

Social Security's Own TV Network

From an presolicitation notice by the Social Security Administration:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) intends to negotiate solely with Comcast Cablevision of Maryland ... for system relocations and replacement of minor equipment items to support an existing order with Comcast to maintain the CATV Port Distribution System for the SSA headquarters campus and outlying buildings. ... The CATV network provides real-time news and information for the entire SSA headquarters campus.

Feedback Button Not Working

The Feedback button to the right of this post is not working. I have not changed anything about it, so it must be a problem with "Get Gear", the company that provides the service. I will leave the button there for now in hopes that eventually they will get the problem solved. You can e-mail me at:

charles[at]charleshallfirm.com

Bernoski Letter Quoted In Baltimore Sun

From Melissa Harris' "Federal Worker" column in the Baltimore Sun:

Mailbag
Ronald G. Bernoski, president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges, was among those who responded to last week's column on the government's new roster of more than 600 administrative law judge candidates.

The Social Security Administration "indicated it had funding to hire 150 new administrative law judges and 92 support staff members to begin clearing the backlog of disability cases," Bernoski wrote. "This is an unjustifiable management decision.

"Each judge needs four to five staff members to prepare cases for the judge to review and to draft the judge's decisions. The 1,150 judges in SSA are already severely short of staff members. In many offices judges are unable to get enough prepared cases to fill their schedules.

"To hire 150 judges and only 92 staff members is a hollow gesture and another example of poor management decisions at the Social Security Administration."

Veteran's Day

A Direct Approach To Writing A Newspaper Article

Here is the complete text of an item at the Kansas City Star's website:

Have you applied for Social Security disability payments? Tell us about your experience

 Many applicants for Social Security disability payments must wait between 18 months and three years to learn if they qualify, and much longer if they must appeal a first rejection, AARP reports.

We want to know how you or someone you know fared when applying for benefits. If you would like to share your experience, and perhaps be included in future story about the situation, call Gene Meyer at The Star at 816-234-4883 or send e-mail to gmeyer@kcstar.com.