This publication informs advocates & others in interested agencies & organizations about supplemental security income (SSI) eligibility requirements & processes. It will assist you in helping people apply for, establish eligibility for, & continue to receive SSI benefits for as long as they remain eligible. This publication can also be used as a training manual & as a reference tool. Discusses those who are blind or disabled, living arrangements, overpayments, the appeals process, application process, eligibility requirements, SSI resources, documents you will need when you apply, work incentives, & much more.
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
This volume represents the most important work to date on one of the pressing policy issues of the moment: the privatization of social security. Although social security is facing enormous fiscal pressure in the face of an aging population, there has been relatively little published on the fundamentals of essential reform through privatization. Privatizing Social Security fills this void by studying the methods and problems involved in shifting from the current system to one based on mandatory saving in individual accounts. "Timely and important. . . . [Privatizing Social Security] presents a forceful case for a radical shift from the existing unfunded, pay-as-you-go single national program to a mandatory funded program with individual savings accounts. . . . An extensive analysis of how a privatized plan would work in the United States is supplemented with the experiences of five other countries that have privatized plans." —Library Journal "[A] high-powered collection of essays by top experts in the field."—Timothy Taylor, Public Interest
The money's gone! Social Security doesn't have $2.7 trillion stashed away for paying benefits, as so many people believe. It cannot pay benefits for another 20 years, as is often claimed. In fact, Social Security does not have enough money to pay full benefits, even for 2014, without borrowing money from China or another of our creditors. How can this be? Wasn't Social Security fixed by the Social Security Amendments of 1983, which included a large increase in payroll taxes? That's what we were told at the time. President Reagan signed that legislation into law with great fanfare on April 20, 1983. With his comments at the signing ceremony, Reagan gave the impression that it was a proud day for America. But, instead of being a proud day for America, as Reagan implied, the day the new legislation was signed into law, turned out to be a day of shame for the United States. The Social Security Amendments of 1983 laid the foundation for 30 years of government embezzlement of Social Security funds. The money was used to pay for wars, tax cuts for the rich, and other government programs. The payroll tax hike of 1983 generated a total of $2.7 trillion in surplus Social Security revenue. This surplus revenue was supposed to be saved and invested in marketable U.S. Treasury bonds, which would be held in the trust fund until the baby boomers began to retire in about 2010. But not one dime of that money ever made its way to the Social Security trust fund. The 1983 legislation was sold to the public, and to Congress, as a long-term fix for Social Security. With the help of Alan Greenspan, Reagan was a super salesman, who could have sold almost anything to the public-even a scam. And that's exactly what he was selling. Reagan intended to use the surplus Social Security revenue to replace revenue lost because of his unaffordable income tax cuts. Instead of being set aside for the retirement of the baby boomers, as was the intent of the legislation, the extra Social Security revenue was deposited directly into the general fund just like income tax revenue. From the very beginning, Reagan and his advisors had no intention of saving and investing the new revenue for the retirement of the baby boomers. They needed additional general tax revenue, and an increase in the payroll tax would be much easier to enact than higher income taxes. Also, the potential to get vast amounts of revenue was much greater with a payroll tax increase than from an income tax increase. The baby boomers, the largest generation of Americans who ever lived, were already making large contributions to the Social Security fund. Like all previous generations, prior to 1983, the boomers were being required to pay the full cost of benefits paid to the previous generation. But, the proposed new legislation would hit the boomers with a double whammy. In addition to paying for their parents' benefits, the new law would require the baby boomers to also pay enough additional taxes to prepay the cost of their own benefits. This would generate a potential gold mine of surplus revenue that could be tapped and used for other purposes. But none of the $2.7 trillion in additional Social Security revenue was ever saved or invested in anything. The actual surplus money was replaced with nonmarketable government IOUs, which cannot be converted into cash or used to pay Social Security benefits. It would have been bad enough if only Reagan had looted Social Security money. But George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush all followed in Reagan's footsteps and spent all of the Social Security surplus revenue for non-Social Security purposes, just like Reagan. This book is a must read for all who care about the future of Social Security and the integrity of their government.
The United States is in the midst of a major demographic shift. In the coming decades, people aged 65 and over will make up an increasingly large percentage of the population: The ratio of people aged 65+ to people aged 20-64 will rise by 80%. This shift is happening for two reasons: people are living longer, and many couples are choosing to have fewer children and to have those children somewhat later in life. The resulting demographic shift will present the nation with economic challenges, both to absorb the costs and to leverage the benefits of an aging population. Aging and the Macroeconomy: Long-Term Implications of an Older Population presents the fundamental factors driving the aging of the U.S. population, as well as its societal implications and likely long-term macroeconomic effects in a global context. The report finds that, while population aging does not pose an insurmountable challenge to the nation, it is imperative that sensible policies are implemented soon to allow companies and households to respond. It offers four practical approaches for preparing resources to support the future consumption of households and for adapting to the new economic landscape.
