I have several comments and questions regarding Linette Angelastro’s Dec. 10 letter (“Social Security has exceeded what it was meant to be”).

1. “Pay raises for federal employees are determined by Congress without any direct relationship to a cost-of-living increase (COLA).” Now, isn’t this a little like having the fox guarding the henhouse? Could it be a wee bit of “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”? Maybe we should give this a name: How about the brotherhood of the government employee?

2. “The 2009 Social Security COLA was an astonishing 5.8 percent, due to an increase in the CPI.” That being the case, Social Security recipients didn’t receive a “gift,” only, in fact, what they deserved because of the increase in cost of living.

3. The following are figures I received from the Social Security department earlier this year: The most any S.S. recipient can receive during 2009 (per month) is $2,323 at age 66 . The average received was $1,079 in 2008, which was the last year they were able to give me a statistic. Exactly how does this compare dollar for dollar and age for age with federal employees?

What I’m suggesting is this: Please compare what private sector and government employees pay into these funds (Social Security versus federal retirement and what their return is and at what age). Possibly in this manner one of two things would happen. Either the private sector would be pacified and have a sense of “fair play,” or they’ll be so irate that changes will have to be made now.

Lastly, the writer states, “The average Social Security beneficiary has long since received back the amounts they paid into Social Security and is operating in profit.” Can you please furnish the proof of this statement; since I’m the widow of a man who passed away at age 62, I’ll be very interested in this answer.

I’d also like to know if government spouses who lose their mates at an early age must also suffer a reduced rate by collecting their spouses’ retirement at age 62?

Do they also lose their personal retirement, and are they forced to choose one or the other?
Kathryn Levesque
Thousand Oaks