Get Out Of The Bubble, Ina

     Proving that she lives in a bubble, Ina Jaffe reports on NPR, with amazement, that many older people rely almost exclusively on the income from their Social Security benefits, something that's hard to do. If you find this amazing, all I can do is recommend that you look around a bit. These days few people have defined benefit pensions or significant retirement savings.

Social Security Works Getting Weird

Fox News Wants To Correct The Record -- Republicans Did Too Vote For The Ponzi Scheme Known As Social Security

     Could this be a faint ray of light from the right? Fox News has a story about how Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel got it all wrong when he said that the Social Security Act passed in 1935 without any Republican votes. As Fox News correctly points out, there were lots of Republican votes for Social Security in 1935. Is Fox News proud that Republicans voted for creating a dole, welfare, massive dependence, a Ponzi scheme, the descent into socialism and communism and the destruction of traditional American values? Will Fox News tell us in the future that many Republicans voted for Medicare, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Food Stamps?

The Need For Children's SSI Benefits

     Three professors have produced a paper for the Heller School for Social Policy and Management of Brandeis University documenting the hardships faced by families receiving children's Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Even with the children's SSI benefits 45% of the families are unable to meet all their essential expenses, 21% are unable to pay rent, 42% are unable to pay all their utility bills and 24% are unable to receive needed medical care.

Banned By SSA!

     It appears that starting this week Social Security's computer network is blocking access to this blog. I strongly doubt that it's just this blog. Probably, everything on blogger is being blocked.

     Update: I don't know what's going on. I'm getting people reporting accessing Social Security News from Social Security computers but Google Analytics shows access to Social Security News way down this week. More importantly, Google Analytics also shows that access from ssa.gov flatlined on October 26. If you're accessing this blog from ssa.gov, were you able to access it yesterday?

    Further update: I'm seeing some things on the Google Analytics product forum suggesting that this may be a Google Analytics problem rather than something that Social Security has done.

1.5% COLA

     As expected, Social Security's Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) will be 1.5% this year.
     Update: Here are all the numbers released today:

Social Security (OASDI) Program Rates & Limits	2014
Tax Rates (percent)
Social Security (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance)
Employers and Employees, each a	6.20
Medicare (Hospital Insurance)
Employers and Employees, each a,b	1.45
Maximum Taxable Earnings (dollars)
Social Security	117,000
Medicare (Hospital Insurance)	No limit
Earnings Required for Work Credits (dollars)
One Work Credit (One Quarter of Coverage)	1,200
Maximum of Four Credits a Year	4,800
Earnings Test Annual Exempt Amount (dollars)
Under Full Retirement Age for Entire Year	15,480
For Months Before Reaching Full Retirement Age in Given Year	41,400
Beginning with Month Reaching Full Retirement Age	No limit
Maximum Monthly Social Security Benefit for Workers Retiring at Full Retirement Age (dollars)	2,642
Full Retirement Age	66
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (percent)	1.5
a. Self-employed persons pay a total of 15.3 percent—12.4 percent for OASDI and 2.9 percent for Medicare.
b. This rate does not reflect the additional 0.9 percent in Medicare taxes certain high-income taxpayers are required to pay. See IRS information on this topic.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program Rates & Limits	2014
Monthly Federal Payment Standard (dollars)
Individual	721
Couple	1,082
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (percent)	1.5
Resource Limits (dollars)
Individual	2,000
Couple	3,000
Monthly Income Exclusions (dollars)
Earned Income a	65
Unearned Income	20
Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) Level for the Nonblind Disabled (dollars)	1,070
a. The earned income exclusion consists of the first $65 of monthly earnings, plus one-half of remaining earnings.

Charlie Binder Has More To Say In Response To Sixty Minutes

     Charlie Binder has more to say in response to the Sixty Minutes piece although that may not be apparent until the last paragraph.

Astrue Called "Hack" By Candidate For Governor

     From the Boston Globe:

[F]issures between Michael Astrue and Donald Berwick, a Democratic candidate for governor, opened in early 2011 when Berwick, then administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, summoned Astrue, then Social Security Administration commissioner, to his office.

Berwick wanted Social Security to help pay for a piece of the health care insurance marketplace, which was in the planning stages and due to go online almost three years later in October 2013.

Astrue said he felt bullied by Berwick and rebuffed him.

Now they have brought the fallout from their Washington dispute back to Cambridge, where, in new roles, they are locked in an increasingly fierce feud with implications for the 2014 campaign for governor.

Astrue, a Republican biotechnology chief executive and supporter of GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker, said in news media appearances in recent weeks and in an interview with the Globe that Berwick’s weak leadership and “dawdling’’ during his tenure at CMS in 2010 and 2011 were the root cause of the embarrassing failures this month of Obama’s insurance marketplace.

Berwick, asked by the Globe to respond, vigorously denied Astrue’s accusations. The former Social Security commissioner, he said, is a “hack’’ and a “right-wing pundit’’ who is “just not credible.’’

“His comments are basically ridiculous,” said Berwick, who is seeking his party’s nomination for governor while serving as a fellow at the nonprofit health care think tank he founded in Cambridge. “He’s uninformed, and he’s politically motivated. I met with that guy probably twice in my life.” ...