Give Them A Piece Of Your Mind!

A press release from Social Security:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced a new way for members of the public to participate in open and transparent government. In response to President Obama’s executive order on improving regulations and regulatory review, Social Security is inviting people to provide direct feedback on its rules and regulations. Ideas and comments may be emailed to RegsReview@ssa.gov.

“Social Security values the public’s input and wants to provide a meaningful opportunity for people to participate in the regulatory process,” Commissioner Astrue said. “I invite the public to share their thoughts and I am excited to hear their ideas.”

Social Security’s program rules are available online and may be accessed at www.socialsecurity.gov/regulations. There, you will find complete information about Social Security’s laws, regulations, rulings, and employee operating instructions.

For information about what Social Security is doing to improve its regulations and how the agency will implement the President’s executive order, go to the Open Government website: www.socialsecurity.gov/open/regsreview/.

Let me make a suggestion. The Social Security Act says that the agency may "prescribe the maximum fees which may be charged for services performed [by an attorney or other person representing a Social Security claimant] in connection with any claim." Social Security wastes a lot of time now on petitions for approval of attorney fees in matters such as overpayments and disability benefits terminations where the fee agreement process cannot be used. The statutory language gives the agency the authority it needs to just set maximum fees for this sort of thing. Just have the attorney notify Social Security of the fee that he or she is charging. No approval required for individual cases. This would save a lot of time.

So, Why Is This A Tough Call?

From a poll by Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos:

Currently, workers pay social security payroll taxes on up to $106,800 of their salary. To ensure the long-term viability of Social Security, would you rather have people pay social security taxes on salaries above $106,800, or would you rather see benefits cut and the retirement age increased to age 69?

Raise
payroll cap/Cut benefits

All 77 10

Dem 84 4
GOP 69 17
Ind 77 11

Tea Party 67 20

18-29 80 0
30-45 69 17
46-65 82 8
65+ 75 13

$0-30K 79 5
$30-50K 75 11
$50-75K 79 7
$75-100K 78 13
$100K+ 72 18

Bad News For Social Security

The Associated Press reports that "A White House official says President Barack Obama will call for a five-year freeze in non-security, discretionary spending during his State of the Union address."

Don't Mug Social Security

From Bob Herbert writing in the New York Times:

When you see surveillance videos of some creep mugging an elderly person in an elevator or apartment lobby, the universal reaction is outrage. But when the fat cats and the ideologues want to hack away at the lifeline of Social Security, they are treated somehow as respectable, even enlightened members of the society.

We need a reality check. Attacking Social Security is both cruel and unnecessary. It needs to stop.

President To Speak In Code?

From Bloomberg:

President Barack Obama may signal in his State of the Union address tonight that he’s ready for compromises on Social Security ... He just won’t say it. ...

“He’s going to speak in code,” said Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington that backs benefit cuts.

“The average person on the street won’t have a clue,” said Nancy Altman, an advocate for keeping Social Security as it is ...

"Shared Sacrifice"

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the President's State of the Union Address tonight will call for "shared sacrifice" on Social Security but will offer no specific plan.

Slow Rollout

I am told that the newsletter for Region III of Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) says that there are 729 attorneys and others in that region who represent Social Security claimants who have requested electronic access to their clients' files but that only 41 have been signed up. Probably there are more within that region who would like this access but who do not even know who or how to ask.

What is going on? We were led to expect a much faster rollout. It seems like are rolling exquisitely slowly at the moment.

State Of The Union Prediction

From the New York Times:

Advisers say that Mr. Obama’s [State of the Union] address will be more thematic than heavy on specific policy initiatives. ...

Mr. Obama is unlikely, they said, to embrace the recommendations of a bipartisan majority on the debt-reduction commission he created, which proposed slashing projected annual deficits through 2020 with deep cuts in domestic and military spending, changes to Social Security and Medicare, and an overhaul of the individual and corporate tax codes to simplify them and to raise additional revenues.