What's In A Name?

     Social Security is using Voicemeeter Potato to record Administrative Law Judge hearings.

Quite A Life 1926 - 2022

 

SSI Regulatory Proposal Hung Up At OMB

     Before publishing proposed new regulations in the Federal Register for public comments, agencies must obtain the approval of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). On February 8, some seven months ago, Social Security asked OIRA for approval of proposed regulations that would omit food from consideration as in-kind support and maintenance in computing Supplemental Security Income benefits. This is a not insignificant proposal. The proposal is still pending. That's a long time for a proposed regulation coming from Social Security to stay pending at OIRA. 

    I have no idea what is causing the delay. I don't think this would be a complicated proposal. Anything that would help SSI claimants would be a big deal, though. For decades, Congress has failed to update SSI income and resource limitations.

Democrats Pound Ron Johnson On Social Security

     I hate to keep harping on it but it's becoming obvious that Senator Ron Johnson's (R-WI) expressed desire to sunset Social Security is becoming a major focus of Democratic efforts to retain control of the Senate after this November's election. See these pieces from Huffpost and Bloomberg.

Kafkaesque Indeed

 

Kafka

    Mark Betancourt has written a piece for Mother Jones magazine titled Inside The Kafkaesque Process For Determining Who Gets Federal Disability Benefits.

     The use of the term “Kafkaesque” may be more apt that Mr. Betancourt realizes. Frans Kafka’s day job was in the related field of what would today be called workers compensation claims.

Happy Labor Day

 

Nevertheless The Lines Are Still There

      From a House Ways and Means Committee press release:

In response to a request from Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX), the Social Security Administration (SSA) has outlined the urgent action field offices have taken to protect visitors from the summer heat. …

In its response, SSA reports that it has already taken a number of steps to address Congress’s concerns about maintaining the health and safety of visitors waiting in lines outside Social Security offices, including:

• Increasing in-person staff and service options to reduce waiting times at the busiest offices;
• Assigning some workloads to other offices, to free up the busiest offices for in-person service;
• Reconfiguring waiting areas to allow more people to enter climate-conditioned waiting areas; and
• Providing outdoor canopies, fans, and access to bathrooms and water fountains for those waiting outside of offices in the heat. 

An Answer To A Burning Question: What Was Superman's Social Security Number?

     From Electricsistahood:

...  I got to wondering to myself, does Superman have a Social Security number? Moreover, does his alter-ego Clark Kent have a Social Security number. And does this require Kal-El to have two Social Security numbers? Beyond that, the questions become endless.

So I started doing some research into the subject. Answering the question, does Clark Kent have a Social Security number, is easy. That was answered way back in 1966 in Action Comics -- his Social Security number is 092-09-6616. Turns out that it was the same number used by a man named Giobatta Baiocchi, who died the year before. ...

    Which means, Superman got his Social Security Number in the  state of N.Y.