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What Does Social Security Really Need? A New Commissioner.

Since its founding during the New Deal, the Social Security Administration has enjoyed a stellar reputation from all sides of the political spectrum for the excellent services and benefits it provides to America's retirees, disabled workers and their families.

But that reputation is now in tatters due to the mismanagement of the agency by its commissioner, Michael J. Astrue, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2007. His six-year term expires in 2013.

Under Astrue's flawed leadership, the Social Security Administration has turned its back on its historic legacy by adopting policies that hurt the very people it is supposed to protect, including a directive for SSA employees to aggressively steer applicants - despite their age or disability - to use computers and the Internet to file their claims, and a gag rule that prevents SSA workers from guiding citizens as they apply for benefits. This radical change in agency policy prevents SSA staff from assisting the public they are sworn to serve.

Astrue also has gone as far as to recycle a Reagan-era proposal for regulations that would increase the bureaucratic hurdles to appealing disability claims, thus making it harder for citizens to appeal when they are denied claims for benefits. Astrue has also asked for anti-privacy legislation that would eliminate requirements for the SSA to obtain an individual's consent before obtaining access to their private medical records. He has tried to reduce the hours SSA field offices are open to the public and closed a record number of field offices in 2007. These actions raise serious questions about Astrue's ability to carry out President Obama's mandates to improve SSA's ability to serve the public through significant new investments in the agency.

The Obama administration - and the American people - deserve better. The only way the situation can be reversed is through a change at the top: Astrue's replacement by a public servant committed to the values and services for which Social Security has always stood for.

Preserve Your Social Security!