Trump Floats Kicking Millions Off Social Security

[Kid Berwyn]

'Outrageous Lies': Claiming Fraud, Trump Floats Kicking Millions Off Social Security

"They are laying the groundwork for denying benefits to anyone they want to punish or deem unworthy—or indeed, any one of us," said the president of Social Security Works.

by Jake Johnson
Common Dreams, February 19, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump launched his latest threat against Social Security on Tuesday under the guise of combating fraud, floating the possibility of stripping benefits from "millions of people" as Elon Musk's lieutenants infiltrate the agency that administers the nation's most effective anti-poverty program.

"The good thing about Social Security and what I read is if you take all of those numbers off because they're obviously fraudulent or incompetent... all of a sudden we have a very powerful Social Security with people 80 and 70 and 90 but not 200 [years old]."

"We have millions and millions of people over 100 years old" who are receiving Social Security payments, Trump continued.

The Republican president did not provide any evidence for his claim of substantial fraud in the Social Security program, which provides benefits to roughly 70 million Americans. Musk has similarly claimed, without evidence, that "tens of millions of people (are) marked in Social Security as 'ALIVE' when they are definitely dead."

Snip...

The Associated Press reported that "over the past few days, President Donald Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk have said on social media and in press briefings that people who are 100, 200, and even 300 years old are improperly getting benefits—a 'HUGE problem,' Musk wrote."

Continues...

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-social-security-fraud

Putin must be so proud.

Link to tweet

[jmbar2]

1. I'm OK with kicking everyone over 150 off SS.

They need to get jobs! Put 'em to work fertilizing farmlands.

[Initech]

25. If someone was 360 years old, surely someone would have seen that by now.

[FBaggins]

27. Social Security was created 90 years ago

So did they start receiving benefits at 270? Or did they wait a few decades until they hit 300?

[Initech]

33. Yeah, I have so many questions about this!

The United States isn't even that old. We have our 250th anniversary next year... assuming we survive this year.

[allegorical oracle]

74. SSecurity began in 1935. Back then, many people didn't have documentation of their birth dates, or

in some cases, where, or to whom they were born. To make matters worse, there were adoption agencies that took in babies from young women and SOLD them. Many people had no idea when they got to Soc Sec age as to their accurate birth dates. Others were illiterate because they had grown up in post-slavery environs.

Is there some percentage that have claimed fraudulent accounts? Of course. But we're talking about one or two percentages. And in many instances, it likely wasn't intentional. If, as Rachel Maddow pointed out the other evening, the COBOL computer language interpreted those whose birth dates were unknown, were recorded with numerical codes. Those codes have been misinterpreted to be birth dates.

It's good that all records could be straightened out. My only fear is that the DOGE team will accidentally delete those of us who aren't among the fraudulent recipients. And with all the personnel firings, we won't be able to remedy it.

[LW1977]

38. If only Sorcerer's Stones actually existed

[Ms. Toad]

71. Those people who are 150 years old may be entitled to social security.

Social security is tied to the number of the person who earned it, but can be paid to a qualified other person (spouse, child under 16, disabled dependent). So benefits could be paid based on the social security number of someone who would be 150 years old, if alive - to a person who is still living (and not 150 years old).

[Kid Berwyn]

77. That is a problem.

Many if not most of the rich have never worked a day in their lives.

That doesn't make them qualified to point out what needs to be done.

[Blue Owl]

2. Are 70 million Americans really this fucking stupid???

AAAARGGGGGGHHHHH!

[fierywoman]

4. Yes they are, obviously.

[Lithos]

18. Yes.

Why did you have to ask?

[Aristus]

34. Yes.

.

[IronLionZion]

36. Yes, and that's the problem

[LW1977]

40. Even if it throws their elderly parents into the streets

They’ll try to justify it or blame it Biden.

[orangecrush]

68. No they wont

I've seen this "everything will be blamed on Biden" repeatedly.

[HarryM]

44. They are dumber than you think

The elected a convicted felon to be their leader, and expected him to be honest!

[LiberalArkie]

55. Yes, and we have the educational system to create millions more.

[Kid Berwyn]

78. Sooo stupid, it hurts.

All for one and one for hurting all, wot?

[Dem4life1234]

80. What gets me, they have seen his first term and what a fuck up he is

People are so stupid

[marble falls]

3. How about kicking the wealthy off SS???? How about means testing?

[haele]

6. Social Security was set up to be a National Insurance for a reason ..

If it was means tested, it would be a welfare tax and Congress would have easily gotten rid of it in the 1980's.

[rurallib]

16. Well stated

[marble falls]

75. It was meant to keep us in better than SROs and eating dog food. It was never meant to subsidize ...

... my parents lifestyle of spending 200 days a year on cruise ships for almost twenty years.

If its insurance then treat it like insurance. You don't collect fire insurance until your house burns down.

[haele]

76. It is being treated like a insurance - retirement insurance

Everyone who pays in can use it under the stated circumstances:
- You reach retirement age so you can still be supported (Social Security version 1)
- To help support your spouse (originally a non-working spouse) after you die once they reach retirement age or support your surviving children until they reach the age they can legally work and start paying into the system. (Social Security version 2)
-To help support a surviving working spouse once they reach retirement age or to support you and any legal underaged dependants if you become too disabled to work after you have paid into the system. Also includes people who are born or have become disabled before they can work under certain circumstances. (Social Security version 3)
The amount you receive is based on the amount your employer and/or you puts in; the longer you worked, the more you get back.
The reason we still have SSI and SSDI is because there's an incentive to work and succeed attached to it. That's why lifting the cap is actually more efficient to keeping it going than just stopping short of turning it into a true investment for wealthy folks.
Other countries that followed the Social Security model don't typically cap the tax payment; but they want enough individual participation from those who live off trusts or capital instead of income, so lower income workers see a survivable retirement, but those well off trust funders or rentier types can use it as a nice bit of reliable liquidity to make monthly payments with or invest, or just take vacations with.
Guaranteed 3-4% monthly return for life, 1-2% for your spouse for their life?
After all, if one puts money into an insurance program, one should get a return when the conditions to payout are met.

Probably about 1/8th of the people who pay in don't survive to see any sort of payout. Used to be around 1/4 of the wage earners, back when average life expectancy was around 68.
There is a problem for expected rate of return for the GenX and following, but that can be solved by eliminating the cap and letting the natural exponential growth of money do it's thing.

If Social Security is means tested, it becomes welfare. And there's always been a big flaw in Welfare programs.

If only people under certain conditions instead of all participating will be able to receive whatever is put in, and that number of conditional beneficiaries can be whittled down by politicians and bureaucracy into almost nothing; then the government can point out that because few if any are eligible to get all that money, they can just cancel Social Security and put those trillions into the General Fund.

Reagan really tried to do that. But he couldn't, because it was set up as Insurance, not a Welfare Trust.

[Dave says]

8. Nope

One of the things that made social security so successful is that every working American participates. They pay FICA taxes, they receive commensurate benefits. It’s not a welfare program!

If a wealthy person avoids FICA (someone like Musk), they receive zero benefit.

[Attilatheblond]

59. But, consider all the employers who would be fine with not paying their fair share for employees' retirement.

They sure as hell wouldn't be giving all workers a raise in the amount they save in SS employment tax. It's a double screw you to those who actually make the economy work.

[Wuddles440]

15. How about not "kicking" anyone off it!

If someone paid into it throughout the years, they deserve to receive the benefits to which they are entitled. These attacks on hard-working, law abiding citizens need to stop! Our country is being looted and it's not the Social Security recipients who are perpetrating the grand theft.

[somsai]

61. I'd rather simply lift the income cap

Right now no one pays ss tax after $168K income. On capital gains which is "unearned" I pay no SS, also on royalties no SS. We make tons of money in the USA, we don't tax it.

[Kid Berwyn]

79. Really appreciate hurting those who hurt others through fiscal policy.

Taxes. Tax them hurts them like nothing hurts them. That's why when they run out of money they jump (or are thrown) out of buildings.

[unblock]

5. There are definitely dead people in the system. But their survivors are entitled to benefits

Guess republicans don't like the idea of widows, widowers, and children getting benefits.

I should note that one of the reasons for survivor benefits in the first place is to give people an incentive to tell social security when someone dies so their system can stay accurate.

Take away survivor benefits and then families will have an incentive to hide the body and keep cashing the checks ages.

Fraud will *increase*, not decrease.

[slightlv]

41. They don't want to, nor do they know how to, check

into the database that deeply. those things are nested, ya know... it takes time, effort, and critical thinking. None of which trump, musk, or his minions have in any quantity.

[Dem4life1234]

81. They are so stupid and inept

These are the same idiots who accidentally fired fda and nuclear workers.

[ShazzieB]

69. All true.

Especially this:

Guess republicans don't like the idea of widows, widowers, and children getting benefits.

You got that right, except it's not just widows, widowers, and children, and it's not just Social Security. Republlican politicians hate the idea of anyone getting any kind of "benefit" or assistance from the government, whether it's Social Security, disability benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, school lunches for hungry kids - the list goes on and on.

They regard all of those things as "handouts," resent every penny that goes into them, and would eliminate all of them completely if they could.

The GOP has no respect or consideration for people who need any kind of help, ant they definitely don't think the government should be providing it, even in times like these when the cost of housing has continually rises while wages stagnate.

They want something that doesn't exist - a world without any old, sick, disabled, or poor people. They believe that anyone who is willing to "work hard" should have no trouble supporting themselves and/or a family at a reasonable standard of living, and anyone who has trouble doing that is just lazy. There is zero recognition on their part of how much it costs just to survive in this country compared to what employers are willing to pay their rank and file workers. They are blissfully unaware of the harsh realities faced by many Americans, and they prefer to stay that way, because that makes it easier for them to maintain their lack of concern for the many, many people in this country who struggle just to get by.

And they wonder what makes people chant slogans like

[Kid Berwyn]

83. These are the wealthiest times in history.

Yet most of the world’s people live like shelter animals awaiting the end.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. If they get away with this, government bonds and annuities are next in line/ nt

[slightlv]

42. This is one of the things, besides SS and Medicare,

that worries me most. First of the month I get a payout from a small annuity I had when I retired from DoD. Gods, I feel like my stuff is all first on the chopping block! I'm almost beside myself with worry... treading towards shear terror. We shouldn't have to live terrorized every moment of our retirement like this. This is abusive, mean, and psychopathically sadistic. Gods, I hate trump, musk, and at this point it's generalizing to all the rich people.

[BonnieJW]

64. Me too

I wake at 2 am and ruminate about it. I've got a nice little life. Nothing flashy, I don't travel and eat out maybe once a month. I can pay my bills. Now I have to live in fear, wondering every day how long I have before these monsters finish me off. They want to get rid of the elderly and disabled.

[Kid Berwyn]

85. Elon will turn your gold into electrons.

That way it’s easier to transmute electrons back into his gold.

Like magic.

[birdographer]

9. Oh, don't tell me trump is lying?

Are his cult members aware of this? Is he making this threat, based on groundless information and no proof, on his cesspool of a social media site? Is this all over Twitter (refuse to call it anything else, equally cesspool-y)? Is this anywhere his millions of cult members can see it and be afraid? Do they think they will be exempt?

This is what they voted for, they should be told about it.

[House of Roberts]

10. We've only had the program for 90 years.

How could anyone who signed up when they were 65 be that old? Even if they were kept on the system after death, there's no way an account could be that old.

[underpants]

11. Everyone is in the system. They are kept even after they died.

None of the DOGEbags have any auditing experience or they would have noticed all the supposed 150 year olds all had the exact same birthday May 20, 1875. That’s the default date when nothing is entered in that box.

I swear it’s like they just Ctrl F’ed looking for certain words and when they found what they wanted that was good enough to release it on Twitter. That’s their goal. Flood the zone with BS that gets repeated by their influencer minions.

[Native]

22. You know how the software and the hardware the US uses is antiquated?

Well the programming language they use is COBOL, and anyone who doesn't have a birth date in the system is assigned 1875 aa a placeholder. Because DOGE has19-year-olds raping the servers, they haven't a freaking clue. This has been completely debunked in the media already.

[RobinA]

48. If The Disabled

child of a beneficiary was very young when the parent died and was himself a beneficiary due to ongoing disability, you MIGHT (I haven't done the math) be able to come up with an adult child beneficiary of a beneficiary who would be 150 years old if he were still alive.

[underpants]

12. If Elon had anything they'd take it to a grand jury not just post it on Twitter

It’s complete BS.

[wishstar]

13. Wish media would report on SS Admin's existing anti-fraud processes/safeguards

SS Admin has rigorous investigative and monitoring procedures to make sure checks don't go out to deceased recipients and the agency knows exactly how many recipients are drawing benefits and their ages proving that very few extremely elderly people are receiving payments.
However there are nearly 7 million minor children and adult disabled children plus widows/widowers who are survivors and being paid under the deceased individual's SS number and work record so of course there are payments on accounts of people who would currently be over 100 if still living but it's their survivors legitimately receiving the payments.

[sinkingfeeling]

14. I believe TSF is the stupidest jackass on the planet. He should

be given a torphy and the official title.

[Justice matters.]

19. Still, the never-punished convicted felon is stealing all the powers and...

all he does with his ignorant (and probably illegal-immigrant henchman) is against the constitution, and its Article 1, 2, and 3 separation of powers guardrail, but... nobody elected or not seems to be totally unable to actually STOP them from burning the foundations of the nation for personal gain!!

[HarryM]

46. I'd give him that trophy

And stick it where the sun doesn't shine.

[Cirsium]

17. We have to fight back

I am not sure how, but we are getting steamrolled as it is.

[BoRaGard]

20. G.O.P. wants to steal from America's elders

[turbinetree]

21. We have millions and millions over 100 years old..............

AND THE COUNTRY HAS A FELON ..................that is all that needs to be said..............A FUCKING 34 COUNT CONVICTED FELON ....................standing in the white house making a complete and utter ass out of himself ...........just keep trying to declare martial law anyway he can...............I think it will bite you and your cronies in the proverbial ass.................

[CareyOn]

23. "We have a very corrupt country."

Trump should be shamed for these words because he is implying the average hard-working citizen is corrupt.
Because he is corrupt and only thinks about amassing wealth in any way possible, he thinks everyone else is the same.

[calimary]

29. Starting (AND ending) with HIM.

[LPBBEAR]

24. Millions of Social Security recipients float Kicking Trump Out a high window......

[Dem4life1234]

86. Too skinny

[LPBBEAR]

87. Yep

But what it did get right is the accordion hands. Unfortunately he can't play fast enough to fly.

[Omnipresent]

26. We can sweep almost every congressional seat in 2026.

Enough to get him thrown out of office!

[EmmaLee E]

50. If we have elections in 2026

And I have my doubts

[BonnieJW]

65. If we can take all the special elections

We can get the house back

[HowlingWulf]

28. I'd like to "float" the idea of kicking Trump out of the country.

If anyone deserves an extended stay at Gitmo, it's him.

[Xipe Totec]

30. Under an international standard called ISO 8601, a missing value for a date is coded as May 20, 1875

because that was the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the “Convention du Mètre.”

So if your age is missing, a DOGE muskrat will think you're 150 years old.

[Wingus Dingus]

31. They do not have any evidence of fraud. They are stealing our money.

[Mr.Bee]

32. I worked in the computer industry and the defense industry

while paying into Social Security. Keep your Trumpublican hands off!
The Real Problem is this 'Low Tax System' is unsustainable!

[Nululu]

35. Total BS

Lowlife scumbags

[IronLionZion]

37. I worry about the people who believe this BS

because I'm sure they also believe they somehow won't be impacted. As if the doggy boys are checking social security names against voter registrations or Trump donor lists.

[FakeNoose]

39. The Social Security funds are OUR money - it doesn't belong to Uncle Sam

We have been paying into this fund for our entire working lives, and so did our parents. It's our Trust, and the federal government is supposed to be overseeing it and safeguarding it. NOT STEALING IT!

Doesn't Chump have enough money already?

[bmichaelh]

43. Devil's Dictionary

Musk and Trump are those type of businessmen where no amount of money is enough.

As defined by Ambrose Bierce in the Devil's Dictionary:

MAMMON, n. The god of the world's leading religion. The chief temple is in the holy city of New York.

[Bluetus]

45. Dems need to be smart. Don't fight this bullshit. You can't win that. Use Jujutsu

Last edited Wed Feb 19, 2025, 10:12 PM - Edit history (1)

Get out there with a bill that stops all Social Security payments for anybody over 115 years old, and uses those "savings" to increase the monthly checks for everyone else by 25%.

And write another bill that empowers Musk to find Medicare and Medicaid fraud, with every penny of savings going into expanding Medicare to people age 55-64.

Do these things, and you will find that all of a sudden, Musk has trouble finding any real savings.

Don't fight the bullshit. Use it AGAINST them. Jujutsu.

[North Coast Lawyer]

47. Maked as "Alive" Doesn't Mean What Trump Thinks it Means

These idiots have no idea what they're talking about. Alive appears to the the system default. So everyone who was ever issued a Social Security Number and for who the SSA hasn't received proof of death remains coded as "alive" even if they died many decades ago. Most of these will be people who died young before every claiming Social Security. Since their files were never in active payment status there was never any pressing need to purge them from the system.

DOGE found a giant nothing burger.

[subterranean]

49. I downloaded my Social Security statement as a precaution.

I would encourage everyone else to do the same. With these DOGE clowns mucking around in the system, you never know what records might be deleted or altered.

[Dave Bowman]

51. What a heartless little bratt.

[Klarkashton]

52. If you were in an introductory database class and drew that conclusion

From a data set you would immediately know that your query was defective. Not so with those shit asses.

[pansypoo53219]

53. when YOU are corrupt, you assume others are. better investigate his ass when he is out.

[Lulu KC]

54. Whew, I guess I'm okay

since I'm not 100 years old. Relief.

[Hekate]

56. That means he intends to

[Pinback]

57. 300-year-olds?

Well, George Mason was born 300 years ago. Of course, Trump should like him since he refused to sign the Constitution. Then again, he authored the document that the Bill of Rights was based on, so I guess he’s a mixed bag from the Mumpsters’ perspective.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mason

[Buddyzbuddy]

58. Wow! That didn't take long. They changed the subject in weeks.

Nobody is talking about taxing the wealthy any longer. Removing the cap on S.S. contributions. I see discussions of how silly they are about including people 300 years old.
That's so funny how stupid they are. . Let's see if we can figure out how they got these numbers. Don't take it too seriously, they're just kids with names like "big balls".
The only inefficiency they should be looking to improve is fraud. Such as family members continuing to cash S.S. checks of deceased recipients. We need to stop our willingness to negotiate any reductions in benefits or raising the eligible ages. That was Reagan's tactic.
This is serious shit.

[Attilatheblond]

60. They forget that many of us also have weapons

And giving elderly, possibly infirm/in pain people the choice between starvation or fighting back, they may find a gray army with nothing to lose.

[EndlessWire]

62. You'd think

that, after it was shown that the "auditors" don't understand legacy Cobol, trump would think of some other comment in support. But, he just doubles down on it, intending to inflict pain. Heck, I think even with computers they couldn't flesh this out so stunningly quick. And, now the age has gone from 150 to 300, just to emphasize it. It is what they want it to be, even if it isn't true. And, even if you are not cheating, if you get caught up in their fantasy, you won't be able to get out. So, a class action lawsuit is coming their way, should they decide to continue.

This is their prize, is it not? I received my January payment okay. Waiting for February.

[BonnieJW]

66. There's your mistake

You used think and trump in the same sentence

[Joinfortmill]

63. Does anybody else need to take breaks from the madness?

[Owens]

67. Democrats need to DEMAND proof of this

and denounce him and his lies

[JoseBalow]

70. Trying to increase the amount of money they intend to steal

Everything they do is about grift.

[yellow dahlia]

72. At least twice yesterday, I heard Karoline Leavitt and others

in the administration take over say, something along the lines of: We are not going to take Social Security away from Americans who have worked hard for it their whole lives.

There are people on SSI and SSDI who have not "worked" their whole lives. Are "they" coming for those individuals?

Those on SSI are our fellow Americans who are "disabled", and unable to work for a variety of reasons, and who worked not at all, or very little, in their lives. It can sometimes be a tough standard to reach. It requires certain criteria and proof that the person is unable to work.

Our fellow Americans who sustain an injury, at some time in their lives, and thus require/deserve financial assistance in order to survive, are those who qualify for SSDI.

SSA insurance is the program that we rely on in retirement, and which we paid into during our work history.

All of those are vital programs, and no one should be denied them.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

73. Too bad millions of Americans are too ignorant

As themselves to pick up on just how ignorant Trump is. He always sounds like a third-grader who didn't even open the book giving an oral book report.

It's already been addressed that those claims of massive SS fraud are based on Musk not being experienced or qualified to interpret the admittedly arcane records.

Also, so, if you live to one hundred you get your SS benefits taken away?

[milestogo]

82. I'll bet TSF never paid into Social Security

Never did an honest day's work in his life.

[Autumn]

84. Go for it fool. I'm sure the Republicans will be 100% behind you. This has

been a wet dreamof their for years.