Elon Musk declares war
While no one elected Elon Musk to do anything, he is steadily exerting his power over governmental agencies. He has now shut down 50 Social Security Administration offices across the country. Musk, of course, refers to it as “streamlining operations,” but people who need assistance may be in for a lot of trouble. You might think the closures would primarily impact blue states, and while there are a couple of blue states, it appears that red states are being hit the hardest. For example, the only facility shut down in California is in Carlsbad while Georgia will lose five locations. The Georgia areas are red and include Columbus, Gainesville, Vidalia, Brunswick, and Thomasville. The impact will be felt less by those who are internet savvy, but the closures will directly impact people who must go in for services. According to Money Talks News, Musk is looking to cut $1 trillion from the budget, but SSA is only $1.6 trillion of a $7 trillion budget. He’s looking at cutting a very large share, which terminating employees and closing centers will not help him reach. Former SSA commissioner Martin O’Malley brings those numbers to light by advising that administrative costs are only 1% of the benefits paid. Musk must, then, be stopped short of tinkering with benefits for which people have paid for over 50 years.
According to the Office of the Inspector General, less than 1% of improper payments were made between 2015 to 2022, which are mainly benefits overpaid to living beneficiaries and not payments to dead people or people 150 years old. Maria Freese from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare told Barron’s: “It’s extremely difficult to cheat on the system.” The Acting Commissioner, Lee Dudek, who was appointed from mid-level management by Donald Trump, claims that: “DOGE personnel cannot make changes to agency systems, benefit payments, or other information.” Dudek is a Trump appointee; you decide whether you want to believe anything he says. Watchdog groups are keeping their eyes on things because they don’t believe Trump will protect Social Security. They have already made cuts to Medicaid. How many other agencies are there for them to take from?
In an interview with Larry Kudlow, Musk said that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are the areas that need to be eliminated. He also claimed that Democrats used the programs to “attract illegal immigrants” and to turn them into Democratic voters. What a bunch of bullshit. Illegal immigrants cannot get access to these systems. How do you get Social Security when you have no Social Security number? These are the same lies Donald Trump continues to tell, but we shouldn’t expect any more from Musk. Musk claimed: “Most of the federal spending is entitlements. So, that’s like the big one to eliminate.” He further claimed that the only reason Democrats are so upset is because they’ll lose voters. Musk is an idiot. Americans paid into both Social Security and Medicare. They are not “entitlements.” They are returning the money that we put in. Perhaps he should learn a bit more about these programs before he starts running his big mouth.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years