Nearly 3,000 SSNs Posted Online By State Employee

A Maryland Department of Human Resources employee was placed on administrative leave after posting the Social Security numbers and other personal information of nearly 3,000 clients of a state agency on a third-party website, a spokeswoman for the agency said.

There's no evidence that the information was used for identity theft, said DHR spokeswoman Nancy Lineman, but DHR, which provides benefits such as food stamps and other aid, will offer affected clients a year of credit monitoring. They will receive a letter that was mailed Monday with further details about the data breach.

Under state law, businesses that expose the data of Maryland residents must inform them in writing, but governments are not required to do so, Lineman said. The employee is on administrative leave during the investigation of this incident and could face disciplinary action, she said.
The breach was discovered by staff of the Liberty Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes individual freedoms, including privacy. The group's privacy director, Aaron Titus, said the information was posted from April 27 to July 14. They tried to notify DHR officials July 9, he said, but were not successful until July 12. The data was taken down Wednesday, Lineman said.

"We take the privacy of the data that's entrusted to us very seriously," she said.

Titus said he was pleased that the government was offering credit monitoring, but he recommended that all affected clients contact credit reporting agencies to place a security freeze on their credit to prevent misuse of their data. Identity theft victims may do this for free, but state law prohibits residents from being charged more than $5.

DHR clients can enter their names at http://www.nationalidwatch.org/, a Liberty Coalition website, to see if they were among those affected.
www.baltimoresun.com

Dr. Russell Blaylock: Doctors Will be 'Drafted' Under Democrats' Public Option

A respected medical specialist has carefully reviewed the healthcare reform bill in the U.S. House, and he declares that it would amount to a virtual "draft" of doctors into the government's "public option" health insurance program.

Dr. Russell Blaylock, a renowned neurosurgeon, book author and editor of the Blaylock Wellness Report published by Newsmax, also warns that "death panels" could lead to the rationing of medical care to the elderly and a "violation of the Hippocratic Oath."

See Video: Dr. Russell Blaylock discusses the threats to quality medical care under Obamacare - Click Here Now

It's Broke

To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature,

It is now official—you are ALL corrupt morons:

• The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775—you have had 234 years to get it right—and it is broke.
• Social Security was established in 1935—you have had 74 years to get it right—and it is broke.
• Fannie Mae was established in 1938—you have had 71 years to get it right—and it is broke.
• War on Poverty started in 1964—you have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"—and they only want more.
• Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965—you have had 44 years to get it right—and they are broke.
• Freddie Mac was established in 1970—you have had 39 years to get it right—and it is broke.
• The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, it has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before—you had 32 years to get it right—and it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars—AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM??

Are you crazy, or do you just believe all Americans are morons too???

Truly, the inmates are running the asylum—and what does this say about us, as voters who put such idiots in office?? If we do not vote against EVERY incumbent currently in office—we are ALL morons, regardless of our political leanings.

Are Obama suicide panels real?

Watch this and you be the judge.

Smaller Social Security Checks in 2010

Millions face smaller Social Security checks next year as rising drug costs diminish payments

August 24, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise.

The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won't be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. That hasn't happened since automatic increases were adopted in 1975.

By law, Social Security benefits cannot go down. Nevertheless, monthly payments would drop for millions of people in the Medicare prescription drug program because the premiums, which often are deducted from Social Security payments, are scheduled to go up slightly.

"I will promise you, they count on that COLA," said Barbara Kennelly, a former Democratic congresswoman from Connecticut who now heads the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. "To some people, it might not be a big deal. But to seniors, especially with their health care costs, it is a big deal."

Cost of living adjustments are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year, largely because energy prices are below 2008 levels.

Advocates say older people still face higher prices because they spend a disproportionate amount of their income on health care, where costs rise faster than inflation. Many also have suffered from declining home values and shrinking stock portfolios just as they are relying on those assets for income.

"For many elderly, they don't feel that inflation is low because their expenses are still going up," said David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP. "Anyone who has savings and investments has seen some serious losses."

About 50 million retired and disabled Americans receive Social Security benefits. The average monthly benefit for retirees is $1,153 this year. All beneficiaries received a 5.8 percent increase in January, the largest since 1982.

More than 32 million people are in the Medicare prescription drug program. Average monthly premiums are set to go from $28 this year to $30 next year, though they vary by plan. About 6 million people in the program have premiums deducted from their monthly Social Security payments, according to the Social Security Administration.

Millions of people with Medicare Part B coverage for doctors' visits also have their premiums deducted from Social Security payments. Part B premiums are expected to rise as well. But under the law, the increase cannot be larger than the increase in Social Security benefits for most recipients.

There is no such hold-harmless provision for drug premiums.

Kennelly's group wants Congress to increase Social Security benefits next year, even though the formula doesn't call for it. She would like to see either a 1 percent increase in monthly payments or a one-time payment of $150.

The cost of a one-time payment, a little less than $8 billion, could be covered by increasing the amount of income subjected to Social Security taxes, Kennelly said. Workers only pay Social Security taxes on the first $106,800 of income, a limit that rises each year with the average national wage.

But the limit only increases if monthly benefits increase.

Critics argue that Social Security recipients shouldn't get an increase when inflation is negative. They note that recipients got a big increase in January — after energy prices had started to fall. They also note that Social Security recipients received one-time $250 payments in the spring as part of the government's economic stimulus package.

Consumer prices are down from 2008 levels, giving Social Security recipients more purchasing power, even if their benefits stay the same, said Andrew G. Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.

"Seniors may perceive that they are being hurt because there is no COLA, but they are in fact not getting hurt," Biggs said. "Congress has to be able to tell people they are not getting everything they want."

Social Security is also facing long-term financial problems. The retirement program is projected to start paying out more money than it receives in 2016. Without changes, the retirement fund will be depleted in 2037, according to the Social Security trustees' annual report this year.

President Barack Obama has said he would like to tackle Social Security next year, after Congress finishes work on health care, climate change and new financial regulations.

Lawmakers are preoccupied by health care, making it difficult to address other tough issues. Advocates for older people hope their efforts will get a boost in October, when the Social Security Administration officially announces that there will not be an increase in benefits next year.

"I think a lot of seniors do not know what's coming down the pike, and I believe that when they hear that, they're going to be upset," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who is working on a proposal for one-time payments for Social Security recipients.

"It is my view that seniors are going to need help this year, and it would not be acceptable for Congress to simply turn its back," he said.

http://www.wtkr.com

If Washington would stop worry about putting food into the mouths of people in other countries America might be able to take care of these retired adults. And if they would stop giving aid to those crossing our borders there might be money for an increase. As usual, the government just can't run anything and keep in functioning for long periods of time. For most retired seniors it is all they have to look forward to and all they have to spend......Though never intended to be an only source of income for the retired they were duped into believing it was until a few years ago.........when most had already believed they could trust it. Doesn't the government plan ahead? Do they honestly think taxpayers can keep pulling money for taxes out of their a*****? Stop spending so much money overseas to care for others and take care of the wonderful Americans we have here!! They, like the veterans of America deserve SO MUCH MORE. They aren't getting the care they need and deserve.