http://socsecnews.blogspot.com/2013/04/open-letter-from-eight-former-social.html

April 4, 2013

An Open Letter from Former Commissioners of the Social Security Administration


As former Commissioners of the Social Security Administration (SSA), we write to express our significant concerns regarding a series recently aired on This American Life, All Things Considered, and National Public Radio stations across the U.S. ("Unfit for Work: The Startling Rise of Disability in America&quot . Our nation’s Social Security system serves as a vital lifeline for millions of individuals with severe disabilities. We feel compelled to share our unique insight into the Social Security system because we know firsthand the dangers of mischaracterizing the disability programs via sensational,anecdote-based media accounts, leaving vulnerable beneficiaries to pick up the pieces.

Approximately 1 in 5 of our fellow Americans live with disabilities, but only those with the most significant disabilities qualify for disability benefits under Title II and Title XVI of the Social Security Act. Title II Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (DI) benefits and Title XVI Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits provide critical support to millions of Americans with the most severe disabilities, as well as their dependents and survivors. Disabled beneficiaries often report multiple impairments, and many have such poor health that they are terminally ill: about 1 in 5 male DI beneficiaries and 1 in 7 female DI beneficiaries die within 5 years of receiving benefits. Despite their impairments, many beneficiaries at tempt work using the work incentives under the Social Security Act, and some do work part-time. For example, research by Mathematica and SSA finds that about 17 percent of beneficiaries worked in 2007. However,their earnings are generally very low (two-thirds of those who worked in 2007 earned less than $5,000 for the whole year), and only a small share are able to earn enough to be self-sufficient and leave the DI and SSI programs each year. Without Social Security or SSI, the alternatives for many beneficiaries are simply unthinkable.

The statutory standard for approval is very strict, and was made even more so in 1996. To implement this strict standard, Social Security Administration (SSA) regulations, policies, and procedures require extensive documentation and medical evidence at all levels of the application process. Less than one-third of initial DI and SSI applications are approved, and only about 40 percent of adult DI and SSI applicants receive benefits even after all levels of appeal. As with adults, most children who apply are denied SSI, and only the most severely impaired qualify for benefits.

Managing the eligibility process for the disability system is a challenging task, and errors will always occur in any system of this size.But the SSA makes every effort to pay benefits to the right person in the right amount at the right time. When an individual applies for one of SSA’s disability programs, the agency has extensive systems in place to ensure accurate decisions, and the agency is home to many dedicated public servants who take their ongoing responsibility of the proper stewardship of the programs very seriously. Program integrity is critically important and adequate funds must be available to make continued progress in quality assurance and monitoring. In the face of annual appropriations that were far below what the President requested in Fiscal Year 2011 and Fiscal Year 2012, the agency has still continued to implement many new system improvements that protect taxpayers and live up to Americans’ commitment to protect the most vulnerable in our society.

It is true that DI has grown significantly in the past 30 years.The growth that we’ve seen was predicted by actuaries as early as 1994 and is mostly the result of two factors:baby boomers entering their high -disability years, and women entering the workforce in large numbers in the 1970s and 1980s so that more are now "insured" for DI based on their own prior contributions. The increase in the number of children receiving SSI benefits in the past decade is similarly explained by larger economic factors, namely the increase in the number of poor and low-income children. More than 1 in 5 U.S. children live in poverty today and some 44 percent live in low-income households. Since SSI is a means-tested program, more poor and low-income children mean more children with disabilities are financially eligible for benefits. Importantly, the share of low-income children who receive SSI benefits has remained constant at less than four percent.

Yet, the series aired on NPR sensationalizes this growth, as well as the DI trust fund’s projected shortfall. History tells a less dramatic story. Since Social Security was enacted, Congress has "reallocated" payroll tax revenues across the OASI and DI trust funds–about equally in both directions – some 11 times to account for demographic shifts. In 1994, the last time such reallocation occurred, SSA actuaries projected that similar action would next be required in 2016. They were right on target. We are deeply concerned that the series “Unfit for Work” failed to tell the whole story and perpetuated dangerous myths about the Social Security disability programs and the people helped by this vital system. We fear that listeners may come away with an incorrect impression of the program — as opposed to an understanding of the program actually based on facts.

As former Commissioners of the agency, we could not sit on the sidelines and witness this one perspective on the disability programs threaten to pull the rug out from under millions of people with severe disabilities. Drastic changes to these programs would lead to drastic consequences for some of America's most vulnerable people. With the lives of so many vulnerable people at stake, it is vital that future reporting on the DI and SSI programs look at all parts of this important issue and take a balanced, careful look at how to preserve and strengthen these vital parts of our nation’s Social Security system.

Sincerely,

Kenneth S. Apfel
Michael J. Astrue
Jo Anne B. Barnhart
Shirley S. Chater
Herbert R. Doggette
Louis D. Enoff
Larry G. Massanari
Lawrence H. Thompson

http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2013/04/watchdog-groups-blast-white-house-backed-nuclear-cleanup-study/62323/?oref=ng-dropdown

Watchdog Groups Blast White House-Backed Nuclear Cleanup Study

By Douglas P. Guarino Global Security Newswire April 5, 2013

Following scathing criticism from watchdog organizations, officials preparing a controversial report on nuclear incident cleanup reportedly backed by the White House have opted to extend public comment on the document by nearly two weeks.

Commissioned by the Homeland Security Department, the draft report suggests remediation guidelines in which up to roughly one in 20 people would be expected to develop cancer from long-term radiation exposure. The deadline for the public to comment on the draft report was to expire April 4, but its authors have opted to push the date back to April 15.

Under guidelines established by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program in the 1980s, cleanup of toxic sites in the United States are usually designed so that, in a worst-case scenario, no more than one in 10,000 people would be expected to develop cancer due to extended exposure to contaminants. The new report, organized by the private National Council of Radiation Protection and primarily drafted by federal officials, suggests such standards are not practical following a massive disaster such as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown in Japan, along with considerably smaller dirty bomb attacks.

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“The panel’s process has operated under the general public’s radar screen,” according to Lampert’s comments. “Had it not been for reporting by Global Security Newswire, (Pilgrim Watch) would not have been aware of the draft and the date set to submit comment.”

At least 17 other public interest groups have also expressed concern about the 587-page draft report during the last week, and had requested that the comment deadline be extended 60 days.

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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/04/05-6

Environmentalist Back in Jail Days After Writing About His Secretive Prison Unit for HuffPost
- by Will Potter

I was supposed to meet Daniel McGowan for coffee today, and got an email from him last night that his work pass was denied. The revocation of his pass was a surprise, because McGowan has done everything possible to adjust himself to life post-prison, including securing a job at a law firm, and reporting to work and to his halfway house every day on time. However, he expected to be able to go back to work on Friday. Instead, he was taken into custody.

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There has been no official word from the Bureau of Prisons about his re-incarceration, and attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights are working on this now. But the drastic move comes just days after McGowan wrote about his experiences in a secretive prison unit for domestic terrorists called a Communications Management Unit (CMU), and it fits an on-going pattern of behavior by the Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons attempting to keep this prisons out of the public spotlight.

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The terrorism enhancement reclassified McGowan within the Bureau of Prisons, and he was later moved to a CMU. As I have reported extensively, these prison units radically restrict prison communications to the outside world, to levels that meet or exceed some of the most restrictive prison units in the country. In the government’s proposal to make these prison units permanent, they were described as facilities for prisoners with “inspirational significance.” (For additional information about the CMUs, here is an interview I did with Democracy Now.)

McGowan was released to a halfway house in Brooklyn to serve the last few months of his sentence. After receiving new court documents related to his incarceration, he wrote an article for the Huffington Post this week: “Court Documents Prove I was Sent to Communication Management Units (CMU) for my Political Speech.”

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As I reported in my book, journalists are not allowed in the CMUs. I was permitted to visit McGowan in the CMU only as a friend, and McGowan was told that if I asked any questions or reported about the visit he would be punished. The government threatened to retaliate against a prisoner for the First Amendment activity of a reporter.

A Freedom of Information Act request revealed that the Counter-Terrorism Unit has kept files on journalists’ lectures, articles, and media interviews about the CMUs.

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Will Potter is an award-winning independent journalist based in Washington, D.C. He is the author of Green Is the New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege.

http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2013/03/apartheid-divestment-spurs-new-campaign

Apartheid divestment spurs Beyond Coal campaign
By Sarah Niss | The Daily Tar Heel
Updated: 03/21/13 10:45pm

Students calling for UNC to divest from coal are looking to the 1980s for inspiration in their ongoing campaign asking administrators to take a moral stance on climate change.

In 1987, student-led protests culminated in UNC divesting funds from companies doing business in South Africa in response to apartheid.

And now, Stewart Boss, events coordinator of the Sierra Student Coalition’s Beyond Coal campaign and a Daily Tar Heel columnist, said the campaign is urging the University to divest from coal to set an example.

Jim Leloudis, a history professor and associate dean of UNC’s honors department, said divestment campaigns in general call into question the ethical responsibility universities have in controversial areas.

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Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld, co-president of the Campus Y during the time of the campaign and now a professor of anthropology at UNC, said the shantytown was essential in inspiring campus awareness of an international issue.

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http://www.seattlepi.com/business/boeing/article/UW-researchers-want-to-power-Mars-mission-with-4410875.php

UW researchers want to power Mars mission with fusion
By AUBREY COHEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Published 10:22 pm, Thursday, April 4, 2013

Researchers at the University of Washington and a Redmond company are working on a fusion-powered rocket that could one day carry people to Mars, the university announced Thursday.

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The researchers have devised a system in which a powerful magnetic field causes large metal rings to implode around specially developed plasma, compressing it to a fusion state, according to UW. The rings would then merge to form a shell that ignites the fusion for a few microseconds, heating and ionizing the shell. This super-heated, ionized metal would be ejected out of the rocket nozzle at a high velocity, propelling the spacecraft. This process would be repeated every minute or so.

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The researchers have demonstrated successful lab tests of all portions of the process, according to the UW. Now, the key will be combining each isolated test into a final experiment that produces fusion using this technology, Slough said. He hopes to be ready for a first test at the end of the summer.

NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Program is funding the project. At a NASA symposium last month, Slough and his team presented their mission analysis for a trip to Mars, along with detailed computer modeling and initial experimental results.

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A concept image of a spacecraft powered by a fusion-driven rocket. In this image, the crew would be in the forward-most chamber. Solar panels on the sides would collect energy to initiate the process that creates fusion.
Photo: University Of Washington, MSNW

"No sound strategic energy planning would prioritize nuclear energy in a country like Iran."

"Instead of enhancing Iran's energy security, the nuclear program has diminished the country's ability to diversify and achieve real energy independence."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/03/us-iran-nuclear-report-idUSBRE93200620130403

Iran's nuclear program entails huge costs, few benefits: report
By Yeganeh Torbati
DUBAI | Tue Apr 2, 2013 8:11pm EDT

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The report, entitled "Iran's Nuclear Odyssey: Costs and Risks", seeks to tabulate the opportunity costs of the nuclear program, and puts these at "well over $100 billion" in terms of lost foreign investment and oil revenues.

Relatively small uranium deposits will keep Iran from being fully self-sufficient in nuclear energy, it said, while Tehran has neglected to maintain existing infrastructure and develop other resources that could better secure its energy needs.

For instance, Iran's 1,000-megawatt Bushehr nuclear reactor, which came onstream in 2011 after repeated delays, accounts for just 2 percent of its electricity production, while about 15 percent of "generated electricity is lost through old and ill-maintained transmission lines", the report said.

Iran has vast oil and gas reserves, but sanctions have forced major Western firms to abandon the petroleum sector, making crucial upkeep difficult. Iran's solar and wind energy sectors have also gone undeveloped, the report said.

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