Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Okla.), Vol. 104, No. 42, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 1, 1994 Page: 4 of 32
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Official gets $9,000 bonus at troubled agency.
went to. Lawrence Thompson, who was should not be rewarding “the people in the
totaled $172,822.
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its total payroll.
mait
Flake Todd
House of Representatives
allocate, an increase of IS percent.
governor.
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JayCranke, Mng. Editor
Lewis Cook, Circ. Mgr.
JoAn Wyatt, Prod. Super.
A LOCALLY OPERATED MEMBER OF THE
DONREY MEDIA GROUP
All bonuses are based on the employee’s
work performance and salary. Gambino said
they are meant to reward a work force of
65,000 stretched thin by a 20 percent cut in the
number of employees and growing demands.
Agencies are allowed to give annual csh
awards equal to 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent* of
their total payroll costs, Gambino said. Social
Security’s bonuses amounted to 1.4 percent f
Chickasha Bailg Express
Brenda K. Haney, Publisher
V
Tami Butler, Adv. Mgr.
Brenda Baker, Office Mgr.
H.S. Caldwell, Press Room Super.
According to Gambino, the agency
awarded bonuses to 2,891 high-level man-
agers totaling $3.1 million dollars, or an aver*
age of $1,060 per person. —e w
An additional 42,727 rank-and-file worket
collected bonuses totaling $29.1 million, orram
average of $681 each. The cost of the bonuses
to Thompson and 25 other senior executives
named the agency’s second-ranking executive
by Health and Human Services Secretary
Donna Shalala on July 19.
His bonus, recommended by Social Secu-
rity Commissioner Shirley Chater and ap-
proved by Shalala, was for the fiscal year that
ended 73 days later, on Sept. 30, Gambino
said.
Thompson’s annual salary is $120,594.
Social Security is not unique among federal
agencies in awarding employee bonuses.
But the agency’s decision to spend $32 mil-
lion is striking because Social Security lobbied
Congress last year for additional money to
process a growing backlog of disability claims.
Congress gave the agency an extra $200
million and Rep. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., ques-
tions whether Social Security would have
been able to finance its bonuses without that
money.
Bunning, the senior Republican on the
House Ways and Means Social Security sub-
CIA
ADMINISTRXTON
By JENNIFER DIXON
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Social Secu-
rity Administration paid out $32 million in*
employee bonuses last year and gave the
largest single award — $9,256 — to an execu-
tive who had been on the job for less than
three months.
Two-thirds of the agency’s 65,000 employ-
ees got the cash bonuses in 1993, according to
Social Security spokesman Phil Gambino.
Records obtained under the Freedom of In-
formation Act show that the biggest award
Sunday, May 1,1994 Page 4-A
-2
-2
The Chickasha Daily Express welcomes letters from
readers. To make this space available to as many writers
as possible, brief letters are preferred. Those unsigned
wi nut be pulitc. Letters vcat ut vppvSttiy a
candidate for public office, those discussing an election
issue will not be published in the final two weeks prior to
the election. We reserve the right to condense or reject
any letter. Write to Chickasha Daily Express, 302 N. 3rd,
Chickasha, OK 73018.
system.”
“The money we gave them to clean it up
shouldn’t be going to bonuses,” he said.
The awards come at a time of growing
problems for the agency.
A record number of people are applying for
disability benefits, severely straining the
agency’s ability to quickly evaluate their cases.
Applicants have waited a year or more to
learn if they will receive disability payments.
Callers have often complained that they
cannot get through on the agency’s toll-free
hot line or that telephones ring unanswered.
Federal investigators have uncovered
abuse and fraud by immigrants, drug addicts
and alcoholics who receive Social Security
disability payments. And the agency has vir-
tually abandoned all reviews of disability re-
cipients to determine whether they have re-
covered and should be removed from the rolls.
Thompson served as the agency’s acting
commissioner from the date of his appoint-
committee, called the bonuses outrageous and
criticized the agency for giving Thompson
such a large sum after such a short time on the
job.
“To get $9,256 for 2 1/2 months of service
in the Social Security Administration, that is
an outrage that we all ought to be made aware
of,” Bunning said.
Rep. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the
senior Republican on a separate Ways and
Means subcommittee that oversees part of
Social Security, said an agency that admits to
"13
Joint committees keep representatives busy-
Our heroes
By WINONA SIMMONS
Special to the Express _______________________
Back in simpler days, such as those portrayed in the Andy Grif-
fith Show, law enforcement officers were looked up to and re-
spected by the public.
Andy Griffith portrayed our ideal. He was fair but tough, kind
and compassionate to all and he stood up for what he believed in.
He was a honorable law enforcement officer of that generation
and he maintained peace in his community without wearing a
gun.
Today, the flash and dazzle police forces are revered by the
public also.
Lawmen, as portrayed by Andy Griffith, were heroes to us back
then and cops, such as the one Bruce Willis played in the movie Die
Hard are public idols today. In today’s chaotic and violent world,
we cling to the image of our heroes which continues primarily in-
volve our law enforcement officers.
Today’s generation has come to equate heroic cops with
S.W.AT. teams and assault weapons. We take for granted that our
every day cops are out there on the streets - on the front line - for
us day in and day out. Most people see law officers as protectors.
We have faith that they are out there in the world protecting the
underdog - our children, our elderly, and our disabled.
We know our men and women in blue will stand up for what is
right and good. At least, this is the optimistic view we have of our
law enforcement officers. It is essential to us - to our culture in
general faith in the goodness and valor of mankind, as personified
in our police officers.
A large portion of our society complains about cops, but when
the chips are down, they too expect the men and women in blue to
be the good guys who will right the wrongs of the world. Even
when we see our police in corrupt situations, we try to block out
their human frailties and see only the heroic facade.
Jeph Wambaagh in Liner and Shadows, explaihs that
"America mythologizes her men of action." We need the belief that
our quick draw lawmen will ride into Dodge and dean up the
town - citizens will be safe on the streets with our guardian angels
behind the badges looking benevolently on.
We believe in our own moral courage, but we project the belief
in our moral and physical courage onto law enforcement officers.
Even when the police are dishonorable we really expect other po-
licemen to discover it and rectify whatever is wrong: to "take care
ofit".
There is an obvious parallel between the boys of Mayberry and
the awe and worship of their hero. Sheriff Taylor, in the Andy
Griffith Show and any classroom operating the D.A.R.E. program
today.
The D.A.R.E. program brings a police officer into individual
classrooms to educate children about drug and alcohol abuse. The
visual impact of this program is immediately apparent and very
effective on children. The officer, in full regalia, (neat blue uni-
form, shiny badge, gun in its holster, billy dub, etc.) comes into a
room full of children.
As the weeks of the program progress, the officer learns the
children’s names and the kids are in awe and are definitely
hooked. This is hero worship at its finest! The children want to live
up to their heroes’ expectations. If their hero says drugs and alco-
hol are bad, then the children will say drugs and alcohol are bad.
Of course, some will end up ignoring what they learn in the
D.A.R.E. program, but many will always look on their police friend
their failure to "stay straight"
Most people who go into law enforcement have a genuine de-
sire to help and protect people. When coupled with this initial de-
sire, the expectations of the public have a profound effect on the
psyche of the cops. They are looked up to, so they strive to live up
to these expectations. The television reinforces this idea week after
week with factual reconstructions of the heroic acts of our law en-
forcement men and women.
Law officers are the embodiment of our hope for justice. We
ding to the belief that for all the injustices being perpetuated in the
world, there are law officers on guard for them, and like the gun-
fighters of old they will ride in and wreak vengeance upon the
wrong doers.
Evil will perish, while light and goodness will triumph. This
sounds rather far fetched but without this hope for heroism and
justice in the world, our souls would wither and die from malnutri-
tion, for as Langston Hughes said, "Without dreams life is a broken
winged bird that cannot fly".
We, as a society, need to view our law enforcement officers as
heroes to maintain our hope for justice in the world. The alterna-
tive is so bleak and depressing that we must "keep the faith* or give
up living at all.
Just imagine what our world would be like if people could not
walk in the street without being robbed or if our families were shot
down in front of us, and we had no one to call for assistance.
I realize that in some places in the U.S. residents might feel as
though that is their present situation but in general Americans do
have the hope for help from our law enforcement agencies. Unfor-
tunately, many citizens in other countries will never have any hope
for justice from their governmets.
CIA
ARCHIVE
I
_
The Health and Human Services Subcommittee will have just under
$870 million to allocate to a number of agencies including the Depart-
ment of Human Services, the Health Department, and the Department
of Veterans Affairs. That figure represents a 2.3 percent increase from
lastyear.
The Natural Resources and Regulatory Services Subcommittee will
have less money with which to write the budgets for the Corporatiop
Commission, Agriculture Department, the Banking Department, and
other agencies that regulate industries in the state. This panel will have
CIA
PERSONNEL
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Local and National viewpoints on today's world
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serious problems in its disability programs the money for any awards. 1
Gambino said the bonus rewards Thompr 9
son for his ‘outstanding, high-performance ‘
work at GAO and his excellent” tenure as tact- g
ing commissioner of Social Security. 1Lq 9
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just over $81 million, a decrease of 0.4 percent. . 5
OKLAHOMA CITY — Much of the week’s activity in the House of The final subcommittee is the Public Safety and Transportation Suh
Representatives was confined to joint House-Senate conference commit- committee. Among the agencies for which the panel will write the hud
tees. get are the Department of Corrections, the Department of Transporta-
These panels, comprised of both representatives and senators, are tion and state law enforcement entities. The almost $427 million budge
charged with hammering out compromises on bills which passed both represents a slight 0.6 percent increase over last year.
houses of the Legislature in different forms. w . "
The largest conference committee, the General Conference Commit- „ o;11 Marriage and FamilyLegislation
tee on Appropriations (GCCA), will be the hotbed of activity for most of . House Bill 1942 would slightly alter the divorce laws in cases whe?
the remainder of the session. minor children are involved. The bill provides that no order in a divre
GCCA is charged with writing the final version of the state budget be- action where minor children are involved could become final until 90
fore submitting it to the rest of the Legislature for final legislative ap- VS the petition Was filed.
proval; under the Legislature’s rules, spending bills must be approved A Senate amendment would allow the 90-day requirement toW
and forwarded to the governor no later than May 20, one week before waivedshouidthe.court find good cause when neither party to the di
the constitutionally mandated adjournment xee objects. The bill was forwarded to the governor for his considers-
Legislative budget writers got a bit of good news this week when the ton 2a
target figures for the five GCCA subcommittees were announced. Law- Motor Vehicles and Transportation , *
makers will have about 2.2 percent more money to spend on state ser- The House accepted Senate amendments to House Bill 2302. As i
vices this year compared to last. Expenditures cannot exceed revenues passed the House, the measure simply protected individuals who pur
because Oklahoma, unlike the federal government, must operate with a chase vehicles from having to pay any penalties accrued by an orignh
balanced budget purchaser who bounced a check for registering the vehicle. The Senate
The budget for each area of state government is written by a GCCA added an amendment that would allow the Commissioner of Public
subcommittee. The five areas are Education, General Government and Safety to issue special permits for 14-year-olds and older to operate mo
Judiciary, Health and Human Services, Natural Resources and Regula- torcycles larger than a 125cc in competitive events sanctioned by the
tory Services, and Public Safety and Transportation. The subcommittees Commissioner. The permits would be only for a maximum of 30 days, i
will direct their allocations among the several state agencies they over- After okaying the Senate amendment, the House overwhelming!]!
see. approved the bill and sent it on to the governor.
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schools and colleges and universities - will receive the lion’s share of cities that perform road construction or maintenance which affects 3
state money, almost $2.1 billion (an increase of 2.7 percent from last state highway to rebuild the affected highway according to state Trans
year). portation Department specifications.
The General Government and Judiciary Subcommittee will write the If the city failed to restore the state highway, the state Transportation
budgets for such entities as the Legislature, the courts and other elected Department would do it and charge the city for the costs.
and administrative offices. The panel will have almost $187 million to After approving a Senate amendment, the bill was forwarded to.the
ment until Chater took over in October. ;
Gambino argued that Thompson’s bonus
covers both his work at Social Security and his
last nine months at the General Accounting
Office, where he served as assistant
comptroller general for human resource pro-
grams.
The money to pay for the bonus, however,
came out of Social Security’s budget. And
Thompson, had he stayed at GAO, would
have not have received a bonus because the
congressional watchdog agency didn’t have i
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Cranke, Jay. Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Okla.), Vol. 104, No. 42, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 1, 1994, newspaper, May 1, 1994; Chickasha, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1876163/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.