I am reminded that a college friend once told me that the hammer is the greatest of all tools because if you can't fix it with a hammer by the time you're done with it, it can't be fixed.
16 comments:
Anonymous
said...
At least you have a chance with a hammer, there is no chance with a chain saw. I retired from SSA even though I wanted to keep working as I have known nothing else. I’ve been a public servant all my life seeing limbs blown off, flags placed over the dead bodies of soldiers who were someone’s loved ones cried enough tears for the families not there. Now I cry for my country. I have tremendous knowledge of the SSA programs, have taught medical courses formally and informally, as well as SSA programs mentoring a lot of new hires and existing staff. Yet, I’m only one example there are even more talented people leaving in masses. Who is the ultimate loser the American people who are supposed to have a voice in congress. For some reason all of this is okay as the Federal employees have been demonized. Yet, when I was protecting our country was I a demon then? Soldiers are Federal employees. What about when I helped the disabled by making sure someone with an IQ of 55 was not ceased is that demonic? I am mad about how the Federal Employees have been treated, but sadness and despair seem to describe it better. I certainly could have made more money with 4 advanced degrees, but I had and up until now have always had a public service calling.
Whose going to break the news to her that she’s a federal employee?She should stick to space lasers.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said federal workers “don’t deserve” their paychecks during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Tuesday.
“Those are not real jobs producing federal revenue, by the way. They’re consuming taxpayer dollars. Those jobs are paid for by the American tax people, who work real jobs, earn real income, pay federal taxes and then pay these federal employees,” Greene said during the hearing.
The hammer reminds me of this previous effort: VP Gore presented the National Performance Review on September 7, 1993. Gore cited the long-term goal to "change the very culture of the federal government," and designated "optimism" and "effective communication" as the keys to success. The report noted that successful organizations—businesses, city and state governments, and organizations of the federal government—do four things well. These four things became the recipe for reinventing government: 1) Put customers first; 2) Cut red tape; 3) Empower employees to get results; 4) Cut back to basics. The Hammer Award recognizes government efficiency as a part of the program. It consists of a $6 hammer, a striped ribbon and an aluminum-framed note from Gore. The award parodies the Pentagon's bloated hardware costs, including the infamous $436 hammer, although the cost of the hammer was actually an artifact of government accounting rules and included not just the cost of the equipment but also a portion of the overhead cost of the entire project it was associated with.
The ruling comes as Dellinger is challenging the removal of probationary workers who were fired as part of the Trump administration’s massive overhaul of the government. A federal board on Tuesday halted the terminations of several probationary workers after Dellinger said their firings may have been unlawful.
“I’m glad and grateful to see the court confirm the importance and legality of the job protections Congress afforded my position," Dellinger said in a statement on Saturday. "My efforts to protect federal employees generally, and whistleblowers in particular, from unlawful treatment will continue.”
The judge said the special counsel has a “unique status and mission," which requires independence from the president to ensure he can carry out his responsibilities. The office investigates whistleblower claims of reprisal, can pursue disciplinary action against employees who punish whistleblowers and provides a channel for employees to disclose government wrongdoing.
“If I don’t have independence, if I can be removed for no good reason, federal employees are going to have no good reason to come to me,” Dellinger told reporters outside Washington’s federal courthouse after a recent hearing
I second what this poster said. Over 45 years with the agency but I knew this was coming. And it was with a lot of sadness that I left because I knew the real losers would be the people who needed us most--and they sure as all YOU KNOW WHAT aren't the hacks rubber stamping what Trump and Musk command them to do.
While I admit a hammer is useful, I would say that a brain is the most useful tool. The current administration knows nothing of the past and surely can not predict the bleak future our country is facing which will be a repeat of this country's past crises. A scarecrow that doesn't know it's a scarecrow is beyond pathetic.
I somewhat anticipated this issue would arise as soon as DHS was established after 9-11. If you look at how many govt employees are in DHS (227k+ at last count) many of those are positions that didn't exist before 2002. Those employees could have been assigned to all the other govt agencies to fill vacancies and plus-up those requiring a larger workforce to match growing workloads if DHS didn't exist. Though the size of govt workforce has grown, a lot of it has to do with new agencies created over the years, while basically taking those positions from existing agencies, essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul.
From: ^Commissioner Broadcast Sent: Saturday, March 1, 2025 6:36 PM To: #SSA Total Subject: Our Road Ahead
A Message to All SSA Employees
Subject: Our Road Ahead
Colleagues,
Criticism, contempt, stonewalling, and defensiveness are the four forces that can end any relationship and weaken any institution. Many of you feel angry, frustrated, and uncertain about the future. The world is different from the one we knew yesterday. Powerlessness and fear are rampant. I hear you. I understand. I empathize.
Elections have consequences. President Biden dismissed Andrew Saul, fundamentally altering the independence of the Social Security Administration. With that decision, the autonomy our employees once enjoyed changed.
Now, under President Trump, we follow established precedent: we serve at the pleasure and direction of the President. Only the Courts or Congress can intervene.
For too long, the Social Security Administration Headquarters has operated on autopilot, creating inefficiencies that burden our employees and all Americans. We have spent billions annually doing the same things the same way, leading to bureaucratic stagnation, inefficiency, and a lack of meaningful service improvements. It is time to change that.
We stand at a crossroads. With a clear mandate to change from the President, we are committed to ensuring that accountability never interferes with our customer contact service mission. We administer Old Age, Survivors, Disability Insurance and SSI. It is not our job to do the mission work of the FTC, ICE, BLS, IRS or the States. The life affirming moments we provide in the lives of citizens, is a result of serendipity - from doing our work well – it is not an end in itself, nor our mission. We need to double down on our greatest strength – the field. We need to revitalize SSA operations by streamlining activities, outsource non-essential functions to industry experts, and reinstating human judgment and common sense into every decision at every level.
This transformation requires tough, decisive choices. We will follow the law while embracing bold reforms. The changes we implement acknowledge the urgent customer service crisis we face and are determined to fix. For our dedicated staff and every American we serve, these difficult decisions are not setbacks but opportunities to create a more efficient, accountable, and responsive government.
With our reorganization, our regional offices have a seat at the Commissioners' table. We have offered Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP) to give colleagues the ability to shape their own futures. Simultaneously, we aim to ensure that those who wish to continue serving have opportunities to do so in public-facing roles.
I am fully aware of my position. I am a temporary figure in this institution—here briefly in its long history. Given the changes I have overseen, I understand the trust challenges that may exist. I do not expect the nominee for Commissioner to retain someone who has made difficult and, at times, painful choices. My own professional future remains uncertain, and I do not claim to be a visionary like Martha Derthick or a technology innovator like Marvin Minsky.
Do I have all the answers? No.
Does leadership have all the answers? No.
Yet, I know this agency and its people. It is your turn to stand up and lead. To show the content of your character.
We have always been resilient, compassionate, and resourceful, and these qualities define the best of us. I believe we can find solutions together; they will make for a better, stronger SSA.
We now have the opportunity to select and empower the best leaders—individuals who will drive innovation, cut waste, and restore public confidence in Social Security and beyond. Together, we can transform government into an institution that truly serves the American people—one that operates efficiently, reinvests taxpayer dollars wisely, and upholds the integrity and excellence that our citizens deserve.
The road ahead will be challenging, but united in purpose, we will rise to the occasion and build a future defined by accountability, efficiency, and common sense.
What a disingenuous bunch of trash. The precedent was set by Trump 1.0 with the CFPB, and they had no intention of limiting it to CFPB. Pretending otherwise is an insult to anyone with two neurons and a pulse.
Lee's latest screed/manifesto, "Our Road Ahead," might deserve its own topic. His statements about how President Biden asking COSS Saul to resign are real head scratchers, in particular. He seems to be saying that because Saul was asked to leave, SSA lost some fundamental "independence" and that as a result, we're stuck doing anything President Trump says.
HUH?!
I'd point out that ACOSS Colvin was NEVER confirmed by the Senate during the Obama administration. I'd also love to know what Lee thinks about Trump blowing out Wray at the FBI, counter to all precedent. Not to mention firing basically every Inspector General. But yeah, President Biden asking Saul to resign so that SSA could be run by someone that actually believes in its mission is why all of the rest of this *gestures around wildly* is happening.
Except that the Clinton administration's efforts were done within the law, with full bipartisan support involving Congress, and over the course of years. The reductions in force were almost entirely accomplished through attrition and early retirements. Comparing what DOGE and OPM are doing now to what was done in the 90s is absolutely ridiculous. Particularly when speaking about SSA, which is at a 50-year staffing low and where the US population increased by 2/3 in the same time.
16 comments:
At least you have a chance with a hammer, there is no chance with a chain saw. I retired from SSA even though I wanted to keep working as I have known nothing else. I’ve been a public servant all my life seeing limbs blown off, flags placed over the dead bodies of soldiers who were someone’s loved ones cried enough tears for the families not there. Now I cry for my country. I have tremendous knowledge of the SSA programs, have taught medical courses formally and informally, as well as SSA programs mentoring a lot of new hires and existing staff. Yet, I’m only one example there are even more talented people leaving in masses. Who is the ultimate loser the American people who are supposed to have a voice in congress. For some reason all of this is okay as the Federal employees have been demonized. Yet, when I was protecting our country was I a demon then? Soldiers are Federal employees. What about when I helped the disabled by making sure someone with an IQ of 55 was not ceased is that demonic? I am mad about how the Federal Employees have been treated, but sadness and despair seem to describe it better. I certainly could have made more money with 4 advanced degrees, but I had and up until now have always had a public service calling.
Whose going to break the news to her that she’s a federal employee?She should stick to space lasers.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said federal workers “don’t deserve” their paychecks during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Tuesday.
“Those are not real jobs producing federal revenue, by the way. They’re consuming taxpayer dollars. Those jobs are paid for by the American tax people, who work real jobs, earn real income, pay federal taxes and then pay these federal employees,” Greene said during the hearing.
The hammer reminds me of this previous effort:
VP Gore presented the National Performance Review on September 7, 1993. Gore cited the long-term goal to "change the very culture of the federal government," and designated "optimism" and "effective communication" as the keys to success. The report noted that successful organizations—businesses, city and state governments, and organizations of the federal government—do four things well. These four things became the recipe for reinventing government: 1) Put customers first; 2) Cut red tape; 3) Empower employees to get results; 4) Cut back to basics.
The Hammer Award recognizes government efficiency as a part of the program. It consists of a $6 hammer, a striped ribbon and an aluminum-framed note from Gore. The award parodies the Pentagon's bloated hardware costs, including the infamous $436 hammer, although the cost of the hammer was actually an artifact of government accounting rules and included not just the cost of the equipment but also a portion of the overhead cost of the entire project it was associated with.
The ruling comes as Dellinger is challenging the removal of probationary workers who were fired as part of the Trump administration’s massive overhaul of the government. A federal board on Tuesday halted the terminations of several probationary workers after Dellinger said their firings may have been unlawful.
“I’m glad and grateful to see the court confirm the importance and legality of the job protections Congress afforded my position," Dellinger said in a statement on Saturday. "My efforts to protect federal employees generally, and whistleblowers in particular, from unlawful treatment will continue.”
The judge said the special counsel has a “unique status and mission," which requires independence from the president to ensure he can carry out his responsibilities. The office investigates whistleblower claims of reprisal, can pursue disciplinary action against employees who punish whistleblowers and provides a channel for employees to disclose government wrongdoing.
“If I don’t have independence, if I can be removed for no good reason, federal employees are going to have no good reason to come to me,” Dellinger told reporters outside Washington’s federal courthouse after a recent hearing
I second what this poster said. Over 45 years with the agency but I knew this was coming. And it was with a lot of sadness that I left because I knew the real losers would be the people who needed us most--and they sure as all YOU KNOW WHAT aren't the hacks rubber stamping what Trump and Musk command them to do.
While I admit a hammer is useful, I would say that a brain is the most useful tool. The current administration knows nothing of the past and surely can not predict the bleak future our country is facing which will be a repeat of this country's past crises. A scarecrow that doesn't know it's a scarecrow is beyond pathetic.
Inquiring minds want to know who she really works for!
I somewhat anticipated this issue would arise as soon as DHS was established after 9-11. If you look at how many govt employees are in DHS (227k+ at last count) many of those are positions that didn't exist before 2002. Those employees could have been assigned to all the other govt agencies to fill vacancies and plus-up those requiring a larger workforce to match growing workloads if DHS didn't exist. Though the size of govt workforce has grown, a lot of it has to do with new agencies created over the years, while basically taking those positions from existing agencies, essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul.
From: ^Commissioner Broadcast
Sent: Saturday, March 1, 2025 6:36 PM
To: #SSA Total
Subject: Our Road Ahead
A Message to All SSA Employees
Subject: Our Road Ahead
Colleagues,
Criticism, contempt, stonewalling, and defensiveness are the four forces that can end any relationship and weaken any institution. Many of you feel angry, frustrated, and uncertain about the future. The world is different from the one we knew yesterday. Powerlessness and fear are rampant. I hear you. I understand. I empathize.
Elections have consequences. President Biden dismissed Andrew Saul, fundamentally altering the independence of the Social Security Administration. With that decision, the autonomy our employees once enjoyed changed.
Now, under President Trump, we follow established precedent: we serve at the pleasure and direction of the President. Only the Courts or Congress can intervene.
For too long, the Social Security Administration Headquarters has operated on autopilot, creating inefficiencies that burden our employees and all Americans. We have spent billions annually doing the same things the same way, leading to bureaucratic stagnation, inefficiency, and a lack of meaningful service improvements. It is time to change that.
We stand at a crossroads. With a clear mandate to change from the President, we are committed to ensuring that accountability never interferes with our customer contact service mission. We administer Old Age, Survivors, Disability Insurance and SSI. It is not our job to do the mission work of the FTC, ICE, BLS, IRS or the States. The life affirming moments we provide in the lives of citizens, is a result of serendipity - from doing our work well – it is not an end in itself, nor our mission. We need to double down on our greatest strength – the field. We need to revitalize SSA operations by streamlining activities, outsource non-essential functions to industry experts, and reinstating human judgment and common sense into every decision at every level.
This transformation requires tough, decisive choices. We will follow the law while embracing bold reforms. The changes we implement acknowledge the urgent customer service crisis we face and are determined to fix. For our dedicated staff and every American we serve, these difficult decisions are not setbacks but opportunities to create a more efficient, accountable, and responsive government.
With our reorganization, our regional offices have a seat at the Commissioners' table. We have offered Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP) to give colleagues the ability to shape their own futures. Simultaneously, we aim to ensure that those who wish to continue serving have opportunities to do so in public-facing roles.
I am fully aware of my position. I am a temporary figure in this institution—here briefly in its long history. Given the changes I have overseen, I understand the trust challenges that may exist. I do not expect the nominee for Commissioner to retain someone who has made difficult and, at times, painful choices. My own professional future remains uncertain, and I do not claim to be a visionary like Martha Derthick or a technology innovator like Marvin Minsky.
Do I have all the answers? No.
Does leadership have all the answers? No.
Yet, I know this agency and its people. It is your turn to stand up and lead. To show the content of your character.
We have always been resilient, compassionate, and resourceful, and these qualities define the best of us. I believe we can find solutions together; they will make for a better, stronger SSA.
We now have the opportunity to select and empower the best leaders—individuals who will drive innovation, cut waste, and restore public confidence in Social Security and beyond. Together, we can transform government into an institution that truly serves the American people—one that operates efficiently, reinvests taxpayer dollars wisely, and upholds the integrity and excellence that our citizens deserve.
The road ahead will be challenging, but united in purpose, we will rise to the occasion and build a future defined by accountability, efficiency, and common sense.
Sincerely,
Lee Dudek
Acting Commissioner
Wonderfully written by Mr. Dudek. He is accomplishing fantastic things in his tenure.
What a disingenuous bunch of trash. The precedent was set by Trump 1.0 with the CFPB, and they had no intention of limiting it to CFPB. Pretending otherwise is an insult to anyone with two neurons and a pulse.
Lee's latest screed/manifesto, "Our Road Ahead," might deserve its own topic. His statements about how President Biden asking COSS Saul to resign are real head scratchers, in particular. He seems to be saying that because Saul was asked to leave, SSA lost some fundamental "independence" and that as a result, we're stuck doing anything President Trump says.
HUH?!
I'd point out that ACOSS Colvin was NEVER confirmed by the Senate during the Obama administration. I'd also love to know what Lee thinks about Trump blowing out Wray at the FBI, counter to all precedent. Not to mention firing basically every Inspector General. But yeah, President Biden asking Saul to resign so that SSA could be run by someone that actually believes in its mission is why all of the rest of this *gestures around wildly* is happening.
Except that the Clinton administration's efforts were done within the law, with full bipartisan support involving Congress, and over the course of years. The reductions in force were almost entirely accomplished through attrition and early retirements. Comparing what DOGE and OPM are doing now to what was done in the 90s is absolutely ridiculous. Particularly when speaking about SSA, which is at a 50-year staffing low and where the US population increased by 2/3 in the same time.
LOL. Okay Leland.
Lee's mom leaving a comment.
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