Funding Bill Progresses In Senate

Senator Tom Harkin has sent out a press release indicating that the Labor-HHS Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee (Harkin chairs the Subcommittee) has reported out an appropriations bill. This bill covers Social Security's administrative budget. Here is the relevant language from the press release:

Social Security Administration (SSA) — $10.4 billion is included for the administrative expenses of the SSA, $50 million over the President’s budget request and $632 million more than FY 2008, to continue efforts to reduce the backlog of disability claims. SSA reviews current disability cases to ensure beneficiaries remain eligible for Social Security.

This is not good news. The Chairman's mark in the House of Representatives was only $100 million over the President's proposed budget. Advocates are pressing for $11 billion, which would be $650 million over the President's proposed budget but probably still not nearly enough to begin a speedy turnaround of the mess at Social Security. It is far from clear that the amount in either the House or Senate bill would be enough to prevent things from getting worse at Social Security. Certainly, neither bill would make things significantly better.

The longer that Social Security's hearing backlogs stay at its current level, the less likely it is that anything will ever be done to dramatically diminish them. If you have tolerated a situation for ten years, what is the rush about doing something about it?

More Press Attention In Buffalo

The Buffalo News is running another article on the Social Security disability program. This one is entitled "After Long Ordeal, Mother Wins Aid For Son With Behavior Disorders." The article includes praise for Social Security Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Maryellen Weinberg of Brooklyn.

Not For The Private Sector

From an Op Ed piece by Dennis Laurion in the Duluth News Tribune:

Having always voted for Republicans — except Richard Nixon and George W. Bush — I now have three concerns that preclude my voting for Sen. John McCain: his continued support of the Iraq War, his support for privatizing Social Security and his desire to farm out work that should be done by government employees.

After military service I worked for the Social Security Administration. I processed disability claims and monitored continuing entitlement of disability beneficiaries. Everybody I worked with took seriously their role as steward of public money. They dug into people’s allegations and made strong commitments to pay legitimate claims and deny unfounded

Under the Bush administration, my district office in Duluth went from three managers and 25 employees to three managers and 12 employees. At 25 employees, we could not keep up with the workload, no matter how hard we tried. I firmly believe that the Bush administration appointed foxes to take charge of the hen house and depleted Social Security Administration staff so it could promote the idea that the Social Security Administration can’t do the work, and that the U.S. needs private accounts.

Press Report On Predatory Lending Hearing

NASDAQ (and no, I do not know why NASDAQ has a news subsidiary) has a report on today's House Social Security Subcommittee hearing on predatory lending and the payment of Social Security benefits.

Congressional Hearing On Predatory Lending Practices

The House Social Security Subcommittee is holding a hearing today on "Protecting Social Security Beneficiaries from Predatory Lending and Other Harmful Financial Institution Practices." The written statements of the witnesses are now available online. This excerpt from the testimony of Margot Saunders of the National Consumer Law Center may tell us what is in the works:

We understand that as the result of extensive discussions and negotiations between Treasury and the Social Security Administration, the other federal payment agencies, and the federal banking agencies,that a compromise regulation will be proposed in the near future. Our understanding of this compromise is that it will incorporate at least the following features:

Upon receiving an order to freeze a bank account pursuant to a garnishment or attachment, a bank will –

1. Review the electronic deposits made into the account in the previous 30 to 45 days (called the “look-back period”), to determine whether any are accompanied with the electronic designation for federally exempt funds.
2. If there are any exempt funds deposited into the account, then the total amount of exempt funds deposited within the look-back period will be multiplied by a factor (either 2 or 2.5, or some other number to be determined – this is called the “multiplier”).
3. The multiplied sum of exempt funds will be considered the protected amount – this amount of money will always be kept safe from freezing or attachment or garnishment, regardless of the flow of money into and out of the account.
4. Funds in the account which are in excess of the multiplied sum will be frozen and held pursuant to state law for disposition.
5. The recipient will be free to seek to protect all exempt funds over the protected amount using the standard state court procedure.
6. No garnishment fees assessed by the bank can be taken from the protected amount.

Wanta Snoop?

The Asbury Park Press, of all places, has posted a database showing the salaries of almost all federal employee as of 2007.

I know that federal employees may not like this information being so freely available, but that is part of the deal when you go to work for the feds. If you do not like it, there are jobs in the private sector.

Allsup Video

Allsup, a non-attorney group that represents Social Security claimants has posted this promotional video.

More Pressure In Buffalo

From the Observer in Dunkirk, NY:

With May 2008 statistics in, showing 723 new Social Security cases filed in the Buffalo-area office last month alone, the highest one month total this year, Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) is calling for swift action on the promised hiring of judges and staff at local Social Security Administration (SSA) offices. ...

“Local judges and Social Security staff are working hard, but until additional personnel are on the job they can’t put a dent in these numbers,” Congressman Higgins said. “We need immediate action to get the Western New York offices staffed at a level that provides local residents with the service they deserve from our government. Making people wait two years for an answer is unreasonable and unfair.”