The God that Marks Garps Student
Koby was marked. Garp knew the scrawny brat was marked the moment he laid eyes on him.
Koby had a strong sense of Justice and a Protector of the weak.
So, Tsuisu mark wouldn't be surprising. However, by his Background report and his own personal testimony. Koby arrived on Shells with Luffy. And punched Koby declaring him not a member of the now named Strawhat Pirates
Nika's markings wouldn't be out of place either.
The Cadet was kind too. There was a partnership blooming with the blond twigs. He has seen Astrus mark a Dog for its Loyalty.
Astrus' mark might be a stretch. As by some of the Reports he's snooped off of Senny's desk Ace has been making a mess in the New World.
So when he took them onto his ship. He was fully prepared for one of his three Godly Grandsons to show up.
He set about the offerings on the shrines. In his quarters. Knowing none of them could resist a snack after using their abilities to hop to a shrine.
Garp snapped awake when he heard shuffling in his room. He spotted the tails of a coat exiting his room.
It could only be Sabo that came to check on his student.
He bolted towards his Wayward grandson.
"You Get black here you brat." Garp said, running out onto the deck only to see Sabo leep off the ship like an escaping boy after hours.
The half-shaded face looked at him with the usual terror. As he disembarked from the ship.
"Sabo, at least have the decency of a man to say hello to your grandpa!" he shouted after the boy. Sabo would be fine In the water. He could walk on moonlight. But his grandson didn't say anything as he swam away.
" Sir should we go after the stowaway?" One of the twigs on night watch asked.
"No. We'll just lose him in the moonlight. Return to your watch." Garp growled "I'm going back to bed."
" Yes sir." The twig said.
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Hello! How did you came up with Law, Sabo, Ace, and Uta's name in the Gods AU??
Uhhhhhh word association? Idk what to call but uh here's the thought process
Astral + Dyonisus/Hephastus (-us) -> Astrus
Tsunami -> Tsuki -> Tsu -> Tsuisu (means versus/equal) (Also consider Tsuibi because Sabo)
Uta + wings -> 奏翔 (to play music + to soar/fly) -> Kanato
Thanatos (T-) + Asase (Ase) + Anubis (-is) = Taseis -> Taesis (the name is in canon limbo because I'm also attached to Law as his god name. Sksksk)
Thanks for the ask! Super excited to share what the names mean heehehhe
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The anti-Wiccan ranting among some occultists and Neo Pagans is so self-righteous and all over social media and all their rants about how "problematic" it is are things true in ALL forms of Neo Paganism.
And don't get me started on those that start calling you ill-educated, or stupid for considering Wicca a flavor of Neo-Paganism.
It's like they think the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn were doing things precisely the way the Ancient Greeks were. There's a reason that "Neo" is there. It means "new." Whether you like it or not all forms of Neo Pagan religion are cobbled together from scraps or re-invented whole cloth and, whether they want to admit it or not, borrowing from each other.
You'll find Diana worshipers using Gaelic symbolism, Morpheus invocations using the poppy flower as a symbol in the summoning. (Morphine's connection to the God of Dreams is a nineteenth century invention), and you'll find Asatru followers arguing with Greco-Roman Pagans about which religion came up with werewolves first, usually the Asatru insisting their religion is the source (even though the very word lycanthrope comes from the Greek myth of king Lycaon of Arcadia).
It's weirdly fashionable to be anti-Wiccan because of some of the questionable people who have been tied to it like Gardner and Crowley. Crowley's biggest contribution was the spelling of Magic with a k to differentiate between illusion and occult practice. That man has a very questionable history but sometimes not-so-great people come up with good ideas. And a quick visual distinction between illusion and spell casting is convenient, no matter who invented it.
"But Wiccans culturally appropriate!" Annnd? Name a religion that doesn't. Borrowing aspects of faith from open religions is not "appropriation."
If it's your faith you believe it to be true, you're not "stealing it." We don't call it appropriation when a scientist adopts another scientist's theory because it has logic that makes sense to him.
Just because it's popular to bash something and call it bad doesn't make it right. I do not agree with attacking aging hippies for following the "wrong" religion.
It's shameful and I think a lot of the people doing this aren't self-aware enough to realize they are behaving like the very oppressive "Christians" that may have once told them that they were Satanic and going to Hell for following the wrong religion.
Yes, Wicca is a "New" patchwork quilt of old folk beliefs but that shouldn't offend you by their merely existing.
I have news for you. This is true with most religions and this is especially true with Neo Paganism. It's part of why there are so many Astru bigots, because the version INVENTED (yes, invented) in the late nineteenth century and later adopted by some World War 2 Nazis was cobbled together by a bigot.
And though it might anger you to consider Wicca to be a form of Neo Paganism, it is. Its conception is very similar to how most Neo Paganism was shaped a century earlier. Most true Ancient Pagan practices have been lost to history. It's all reinvention or borrowings now.
Stop looking for religions to hate. It's like watching the Pagan equivalent of "I'm Protestant and those Catholics are NOT Christians! Look at all the horrible things they've done as a collective. We've never done anything bad ever as a collective group!"
And then in a special kind of cognitive dissonance, you get the ones who don't like Wicca for the "Harm none" rule and think calling them the "Fluffy bunny of Paganism" is the great Gotchya to shame them. It's so strange to me.
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[ ✵ ] ASTRUS are a fictional k-pop girl group formed through fictional survival show “Who is Astrus?” aired on YouTube through their label ROSEMADE ENT. they consist of seven members Missy, Nari, Eve, Snow, Jiyun, Natsumi, & Haeun. The group made a strong debut in 2018 with their extended play “LOVE DIVE” featuring their much loved title track of the same name. The debut did well throughout Korea and internationally charting high.
Later they came back with “Devilish” a single, which again did well, coming close to a win but not yet making it. The group found themselves in a slump by late 2019 after their recent comebacks “Flower Power” “Lucky Star” & “Primadonna” did not chart well or even come close to any wins. The group went on a five month hiatus not very long but no posts on social media or signs of return happened up until the exact five month mark, when a teaser was posted for member Missy’s solo debut, she later debuted with her extended play “Love, M”
Missy’s solo did pretty well considering their last three comebacks and they decided a full group comeback might do well, and to their surprise it did. They came back with an mini-album titled “Lovebite” which went viral and garnered them their first win along with three more wins. The group found themselves in several scandals in 2020-2021, between dating, bullying, and pre-debut controversies they were quite the topic. The group found themselves promoting as six when member Jiyun goes on a hiatus due to personal issues, she made her return in early 2022.
label: ROSEMADE ENT.
fandom name: Mystixs
members: Missy Kang, Hwang Nari, Sun “Eve” Haewon, Takaguchi “Snow” Fuyuko, Park Jiyun, Kusumoto Natsumi, Baek Haeun
colors: #CCDDE0, #FFD8BB, #E4D4F4
Discography!!
LOVE DIVE ( EP, 2018 )
Devilish ( single, 2018 )
Hyped ( single, 2019 )
My Blue Flame ( mini-album, 2019 )
Primadonna ( EP, 2019 )
Lovebite ( album, 2020 )
Bad Ideas ( single, 2021 )
Hands Up! ( album, 2021 )
No More Tears ( mini-album, 2022 )
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GREETINGS , angel . i am praying that the graphic doesn’t look horrible but if it does ? please pretend it doesnt . for those i haven’t gotten a chance to introduce myself to , im gianna ╱ gi . im nineteen and well ? absolute trash . asdj . im so excited for this group and even more excited to bring you your scarlet , aristotle wolff . random headcanons and more about his background has been on my mind for days and im just so excited to share them all with you ... hopefully it’ll get him to leave me alone asdfg . i did write this at 4 in the morning so ??? if it’s gross that’s why . enough rambling though , below the cut you’ll find everything you need to know about him .. ENJOY .
STATS . here , please read for the basics .
PINTEREST . here .
CHARACTER INFLUENCES . lip gallagher , charlie st cloud , daemon black , hardin scott .
SOUNDTRACK . numb to the feeling , chase atlantic . faith , the weeknd . feel , phora . i fall apart , post malone . she wonders why , astrus . gang over luv , brent faiyaz . wicked games , the weeknd . ivy , frank ocean . gangstas , pop smoke . demons and angels , a boogie wit da hoodie .
AESTHETICS .
pearly whites concealing sad hues , collar bones painted with hikceys , a destined path carved by hands that are not his own , a contagious laughter floating in the night sky , the memory of emerald hues haunting his dreams , the lingering taste of bitter whiskey , calloused digits against soft skin , footsteps against hardwood floor in the dead of the night , a tattoo needle against his skin whispering he’s alive over and over again , a soft scent of cologne and cigarette smoke clinging to his clothes , abandoned promises that weigh heavy on his shoulders , moans spilling of pleasure coming from the backseat of an expensive car , black rimmed sunglasses to hide bloodshot hues , his heart beating in his ears , a never ending grief .
DOING EVERYTHING I CAN TO FEEL SOMETHING .
CARELESS , how many times have you heard that ari ? i’d tell you to count on your fingers , but you might run out . enlighten me , disagree . tell me you’re just CURIOUS . what ? i know your LOUD MOUTH is resisting the urge . i know you want to say that your honeyed hues always reflected a world full of not sorrow , but infinite opportunities . possibilities and limits without boundaries . boundaries you pushed at every given chance , DETERMINED some would say . but me ? i would say , you’re your father’s son . a spitting image right down to curly locks and a crooked smile . that assertiveness in your heart ? it was gifted by masculine hands that had once fought the WAR of the streets a never ending battle for dominance between gang violence and a mother that had a sadness so great she spent her days forgetting her own name . it’s okay , i know you didn’t know . and he was never around to ask , the office was his home and the building were family pictures clung to the walls was the stranger . but he did love you , affection shown in the form of absence so you’d never know what it is like to merely survive .
and i know you want them , ANSWERS , i mean . but when you ask me about your mother , i don’t have anything you’ll want to hear . your first words , were mama , but it was not mama who was there to witness it . that’s the reality of your relationship with her . and i know you’re still ANGRY . her absence was willingly , and i know you have a hard time FORGIVING especially when it comes to her . but truth is , she never wanted to be someone’s mother , and it made her feel guilty . she had plans . and all of them consisted of tan lines and gossip over wine , none of them included your sweet whispers of i love you . but her not wanting to be a mother doesn’t make her a bad person , she was once present . she once tried . and i don’t mean to make excuses , NOTHING could excuse it . but she knew . she knew she could never be what you needed her to be , so she ran from it and you . could not deal with how badly it ate at her . and when she got pregnant a second time and your baby brother came 11 months after you , she told herself that it was for YOU . that if she could give you one thing that was worth anything , it was someone to keep you company . it was IRRESPONSIBLE, but you know a lot about that , don’t you ? that wasn’t a jab . just a reminder of the many situations where your good intentions came back to bite you . that doesn’t change the fact that i’m sorry , i’m sorry she was never there .
your baby brother , he was a GIFT . i know you know that . he was more then company , wasn’t he ? you guys shared BLOOD but it was not just blood that bonded you . IRISH TWINS , that’s the official term . siblings born less than 12 months apart . and when you were little , that’s what everyone referred to the two of you as . twins you were never the type of person to believe in cheesy things such as soulmates . when girls would intertwine their fingers with yours and purr how the two of you were meant to be together , you had to hold back laughter . but the older you got , the more you began to realize that you and dustin ? you guys split from the same soul . it was the day you also realized that soulmates aren’t just the romantic cliche in the movies you grew up believing them to be . you couldn’t help but felt guilty , for once belittling someone for believing in it . because you swore , that everyone deserve to have a bond like you and your brother .
your nanny , she was in for it . chasing two boys around the house who could run before they could walk . close your eyes and REMEMBER it , the way yous once laughed with one another . mornings with syrup dripping on your chins . wrestling in the living room despite the warning from miss bailey that one of you will get hurt ( which one of you always did ) . outsiders might say you two brought out the worst in each other ( mrs. burke did when she refused to have the both of you in her class ) , but anyone who really knew you knew how good for each other you were . mischievous , but aren’t that what brothers for ? built in partner in crimes ? best friends for life . you guys were inseparable , so inseparable that by the end of secondary school it was granted that you were put in different classes to allow room for others . you DIDN’T mind , even if you did declare how idiotic it was to your mother over the phone . you had friends . a lot of friends . but friends that were just your friends ? that was new . and you never really knew how to feel about it .
high school , it changed your life . i know you’ll say for the worst , but please don’t forget about all of the good that came out of it . the teachers ? they were stuck between loving and hating you . and some ? didn’t get a chance to do either with how much you skipped their class . you kept your grades up only to continue playing hockey grades were the only thing that your dad actually checked . you enjoyed the social scene , and by social scene i mean getting too drunk at house parties and being rowdy in the bleachers . when you looked to your right , you had a whole CREW of friends who somehow stumbled into your life . and when you looked to your left , you had your brother . you sought out EXCITEMENT , anything to get your heart racing . you were IMPULSIVE . you took your injustice out by developing a CANTANKEROUS attitude that got you into fights left and right ( on and off the ice ) . high school is when you got your first job , sixteen and tired of hearing your father complain about you needing more responsibility of course this had been after you and your brother got caught smoking . your legs landed you at rainbow point with a confident grin and TROUBLE in your eyes .
BECAUSE EVERYTHING I DO FEELS LIKE NOTHING
it was good , you struggled but you were happy . my CARELESS child with light dancing around you . you couldn’t be touched , you were immortal . it reflected in your actions , teenagers huh ? but we all know there can’t be good without the bad , and for you i wish the bad had been a broken ankle or failed SAT’S . but it wasn’t . the bad was ripping you to pieces , beyond repair . i know it haunts you , the accident . the realization when you’re eyes focused on the road and saw a blue truck headed towards you , you hate the color blue . you forgot too , that dustin had taken off his seat belt to retrieve the phone you knocked out of his hands because he was getting on your nerves . it only hitting you when hues opened back up and a gaping hole the size of a body remained . you still don’t understand how it could be , that you had absolutely no scratches . but your brother ? he no longer had air in his lungs .
you’re lost , you want to sob like a child with hands wrapped around you whispering it’s going to be okay . but it won’t be . and you never realized how lonely your house was , and how distant your parents were . now your home town reminds you of secrets whispered in the dark and talks about the future that no longer exists for your brother . you left after that summer , in the beginning you missed holidays because you couldn’t bare the sight of an untouched room . and that empty seat right beside you dug it’s claws into your chest until you could no longer breathe . you HATE your home town , and the house you grew up in . and if you could choose , you’d never go back . so why do you ? it’s because of the missed calls on your phone from the ones you call friends . you feel OBLIGATED . it’s one of the only emotions you feel , besides guilt and grief . you really do try , to move on . to feel more . but it’s hard for you . so you hide behind spontaneous adventures and the bottom of a whiskey bottle . you flash pearly whites and roll around in sheets with women you could never love like they love you . you ink your body with permanent ink because it’s the only permanent thing you’ll ever have . you have to remind yourself that you’re alive , you’re alive because sometimes you forget . but what’ll you never forget ? is that , you did this that reality hits you when you’re at your weakest . it’s the one that screams at you until tears hang in honeyed hues and just healed wounds are ripped open by your favorite punching bag the mirror . but that’s okay , isn’t it ? because when the sun rises , you’ll go out and replace it . and you’ll pretend that you’re fine .
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Astrus - Came Up (ft. Dizzy Wright)
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Congress tries to squeeze more out of Social Security, wrecking its customer service
http://ryanguillory.com/congress-tries-to-squeeze-more-out-of-social-security-wrecking-its-customer-service/
Congress tries to squeeze more out of Social Security, wrecking its customer service
Since they’ve been unsuccessful (thus far) at cutting Social Security benefits, congressional Republicans are continuing to resort to the backdoor assault on the program by starving its administrative budget. In the latest versions of the agency’s budget under consideration in Washington, the House is planning to keep the budget at the same inadequate funding level as the current year. The ever more ambitious Senate is trying to cut it by $400 million, or nearly 4%.
To retirees, near-retirees and disability applicants the effects aren’t invisible. They show up in deteriorating customer service at every level.
“Years of SSA cuts have already taken their toll,” Kathleen Romig of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported earlier this month, “leading to long waits on the phone and in field offices for taxpayers and beneficiaries, as well as record-high disability backlogs.”
The Social Security Administration used to mail annual statements of earnings records and prospective benefits to all covered workers, in compliance with a law enacted in 1989. These have now been eliminated for almost all workers, as the agency pleads poverty. It says that anyone can gain access to their records online, but that’s a lousy substitute as long as millions of workers and retirees have only spotty access to the internet or lack the ability to navigate the web.
You can expect all these problems to keep getting worse.
Years of SSA cuts have already taken their toll, leading to long waits…as well as record-high disability backlogs.
— Kathleen Romig, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
We’ve reported on the impact of cuts in the agency’s administrative budget before, noting that there’s no rational reason for Congress to impose these cuts. That’s because Social Security’s core administrative budget comes not from the general federal budget, but mostly from the payroll contributions made by workers and their employers — and the spending is very efficient, coming to less than 1% of total benefits. (The agency also fronts administrative services to Medicare and the Supplemental Security Income program, for which it’s reimbursed at least partially from the general treasury.)
Nevertheless, Congress by law still holds the purse strings, and has been drawing them tighter over time. That’s happened even as the agency’s caseload has greatly expanded since fiscal 2010 by more than 20%, to 63.3 million retirees, disabled persons and their families, while the agency’s core budget has fallen 16% from an inflation-adjusted $12 billion. The House would freeze the budget for fiscal 2018 at the 2017 level of $10.5 billion in fiscal 2018, and the Senate would cut it to about $10.1 billion.
The sole area of long-term growth in the budget has been a separate appropriation for “integrity funding,” which essentially means ferreting out waste, fraud and abuse in the disability program, a favorite congressional hobby horse. That line item has grown to about $1.7 billion (in the budget proposals of President Trump, the House and the Senate) from an inflation-adjusted $871 million in fiscal 2010, Romig calculates.
Whether that search for fraud is worth the money is hard to gauge, since the level of improper payment in Social Security disability has been estimated at less than 1%, with underpayment a bigger problem than overpayment. A far greater impact on disability applicants is the record backlog. The Social Security Administration has been struggling with that issue for nearly two decades, but has been unable to get a handle on it consistently because of congressional budget cuts. The backlog came down sharply from fiscal 2008 through fiscal 2012, a period in which the average wait time for a disability decision fell from more than 500 days to 350 days, the first time the wait had been less than a year since 2003.
Since 2012, wait times have again climbed steeply, as a surge of applicants during the recession combined with an inability to hire disability judges and support staff. The average wait time is back up to 626 days. Having to wait an average of more than a year and eight months to receive a decision is an outrageous burden on people who may be unable to work and struggling with what could be terminal illness.
Social Security Administration
Wait times for disability decisions have been climbing sharply again, thanks to hiring freezes at Social Security.
Wait times for disability decisions have been climbing sharply again, thanks to hiring freezes at Social Security. (Social Security Administration)
A contributing factor in Social Security’s chronic budget squeeze could well be the absence of an official boss. There hasn’t been a commissioner in place for more than four years. Since the departure of Michael Astrue in January 2013, the agency has been led by acting commissioners Carolyn Colvin and Nancy Berryhill, neither of whom has had the political heft to carry the agency’s case to Capitol Hill. The Obama administration’s nomination of Colvin, a long-term Social Security official, to the job was derailed on transparently political grounds by Senate Republicans in 2014. But Obama never put up another candidate; Trump’s failure to name a replacement just continues this record of neglect.
A picture of the agency’s declining voice in Congress can be gleaned by the evolution of its budget request just over the last two years. Colvin reported a year ago that “our current state of service remains fragile.” She observed that the agency’s budget for fiscal 2016 did “not allow us to sustain our recent gains,” as it “does not cover all inflationary growth in our fixed costs.” She requested a staff increase of nearly 3,000 people. She didn’t get them.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Social Security’s customer service budget has been cut ruthlessly in inflation-adjusted terms, while its caseload keeps growing.
Social Security’s customer service budget has been cut ruthlessly in inflation-adjusted terms, while its caseload keeps growing. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Berryhill, the current acting commissioner, cast her budget request for fiscal 2018 in cheerier terms, consistent with the Trump administration’s habit of grinning its way past disasters. “The fiscal year (FY) 2018 President’s Budget will allow us to focus on our core mission,” Berryhill said. She described that mission as including reduction in the disability backlog, reducing “improper payments” and “continuing to develop a strong workforce.” None of those goals is consistent with a reduction in the administrative budget, which hasn’t been known for padding.
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Congress tries to squeeze more out of Social Security, wrecking its customer service
http://ryanguillory.com/congress-tries-to-squeeze-more-out-of-social-security-wrecking-its-customer-service/
Congress tries to squeeze more out of Social Security, wrecking its customer service
Since they’ve been unsuccessful (thus far) at cutting Social Security benefits, congressional Republicans are continuing to resort to the backdoor assault on the program by starving its administrative budget. In the latest versions of the agency’s budget under consideration in Washington, the House is planning to keep the budget at the same inadequate funding level as the current year. The ever more ambitious Senate is trying to cut it by $400 million, or nearly 4%.
To retirees, near-retirees and disability applicants the effects aren’t invisible. They show up in deteriorating customer service at every level.
“Years of SSA cuts have already taken their toll,” Kathleen Romig of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported earlier this month, “leading to long waits on the phone and in field offices for taxpayers and beneficiaries, as well as record-high disability backlogs.”
The Social Security Administration used to mail annual statements of earnings records and prospective benefits to all covered workers, in compliance with a law enacted in 1989. These have now been eliminated for almost all workers, as the agency pleads poverty. It says that anyone can gain access to their records online, but that’s a lousy substitute as long as millions of workers and retirees have only spotty access to the internet or lack the ability to navigate the web.
You can expect all these problems to keep getting worse.
Years of SSA cuts have already taken their toll, leading to long waits…as well as record-high disability backlogs.
— Kathleen Romig, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
We’ve reported on the impact of cuts in the agency’s administrative budget before, noting that there’s no rational reason for Congress to impose these cuts. That’s because Social Security’s core administrative budget comes not from the general federal budget, but mostly from the payroll contributions made by workers and their employers — and the spending is very efficient, coming to less than 1% of total benefits. (The agency also fronts administrative services to Medicare and the Supplemental Security Income program, for which it’s reimbursed at least partially from the general treasury.)
Nevertheless, Congress by law still holds the purse strings, and has been drawing them tighter over time. That’s happened even as the agency’s caseload has greatly expanded since fiscal 2010 by more than 20%, to 63.3 million retirees, disabled persons and their families, while the agency’s core budget has fallen 16% from an inflation-adjusted $12 billion. The House would freeze the budget for fiscal 2018 at the 2017 level of $10.5 billion in fiscal 2018, and the Senate would cut it to about $10.1 billion.
The sole area of long-term growth in the budget has been a separate appropriation for “integrity funding,” which essentially means ferreting out waste, fraud and abuse in the disability program, a favorite congressional hobby horse. That line item has grown to about $1.7 billion (in the budget proposals of President Trump, the House and the Senate) from an inflation-adjusted $871 million in fiscal 2010, Romig calculates.
Whether that search for fraud is worth the money is hard to gauge, since the level of improper payment in Social Security disability has been estimated at less than 1%, with underpayment a bigger problem than overpayment. A far greater impact on disability applicants is the record backlog. The Social Security Administration has been struggling with that issue for nearly two decades, but has been unable to get a handle on it consistently because of congressional budget cuts. The backlog came down sharply from fiscal 2008 through fiscal 2012, a period in which the average wait time for a disability decision fell from more than 500 days to 350 days, the first time the wait had been less than a year since 2003.
Since 2012, wait times have again climbed steeply, as a surge of applicants during the recession combined with an inability to hire disability judges and support staff. The average wait time is back up to 626 days. Having to wait an average of more than a year and eight months to receive a decision is an outrageous burden on people who may be unable to work and struggling with what could be terminal illness.
Social Security Administration
Wait times for disability decisions have been climbing sharply again, thanks to hiring freezes at Social Security.
Wait times for disability decisions have been climbing sharply again, thanks to hiring freezes at Social Security. (Social Security Administration)
A contributing factor in Social Security’s chronic budget squeeze could well be the absence of an official boss. There hasn’t been a commissioner in place for more than four years. Since the departure of Michael Astrue in January 2013, the agency has been led by acting commissioners Carolyn Colvin and Nancy Berryhill, neither of whom has had the political heft to carry the agency’s case to Capitol Hill. The Obama administration’s nomination of Colvin, a long-term Social Security official, to the job was derailed on transparently political grounds by Senate Republicans in 2014. But Obama never put up another candidate; Trump’s failure to name a replacement just continues this record of neglect.
A picture of the agency’s declining voice in Congress can be gleaned by the evolution of its budget request just over the last two years. Colvin reported a year ago that “our current state of service remains fragile.” She observed that the agency’s budget for fiscal 2016 did “not allow us to sustain our recent gains,” as it “does not cover all inflationary growth in our fixed costs.” She requested a staff increase of nearly 3,000 people. She didn’t get them.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Social Security’s customer service budget has been cut ruthlessly in inflation-adjusted terms, while its caseload keeps growing.
Social Security’s customer service budget has been cut ruthlessly in inflation-adjusted terms, while its caseload keeps growing. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Berryhill, the current acting commissioner, cast her budget request for fiscal 2018 in cheerier terms, consistent with the Trump administration’s habit of grinning its way past disasters. “The fiscal year (FY) 2018 President’s Budget will allow us to focus on our core mission,” Berryhill said. She described that mission as including reduction in the disability backlog, reducing “improper payments” and “continuing to develop a strong workforce.” None of those goals is consistent with a reduction in the administrative budget, which hasn’t been known for padding.
Source link
0 notes