What happens when you increase the number of claims adjusters for an oil spill by 50%, allow claimants to use the internet to apply, reduce average processing time to just ten days, and put the man in charge of the 9/11 victim’s compensation fund in charge of writing the checks? A “lag” in payments up to ten days:
But signs are emerging that Feinberg’s goals – particularly his pledge to respond to personal claims for emergency payments within 48 hours – may be overly ambitious. Applicants participating in our BP Claims Project say that they have not received responses within two days of filing claims and that they have encountered an array of service problems, from a system crash to difficulty in transferring critical paperwork. (Emphasis mine)
Remember when Katrina victims lived for years in poisonous trailers waiting for the FEMA check?
And don’t you just love that HuffPo firebagger framing?
Meanwhile, you’ve got to love the lack of excitement as the White House takes up the cause of new stimulus (except for the small business bill, it’s all tax cuts):
On the list of possible actions: additional tax cuts for small businesses beyond those included in a $30 billion small-business lending bill before the Senate. It’s not clear what those tax breaks would target or how much they might cost in lost revenue to the government.
Also in the mix: a possible payroll tax cut for businesses and individuals, as well as other business tax breaks, according to people familiar with the discussions. Currently, income taxes are scheduled to rise with the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts at the end of this year. (Emphasis mine)
But at least the cuts are more stimulative than billionaire tax cuts. Meanwhile, the White House puts up a wall between drillers and regulators that bears this telling notice:
The employees also must ask to step down when their inspections or official duties involve a company employing a family member or close personal friend.
And for at least two years, they cannot perform inspections or other work involving former employers in the industry. Lawmakers in the House and Senate have advanced proposals for a similar two-year timeout.
The new policy is directed toward the most clear-cut potential conflicts of interest and tacitly acknowledges the reality that along the Gulf Coast, drilling regulators may live next door to rig workers and supervisors they see in the field. The bureau guidelines don’t require recusal in those situations, as long as the neighbors have limited personal knowledge of each other and only share general conversations.
That still could create obstacles to conducting inspections in some tightknit areas, where a small pool of regulators may have connections to people on multiple rigs. (Emphasis mine)
Because he’s just like Bush because Bush was such a centrist. See how that works?
Actually, I kid. Obama rides consensus and there’s no consensus in DC for stimulus yet because Democrats still think Americans are more scared of the deficit than the jobs picture.
The president also ended 40 years of federal delay and obfuscation over Agent Orange:
As many as 150,000 Veterans may submit Agent Orange claims in the next 12 to 18 months. Additionally, VA will review approximately 90,000 previously denied claims from Vietnam Veterans for service connection for these three new diseases. All those who are awarded service-connection, and who are not currently enrolled in the VA health care system, will become eligible for enrollment.
Because (again) he’s “just like Bush.”
