Maybe Republicans Don't Really Want Sequestration

     From The Hill:

House Republican defense hawks are pushing back strongly against Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) claim that he has GOP support to allow steep automatic budget cuts to take effect if President Obama does not agree to replace them with other reductions. ...

“I don’t support that,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), a member of the Armed Services Committee whose district includes one of the nation’s largest military installations. “You get into dangerous territory when you talk about using national security as a bargaining chip with the president.” ...

The Speaker suggested the sequester was a stronger leverage point for Republicans than the upcoming deadline to raise the debt ceiling ...

“In order to get the Republican Conference to pass the debt-limit increase last time, he promised them sequestration would not go in place,” the Republican House member said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “To be using sequestration and these defense cuts in the next debt-limit talks certainly is pretty bad déjà vu for the Republican Conference.”

"He's Been Campaigning For The Job Forever"

     From the Boston Globe:

Tufts Health Plan chief executive James Roosevelt Jr. is a candidate to run the Social Security Administration, the program his grandfather signed into law in 1935, according to people briefed on the matter....

He helped lead a review of the Social Security Administration as part of President Obama’s transition team, and previously served as associate commissioner for retirement policy for the agency under President Clinton. ...

A number of lawmakers are backing Roosevelt. US Representative Michael Capuano, Democrat of Somerville, said in a statement, “Jim’s health care expertise as well as his Massachusetts roots and previous work with Social Security make him an excellent choice to oversee this vital program.” ...

Said [Michael] Tanner [of the Cato Institute], “He’s been campaigning for the job forever.”

     Let me guess. We see a newspaper article tomorrow promoting Earl Pomeroy.

SSA Employee Arrested For Accessing Child Porn At Work

     From the Seattle Times:

A 49-year-old employee of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been arrested and charged with accessing child pornography at work, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Thomas Joseph Barrett, of Lynnwood, was arrested at the SSA’s Official of Disability Adjudication, where he worked as a senior case technician. He is expected to appear before a U.S. Magistrate in Seattle this afternoon.

The complaint alleges that Barrett had viewed child pornography on his work computer in November 2012, and had looked up news stories about the penalties for possessing or distributing child porn. The crime carries a penalty of up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Social Security May Owe Millions To Employees

     From the Federal Times:

The Social Security Administration may be forced to fund millions of dollars in additional back pay to black male employees who say the agency breached the terms of a 2002 class action discrimination settlement, according to the Federal Times.

In a ruling issued on Dec. 18, Carlton Hadden, the director of the Office of Federal Operations at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, ordered an administrative judge to oversee distribution of back pay to black males working at SSA’s office in Baltimore from April 1, 2003, through Sept. 30, 2005. Hadden said that the agency must “correct any misapplications of its policies for granting performance awards,” and instructed the agency to provide written notification to a compliance officer. ...

In a statement, Michael Kator, the employees’ lawyer, said that the ruling would mean that SSA would be forced to pay a steeper penalty than if they had followed the terms of the original settlement. As many as 2,200 current and former employees would likely be affected, according to the settlement documents.  

“While it may ultimately be for the experts to decide, SSA’s liability could well exceed by 10 times the amount of the original settlement,” Kator wrote.

Kia Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Social Security Administration, told the Federal Times that the agency “disagreed with the ruling” and would “defend its position” to the administrative judge, who will determine the final sum the agency owes the employees.

Other Names Mentioned For Commissioner Position

     From Government Executive:

The head of the Social Security Administration could be out in less than two weeks, and it’s not clear yet who will replace him. ...

It’s possible an announcement could come as early as this week, according to a Capitol Hill source ... SSA’s Deputy Commissioner Carolyn Colvin could be named acting head of the agency before Obama makes a permanent nomination; her term of deputy also expires on Jan. 19.

“Commissioner Astrue remains on the job and has not submitted his resignation to President Obama,” said Mark Hinkle, a spokesman for SSA. ...

Other names circulating as possible replacements to Astrue include Nancy Altman, James Roosevelt Jr., and former Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D. Altman is chairman of the nonprofit Pension Rights Center’s board of directors and has spent most of her career studying, teaching and writing about Social Security and pension issues; James Roosevelt Jr. -- the grandson of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the late president who helped create Social Security in the 1930s -- is president and chief executive officer of Tufts Health Plan. Roosevelt also served on Obama’s 2008 transition team as a Social Security adviser and is a former associate commissioner at the agency. Pomeroy was chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security when he served in the House.

Altman Called For Paid Parental Leave As Part Of Social Security

     From a piece that Nancy Altman (who is being considered for nomination to become the next Commissioner of Social Security) wrote in early 2011, suggesting what President Obama might say in his State of the Union address:

Social Security is the most efficient, universal, and secure part of the retirement income system. It is often the only disability insurance and life insurance protection that workers and their families have. It returns in benefits more than 99 cents of every dollar collected -- administrative costs much lower than those found in the private sector. At a time when employer-provided traditional pensions are disappearing, Social Security should be increased, not decreased. Its modest shortfall -- just 0.6 percent of GDP -- is highly affordable. The program's increased cost is an appropriate and modest response to an aging population.

If President Obama and his fellow Democrats take this route, they can use the support of the American people to lead a powerful long-term movement not just to eliminate Social Security's projected shortfall through increased revenue, but to push for higher benefits, particularly for those most disadvantaged, and for new benefits, such as paid parental leave, as the Social Security programs of many other nations provide.

Damage At Georgia Social Security Office

     From the Rome, Georgia News-Tribune:

Eight different air conditioning units were damaged at the Rome Social Security Administration building, according to Rome police reports. ...

Copper tubing going to seven four-ton American Standard brand units were punctured for a total of approximately $5,500 worth of damage while a three-ton Mitsubishi unit was also damaged for approximately $750 worth of damage.

Altman Being Touted For Commissioner Position

     The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Nancy Altman, who is co-director of Social Security Works and co-chairwoman of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, "has emerged as a potential contender" to succeed Michael Astrue as Commissioner of Social Security. The article mentions no other contender. Altman is not deflecting attention, saying that "It would be a real privilege and an honor to serve the American people."

     Interestingly, the article says that Altman has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO and the Association of Administrative Law Judges (which is itself a labor union). Michael Astrue has not been a fan of the AFL-CIO local that represents most Social Security employees or of the Administrative Law Judges. No other groups are mentioned in the article as supporting Altman or opposing her, for that matter.

     Here's a quote from a piece that Altman wrote for Huffington Post about three weeks ago:

Fact is, the chained-CPI cut [some politicians] want to push past the American public is a benefit cut, and a pretty big one at that, about $112 billion right out of the pockets of Social Security beneficiaries over the next ten years. It's hardest on persons most dependent on Social Security's modest benefits, averaging just $13,600 . It would lower the COLA gradually but inexorably, year after year -- a cumulative loss over 30 years of $28,000 for a 65 year old retiree who lives to 95 and receives an average Social Security benefit, or a 30 year old disabled war veteran who reaches age 60.

     Less than a week ago, Altman wrote on Huffington Post that she was afraid that the recent fiscal cliff "set the agenda for negotiations that will threaten the future of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid."

     If there is a problem with Altman, it is that she is heavily identified with protecting Social Security as a concept. However, the Commissioner of Social Security has little or nothing to do with protecting Social Security as a concept. In fact, if she is nominated, in order to get confirmed, she may have to promise to stay away from that debate. Michael Astrue had to make such promises, although he was a Republican nominee facing a Senate controlled by Democrats.

     In reality, far from being Horatius preventing Social Security from being overrun by the barbarians, Altman as Commissioner of Social Security would have the gritty job of running an agency with over 50,000 employees and seriously inadequate budget resources. The policy decisions made by a Social Security Commissioner touch almost exclusively on the agency's disability programs. Probably, the biggest policy decisions the new Commissioner will be making have to do with replacing the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and adopting new psychiatric Listings of Impairments. Knowing that Altman is a big supporter of the concept of Social Security tells you nothing about what she might do on those issues. Legislatively, the next Commissioner of Social Security has the unenviable task of persuading reluctant Congressional Republicans to agree to interfund borrowing to assure that Social Security's Disability Trust Fund doesn't run out of money.