Government suspends controversial program to recover money from adult children of dead taxpayers

Fox News ^ | 4/15/2014 | Fox Mews

[Dallas59]

The Social Security Administration announced Monday it is suspending a controversial program that goes after adult children of deceased taxpayers who the government claims were recipients of overpayments more than a decade ago.

Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn W. Colvin said she has directed an immediate halt to the three-year-old program while the agency does a review. The controversial program seized tax refunds in an effort to recoup the funds.

The move to stop the program came after many of the recipients and members of Congress complained to the federal agency.

[blackdog]

The provision for the IRS to do this was tucked away in the 2010 Farm Bill. Congress passed it. So did the senate.

[MrB]

There’s really no earthly power that can compare to power arbitrarily exercised.

[Mastador1]

Yeah they stopped, just like they stopped with the Bundy’s. This misadministration and the demonrats never let go of anything they perceive as a revenue source, meaning Americans!

[Living Free in NH]

Those bastards took $300 from my tax return last week - my wife's father died in 1981. That's 33 years ago for those in Rio Linda

I hate my government !!!

[true believer forever]

This is a slightly different more detailed timeline - once again barack is unscathed:

1. Barack's EXEC ORDER: 13250

"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in the interest of reducing payment errors and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal programs, it is hereby ordered as follows:

"excerpt: "If an agency fails to meet the targets established under section 2 of this order, or implement the plan described in subsection (b)(iii) of this section for 2 consecutive years, that agency's accountable official designated under subsection (a) of this section shall submit to the agency head, Inspector General, and Chief Financial Officer a report describing the likely causes of the agency's failure and proposing a remedial plan. The agency head shall review this plan and, in consultation with the Inspector General and Chief Financial Officer, forward the plan with any additional comments and analysis to the Director of OMB."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-reducing-improper-payments

2. Social Security filed a report in response to EO:

"This report fulfills the requirements ofSections2(b) iv),3(b),and3(f) of ExecutiveOrder 13520, Reducing Improper Payments"

"Executive Order 13520 requires each agency, beginning in FY 2011, to annually report information related to identification, tracking, and recovery of improper grants, benefits, and contract payments, where applicable, to OMB’s improper payments website, PaymentAccuracy.gov. According to OMB their website is currently unable to accommodate this improper payment recovery information.

This debt collection tool also performs AWG, credit bureau reporting, and collection outsourcing to private collection agencies."

http://www.ssa.gov/improperpayments/documents/AO_Report_2012.pdf

3. Carolyn Colvin, who is quoted in the Fox link, appeared before Congress in Jan 2014 and testified about the program, which she didn't seem to have any problem with at that time:

"In May 2012, we enhanced ECO to collect delinquent debts through TOP beyond the current 10-year statute of limitations, as authorized by Public Law 110-246. Through FY 2013, we notified 310,000 former beneficiaries with debts 10 years or more delinquent of our ability to collect their delinquent debt through TOP. Continued improvement in our debt collection program is also underway.

"We will continue to expand our use of TOP by: 1) completing notification to debtors with debts delinquent 10 years or more; and 2) continue to notify debtors on a monthly basis of our ability to offset eligible State payments through Treasury’s SRP to collect delinquent debt."

http://www.ssa.gov/legislation/testimony_011614.html

It looks like SS was simply complying with the orders of the President (to me anyway)

[tanknetter]

My read on the “rationale” for this is that the children recieved/benefitted from the money. IOW they were dependents of the recipient at the time of the overpayment.

It’s a tenuous argument, at best. There’s no idea where the overpayments actually went to, so the gvt assumes it was to provide things for the dependents.

[TheBlackSwan]

Agree...they appear to pull back when an uproar occurs, or at least recently...damage control? This, Bunkerville...public pressure and opinion may be having an impact. Enough of this madness by those supposed public servants.

[Vaduz]

Like they couldn’t make up for it in death taxes.

[ridesthemiles]

It was in the Farm Bill.

Steal from working Americans to pay for people on food stamps.

More of Holder’s & Obama’s ‘reparations’.

[Nuocmam]

What a crock from Boxer and Mikulski!!

These same lawmakers and their cohorts are proud of passing the ACA which affects(screws over)everyone, except themselves, while having no idea what it contains! Outside of vote gathering retoric, the concepts of lawful and unjust have no meaning to this group.