Sunday, April 30, 2006

The Dreaded SS letter

Many (or some) of you may have been wondering what the deal with the Social Security problem that I relayed has been slammed upon me. Listen, and listen to me well...

Do not work while receiving Disability.

If I had heeded this simple concept years ago, I would not be in the mess I am now. Simply put, even though I had a "job coach" from a Supported Employment Program run by the county, funded by the State, I somehow managed to work over the 'allowed' amount by the SS and they demanded an overpayment from me years ago. In 2003 was when I was informed of this.

We're talking about a whole lot of buckaroos, $$,$$$.

I received a letter this week, just 4 days after quitting my last job, telling me that my request for waiver that I submitted in 2003 was rejected at that time. Why on this beautiful blue-green Earth did it take them 3 years to inform of something that took place at that time?

I was concerned about this whole thing and even called them at some point between 2003 and now to ask what the deal-e-o? Did you accept my waiver or not? Only be to told the most non-sensical crap that can only be said by a lawyer or a bureaucratic idiot (I believe they'd willingly plead bureaucratic idiot, frankly) and was basically told that the head SS place was still considering it. How then could they have rejected it at that time?

I'll tell you why because they are bureaucratic bastards with their people so wrapped up in bureaucratic tape that they didn't know and frankly that wording alone in this letter is an outright lie.

The reason it bothers me that this letter starts out with such inconclusive or really, incorrect, speech, is because I have to get a lawyer to deal with the meeting they have set up for me. I think when you serve an individual with a letter or notice of this kind you better be damn correct in what you say in it. Period.

FURTHER CONTINUATION WILL LEAD YOU TO RANT STATUS:

I am also concerned about the fact that it says in this letter that I have a right to review my file before the actual important meeting that will determined whether I pay back this money (or have my check 'garnished' (taken) for a couple of years, YET the date and time they have designated for this pre-meeting is exactly the same date AND time as the actual meeting!

????????????????????????????????????????????

If telling them that I was literally under the care of a State sponsored program the entire period of time in question and that it was these people's job to monitor my paychecks, and they still don't care about this then I don't know what else to say. Are they going to audit me like the IRS, because they only care if I could pay back the money? It's just chilling.

I don't really know what the 'charges' are against me. It seems to me a common criminal is treated better than this. They are caught, brought before arraignment, read their rights and told what their crime is. They know precisely what they are being tried for. They are provided with a lawyer, if they can't afford one. In short, I don't know what to say in my defense, because I don't even know what they are looking for. Again, complete mismanagement of the situation on their part, as per typical.

I am deathly afraid of these people. I have always been afraid of the SS and have avoided contact with them, I will be honest. Everything I have seen has shown them to be a government agency that if nothing more, does not have it together, yet controls something really important to me. It's little having idiots control a Zoo, where the animals die (hello Washington Zoo), idiots in the White House sending our best and brightest to die, and screwing things up so bad that nobody may ever be able to fix it....

Here, it is talking about a bureacracy being in charge of my check, with the power to yank it or do essentially the same thing. I'm still trying to find a lawyer. I was the crying embryo the day after receiving this letter that you may remember me discussing in a previous post. I had to made phone calls, see my therapist, call the people that I thought were in charge of that Supported Employment Program, track down lawyer leads to finally feel like I was doing all I could and could therefore relax and feel human again. Talk about the damn bottom falling out!!! I am already reeling from plungling myself into non-work status only to the get the mother of all Shit dropped on me in terms of being Bipolar except the same stuff that rots out the rest of the public (Death of a Love One, Moving, etc.)can send me to a damn loony bin. Been there done that, and there's really nothing to see. Mostly I am pissed. Where is Johnny Cochran when you need him (how could he die?). I need someone who knows their shit and we can take SS and this rinky-dink Mickey Mouse operated Supported Employee Program to the f'n cleaners. I did my part, I know I must've made money for the state by participating in this bullsh*t, yet I don't see them coming up to the plate for me because theySCREWED UP. Where does it say that the ill person be held responsible when the program set up to help or protect that person FAILS????!! It's just that simple.

The system is apparently not set up to see that a person CAN be disabled, intelligent, have a B.A. degree in something, and want to MOVE UP in this world and feel like a contributer and still not be able to do that 8 hours, 9 to 5, 40 a week thing. I have stradled on the edge with this my whole working life and these people have been on my ass for just as long. They can't get that I need that check but I keep needing to pretend that I'm better than that. I just can't get my a** over the fence. I'm stuck there with pit bulls tearing at my leg. SS is just slow and steady and takes the chunks out one bit at a time.

4 comments:

Tracy said...

I am speechless. Angry for you. I am so sorry!

Disability Blogger said...

Tart, I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Here's a post on a forum about work situations and SSD and it's pretty much in agreement with the conclusion you've come to: better not to work while receiving SSD.

http://ssaconnect.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,2/page,viewtopic/t,3351/

Disability Blogger said...

Let me repost that as a link:

Work and SSD

Me, Not You said...

oh ((((tart))))