Social security numbers are easily available on line through a number of government agency web sites around the country, writes Bill Brubaker of the Washington Post.  A host of government sites, as well as easily-accessible public records, contain individuals' social security numbers, a fact that may be sparking the more ...

The question isn't whether government is too big -- it's about whether government meets the needs of citizens.  The Social Security Administration now faces a backlog of cases from people with chronic illnesses or disabilities that prevent them from working.  The backlog is now at three-quarters of a million cases ...

One bureaucracy that has a splendid record of efficiency has been put on a near-starvation diet by the Bush administration.  "Staffing at the Social Security Administration will soon be at its lowest level since 1974," reports the Washington Post's Stephen Barr.  "The number of disability claims waiting for hearing decisions ...