Public Service Recognition Week, May 1-7, is a special time to celebrate those who serve our country as federal, state, county and local government employees. This year’s theme is “Honoring Our Public Servants.”
Public service is a part of the foundation of our great country. We are proud to be part of that foundation. Social Security is with you through life’s journey. Each day our more than 60,000 employees provide invaluable service to the public in communities across the country. Each day I witness firsthand, how our staff serve the public with care and compassion. They are enduring champions for the most vulnerable in our community assisting thousands everyday with exceptional service.
From those who work in our field and hearing offices, teleservice and payment centers, to those who serve at our headquarters, our employees embody the mission of our agency. As Acting Commissioner, I am honored and extremely proud to work side by side with our employees in serving the needs of the public.
I want to extend my personal thanks to all of our employees for their commitment and dedication as public servants. Securing today and tomorrow would not be possible without them. I know they will continue to provide exemplary service to the public.
Please join me in taking time this week to recognize someone for their hard work, dedication and excellence in public service. I am sure they will appreciate the acknowledgment.
My wife of 42 years and myself wish to thank you all for the work you do helping seniors make it through their daily lives, very much appreciated.
Hi I am a Disable Veteran/Disabled SSD. My wife of 33 years Divorced me, due to my NECGLECT, my fault.. She is very happy remarried to first husband an back in Utah with the Morons.. I am in need help an do not know what to do ??? I am not able to drive. STROKE an am getting house bound. I will be calling a Nevada Social worker for aide. I am truly blessed to be alive an need to continue my independence!! So I have to dropdown off my pride an ask for help,!! thank God for SSA agents for their past help, to a 30 plus years as a Health Care Professional.myself…
Thank you! We’re pleased we can help. We will continue our efforts to meet your requirements and expectations in the years to come.
Your labor does not go unappreciated!
We appreciate your thoughts Dallas. Thanks for your comment!
I want to thank you for your hard work you do every day for the senior community.
– Thank you Ellen! Social Security is committed to providing world-class customer service today and in the years to come.
To bad Congress cuts our Social Security because we get a pension from our public job.
At first I thought this article was a recognition of those who make Social Security (and Medicare, Medicaid) possible, but I see it is not that.
I will tell you who makes it possible: Those millions of us workers and their employers who have our income reduced every paycheck to fund Social Security and Medicare taxes, THAT is who makes it possible.
A total of 15.3% of each of our pay (7.65% employee pays, 7.65% employer pays) is removed from our paychecks to fund this program. Without us, Social Security ceases to exist.
As a former State employee I paid into social security, the same as you! I’m not sure where you got your info.
Rob is absolutely correct. FICA employee deduction is 7.65 %. Employer matches it. Self employed pay both, making it 15.3 %. This is figured on gross income.
Rob,
You are living a dream. SS is a shell game. They call it “insurance”, “savings”, “retirement” etc. it is none of those things and never has been. The money we pay in goes whereever Congress decides it wants it to go, but mainly to pay IOU’s or Gov’t backed Treasuries. Gov’t backed treasuries are Treasuries the Gov’t backs with IOU’s. There is no big Savings Plan that your FICA goes to, it was set up that way, way back in the beginning until Congress started robbing it to pay whatever they wanted with more programs and more printing money out of thin air. That is a little convoluted, but this whole economy is teetering on this printing paper money out of thin air and paying IOU’s from one division of gov’t to another.
Susan
I agree with you that the SS fund should be kept separate and our gov’t should keep their hands off of it, but as far as a “shell game” I would be in big trouble if it weren’t for SS. I have worked all of my life (57 years and counting), and put money into both a retirement account through the stock market and also to SS. In 2008 when the stock market crashed, I lost close to 2/3 of my retirement. That is why I’m still working today at 75 to try to get it back up to where I can retire. Right now, if I retired today, my SS check would be 3 times what my pension check would be. Don’t knock SS. It may fail but not because the thought behind the program isn’t good – it will fail because of gov’t policies or the failure of our country to protect are not viable.
I’ve served Active Army over 10 yrs and
Civilian service in Army 20 yrs, total served 31 years then retired in 2012.
But I and my spouse can’t use PX and commisary privileges.
If you request to allows these privilege to
DOD for civilian retire who served over 20 years, please do.
Thank you
Lifetime jobs, Cadillac pensions, health care and no fear of getting fired…….and STILL WHINING!! All of THAT is fully funded by me (and others!) the taxpayer. I cannot fund my own retirement account and health care costs(Obamacare) are going through the roof along with the deductibles. Wake up and smell what you are shoveling!
Get over it. Had it not been for the labor battles of public employees and unions, you would/would have worked 60 hr weeks, no vacation, no overtime, no sick pay, no OSHA protections, the list goes on. You…..stop your whining foe taking a free ride on the back of those who fought for what we still have. There is no middle class because the union busters were the destroyers.
When I needed help getting set up for my Social Security retirement, I was quite frustrated because it often took a LONG time to get someone on the ‘phone. Considering we’re a country of over three hundred million, that is understandable! Each time I did reach someone, without fail they were patient, helpful, knowledgeable and totally professional. THANKS!!
I want to thank you. I’m disabled and I want you to know. Thanks for help and all you do
Lets get this straight. Millions of people hav pai into social security their entire working lives. It is not an entitlemnt. I was required to submit. And now that i am too old to work i receive no raises for the years of interest the gov. Has held my money. I also pay monthly for medicare plus buy additional insuance. The only entitlemnt is from the federal gov and tits workers hited to take my money and por it into the abyss entitlement called meicaid
I have tried a couple of times to open my account but get rejected. I have been receiving a check for about 6 years or so. How can I get this done.
I do thank all those employees who work hard each day in order to eventually receive their EARNED Social Security when they retire. Most of them are honest, hardworking people! I also thank those who make SSDI and SSI available to those people who truly need it. NO complaints there.
I DO NOT, however, thank our state and federal politicians who get little done for the time they put in and yet manage to vote themselves a raise nearly every year, as well as life time medical, etc benefits whether they ‘worked’ for 2 years or 30 years! Makes no different to them! It’s time they take a look around and realize they are, for the most par,t a laughing stock by those who ARE NOT politicians! I believe they need to clean up their act soon or there may very well be riots from the everyday people as there recently were in Iraq – that rebellion was NOT against ISIS, but against the Leaders of their Country, who, like ours make sure their pockets are lined and tend to ignore the everyday citizens! JUST! MY! OPINION!
Thanks for your comment Carol!
My parents began their working lives during the Great Depression. The enactment of a minimum wage improved my dad’s ability to provide for a family, and decades later my working-class parents were able to retire…not to penury and deprivation, but to sufficiency and the availability of life’s basic necessities, thanks to Social Security. When their health failed, Medicare provided for their care. During their entire adult lives, public servants made the way smoother for them. Over the decades, Social Security never failed to timely provide the funds due them and that kept them solvent. And I, their son, now in my mid-70s, am able to pay my bills and stay healthy with the help of public servants whose exertions in my behalf have never slackened. I am so thankful to the civil servants of every rank who help me sustain some dignity and a modicum of independence in my senior years, mindful as I am of how challenging life could be for those forebears for whom the ravages of age or disability and the consequent inability to work often condemned them to scarcity and suffering.
Thank you for sharing Robert!
Thank you Robert, You said it all for me.
Thank you for all your under-appreciated efforts to help those of us who depend on Social Security payments! The service we have received has always been friendly and helpful.
Thank you David! Your thoughts are important to us and we’re pleased when feedback is positive. We try hard to provide the best possible service to our customers and your satisfaction is our reward.
First, I’d like to know why social security, once a cave is done it doesn’t look at an across the board appl I cation od a ruling? I’m referring in particular to a dual National Guards man having their WEP cut in half, especially after the 8th circuit court found in favor of Peterson v Astrue. Why should the government have to keep spending court/lawyer fees for every circuit court in this country when it could just make an across the board ruling. We award this to those who don’t pay in/new to the country but we can’t take care of our own feferal/military employees ? Something just doesn’t make sense
Thank you Social Security workers for all your good work. I have met many employees and all are excellent and conscientious workers. Congratulations and special thanks to my daughter, who just retired after 38 years of service to the public, for her dedication to helping people.
Thanks for your feedback Coreen! We value your opinion of us and look forward to many more years of serving you in the future. We echo the “congratulations” to your daughter in her retirement and thank her for the many years of public service.
Thank you Social Security for being there for me at time of need. Social Security was wonderful benefit that help sustain my family through my cancer. Every single Social Security staffer I worked during that period were polite and helpful. Great Job Social Security, we appreciate your outstanding efforts!
Thank you George! We value your opinion of us and look forward to many more years of serving you in the future.
Thanks SSA for the difficult, technical work you do for the American people.
Thank you Raymond! Your thoughts are important to us and we’re pleased when feedback is positive. We try hard to provide the best possible service to our customers and your satisfaction is our reward.
I agree with Raymond. Thanks for a great job, well done.
We appreciate your thoughts Mike. Thanks for your comment!
Thanks to all who perform the necessary daily tasks to assist us in receiving all the info needed to keep the system flowing. Have never been disappointed when meeting with anyone in your offices.
Thank you Dennis! We’re pleased we can help. Social Security is committed to providing world-class customer service today and in the years to come.
Are you freakin’ kidding me? For what? For you keeping some of our money for yourselves. For you not giving SS a raise last fall but the president can ask for a raise? For you who will not fix the VA for the military? And I mean FIX! Not band-aid the medical group. You can buy a thank-you cake with our money!!!
Rick Meilenzahl
Congress was the one who robbed SS. The president has to get anything, including a raise authorized by congress. Clinton was the one who doubled the pay of the President and Congress approved. Of course the raise was not for himself, it was for whoever followed him, which he would not have known at the time. There have been several years in the last half dozen that there was no COLA in SS. The economy is stagnant and it is not going to get any better any time soon. I believe they are working on fixing the VA, of course, no fix is perfect.
Hello,
Thank You for the hard Work!
Sadly,our Money from the Fond,Goes somewhere else!
No raise! many Seniors are struggling.Medicaid Recipient
Are In advantage,getting Health care,Other incentives free.What would happened if Millions of American did not earn SS? Seniors should not be undermined,Many still work Paying Medicare,Supplement Inc.Lets not overlook ,it is not a Gift,it is earned hard Way!
Thanks for your comment Verica!
In keeping with the spirit of this email, I want to thank SSA for their service. I have been retired 5 years now and my contacts with SSA employees has been professional and efficient. This includes everything from help in deciding when to start taking payments to recently working with Miss White in the Chicago office after my online account was hacked. I have always felt the employees truly wanted to help me. Additionally, we know as insurance practices go, Medicare is by far more efficient and more economical than the for profit insurance alternatives.
TY SSA for all your hard work. Yes I get upset when we don’t get our little 3% raise which is desperately needed. I live in $11,000. yr prices of food going up and have to cut my food purchases short. SSA was very helpful with my transition of working to disability as I had worked since age 15. Didn’t go on welfare but did the best I could with my children. Everone from SSA has always been courteous and helpful when answering questions. They work very busy days. If you sit and wait in line to speak to a SSA agent it is very busy non stop! Not an easy job. Thank you all!! We do need more money in our cks.. TY
Thank God and ssa for doing so much, people would be in a lot of trouble i myself went through poverty back in the 50’s when i was just a child when i lived in washington ,DC in old sw. always hungry wondering where could i get something to eat my mother was getting ssa at the time i think about 60.00 a month but after rent for a one room shack there was not much left for both of us my mother drink a lot i would come home from school when i went and she would be past out on the bed drunk no food no nothing it does make me angry when people complain about food they just don’t know i just wish we had more Presidents that care more about people and little children live in their shoes for a while it’s real sad so you see i’m thankful for getting what i do get now.
Thanks for your comment Dave!
just want to communicate how much appreciation everyones valuable job effects blesses all citizens of the united states of America. Thanks
Thank you for your helpful ,friendly representatives . The wait times are sometimes long but reps are usually friendly and helpful. I was a customer service rep years ago. Thanks for all you do.
We appreciate your thoughts. Thanks for your comment!
Thank you for this opportunity to share and hear other people’s opinions. This open mindedness I believe can play a large part in getting our country uniting rather than diving! My deceased husband had a chronic and progressing blood disorder which he eventually died from. He had to go on disability which added to my work income allowed us to keep a roof over our heads. I worked all my life and of course paid into SS. I had to retire a few years early due to caregiving and am so grateful to get those checks each month we could depend on. I have never experienced anything negative with SS employees, and for that I’m grateful. Life gets hard enough at times. It was a low-blow tho when my husband died and I lost $700 a month income! I do get angry when our politicians call it ‘entitled, welfare, Ponzi Scheme, etc.’. All the while they’re writing IOU’s, listening to lobbyists and lining their pockets for a lifetime of security. A country that is unable or unwilling to care for our children and our elderly will not stand! And we’re beginning to see the handwriting on the wall. I pray for our country and our leaders daily. Thanks for letting me share. God bless us all.
Whatever you do, don’t use Direct Express card services to receive your benefits. They are scamming the elderly. They offer no protection is your card is used unauthorized. They say they file a dispute but it is only a delay tactic for you to give up on the process. They have scammed me twice. It is a shame to use the elderly for monetary benefits. And what is even worse is the fact that they use the Social Security Adm. to their benefit.