Updated Fee Payment Numbers

      Social Security has issued updated numbers on payments of fees to attorneys and some others for representing Social Security claimants. These fees are withheld and paid by Social Security but come out of the back benefits of the claimants involved. The attorneys and others who have their fees withheld pay a user fee for this privilege. Since these fees are usually paid at the same time that the claimant is paid, these numbers show how quickly or slowly Social Security is able to get claimants paid after a favorable determination on their claims.

Month/Year	Volume	Amount
Jan-13	32,663	$96,690,734.65
Feb-13	35,508	$102,242,540.93

Resistance To Chained CPI

     There is discomfort on the left with the President's apparent willingness to cut Social Security by adopting the chained CPI method of computing the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). R.J. Eskow says that the President may lose support on the left if he goes ahead with this, Alan Grayson is threatening civil disobedience and Megan McArdle is saying that benefits should be raised, not cut. The opinions of Eskow, Grayson or McArdle are themselves of little consequence but I don't think that adoption of the chained CPI would be a done deal if the President and Republican leaders agreed upon it. Cutting Social Security would be a tough vote for many Senators and Representatives, both Democrats and Republicans. Make no mistake, the chained CPI is a cut in benefits. Anyone who votes for the chained CPI will face campaign ads on the subject.

The Five Biggest Lies About Social Security And Medicare

     Michael Hiltzik at the LA Times lays out the five biggest lies about Social Security and Medicare.

Response To Ehrlich Attack Piece

     Ethel Zelenske of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) responds to the awful Robert Ehrlich op ed piece in the Baltimore Sun.

     What I don't understand is the Baltimore Sun's recent interest in Social Security affairs. For many years, the Sun studiously ignored one of the largest employers in its area. Now, we're seeing Social Security articles in the Sun on a regular basis. Maybe part of this is that the op eds have ended up in the Sun only after the NY Times and Washington Post turned them away.

HR Passes CR

     The House of Representatives (HR) has passed its version of a Continuing Resolution (CR) that would keep the government functioning for the rest of the fiscal year, albeit with the across the board sequestration cuts in place. The bill clearly exempts from the sequestration money appropriated for Social Security for continuing disability reviews and SSI redeterminations. (page 268). It also includes this language (page 231):

Of the amount made available by section 1101 for ‘‘Social Security Administration, Limitation on Administrative Expenses’’, $483,484,000 is additional new budget authority specified for purposes of subsection 251(b)(2)(B) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

      I don't know what this means. Probably, it's nothing of consequence but if it adds almost half a billion to Social Security's baseline, it would mostly undo the effects of sequestration for the Social Security Administration. There is an urgent need for plain language in appropriations legislation.

Social Security Benefits Safe Because Of "Suicidal Spite"

     From Jonathan Chait:

As sequestration begins, Republicans have been overtaken with something close to giddiness, and Democrats seized with gloom. It appeared as recently as a few months ago that the threat of across-the-board cuts, disproportionately hurting defense, would force Republicans to negotiate a long-term debt reduction agreement. But Republicans are happily announcing their willingness — and, in many cases, outright eagerness — to absorb a hit to spending of any kind whatsoever, and their total resistance to higher revenue in any form....

It is true that, if you define the struggle in purely zero-sum terms, Republicans can “win.” What they can win is the ability to keep in place, more or less permanently, spending reductions that both exempt the programs they most badly want to cut and that are designed stupidly so as to create maximum harm for minimum budgetary saving. Yes, Obama would probably find this more bothersome than would Republicans.

Of course, this “victory” would mean giving up a chance to cut spending on Medicare and Social Security. Since these programs will consume a growing share of the federal budget, the Republican strategy would mean leaving in place higher spending. And since they’re so popular — even Republican voters don’t want to cut them — Republicans are determined to refuse a golden opportunity to secure bipartisan cover for something they’ll never have the political standing to carry out on their own. In policy terms, “winning” means suicidal spite.

Bomb Scare In Georgia

     From the Athens, GA Banner-Herald:

Emergency personnel responded to the Social Security Administration building on Prince Avenue in Athens Wednesday after an unidentified pint-sized bottle of liquid was discovered by an employee about 11 a.m.

All employees were immediately evacuated, and within a couple of hours, the bottle had been removed from the building by a University of Georgia bomb disposal unit robot and packaged up to be sent for further analysis

Hearings Postponed

     Because of predicted snowfall, the House Appropriations hearing for Social Security's administrative budget that had been scheduled today has been postponed. There has been no announcement on tomorrow's House Social Security Subcommittee hearing.

     Update: The House Social Security Subcommittee hearing has been postponed to March 14. No new date yet for the House Appropriations Committee hearing.

     Further Update: The predicted snowfall in Washington is less than one inch. However, the wind is blowing 25-35 miles per hour. Social Security offices in the D.C. area are open today.