The Bush administration said in a new report Monday that Social Security, the U.S. public pension system, is facing a $13.6 trillion (¤9.6 trillion) shortfall and that delaying needed reforms is not fair to younger workers.
A report issued by the Treasury Department said that some combination of benefit cuts and tax increases will need to be considered to permanently fix the funding shortfall. But White House officials stressed that President George W. Bush remains opposed to raising taxes.
The Social Security Board of Trustees projects that the trust fund will have insufficient funds to pay currently scheduled benefits beginning in 2041.
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Debt collectors went after her, sending her bank a court order to freeze her account. She couldn’t buy groceries and the bank charged her $150 a processing fee to freeze the account.

“When they placed a lien on your account, what did you think?” Pinkston asked.

“Well, first I got very angry, because I didn’t know it was allowed to be done,” she said.

It turns out, in her case, it was not allowed. Social Security, welfare, disability and veteran’s benefits are all exempt from debt collection. See full story here:

The number of workers qualifying for disability has doubled in recent years, despite the fact that Americans today are healthier and living longer than previous generations. In 1985, 3.9 million Americans received a Social Security disability benefit; 20 years later the number exceeded 8 million. The system is now so backlogged that in some parts of the country, like Charlotte, workers can wait two to three years for a disability benefit hearing.

The Charlotte backlog may stem in part from plant and mill closings and severe staffing shortages at the Charlotte disability court, but the primary reason for the caseload increase is the huge number of baby boomers reaching their 50s and 60s. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, least of all the Social Security Administration or Congress.
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From the Providence RI Journal:

Are you self-employed? If so, make sure you accurately report all your earnings on your federal income-tax return, and file those returns on time. Otherwise, you may not qualify for Social Security benefits later on.

That’s because the Social Security Administration looks to your federal income-tax returns to find out how much you’ve earned and whether you’ve paid Social Security tax on those self-employment earnings.
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The Charlotte Observer concludes a long investigative reporting series with an editorial which concludes:
“Here’s what it means when there are unacceptably long waits for benefits: Many North Carolinians who are sick, injured or mentally ill lose their homes, fall into bankruptcy or go without medicine awaiting disability payments. Some die before their cases are heard.

That shouldn’t happen. Social Security should investigate, find out why and fix it. If it doesn’t, the region’s representatives in Congress should ask for an inquiry.”

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