Dr. Eowyn posted: "At the same time as the Department of Homeland
Security has ballooned into the largest federal government bureaucracy in a
mere 13 years, with 240,000 full-time workers, a $61 billion budget,
sub-agencies that include the notorious TSA and FEMA, and enoug" Respond
to this post by replying above this line
New post on *Fellowship of the Minds*
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/eowyn2/> Big change to Social
Security coming
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/06/18/big-change-to-social-security-coming/>
by
Dr. Eowyn <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/eowyn2/>
[image: Social Security closing offices]
<https://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/social-security-closing-offices.jpg>At
the same time as the Department of Homeland Security has ballooned into the
largest federal government bureaucracy in a mere 13 years, with 240,000
full-time workers, a $61 billion budget, sub-agencies that include the
notorious TSA and FEMA, and enough ammo to fight a hot war for 20+ years,
the Obama administration is dismantling the Social Security Administration
at dizzying speed.
(For more on the DHS leviathan, see "Constitutional attorney: Department of
Homeland Security is Obama’s standing army
<http://cofda.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/constitutional-attorney-department-of-homeland-security-is-obamas-standing-army/>
".)
There are dramatic changes underway that threaten to end Social Security as
we know it — yet almost no one has even heard of it.
That's the warning by *J. David Cox Sr., the national president of the
American Federation of Government Employees* (AFGE).
AFGE represents more than 670,000 federal and D.C. government employees
nationwide, including more than 28,000 Social Security Administration (SSA)
field office employees across America.
In an article republished by the *Omaha Sun Times*
<http://omahasuntimes.com/2014/06/the-biggest-change-to-social-security-youve-never-heard-about/>
on June 16, 2014, Cox explains that the plan is called Vision 2025
<http://www.ssa.gov/agency/asp/Vision2025.html>, and every working American
has a stake in it. The plan's ramifications will affect every working man
and woman in this country for generations.
This is how perverse the plan is:
Social Security Administration dispenses $850 billion a year to more than
43 million Americans in 1,200 field offices across the country. SSA has
lost 12% of its employees in just the past three years, and another third
of the workforce numbering 30,000 will retire in the next decade.
"Customer" demand is breaking records, yet failure to fill vacancies means
longer waits for appointments, three times longer than last year for
assistance on SSA's 1-800 phone line. SSA's website that was set up to take
pressure off the field offices can’t meet demand either.
So what does the head of SSA do?
The answer is Vision 2025, SSA's long-range strategic plan for the next 10
years which will be unveiled this Fall.
Cox calls a draft of the plan <https://www.afge.org/?documentID=4086>,
being developed for SSA by the National Academy of Public Administration,
"frightening":
- *Most of SSA’s 1,200 field offices will be shut down*, leaving the
agency with a “significantly smaller and more virtual workforce.”
Already, 80
SSA field offices
<http://labornotes.org/2014/05/social-security-threatens-close-all-field-offices>
have been closed, with the remaining offices having their hours
dramatically reduced.
- The 30,000 SSA employees who will be retiring will not be replaced.
- The remaining employees will be “generalists” who lack the technical
skills and expertise to address benefits questions.
- *Customers could reach an actual claims representative only in “very
limited circumstances,”* either through in-person visits, phone calls,
online chats or video conferences. *In the vast majority of cases, the
only way to interact with SSA would be online*, through the SSA
website's “online self-service delivery.”
Self-service checkout may work at grocery stores, but it’s not the right
model for an agency tasked with determining complex retirement and
disability benefits for tens of millions of Americans each year.
Most of the individuals contacting SSA for help are elderly, disabled or
indigent. Many others are active seniors who simply are overwhelmed by the
complicated maze of laws, regulations and policies pertaining to retirement
benefits. They deserve and expect face-to-face interaction with skilled
employees who can ensure they receive all the benefits they are owed.
The American Federation of Government Employees will submit testimony
at a congressional
hearing
<http://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings/reduction-in-face-to-face-services-at-the-social-security-administration>
on SSA’s plan to dismantle the program. Cox urges that we join the
discussion <http://www.afge.org/> about a program that all of us will
ultimately depend on because our retirement security is at stake.
*~Eowyn*
*Dr. Eowyn <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/eowyn2/>* | June 18,
2014 at 10:27 am | Tags: American Federation of Government Employees
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=american-federation-of-government-employees>,
J. David Cox Sr.
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=j-david-cox-sr>, National
Academy of Public Administration
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=national-academy-of-public-administration>,
Vision 2025 <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=vision-2025> |
Categories: DHS <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=418542>,
Liberals/Democrats/Left <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=115894710>,
Obama <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=376320>, Obama's America
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=12285619>, United States
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=5850> | URL: http://wp.me/pKuKY-qUO
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