Happy Independence Day!

Does This Seem Right To You?

     From the Modesto Bee:

A 33-year-old Modesto man on Monday was sentenced to eight years and nine months in federal prison for assaulting a security guard at a Social Security Administration office in downtown Fresno.

Matthew Faron Blair on October 14, 2014, went to the Fresno office to try to collect his Supplemental Security Income benefits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento.

Federal prosecutors said Blair became agitated when he was told his social security benefits had stopped but could be renewed by completing additional paperwork.

A security guard was called to escort Blair out of the office. As he was ushered out, Blair assaulted the guard, according to the prosecutors.

The guard suffered injuries on his head and his mouth, which required medical treatment. Authorities have said Blair punched the guard in the mouth and on the top of his head. Blair ran away but was captured in Stockton 12 days later.

     I've got no problem with active jail time for this guy but eight years, nine months? That sounds grossly excessive to me. It wasn't an assault with a deadly weapon. Medical treatment was required but this article doesn't suggest that the injuries were serious. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have gotten anything like this sentence if the case had been handled in a California state court under California state law.

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/news/article158298654.html#storylink=cpy

89 Year Old Man Arrested For Social Security Fraud

     From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

An 89-year-old Philadelphia man who escaped from a Maryland prison 47 years ago and was arrested in Philadelphia in March was charged by federal authorities Tuesday with Social Security fraud.

William Lewis is accused of collecting $457,771.20 in retirement benefits to which he was not entitled from about January 1991 to March 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

According to an indictment returned by a grand jury Tuesday, Lewis was not allowed to receive benefits because he was a fugitive from the law, having escaped from a Maryland prison in 1970. The Social Security Administration has suspended or denied benefits to people wanted for, among other things, escape from custody.

Authorities said he was also receiving Social Security benefits under a false name. In October 1971, Lewis applied for a second Social Security number under the alias of James Wilson, listing a false date of birth and false names of parents, the indictment says. ...

Off Topic: Some Holiday Reading On Trump-Russia

     If you have trouble understanding the whole Trump-Russia connection, I really recommend you read this New Yorker article by Jane Mayer on Robert Mercer. You probably haven't heard his name before but you will. 

     The Russians influenced the presidential election by the aggressive use of social media to spread lies about Hillary Clinton. The big question is how did Russia know what lies to spread and where and how to spread them? That would seem to require detailed knowledge about the U.S. electorate. How would they know what lies to spread and who to spread it to? How would Russia come by that knowledge?

     It's clear from this article that Robert Mercer, a reclusive, sinister, oddball billionaire, paid vast sums of money to Cambridge Analytica to collect incredibly detailed knowledge about the U.S. electorate and how lies could be used to affect the Presidential election. It is exactly the sort of information Russia would have needed. Mercer was well aware of how lies and disinformation could be used to influence public debate since he is the money man behind Breitbart News.
     It should be said that Mercer probably didn't think any of it was lies. He has all sorts of weird beliefs about Hillary Clinton and is eager to use his money to share his weird beliefs with the world.
     By the way, Cambridge Analytica worked on the successful campaign to promote Brexit. Russia also favored Brexit.

     Ms. Mayer is not accusing Mercer of giving Cambridge Analytica data to Russia or knowing it was given. However, it's hard to believe that Russia didn't get the data one way or another. I don't know how Russia's involvement in the election could have been effective otherwise.

     In case you're not familiar with the New Yorker, it has a reputation for the most obsessive fact checking of any publication anywhere.

ALJ Decision Backlog Increasing

     From what amounts to a press release:

After waiting an average of 583 days for their Social Security disability hearings, 1.1 million Americans will likely face another months-long wait before receiving the judge’s decision, according to Allsup. ... A review of Allsup data shows the wait time to learn if former workers will or won’t receive the insurance benefit now averages 78 days.

The wait time for post-hearing decisions to be issued has increased from an average 56 days in the fourth quarter of 2015 to 78 days in the first quarter of 2017, according to Allsup data. Social Security disability claimants are waiting an average 19 months to receive a hearing, and they do not receive their final decision until after the hearing, when the administrative law judge (ALJ) issues the results.

Effects Of Focused Reviews Of ALJs

     In 2012, Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) did a study on 24 of the agency's Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). Twelve had the agency's highest allowance rates for disability claims and twelve had the lowest. OIG has now gone back to look at what happened. Here's the result:

... The majority of the 24 ALJs from our first review were no longer among the ALJs with the highest and lowest allowance rates in FY 2016 because their allowance rates changed or they were no longer judges. Social Security Administration (SSA) data for FY 2016 indicated 

• 6 were still among the ALJs with the highest and lowest allowance rates, 
• 1 had been on administrative leave since 2014 following several reviews by the Agency, 
• 1 had become a senior attorney, 
• 7 were no longer among the ALJs with the highest or lowest allowance rates, and 
• 9 were no longer with the Agency. 

Of these 24 ALJs, the Agency had conducted focused reviews on 10. Further, 7 of the 10 ALJs who had a focused review were no longer among the ALJs with the highest or lowest allowance rates or had since left the Agency....

      The report omits information that would show which group -- high allowers or low allowers -- was most affected by the focused reviews. In fact, were any low allowing ALJs selected for focused review? I'm under the impression that the agency does not regard low allowing ALJs as a problem.
     Whether intended or not, the report notes that the allowance rate for all ALJs declined from 67% in 2012 to 55% in 2016.

In Today's Eric Conn News

     A documentary filmmaker will soon start work on the life of Eric Conn.

Headcount Continues To Decline

      The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has posted updated figures for the number of employees at the Social Security Administration -- and the downward trend continues:

• March 2017 62,183
• December 2016 63,364
• September 2016 64,394 
• December 2015 65,518
• September 2015 65,717
• June 2015 65,666
• March 2015 64,432
• December 2014 65,430
• September 2014 64,684
• June 2014 62,651
• March 2014 60,820
• December 2013 61,957
• September 2013 62,543
• December 2012 64,538
• September 2012 65,113
• September 2011 67,136
• December 2010 70,270
• December 2009 67,486
• September 2009 67,632
• December 2008 63,733
• September 2008 63,990