Who Wrote The Social Security Act?

From the Watertown, Wisconsin Daily Times:

With the baby boomers now retiring at an ever accelerating pace, concerns over funding the program well into the future are certainly going to intensify.

But, we'll leave that debate for another time. Right now we want to go back to a topic we've covered several times in this column over the years and that is about the “Father of Social Security” who just happens to be the late Edwin E. Witte, a native of Watertown. ...

Edwin Witte was born on a farm in the town of Watertown back in 1887. He was a graduate of Watertown High School and then received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1909 and his doctorate in 1927. He was a statistician for the Industrial Commission in Wisconsin for a short period of time and then moved to Washington where he became secretary for Congressman John M. Nelson. By 1914 he was a special agent for the Committee on Industrial Relations for the Department of Labor.

He became secretary of the Wisconsin Industrial Commission in 1917 and remained there until 1922 when he took over as head of the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library. He was then the first director of Unemployment Compensation for the Wisconsin Industrial Commission in 1934.

It was shortly after that, he was called upon by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to become executive director of the President's Commission on Economic Security which was ultimately the sponsor of the Federal Social Security Act of 1934-1935. It was during this period that Edwin was on leave from his professorship at the University of Wisconsin. ...

There was a real sense of urgency to this historic legislation and Edwin was leading a team of 20 to 30 experts who were working day and night. ...

When it was all said and done, it was the leadership and the work of Edwin E. Witte that crafted this country's Social Security Administration and its wide reaching programs.

News From The Campaign Trail

Presidential candidates keep talking about Social Security. I keep getting e-mail suggesting that I should post something about what the candidates are saying. I have felt that the candidates' talk is nothing but sound and fury signifying nothing, but I am certainly posting about other things that are no more likely to matter, so let me write something, however reluctantly.

Bloomberg reports that Republican candidate Fred Thompson has been saying that we need to cut Social Security benefits. He also advocates private savings accounts, but has not said how private savings accounts may be achieved since he opposes a tax increase. His position sounds essentially the same as President Bush's position, which plays well with those who might vote in a Republican primary, but it is completely unworkable. If you want to carve private accounts out of the current tax rates, you are looking at massive cuts in current benefit payments and that is not going to happen, as Thompson knows well.

Democratic candidates John Edwards and Barack Obama have been proposing an increase in the cap on earnings subject to the FICA tax to bring the Social Security trust funds into long term balance. This position has been harshly criticized by Paul Krugman of the New York Times and others because it buys into the preposterous notion that Social Security is little more than a Ponzi scheme.

Where The Money Goes

The Social Security Administration has released its Performance and Accountability Report For Fiscal Year 2007. It includes this interesting information showing how Social Security's administrative budget is spent:

• Disability Insurance 24.5%
• Supplemental Security Income 29.8%
• Old Age and Survivors Insurance 29.6%
• Other (including Medicare) 16.1%

To understand what the Social Security Administration is, you need to ponder the fact that less than 30% of the agency's operating budget is spent administering old age and survivor's benefits.

The Real Effect Of The President's Social Security "Reform" Proposal

From the Wall Street Journal:

...[T]he [Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive] survey shows most Americans are skeptical about whether Social Security will be available to them in retirement. While 56% of those ages 55 and older think it will be available, fewer than 20% of those younger than 55 believe they will be able to rely on Social Security.

Want To Study Anatomy?

Many of the people reading this blog are involved in one way or another with Social Security's disability programs. Basic medical knowledge is essential to those of us working in this field, yet few of us have received any systematic medical education.

Here is a chance to study medicine at its most basic level -- for free. The University of California at Berkeley has posted videos online of Professor Marian Diamond's course lectures on anatomy and physiology. I have not had a chance to watch much of it yet, but what I have watched seems fascinating. Just judging by the size of her class -- for a topic that most people would shy away from -- I would say that she has to be an excellent lecturer.

Fraud Alleged In New Jersey

From the Asbury Park Press:

MANASQUAN — A 61-year-old local man was indicted Wednesday on one count each of Social Security Disability fraud and theft of government property in connection with receiving approximately $384,980 in benefits he was not entitled to receive, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey.

Between about June 1989 and April 2007, Douglas Eugene Fittinger received income, including wages from employment and workers' compensation benefits, using a second Social Security number under the name David Fittinger.

Under his name in that same time period, Fittinger also received Disability Insurance Benefits payments on behalf of himself and his daughter, whose name is not being made public, said U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman J. Gregory Reinert.

What Appropriations Delays Mean

From the Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, VA:

Attorney Bruce Billman dreads the question every client asks.

They come to his office wanting help getting Social Security disability payments. And they all want to know: How long will it take?

"God, I hate looking them in the eye and telling them this," Billman said.

He doesn't have good news: On average, his clients will wait about a year to get a hearing to determine whether they'll get disability payments.

The backlog has long been considered a crisis by those in the field. A September report put out by the Social Security Administration noted, "For some, the long wait for their day in court leads to homelessness and the loss of family and friends. Sadly, people have died waiting for a hearing."

A $606 billion bill to fund education, health and labor programs may have relieved some of the long wait, said those familiar with the backlog. About $10 billion would have gone to Social Security for fiscal year 2008. But President Bush vetoed the bill Tuesday, saying it included too many pet projects and would lead to higher taxes. ...

One client of Bill Botts, executive director of Rappahannock Legal Aid, just got a letter saying it will be 14 months before her hearing.

Another of Botts' clients killed himself days after learning he would have to wait a year for his hearing.

And the wait time for a hearing in Fredericksburg area is much better than the national average.

Indictments In California

From the Sacramento Business Journal:

The owners of Our House Defines Art, an El Dorado Hills art gallery and framing business, were indicted Wednesday on eight counts of conspiracy to defraud the Social Security Administration.

A federal grand jury returned the indictment, which alleges Mary Margaret Donnelly, aka Mary Margaret Wittekind, and Michael Glen Donnelly, aka Michael Hubbs, falsely claimed to be disabled and not working from 2002 - 2007, when they were in fact working on their gallery. The indictment says the Cameron Park couple used $70,000 in disability benefits they were not entitled to.