I could write at least 50 snarky snippets tonight, for my mood is dark, but in the interest of not steaming up my glasses any more than they already are, I’ll settle for two …
Bye-Bye Mr. Saul
Sometimes you have to look at things and just laugh. Take, for example, the case of this man …
Andrew Saul was the Trump-appointed Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, fired on Friday by President Joe Biden. First, Saul was asked to resign … a request which he refused. Then, left with no other choice, the President terminated his employment. You’re still waiting for the funny part, right? The funny part is that Saul refuses to leave! He claims his term lasts until January 2025, that he is “term-protected”, and he plans to be at work on Monday morning. In the words of the late, great Forest Gump … “Stupid is as stupid does.”
Typically, the position of head of an independent agency such as the U.S. Postal Service or the Social Security Administration is protected from a change in administration, but in this case, both a recent Supreme Court ruling, followed by a Justice Department memo affirmed the President’s authority to terminate Mr. Saul’s employment. According to a statement issued by the White House …
“Since taking office, Commissioner Saul has undermined and politicized Social Security disability benefits, terminated the agency’s telework policy that was utilized by up to 25 percent of the agency’s workforce, not repaired SSA’s relationships with relevant Federal employee unions including in the context of COVID-19 workplace safety planning, reduced due process protections for benefits appeals hearings, and taken other actions that run contrary to the mission of the agency and the President’s policy agenda.”
A wealthy former women’s apparel executive and prominent Republican donor, Saul, 74 — who served on the board of a conservative think tank that has called for cuts to Social Security benefits — had overseen one of the biggest operations in the federal government since his 2019 Senate confirmation. The Social Security Administration pays out more than $1 trillion a year to about 64 million beneficiaries (yours truly is one of those), who include seniors, the disabled and low-income Americans.
Now what in this man’s past qualified him to head the Social Security Administration … selling clothes to women somehow doesn’t get it in my mind! And to add insult to injury, he was known for calling for cuts in Social Security! I spent a lifetime paying into Social Security so that now, in my post-employment days, I could have a bit of income — not enough to live on, but it helps. I’ll be damned if I want some bozo who sold panties and bras for a living controlling my hard-earned retirement income!
Much like the aforementioned DeJoy, Saul was not initially hired to promote and enhance the work of the agency he was charged with overseeing, but rather was tasked with that agency’s destruction. I hope that on Monday Mr. Saul finds his computer access cut off, Metro Police waiting to escort him off the property, and his paycheck stopped. Oh … Saul’s response to his firing?
“I quite frankly feel I’m doing an excellent job there.” 🤣🤣🤣
I hope Louis DeJoy is next.
CPAC Again???
There is yet another Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) taking place in Dallas this weekend. No wonder the Republican Party hasn’t got the time to actually do their jobs, for they are always busy preparing for and attending these ‘conferences’ where nothing is ever accomplished except tooting their own horns and airing their grievances.
The ‘star’ of the show on Friday seems to have been Representative Madison Cawthorn, a genuine nutcase from the word ‘go’. He has a theory about President Biden’s plan to have volunteers go door-to-door offering information and assistance to people about the COVID vaccine. Says ol’ Madison …
“Think about the mechanisms they would have to build to be able to actually execute that massive of a thing. And then think about what those mechanisms could be used for. They could then go door to door and take your guns. They could go door to door and take your Bibles.”
A young lady took them into her office almost immediately, asked one or two questions and told them it would be processed ‘now’. My friend asked her why it wasn’t already processed, as it had been ‘in process’ for three weeks. Now comes the jaw-dropping part, so I advise you to sit down before reading further …
I want you to stop and think about this one for a few minutes, folks. The Social Security Administration, the agency tasked with collecting 7.65% of our gross wages every pay period and then seeing that we receive a certain amount each month upon our retirement or disability, has a website but nobody is monitoring it. How many people are, right this very minute, checking the website, hoping to see that their application to receive their own money, has moved from “in process” to “approved” status? Hundreds? Thousands?
This administration has committed many atrocities, and this is only one more in the ever-growing stack of ‘WTF’ items, but it is a crucial one. Be advised that in all likelihood, not a single one of the government’s websites are being administered in the manner they should be, and by all means, if you need something from the Social Security Administration, your best bet is to show up on their doorstep.
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