While Musk Takes Aim at Social Security, Democrats Want to Strengthen It
While billionaire takes aim at program, Democrats have a plan to improve it
Working as an unelected and unofficial advisor to Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk has set his sights on Social Security.
Musk, who has been disrupting and dismantling a variety of government agencies since Trump’s inauguration, has turned his attention on Social Security, the nearly century-old federal old-age, disability and survivors insurance program.
Social Security lifts more people above the poverty line than any other program, studies have found.
Musk has been spreading misinformation about the program and its efficiency, claiming that large numbers of payments are going to dead Americans.
That’s simply not true, and neither are Musk’s recent comments calling Social Security a “ponzi scheme.”
Now Musk and his team known as DOGE arrived at Social Security headquarters and slashed staff by 7,000 workers.
Meanwhile, a group of Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced legislation to strengthen the program rather than tear it down.
The Social Security Expansion Act. would expand Social Security benefits by $2,400 a year and ensure Social Security is fully funded for the next 75 years by applying the Social Security payroll tax on all income above $250,000, its authors say.
Importantly, this legislation would not raise taxes by one penny on the over 91 percent of American households who make $250,000 or less, they add.
“Social Security is your hard-earned money; it is not an entitlement. President Donald Trump and his unelected billionaire sidekick Elon Musk think they alone can decide if you get your Social Security check. They had better think again. That is stealing. Americans pay into the program with each paycheck. We must expand Social Security benefits, not cut them, and I have a bill to do just that,” said Rep Jan Schakowsky, of Illinois, and one those behind the legislation. “The Social Security Expansion Act will protect the national treasure that is Social Security by extending the trust fund’s solvency for 75 years and expanding benefits by $2,400 a year so that everyone in America can retire with the security and dignity they deserve after a lifetime of hard work.”
For 86 years, through good times and bad, Social Security has paid out every benefit owed to every eligible American on time and without delay. Before 1935, when it was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, about 50 percent of the nation’s seniors lived in poverty, as did countless Americans with disabilities and surviving dependents of deceased workers. Nearly 90 years later, the senior poverty rate is down to 9.7 percent and in 2023 alone, Social Security lifted 27.6 million Americans out of poverty, including more than 19.5 million seniors.
Despite this success, tens of millions of seniors are still struggling to get by, and many older workers fear that they will never be able to retire with security and dignity.
While the average Social Security benefit is only $1,838 a month, nearly 40 percent of seniors rely on Social Security for a majority of their income; one in seven rely on it for more than 90 percent of their income; and nearly half of Americans aged 65 and 74 have no retirement savings at all, according to a statement from the lawmakers introducing the legislation.
Please support our work…
Please subscribe…