President Donald Trump has long insisted that he will protect Social Security and Medicare. He reiterated this vow as recently as last week during a White House news conference, when he told NBC News that “Social Security will not be touched, it will only be strengthened.”
But the president’s DOGE buddy Elon Musk and his team have now turned their sights on Social Security — the biggest, and for tens of millions of Americans, most vital federal program of all.
“But the president’s DOGE buddy Elon Musk and his team have now turned their sights on Social Security”
A Big IF here, is IF they are serious about cutting the Federal budget, then the Military, SS, Medicaid, and Medicare will have to be cut. Otherwise, they are just blowing smoke up the America Public’s backside.
Trump, via DOGE, is making a lot of big claims about all of the fraud and waste they are finding. I’m not believing any Trump claims without some type of independent verification.
Much like his claims that he would end the Ukraine war on Day 1, or that he’d bring the price of eggs down immediately, he literally makes the most transparently fake boasts of anybody I’ve ever seen.
I think all agree something needs to be done to keep Social Security solvent. That probably means increasing full retirement age and raising FICA taxes. Removing the FICA income cap is one idea. There is a proposal to exempt Social Security payments from income taxes. They just passed a law that gives more Social Security payments to those w other federal pensions.
If there is fat in Social Security, most likely is fraudulent disability claims. Maybe not so easy to prove but physicians who participate probably engage in multiple cases. So could be big number.
We hear cuts to Medicaid are in the works. They might require participants to work if they can.
These are not my favorite solutions but the CBO studied this a couple of years ago:
Increase the Maximum Taxable Earnings That Are Subject to Social Security Payroll Taxes
Now that I am likely in the age-protected bubble, I would not object to an age increase but I would loath that option if it actually impacted me. My preferred solution is the tax coming back at 400k, not 250k, and making SS 100% taxable for those in the 24% tax bracket and higher.
Getting rid of the SS tax is the worst idea and will only make the problem worse.
That is the worst possible idea, especially for blue collar workers who get less and live shorter lives than desk bound workers.
Bodies do wear out, just like machinery. And when the RIF comes down and you’re 63, who do you think is going to hire you? Maybe McDonald’s, for a part time shift?
Seriously, stop tinkering around the edges. Increase the FICA cap. Problem solved.
“If there is fat in Social Security, most likely is fraudulent disability claims.”
I agree with this.
1 friend I know went on SS-Disability. He had a horrible accident as an 8 year old, and the result was he became a double amputee. At such a young age, he learned to cope with it. He was treated exactly like every other kid growing up, and he was accepted by everybody. As an adult, he struggled, work-wise. But he worked many different jobs, until his late 30’s or early 40s. He had landed a good paying union job, but he couldn’t handle it. Suspended multiple times, finally fired, union couldn’t save him. He was dangerous to work with. Got fired after multiple failed drug tests.
He went on SS-Disability, saying his prosthetics made it impossible to work. But he was fully capable of getting some type of desk job. And there were/are millions of jobs out there that do not require physical strength. But he wasn’t willing to do that, wasn’t willing to go back to school and get a credential or two, and start down a new path. He never worked again, been on SS-Disability ever since. And of course, he is of the Red-Hat group, so he is against Government assistance, and anybody else getting any help. Anybody but him, of course.
There was a scandal a few years back of union members I think NY subway operators who were able to claim disability with the assistance of a co-operating physician. They were able to collect disability benefits before retirement age.
“Under pressure from the White House, the IRS is considering a memorandum of understanding that would give DOGE officials broad access to tax-agency systems, property and datasets. Among them is the Integrated Data Retrieval System, or IDRS, which enables tax agency employees to access IRS accounts — including personal identification numbers — and bank information. It also lets them enter and adjust transaction data and automatically generate notices, collection documents and other records.”
This is NOT what is commonly seen in fraudulent SS disability cases! The typical case is a guy, usually blue collar, works in a middling physical effort kind of job, gets diagnosed with a “heart condition”, after a few years doesn’t want to work anymore, not even at a desk or a drawing board, so he goes to a “SS disability consultant” and over a few months, they craft a set of records (via doctors, clinics, tests, etc) and submit the whole package to SS disability. It is almost always denied on the first go around. Then over the next few months they bolster the package, resubmit to SS disability, and often get approved. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 rounds of application. And once you get into SS disability, they can never cancel it. And suddenly we have over 8 million people in the program and collecting monthly.
Odd that you see it that way. Why would he not be able to get the necessary training to get a desk job of some type ?
I totally understand that he can’t do a job that requires being on his feet all day, with physical tasks. But sitting at a desk and working on a computer does not require any of that.
This guy, while on disability, deer hunts ( rides a quad to the blind and sits in the blind ), ice-fishes ( rides snowmobile out to spot, sets up a portable shanty ), and also played golf for a number of years ( riding in a cart, of course ). All while on DB. So he wasn’t bedridden, by any stretch.
And personally, I didn’t have a problem with him being on DB, until I heard a few of his rants about all of the welfare cheats
not making America great.
Huh? I didn’t state any opinion about whether or not he should be considered disabled, or whether or not he could find a productive job. The only opinion I stated is that he (a double amputee) isn’t a typical case of SS disability fraud out there today.
My favorite example that I described here on the boards a few times over the decades was my neighbor as a child. He worked for the NYC Sanitation department for a few years and then had “back problems” and went on full disability. In those years, “full” meant that he got paid his full salary until age 60 and then was transferred to the union negotiated pension plan with full credit for years worked. Meanwhile, his new “side jobs” were all sorts of miscellaneous cash-based businesses, most notably roof installation and repair, general home repairs, and snow removal in winter. You should have seen the guy lug those heavy bundles of asphalt shingles up the ladder when he did the roofs nearby! (He didn’t have one of those conveyor machines that they usually use today to get all the bundles up to the roof) And you should have seen him manhandle the plows to connect them to his 5 or 10 big pickup trucks every winter. He was a big strong guy. He was also a lot of fun, he was the guy that put on the big fireworks show twice every year on our block.
Ah, I see. No he was/is not the typical person on DB.
My point ( and not to you, as you get it ) is that he was fully capable of finding a path forward that did not include going on DB. There are millions of desk jobs in America. And if he wasn’t such a hypocrite about it, I wouldn’t begrudge him going on DB. But he’s the type that rants about the welfare “queens” etc, but he never looks in the mirror and considers his own actions.