House to Introduce Debt Ceiling Bill Prioritizing U.S. Payments to Bondholders and Social Security Recipients

Others may think that the House is exaggerating as recent reports revealed that it is moving to put U.S. bondholders and social security recipients at the front of the line to be paid once the government hits its borrowing limit and is no longer capable of meeting all of its obligations.

According to reports, the Republican-controlled House is about introduce a bill dubbed as the “Pay China First Act” that was said to reduce the consequences of a U.S. default on its financial obligations once the Congress and President Barack Obama failed to find a way to lift the government’s so-called debt limit later this year, in hopes of saving the government’s credit rating and ability to borrow in order to pay its bills.

As for the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., it is necessary that credit markets are supremely confident that their loans are secure. However, the democrats argued that the legislation would promise a downgrade of the debt by suggesting the nation would be willing to pay some of its bills and not others.

The legislation was in fact dubbed as the “Pay China First Act” since it prioritizes payments to foreign investors over funding important federal programs such as disability benefits for veterans, soldiers, Medicare and companies that do business with the government.

Meanwhile, the White House has promised to veto the bill if ever it passed the democratic-led Senate approves the same.

In a statement released by the White House regarding the bill, which was quoted below, it noted:

"This bill would threaten the full faith and credit of the United States, cost American jobs, hurt businesses of all sizes, and do damage to the economy. It would cause the nation to default on payments for Medicare, veterans, national security and many other critical priorities. This legislation is unwise, unworkable and unacceptably risky.”

The measure came to light as Washington eyes to another showdown over must-pass legislation to heighten the government’s borrowing cap. So far, the government has reached its current debt limit of $16.4 trillion, but the Congress has already moved in January to allow the Treasury Department to borrow enough money to meet its financial obligations. That unique authority already lasted on May 18, but the government retains the ability to balance its books to buy several more months’ worth of time before facing default.

On July, the GOP leaders had hoped to begin a debt confrontation. Fortunately, the government’s finances are currently doing better than expected and the debt limit may not have to be raised until September or early October.

Apparently, the new bill seeks to direct the Treasury Department to borrow money to pay bondholders and social security recipients in an attempt to keep the said programs solvent.

So as to pass the said measure, supporters of the said bill need to convince the White House that it is more significant that the government will not default on the “sovereign debt” owed to creditors than make payments on other financial obligations, which is obviously going to be a tough task to carry on, speculated by a Los Angeles SSI Lawyer.

SSA Rolls Out Mobile Website for Smart Phone Users

Since the advent of smart phones, it is not uncommon to see people tinkering on their Android phones, Blackberry, or iPhones to stay connected to the Internet. As a result of this growing trend, private companies and government offices have launched their own mobile-compatible websites and applications. Now, the latest federal agency to follow such trend is the Social Security Administration (SSA).

In a recent press release, the agency’s Acting Commissioner, Carolyn W. Colvin, has announced that the SSA is now offering a new mobile optimized website. Accordingly, smart phone users can access the agency’s official website www.socialsecurity.gov via smart phone.

Pages that can be accessed through the new mobile version include the Frequently Asked Question, an interactive Social Security number (SSN) decision tree to help people determine the documents required for SSN card renewal or replacement, and a mobile publications which they can listen to in both English and Spanish right on their phone.

Moreover, visitors can learn how to create their own my Social Security account to get an online Statement of their Social Security account and learn more about the agency’s award winning online services. Also, visitors may connect to the agency’s social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest through its new mobile version website.

Aside from the mobile version website, the agency likewise provided a new mobile field office locator for people who were unable to accomplish their business through phone or over the internet. The office locator has the ability to provide turn by turn directions to the nearest SSA office based on the information requested by the user.

Colvin encourages all smart phone users to take advantage of the agency’s new mobile website through the press release. She further asserted that the recent effort is in line with the agency’s cost cutting measures. She claimed that by taking advantage of the technology, the agency can be abele to meet the evolving needs of the Americans in a more innovative ways without compromising its quality service, which a Los Angeles social security disability firm deemed right.

Lawmakers Calls on Obama to Ease Backlog of Veterans’ Disability Benefits

In the past several years, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been flooded with permanent disability complaints, creating tons of backlogs.

Therefore, in an aim to ease backlogs of disability benefit claims filed by veterans, a group of several lawmakers with military background asked President Barack Obama to take a step forward to improve backlogs on disability benefit claims at the VA.

A bipartisan group of 26 legislators sent a letter the U.S. president expressing their concerns regarding the present situation at the VA. The concerned congressmen noted that so far, 900,000 claims have yet to be processed and 69 percent of them have been waiting for over 125 days or approximately four and a half months. In fact, the average waiting time for a claim to be completed at present is 286 days, according to the VA itself.

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles permanent disability lawyer quoted several lines of the letter sent to the current administration:

“The VA is clearly on the wrong track.. Mr. President, we know you care deeply for America’s veterans, but it is important for you — as Commander in Chief — to publicly acknowledge the problems within VA and the necessity for reforms and leadership that are capable of alleviating the claims backlog and improving the benefit delivery system.”

“We urge you to take a strong position in support of America’s veterans and use your influence and authority to enfure VA fulfills its duty and obligation to those who have served and sacrificed.”

Consequently, the VA announced that the long wait is over since it is now accelerating claims that have been pending for a year or longer.

In a statement released by the VA Secretary, Eric Shinseki, he admitted that too many veterans have been waiting for too long for decisions to come and that the same has never been acceptable. Therefore, the VA is currently implementing an aggressive plan to eliminate the backlog by 2015. Furthermore, Shinseki understands that veterans are a special class of people who deserve benefits with outstanding delivery system that reflects the claimant’s long years of service and sacrifice for the country.

Incidentally, the pile of backlog claims clearly emphasizes a system that lacks efficiency, the lawyer herein agreed.

Obama Pushes Proposed Budget Cut on Social Security despite Outrages of His Own Party

Finally, the controversial budget plan of President Obama that sparked an outrage last week has been finally revealed.

Obama’s budget reached the Capitol Hill last Wednesday morning and as announced last week, itis expected to reduce the federal government deficit by $3.77 trillion by raising taxes on the wealthy Americans and reducing the growth of Social Security and disability benefit programs.

Many Americans, particularly the seniors, veterans and people with disabilities and several advocates have actually waited for the final arrival of the pre-announced budget plan, anticipating that Obama would not pursue his plan to support the chained CPI, since the new formula would apparently kill the annual increases in an extensive course of government programs. In fact, the Social Security will be most affected by the budget plan.

Now upon the release of the budget plan, seniors may expect smaller monthly pay check from the Social Security sooner or later. This move got flak from many politicians and even Obama’s own party and supporters. However, the president remains unapologetic. "I am willing to make tough choices that may not be popular within my own party, because there can be no sacred cows for either party," Obama stressed.

He also added that his proposal to reduce the growth of Social Security was subjected to lawmakers agreeing to higher taxes, such as new limits on tax breaks on highest earning Americans. However, Republicans on the other hand, had already affirmed that they will not accept the offer.

Meanwhile, although there are many who oppose the budget, several Republicans on are pleased with it claiming that the offer could likely show promise. Consequently, along with its negative side, the budget package includes different proposals like increasing taxes on cigarettes, spending on climate research and other handful of items that the White House anticipates to be the source of a broad deficit-reduction deal by the end of the current year.

Hopefully, the newly offered budget promises a significant change since a lot of seniors and veterans are about to experience trimmed federal programs such as disability benefits and healthcare coverage, anticipated by a several Los Angeles social security disability lawyers.

Most Frequently Asked Question: Is It Legal for Employers to Ask for Job Applicant’s Social Security Number?

Due to the disturbing news that broke regarding the compromised Social Security numbers of several big personalities including the U.S. First Lady, Michelle Obama just a week ago, common questions about safeguarding one’s Social Security number are currently taking the center stage.

These past few days, people have increasingly asked questions specifically about the privacy of their personal information during job applications that are usually kept by potential employers.

Generally, a lot of employers nowadays ask for job applicants to provide their social security information along with other personal information for background checking purposes before proceeding to an interview and hiring process. Since most of the U.S. states do not have comprehensive laws on what information can only be requested from applicants during application, Social Security number leakages are expected to continue

Consequently, a Los Angeles disability lawyer finally clears the ambiguity behind commonly asked question on personal information confidentiality. In his statement, he clarifies that although there is no law that prohibits private employers or companies from asking for applicants’ Social Security or driver’s license number, applicants on the other hand have the right to decline such private information requests. However, the sad part here is that most employers prevent an applicant from moving to the next level of hiring process if such info were not provided.

If you really have no provide your personal information, the best way to do that is to carefully check out the companies where you intent to submit it. Nevertheless, always keep in mind that you always have a choice whether to disclose it or not to anyone suspicious, noted by the experts.