Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Second Term must make good on Olmstead

Excerpt from: adapt.org (click for full article)

 

ADAPT demonstrated its frustration with the Obama Administration today, crashing through barricades at Pennsylvania and 17th Street and blocking the east entrance to the White House. Forty-one people were arrested following a rally outside the White House security perimeter that gave the President's administration failing grades for leadership, integrity and engagement.

"The President has not taken the initiative to proactively champion community living or the innovative Medicaid programs that could make it a reality," said ADAPT organizer Josue Rodriguez of Memphis. "In nearly every way, President Obama and his administration have failed to live up to the promises about community living that he made during his presidential campaigns."

More On Obama's Budget Proposal

Excerpt from: Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog (click for full article)

 

As I have previously discussed, Obama's proposal contained aspects that would have limited the amount that a taxpayer can invest in an IRA. Now, it appears that the President's budget might have a few more surprises for estate planners and their clients. While ATRA provided some certainty with regards to the estate tax, there are still several political fights over spending and taxes that could affect how estate planning works. The following tools might be most at risk because the high unified credit. 

1. GRATs (Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts) is a trust that provides the interest income on the trust property as an annuity payment. When the trust's term ends, the property within the trust distributes to the trust's beneficiaries. The trust is typically funded with assets that are likely to appreciate in value quickly. Because the gift tax rate is locked in at the time the settlor creates the trust, it could potentially allow a client to pass large amounts of wealth and minimize the tax on the transfer. Any appreciated valued incurred after the property is in the trust is non-taxable. The proposal would require a minimum term of 10 years and "would elimiate the possibility that the GRAT could be 'zeroed out.'"
2. IDGTs (Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts) is a type of grantor trust, however, it is no treated as a separate entity for tax purposes. With this type of trust, the client would pay tax "on the appreciated value of the trust assets." Because of this, more money can be transferred to the beneficiaries of the trust. According to Life Health Pro, "President Obama’s proposal would require that gift tax be paid upon any distribution from the IDGT and that any value remaining in the IDGT at the grantor’s death be included in the estate for estate tax purposes." This change would basically eliminate any beneficial use the IDGT has.
3. Dynasty Trusts is a generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax-exempt irrevocable trust. Estate planners used this tool to ensure that their clients can use the unified credit to pass their large gifts to future generations without incurring a GST tax. While some states have rule the of perpetuities in place to prevent the indefinite duration of dynasty trusts, some states do not. In states that do not have the rule, an indefinite duration of a dynasty trust can save the settlor from having to pay a great deal of taxes. Not only can the trust assets appreciate without incurring any tax liability, a beneficiary could withdraw the principal in the future and not incur any tax liablity. Obama's budget proposal would place a transfer tax on distributions after the dynasty trust has been in existence in 90 years.

NCD Statement on the President's FY14 Budget

Excerpt from: National Council on Disability (click for full article)

 

Last week, you released  your FY14 budget proposal outlining your vision for federal spending in the next fiscal year as well as your most recent offer to Speaker Boehner to achieve additional deficit reduction in a balanced fashion. NCD appreciates the need for deficit reduction efforts and looks forward to providing assistance to help ensure that such efforts do not further harm low-income populations and people with disabilities, who have already borne the brunt of past reductions in federal spending. It is because of this commitment that I communicate the importance of including in any further deficit reduction conversation, measures to advance the economic well-being of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries. SSI beneficiaries face the most severe levels of poverty of any group of Social Security beneficiaries. In addition, due to the asset limits as part of the program, SSI beneficiaries are prohibited from saving more than $2,000 in total, thus denying them the opportunity to take steps to move out of poverty and prepare to enter the workforce.

While we were pleased to see that SSI beneficiaries were exempted from the proposed "Chained CPI" index, we believe additional measures are needed to protect this population, particularly as cuts to federal spending in current law pose grave threats to low-income Americans with disabilities. We urge you to incorporate common-sense program reforms to SSI designed to improve beneficiary well-being and enhance the ability of SSI beneficiaries to participate in the workforce. We encourage consideration of the policy issues below for inclusion in any future deficit reduction effort:

• Raise the SSI asset limit, currently set at $2,000 since 1989, to $10,000 and index it to inflation going forward;
• Raise the income offsets for SSI beneficiaries and index them to inflation going forward;
• Eliminate asset limits for participants in work incentive programs, such as 1619b and the Medicaid Buy-In, who are accessing SSI primarily for the purposes of receiving Medicaid benefits rather than utilizing the program for income support;
• Establish a National Medicaid Buy-In program to allow for greater workforce mobility for working people with disabilities who may wish to change jobs across state lines;

Brown: The IRS Should Report on Tax Returns Filed by Members of Congress

Excerpt from: TaxProf Blog (click for full article)

 

On Friday President and Mrs. Obama released their most recent tax return for the entire world to see.  They continued a longstanding tradition of sitting presidents releasing their returns, even though no law requires that they do so. The tradition began under the late President Richard Nixon. ...

Itemized deductions often come with a hefty price tag. The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that for 2013 the amount of revenue lost because of the three deductions the Obamas took (which happen to be among the most popular deductions taken) will be: $90 billion for mortgage interest, $47 billion for charitable contributions, and $46 billion for state and local income taxes. ... One part of the minority that benefits from itemized deductions is members of Congress.

Although Presidents have voluntarily released their tax returns for the last several decades, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to members of Congress. McClatchy newspapers reported last July that of the 535 members asked to release their most recent tax returns, just 17 did. ... I suspect that if we looked at the tax returns of eavery member of Congress we would see something close to a 100% itemization rate. Compare that to only a third of the American public, and the numbers would suggest that repeal is the best way forward.

Given that I do not expect members of Congress to change their ways, one way to move closer to reform would be for the IRS to issue a new kind of report, which I call the “535 Report.” It would provide in summary fashion the information from the tax returns of all members of Congress.  The 535 Report would be similar in concept to what the IRS currently produces for the tax returns of the 400 highest-income individuals.

No law is needed, because no privacy rights would be violated. All the IRS would have to do would be to crunch the numbers. Then we would know what percent of Congress itemized deductions and what the most popular deductions were. We could then compare the information with what the IRS already produces about the American taxpaying public in general, and hopefully encourage voters to demand change.

David Cay Johnston reported in The New York Times in June 2003 that the 400 report was begun in response to a professor asking for it.  Let’s see if lightening can strike twice.

Obama Budget Spares SSI Benefits

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)

 

Changes to the way Supplemental Security Income benefits for people with disabilities are calculated appear to be off the table — for the moment, at least.

White House officials said Wednesday that a proposal to adjust the way that cost-of-living increases are determined for Social Security benefits would exempt SSI and a handful of other programs.

The plan to switch to a formula known as chained CPI to account for inflation in calculating benefits was included in President Barack Obama’s budget proposal intended as a compromise in exchange for Republicans agreeing to tax hikes. But Obama administration officials said that SSI and other means-tested benefits would not be affected.

“I don’t believe that all these ideas are optimal, but I’m willing to accept them as part of a compromise — if, and only if, they contain protections for the most vulnerable Americans,” Obama said of the deal he’s offered in his budget plan.

Obama's Social Security proposal detrimental to people with disabilities

Excerpt from: The Kansas City Star (click for full article)

 

By supporting the so-called chained CPI, which alters the way the consumer price index is calculated, Obama would increase the cost of living for people who rely on Social Security and other government programs. It leaves those who have the least with even less.

For example, more than 8 million Americans with disabilities, including more than 1 million disabled children under age 18, depend on Social Security Supplemental Security Income. The average monthly SSI payment is $520, which is a meager $6,240 a year. For more than 57 percent of those receiving SSI, this is their only source of income.

Applying the chained CPI would result in an estimated $127 billion less in Social Security payments over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/12/4177463/obamas-social-security-proposal.html#storylink=cpy

Health Care and Military Spending Bear the Brunt of Proposed Cuts

Excerpt from: The New York Times (click for full article)

 

President Obama’s effort to control federal spending would require the largest cuts from the government’s biggest programs — health care and the military — while preserving or increasing spending on favored initiatives like early education, manufacturing and research.

The president’s proposed budget, for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, will be extensively rewritten in Congress, but is designed to reduce the growth of federal health spending by $401 billion over 10 years.

The budget would require $57 billion in higher payments by Medicare beneficiaries, cut $306 billion in projected Medicare payments to health care providers and squeeze $19 billion out of Medicaid, the program for low-income people.

Tell the Obama Administration and OMB there should be NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US

Excerpt from: Northwest Disability Connections (click for full article)

 

For over a year, we have been pushing back against a proposal by the US Department of Labor to change the companionship exemption which will have a negative impact both on people with disabilities and attendants. If these rules are implemented people with disabilities will be forced to cut the hours of long-term attendants and hire strangers to replace them. According to DOL’s own analysis, some people with disabilities will be institutionalized as a result of these rules.
These rules are problematic because the Department of Labor failed to work with the Disability Community when it was first developing them. Despite assurances that the administration would work with the disability community to resolve the problems with these rules from Cecilia Munoz of the Domestic Policy Council and the President, himself, the administration has – instead – sent the rules to the Office of Management and Budget for final approval.
Make your voice heard! Tell the Office of Management and Budget and key Presidential advisors that the Obama administration should do the right thing and work WITH the Disability Community to find a solution that works for everyone rather than ignoring our concerns.

NCD Chairperson Announces Intent to Appoint Rebecca Cokley Executive Director

Excerpt from: National Council on Disability (click for full article)

 

Today, Chairperson Jeff Rosen announces his intent to appoint Rebecca Cokley as the Executive Director of the National Council on Disability (NCD). Cokley previously served on NCD’s Youth Advisory Commission as Vice Chair during the George W. Bush administration.

Cokley comes to NCD after serving 4 years in the Obama Administration. Most recently, she was the Special Assistant to the Principal Deputy at the Administration for Community Living (ACL) at the US Department of Health and Human Services. Before serving at ACL, Cokley was the Director of Priority Placement for Public Engagement in the Presidential Personnel Office at the White House where she was responsible for outreach to diversity and minority organizations to recruit qualified individuals for roles in the Obama Administration. Prior to her time at the White House, Cokley was the Confidential Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. She is also the proud spouse of Patrick and mother of Jackson.

The Home Affordable Refinance Program Gets an Overhaul: How It Could Help You

Excerpt from: Housing for Seniors (click for full article)

 

In 2009, President Obama introduced the Home Affordable Refinance Program—an attempt to help a predicted three to four million people struggling with their mortgages to refinance. However, as of July 2010, only about 390,000 people had had their mortgages permanently altered under the program.

Recently, the government implemented new changes in an attempt to expand the program’s eligibility. The most recent overhaul, enacted in November 2011, is designed to help homeowners refinance their mortgages to today’s interest rates, which are currently around 4%--approximately 70% of people behind their mortgages in the US pay 5% or more in interest.