From today’s Boston Globe, a story about the devastating deficits we face, and the new president’s ideas for facing them down:

“Pointing with concern to “red ink as far as the eye can see,” President-elect Barack Obama pledged yesterday to tackle Social Security and Medicare as a central part of his effort to control federal spending and named a special watchdog to eliminate government waste – even as he campaigned anew to spend the largest pile of taxpayer money in history to revive the sinking economy…The eye-popping estimates reflect plummeting tax revenues because of the recession and about $400 billion to bail out the financial industry and take over troubled mortgage lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Congressional Budget Office estimate released yesterday also sees the economy shrinking by 2.2 percent this year and recovering only slightly in 2010, with the unemployment rate eclipsing 9 percent early next year unless the Obama administration steps in”.  See full article here:

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Wikipedia has a great article giving details about the Social Secuirty Adminsitration, very readable.

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Social Security today announced that they are presenting o simplified online application. The AP reports:

“The Social Security Administration, envisaging the near-future prospect of 10,000 baby boomers applying for benefits every day, has put together a new online service that will allow people to get their benefits without ever traveling to a Social Security field office.

The agency, in introducing the program Tuesday, said most people will be able to apply for their retirement or disability benefits in 15 minutes or less…” See full article here:

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All of us are aware of the unprecedented backlogs at the disability hearing offices around the country – Atlanta is the worst with waits just under 1000 days — and that after a claimant goes thru preliminary levels of appeal that can cost a year’s time. A “good” wait is 300 days. The blame game is in advanced rounds – is it increased applications, lack of staffing, lack of funding, bad management, or unproductive judges? The truth is that it is a little of everything, and it’s just something that needs to be fixed. We are all weary of looking at clients asking us: “what do they expect us to do while we wait?” There’s just no answer.

See the database of judges here:

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If you’ve ever wondered whether disability benefits are taxed – or how – here is a great article that explains all the ramifications of these payments. Follow the link at the end to see the full article. It comes from the extensive web site maintained by the National Organization of Social Security representatives:

Income Tax on Social Security Benefits.

The Basic Rule. Up to 50% of Social Security benefits are taxable if total “provisional income” (adjusted gross income, tax-exempt interest and one half of Social Security benefits) exceeds a base amount: $25,000 for single taxpayers and $32,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly. At this level, taxes are payable on the lesser of (1) 50% of Social Security benefits received, or (2) one half of the difference between provisional income and the applicable base amount. Fortunately, this is the end of the income taxation picture for most recipients of disability benefits. Article here:

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