Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Having Problems

Appropriations are the lifeblood of all federal agencies including the Social Security Administration. Anything that affects the appropriations process is of considerable importance to the Social Security Administration. It seems as if Robert Byrd of West Virginia has been a Senator since shortly after the Civil War. He has been chairman or ranking minority member of the Senate Appropriations Committee for decades, but he has long been the most respected of the elders in the Senate, but for some time now there have been whispers about the effects of age on Byrd's ability to lead the Appropriations Committee. Those whispers are getting much louder. From Politico:

Oh, the full dialogue from the blogpost below according to WaPo's Paul Kane (and other reporters in the gallery) who heard the full shouting match between Sen. Robert C. Byrd and Sen. Jim Bunning, shouting from their seats across that aisle at each other:

Bunning: "Regular order!"

Byrd: "Who said that?"

Bunning: "I did."

Byrd: "Who are you?"

Bunning: "I'm a senator."

Byrd: "You're a great baseball man."

Bunning: "I'm a senator; I have the same rights as you."

Byrd: "Yeah, man, you're a senator." [Ends by laughing hysterically at Bunning.]

McCain On Budget And Social Security

From Jobs for America: The McCain Economic Plan, put out by John McCain's campaign:

Comprehensive Spending Controls: John McCain will institute broad reforms to control spending:

• The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction.
• A one-year spending pause. Freeze non-defense, non-veterans discretionary spending for a year and use those savings for deficit reduction. A one-year pause in the growth of discretionary spending will be imposed to allow for a comprehensive review of all spending programs. After the completion of a comprehensive review of all programs, projects and activities of the federal government, we will propose a plan to modernize, streamline, consolidate, reprioritize and, where needed, terminate individual programs. ...
  

Reform Social Security: John McCain will fight to save the future of Social Security, and he believes that we may meet our obligations to the retirees of today and the future without raising taxes. John McCain supports supplementing the current Social Security system with personal accounts – but not as a substitute for addressing benefit promises that cannot be kept. John McCain will reach across the aisle to address these challenges, but if the Democrats do not act, he will. No problem is in more need of honesty than the looming financial challenges of entitlement programs. Americans have the right to know the truth and John McCain will not leave office without fixing the problems that threatens our future prosperity and power.

I Had Wondered About This

You knew about disability claims for children under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, but did you realize there can be disability claims for children under Title II of the Social Security Act? They do and curiously enough, Social Security applies adult standards to these child disability claims. Seems odd to me. Here is some information from a recent addition to Social Security's Program Operations Manual Series (POMS):

Effective 9/1/81, P.L. 97-35 discontinued spouse's, mother's, and father's benefits when the youngest child-in-care attains age 16, unless the child is disabled. Although the spouse’s, mother’s, or father’s benefits may cease, the child's benefits continue to age 18 regardless of whether he or she is disabled. A disability determination for the alleged DMC [DisabledMinor Child] is needed only to entitle the mother or father to continue to receive benefits. ...

To determine if a child is disabled for the child-in-care provisions use the sequential evaluation process applicable to Title II Adult and CDB claims. See “Sequential Evaluation” (DI 22001.000).

At step 3 of the disability evaluation process (Does impairment(s) meet or equal a listing?), consider Part “B” of the listings first. If the child’s alleged impairment(s) does not meet or equal a Part “B” listing, consider the Part “A” listings.

NOTE: The “functional equivalence” policy applicable to Title XVI child cases (see DI 25225.001) does not apply to DMC, or any other Title II cases.

It is not clear to me from this whether the adult listings apply or the child listings. It would be weird to refuse to apply the child listings, but everything else about this policy is weird.

Waiting In Indiana

From the Indianapolis Star:

Dana Smith waited three years for a judge to agree she qualifies for Social Security disability payments.

Had she lived in a state other than Indiana, the wait could have been much shorter.

That's because Indiana has one of the worst records in the country for processing the disability claims of people unable to work because of medical or psychiatric reasons. ...

For a determination at the Indianapolis offices for Social Security disability or Supplemental Security Income, the average applicant waits 749 days from the time of filing until a hearing before an administrative judge, the step necessary if claims are denied -- and most are.

Most Americans wait 505 days, the Social Security Administration estimates. ...

Nationwide, the Social Security Administration has 10 percent fewer judges to hear case appeals than it did a decade ago, while the number of cases has increased by more than 176 percent, said Carmen Moreno, regional communications director for the Social Security Administration's Chicago region, which includes Indiana.

By the way, this appears to be another story generated by Allsup.

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Binder And Binder Lawsuit

On the separate Social Security Perspectives Blog I have posted copies of a trademark infringement complaint filed by Binder and Binder against a competing entity and the answer filed by that defendant. The materials are interesting for the insight they provide into the methods of operation of Binder and Binder, one of the largest entities representing Social Security claimants, and the importance of internet advertising to its operations. Binder and Binder appears to combine a law firm with a number of non-attorney corporations in a unique corporate structure. Binder and Binder appears to make extensive use of internet advertising.

Because of technical limitations in Blogger, these federal court filings are spread over several posts and you must click on each page separately to view it full size. There is no simple way for a reader to download the whole thing, unless you have a Pacer account, in which case you can download all the papers filed with the Court.

ALJ Register To Reopen

A press release from the Office of Personnel Management:

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management today [July 2] announced it will re-open the Administrative Law Judge examination to refresh the list of eligible candidates who serve as impartial arbiters at regulatory and benefits-granting federal agencies.

OPM will officially announce the 2008 ALJ examination on its USAJOBS website (www.usajobs.gov) in the near future. The application filing period will be made public at that time; the application limit will factor-in future agency hiring needs.

OPM Director Linda M. Springer said the new examination advances the agency's strategy of maintaining a sufficient number of qualified ALJ candidates to serve as arbiters of fact in formal proceedings requiring a decision on the record.

"From time to time, we must re-open the exam to ensure federal agencies have access to ALJ candidates who will serve the interests of America's citizens expeditiously and in accordance with law," said Springer. "Additionally, we are giving professional men and women the opportunity to serve their country in an important capacity."