Tell SSA not to spend your money advocating for privatization

[gratuitous]

There's a web form you can use:

http://www.ssa.gov/feedback/complaints.htm

I didn't see "privatization" or "misuse of budget" as one of the areas to complain about, so I chose "other" and sent them this:

It has come to my attention in a story today in the New York Times that the Social Security Administration is spending part of its budget "to publicize the financial problems of Social Security and to convince the public that private accounts are needed as part of any solution."

If this report is accurate, please stop spending my retirement money to explain why I will have a shortage of retirement money when I retire. Since this is ultimately my money, as President Bush repeats over and over to justify another tax cut, please respect my wishes. This is ghastly.

signed,
gratuitous

[stray cat]

1. Great letter. Thanks for the link: Mine is less professional and polite.

Social Security agency should not be used as a paid infomercial.

Is it legal to use tax money and a government agency such as social security to spread President Bush's agenda? It sounds way to much like President Bush authorizing the education department to use tax dollars to fund the journalist Armstrong Williams to campaign for President Bush. The fact that the public was never notified that it was a paid advertisement makes that action fraudulent.

The same can be said for the social security agency campaigning for President Bush's agenda. First, it is not acceptable. Second, why isn't it correctly labeling itself as a paid infomercial?

[NVMojo]

2. Reid is doing that ...

For Immediate Release
January 15, 2005

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) released the following statement today on reports that the Bush administration is using the Social Security Administration to promote his reckless plan to cut benefits:

"The idea that George W. Bush would instruct the Social Security Administration to spend valuable dollars to promote his privatization plan is shocking.

"When it comes to promoting its own political agenda, it's clear this White House knows no bounds. It has paid journalists to bias their coverage and is now turning the Social Security Administration into a White House PR firm. The United States government is not a Republican propaganda machine, and I call on President Bush to immediately investigate and put an end to these actions.

"We will have a debate about the best way to strengthen Social Security, and the American people will decide for themselves if they support the President's plan to cut benefits in half and drive up the debt. In the meantime, for Republicans to try and use taxpayers' dollars and resources to build support for this plan is simply unconscionable."

[stray cat]

3. Beautiful. But lets add some of our own public outrage behind it.