Maybe The Right Wing Should Just Lie Low For A Bit

     From Michael Hiltzik writing for the Los Angeles Times:

The anti-deficit lobbying organization "Fix the Debt" staged a question-and-answer chat on Twitter Thursday. Its goal presumably was to reach America's smartphone-savvy youth with its message that Social Security and Medicare payments to their grandparents are going to land them in the poorhouse a few decades from now. 

It's fair to say that "Fix the Debt" got more than it bargained for. Twitterers from all over responded to the invitation with pointed, tactless and downright impolite questions. Many of them aimed to discern how paring social insurance benefits for the elderly and infirm will make society stronger, which is the core of the organization's worldview. Those so inclined can still post their thoughts at #fixthedebtqa.

Among the choicer comments: "Can you explain why anyone chooses to be born poor? Why should the rest of us be responsible for their flawed decision-making?" (That's from Twitter user @jefftiedrich.)

A couple of good roundups of the dialogue thus far can be found at the Washington Post's knowmore site and at Liberaland.

     The tweets at knowmore site and  Liberaland really are funny.

More Money For Social Security's Administrative Budget? No ACA Role For SSA Is Certain

     Below is language from the bill set to be passed tonight (yes, it's certain to pass) to resolve the government shutdown-debt ceiling crisis:

Of the amounts made available by section 101 for ‘‘Social Security Administration, Limitation on  Expenses’’ for the cost associated with continuing disability reviews under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act and for the cost associated with conducting redeterminations of eligibility under title XVI of the Social Security Act, $273,000,000 is provided to meet the terms of section 251(b)(2)(B)(ii)(III) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended, and $469,639,000 is additional new budget authority specified for purposes of section 251(b)(2)(B) of such Act.

     So what does this mean? I won't pretend to know but I like the sound of "additional new budget authority." However, interpreting this is difficult. Generally, an "authorization" doesn't actually give an agency money. It just allows a later "appropriation" which actually gives the agency the money. Social Security, however, is a special case. Social Security technically never receives an appropriation since the money comes out of the trust funds. Social Security has a "limitation on administrative expenditures" -- the LAE. I don't know what the language means but I just can't see a point in giving Social Security a meaningless "authorization" in this bill.
     By the way, I had speculated earlier that the media reports that this bill would include a new income verification requirement for insurance premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare, if you insist) might mean a role for Social Security in administering the ACA. A stringent income verification requirement might require Social Security's resources but Social Security won't have a role since the income verification requirement in the bill to be passed tonight is essentially meaningless. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) plans to use commercial databases for income verification. That doesn't sound too workable to me. We've seen the problems with Social Security's Death Master File, for instance, which is about as accurate as a big database can be, but which still contains enough errors to cause serious problems for those wrongly declared dead. However, for better or worse, the income verification process under the ACA is DHHS' baby. Social Security isn't involved, at least not so far.

     Update: The bill has now passed the House and will shortly be signed by the President.

Who Is Most To Blame For The Government Shutdown?

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

OGC Employees Recalled To Work

     I'm hearing that most of Social Security's Office of General Counsel (OGC) has been recalled to work. There's every reason to expect that the government shutdown will be completely over by midnight.

One Social Security Employee's Shutdown Story

     CNN reports an a Social Security employee affected by the government shutdown. Dramatic? No, but multiply it by tens of thousands and it's a big deal.

Shutdown Will Soon Be Over

     In case you haven't heard the news, the Republicans lost the government shutdown, big time. I don't want to say the Democrats won but the Democrats won. All federal employees should plan on being back at work Thursday. Republicans should put the idea of using a government shutdown or debt ceiling crisis out of their minds FOREVER.
     Update: For those who don't understand why I'm saying the shutdown will be over after today, read Jonathan Chait. This is a done deal. Everyone but two Senators and 30 or so House Republicans want this over pronto. The few who want this crisis to continue can't prevail or even delay the inevitable much longer.

ICU Stays Associated With Cognitive Impairment

    From the New England Journal of Medicine:

Patients in medical and surgical ICUs are at high risk for long-term cognitive impairment. A longer duration of delirium in the hospital was associated with worse global cognition and executive function scores at 3 and 12 months.

An ALJ With A Plan

     Social Security Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Paul Armstrong has a plan to save Social Security's disability programs that the Washington Examiner has seen fit to publish. Here are the highlights:

• Time limited benefits for some people found disabled.
• Have someone representing the government at Social Security hearings on disability claims.
• More continuing disability reviews.
• " Raise the retirement age used in determining disability payments in tandem with the rest of America."
• Move SSI to the states.

     By the way, ALJ Armstrong has a history of approving Social Security disability claims at a low rate.