The Washington Post Tries New Tactic in Campaign to Cut Social Security

[Hannah Bell]

The Washington Post adopted a new tactic in its ongoing campaign to cut Social Security benefits, highlighting a relatively trivial amount of mispayments or fraud, leading readers to believe that the program has major administrative problems. The Post devoted a major news story to a GAO report that found "1,500 federal workers might have received improper or fraudulent Social Security payments in the past several years."

There are just under 8 million people who receive disability benefits. Summing over 4 years would give approximately 30 million disability years of benefits. The GAO report identifying 1,500 federal workers who received benefits would imply 3,000 per years of improper benefits, assuming an average of 2 years of benefits per worker. This is equal to 0.01 percent of the beneficiaries of the program.

A mistake of this magnitude would warrant little or no attention in a newspaper reporting issues that affected people's lives in any way. However, it is not surprising that it would get substantial attention in a newspaper like the Post, which is on a campaign to cut Social Security and freely uses its news section to advance this agenda.

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-washington-post-tries-new-tactic-in-campaign-to-cut-social-security

[suffragette]

1. This is the same tactic (and just as orchestrated) as the

media blitz to reduce public pensions by using the City of Bell debacle to inflame emotions and pit people against civic employees.

Scratch the surface even slightly and the people behind these are the same ones who have been bashing unions and advocating privatization of everything that can be used to net them profits.

Disgusting.

[glitch]

2. It will be very interesting to follow the careers of the main Bell actors. nt

[suffragette]

3. Good point, glitch

And now the same people who have been trying to privatize the pensions and reduce union strength down in CA are now taking advantage of people's anger about this to propel their agenda under the false banner of "pension reform." Reform hell, they just see a way to grab those funds and weaken the unions - a twofer in their minds.

http://www.californiapensionreform.com/?page_id=20
http://www.californiapensionreform.com/?page_id=4

Add in the blitz against Social Security and the worldwide drive to reduce pensions and weaken unions and it's a glum picture, indeed.

All while the CEO's and so-called economists who created this mess continue to pocket fat salaries, bonuses and golden parachute pensions.

Looks to me like a major deal was struck at the G-8 and G-20 meetings to sacrifice the public to save the big investors, corporations and Wall Street.



Oh and hi to you down there

:hi:

[glitch]

4. Hi up there! Man do I miss it. Although this summer has been very cool.

Everybody's talking about how freaky the weather has been, mid-80s when it's often upper 90s this time of year. Not complaining for a change! (usually this time of year that's all I do down here ;))
How goes it up there? :hi:

I think you're correct about the deals. Paul Craig Roberts said recently (interview with Cenk of TYT) they're definitely going for Social Security, and after that they're going for private pensions.

We need to cut them loose, they've broken the civil contract and no longer serve a useful purpose to our communities, from local to global.

[suffragette]

6. It's been cool up here as well

I like my clouds and drizzle.
Glad you're not overheating down there. I remember how that was - miserable.

Very busy at work and about to head into my busiest time of year - feel a bit underwater , but that's the norm for August.

I'll have to look up that interview - sounds like he's on track.


Some more interesting points about that audit buried in the WAPO article on it (which Hannah Bell and cepr are right to term a tactic in a campaign):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/03/AR2010080306638.html

Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue called the audit "fatally and hopelessly flawed," and said auditors improperly compared payroll data with SSA data.

"It relies on anecdotes and it inflammatorily characterized the situations it found," Astrue said in an interview. The audit provides little proof of whether the payments were improper or fraudulent and are small examples of fraud, he said. The Justice Department has declined to prosecute at least five of the 20 cases the GAO reviewed, because the payments in question fall below the threshold for prosecution, the SSA commissioner said.

The audit, conducted at the request of Sens. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), is set for release Wednesday at a Senate subcommittee hearing on Social Security disability fraud. Astrue is scheduled to testify.

[Enthusiast]

5. Disgusting is right!

Filthy Republicans.