Fee Payment Numbers

Here are updated numbers on payments of fees for representation of Social Security claimants:

Fee Payments
Month/Year	Volume	Amount
Jan-10	32,227	$111,440,046.23
Feb-10	29,914	$105,708,101.59
Mar-10	34,983	$122,874,426.87
Apr-10	44,740	$153,478,589.32
May-10	34,686	$119,527,194.40
June-10	32,432	$111,887,579.72
July-10	32,232	$132,328,622.27
Aug-10	34,755	$119,424,346.42
Sept-10	32,660	$108,650,373.60
Oct-10	38,705	$128,133,064.77
Nov-10	31,788	$106,559,848.38
Dec-10	33,315	$108,879,872.67

Jan-11
Volume
34,467

Amount
$113,459,847.04

Fantasy Time For House Republicans

The House Republican leadership has released information about what it wants in the budget for fiscal year (FY) 2011. FY 2011 began on October 1, 2010. We are now four and a half months into FY 2011 and operating on a Continuing Resolution (CR), allowing the agency to continue spending at the same rate as in FY 2010. The Republicans want to reduce the budget for FY 2011 to $997.6 million below the President's proposed budget for the year and $625 million below the FY 2010 rate. If this became law all of that $625 million reduction would come out of the remainder of FY 2011. I cannot say exactly what the result would be but I think it is a safe bet that there would be a significant reduction in force at Social Security.

The only hope that Republicans have of getting anything like this, indeed of getting any reduction below the FY 2010 budget, is to shut down the government. Otherwise, Democrats have no reason to do anything other than to counter by offering a CR for the remainder of FY 2011. This all comes to a head in less than three weeks.

Tune in Monday for a history lesson on what happened at Social Security the last time there was a government shutdown.

Teach Your Children Well

From "Remapping Debate:"

No one has done more than the billionaire private-equity investor Peter G. Peterson to stir America’s anxiety over deficits, debt, and what Peterson (among others) considers out-of-control entitlement-program spending. Those same concerns now lie at the heart of a “fiscal responsibility” curriculum being developed for America’s high schools. The curriculum bears the stamp of Columbia University’s prestigious Teachers College, but reflects the focus suggested by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which provided $2.4 million in funding for the project. ...

[T]he trial lessons repeatedly point toward two core ideas of Peterson’s long crusade: first, that America’s future is threatened by deficit spending, and, second, that Social Security and Medicare have helped put our economy on an “unsustainable course.” ...

Robert Prasch, an economics professor at Middlebury College, voiced similar complaints about the way the curriculum deals with Social Security. “No effort is made to explore whether, and to what extent, there may or may not be a fiscal crisis facing Social Security,” Prasch said. “It is presumed or taken as an unimpeachable fact.”

The cartoon is from the materials funded by Peterson.

Ways And Means Committee Hearing

The House Ways and Means Committee has posted the written statements of the witnesses at today's hearing on Social Security's new National Computer Center project. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is mildly critical of the length of time this has taken.

Government Shutdown Looming?

From Bill Matthews writing at Fedblog:

With the March 4 expiration date looming for the continuing resolution that's funding the federal government, budget expert Stan Collender offers this advice: Prepare for a government shutdown.

It is more likely than not that Congress will fail to agree on a new budget for 2011 in time to prevent the federal government from running out of money and simply closing its doors, Collender said Feb. 10.

"My strong suspicion is that the Republicans need to shut down the government once to show the Tea Party folks that they are willing to do it," he said during a discussion of the 2012 budget that's scheduled to unveiled Feb. 14. "I think there's a better than 50-50 chance that we will have one or more shutdowns, and at least one will be longer than a couple of days." ...

Layoffs are likely to happen earlier if there is a shutdown this year, he said. "I can tell you because I've talked to members of the contracting community and to [business] associations, and they've already started to prepare for this possibility."

Indictment In Alabama

From some the Huntsville, AL Times:

A federal grand jury has charged an Albertville woman with sending two fake anthrax letters to the local Social Security Administration.

Charged was Michelle Holladay Ryder, 43, according to U.S. Attorney Joyce White in Birmingham. Ryder faces two counts of mailing a letter containing a powdery substance and a note to someone at the Albertville Social Security Administration. The powder did not test positive for any biological hazards.

The maximum sentence for each count of sending hoax anthrax letters is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Aaron Nominated To Chair SSAB

President Obama has nominated Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution to become chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB).

Update: By the way, Aaron is on the board of Abt, a major contractor with the Social Security Administration. I suppose he has to resign that position.

DCNs Decrease

Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently did a study of "double check negotiation" (DCN), cases in which a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipient tells Social Security that their monthly benefits check did not arrive causing Social Security to issue a replacement check and the person cashes both checks. Social Security has been trying hard to reduce the number of these cases. According to OIG:

Recent actions taken by SSA [Social Security Administration] have been effective in preventing SSI DCNs. The total number of DCNs has declined steadily since 2002. System controls implemented in June 2007 have been effective in preventing instances where individuals commit multiple DCNs. In addition, based on our sample results, SSA has been effective in recovering overpayments from recipients who commit DCNs.