It Figures

From the Washington Post (emphasis added):

The call to arms was issued at 5:55 a.m. last Friday.

"To all modern Sons of Liberty: THIS is your time. Break their windows. Break them NOW."

These were the words of Mike Vanderboegh, a 57-year-old former militiaman from Alabama, who took to his blog urging people who opposed the historic health-care reform legislation -- he calls it "Nancy Pelosi's Intolerable Act" -- to throw bricks through the windows of Democratic offices nationwide.

"So, if you wish to send a message that Pelosi and her party [that they] cannot fail to hear, break their windows," Vanderboegh wrote on the blog, Sipsey Street Irregulars. "Break them NOW. Break them and run to break again. Break them under cover of night. Break them in broad daylight. Break them and await arrest in willful, principled civil disobedience. Break them with rocks. Break them with slingshots. Break them with baseball bats. But BREAK THEM." ...

Vanderboegh was unapologetic in a 45-minute telephone interview with The Washington Post early Thursday. He said he believes throwing bricks through windows sends a warning to Democratic lawmakers that the health-care reform legislation they passed Sunday has caused so much unrest that it could result in a civil war.

"The federal government should not have the ability to command us to buy something that it decides we should buy," Vanderboegh said. The government, he added, has "absolutely no idea the number of alienated who feel that their backs are to the wall are out here . . . who are not only willing to resist this law to the very end of their lives, but are armed and are capable of making such resistance possible and perhaps even initiating a civil war."...

Vanderboegh said he once worked as a warehouse manager but now lives on government disability checks. He said he receives $1,300 a month because of his congestive heart failure, diabetes and hypertension.

File Your Comments On DAA

On January 29th, Social Security published a notice requesting comments on the agency's operating procedures for determining disability when Drug Abuse or Alcoholism (DAA) is involved. This notice surprised a lot of people, including me, because we had thought the issues involved to be well settled and non-controversial. Any significant revision in Social Security's settled interpretations could be extremely controversial.

We still do not know what is behind this request for comments but the time period for filing comments is rapidly drawing to a close. March 30 is the last day. Comments may be filed online.

The Drumbeat Starts

The New York Times is running an article telling us to be scared and to start thinking about cutting benefits because the Social Security trust funds are paying out a little more money this year than they are taking in.

Poll

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

Scrooge Cadre?

An anonymous poster on the ALJ Discussion Forum says that the Social Security administration is planning to create a "cadre" of Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) to hear Social Security overpayment cases. This is being referred to as a "Scrooge cadre" since it is speculated that Social Security wants to reduce the number of cases in which overpayments are being waived.

Can anyone confirm this?

Health Care Reform Matters Now

A couple of items from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's blog on the immediate effects of the health care bill that was just signed into law:

IF YOU ARE A SMALL BUSINESSES OWNER:

SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDITS—Offers tax credits to small businesses to make employee coverage more affordable. Tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums will be immediately available. Effective beginning for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2014, small business tax credits will cover 50 percent of premiums.)
...

COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for nearly doubling the number of patients served over the next 5 years. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.

The first one matters a lot to those of us who represent claimants. The second is important to everyone. Inadequate medical care is a huge problem for Social Security disability claimants. Often, Social Security disability claimants' health suffer as a result of inadequate medical care. The lack of decent medical records also makes it more difficult for claimants to win their Social Security disability cases.

Palin Targets Chair Of Social Security Subcommittee

Sarah Palin has revealed a list of 17 Democrats in the House of Representatives that she is targeting for removal from Congress because they voted for health care reform. On the list is Earl Pomeroy, the Chairman of the House Social Security Subcommittee.

Click here to make a campaign contribution to Representative Pomeroy.

More Patty Duke

A press release from Social Security:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today joined award-winning actress Patty Duke and the cast of her hit 1960s sitcom, The Patty Duke Show, to unveil Social Security’s newest online service – an application for Medicare benefits. This new online application, which takes less than 10 minutes to complete, is for people reaching the Medicare eligibility age of 65 who want to delay filing for Social Security retirement benefits. Currently about a half million Americans enroll in Medicare each year without applying for monthly benefits.

“Social Security’s online services are the best in all of government and exceed the top private sector companies in customer satisfaction,” Commissioner Astrue said. “The new Medicare application is a welcome addition to our suite of online services and will make it easier than ever to sign up for Medicare. I am thrilled that Patty Duke has once again volunteered to help us get the word out. The fact that this time her TV family has joined her makes this even more special and I thank William Schallert, Eddie Applegate, and Paul O’Keefe for their service to America. I also want to thank Dr. David Kessler, former FDA Commissioner, who appeared with Patty as a befuddled family physician in some of our spots.” ...

To view the new public service announcements featuring the cast of The Patty Duke Show, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/medicareonly.

I would embed the video if I could.