Dec 22, 2016
Dec 21, 2016
Proposed Final Regs Fail To Clear OMB In Time To Come Into Effect Before Change Of Administration
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has not yet acted on two packets of proposed final regulations submitted by the Social Security Administration. One packet was on Revisions to Rules of Conduct and Standards of Responsibility for Appointed Representatives
and the other on Revisions to Rules Regarding the Evaluation of Medical Evidence. Since the Administrative Procedure Act requires a 30 day waiting period before new regulations take effect it's now too late for these proposed regulations to become final before President Obama leaves office. This doesn't mean that these proposed final regulations are dead. The incoming administration will almost certainly put any proposed final regulations pending at OMB or which have been approved but not come into effect through a new review before they can become final. The review of these regulations may not even start until there's a new Commissioner of Social Security. The regulations could be modified or withdrawn as a result of the review.
Student Loan Offset Problems
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a 90 page report on the offsets applied to Social Security benefits due to unpaid student loans. Even though the GAO seems to me to try to downplay the problem, it's still clear that it's real and serious. Many people are being thrown into poverty by the offsets as shown by the chart below, even though many of the student loans went to pay for nearly worthless online education.
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| Click on chart to view full size |
Dec 20, 2016
Dec 19, 2016
Dec 17, 2016
Dec 16, 2016
Gun Control Regs Now Official
Social Security is publishing the new regulations that will permit the agency to report claimants with representative payees to the database used to screen gun
purchasers. Those with representative payees won’t be allowed to buy guns. This will come
into effect before inauguration day. However, Trump can refuse to implement the new regulations. I wonder, though, whether the initial data transfer can be accomplished before inauguration day. Can it be easily removed from the gun control database once it gets in there?
By the way, whenever I post about this subject, there are always comments about Social Security appointing representative payees for people who have little or no problem handing money. Balderdash. I think most, if not all, of these comments are coming from paid shills. Don't be naive. There is a lot of right wing money being used to try to affect the political discourse in subtle ways. Don't get misled.
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