Here is Paul Krugman’s substack post from March 19:
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My guess, instead, is that it’s an ego thing, that Social Security has become to Musk what Canada has become to Donald Trump. Both men at one point said something stupid, something that would have turned them into laughingstocks if there weren’t so much fear in the air. But both men have been unable to let go, doubling down in what amounts to an attempt to redeem their initial foolishness.
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Yeah - I had assumed that the “in person” requirement was only for folk who - for whatever reason, were unable/unwilling to do it on line. The Krugman article linked above says:
Under this plan, beneficiaries would still be able to call the SSA. But they would have to verify their identity either over the internet or through in-person visits to field offices.
I’m not sure how large or small the subset of applicants is that is unable to do it on-line. Yeah - some portion of applicants are profoundly impaired or infirm, and/or lack internet in their home. But certainly not all. And there are computers and assistance available many places. Again - an inconvenience. But for most I’d wager not an insurmountable one.
I have zero idea what is required of overseas folk - or how many of them there are. Cervaise - do you have a reason to believe you could not conduct your SSA business on-line?
The idea of requiring EVERY transaction to be done IN PERSON is facially ludicrous, as there simply are not enough staff/offices/hours in a day.
If someone has seen something saying SSA intends to end on-line applications and inquiries, please post a link.
“At least we’re doing something!”…said Germany in the 30’s.
Perhaps if Congress paid back all the money they’ve stolen from SS over the years for pet projects, it wouldn’t be on the verge of going broke. That aside, I’m sure the goal is to privatize SS to someone who is Trump’s buddy and he will somehow end up on their board of directors and collect a hefty paycheck from them.
This statement has done a lot to damage Social Security and it is not true. When SS runs a surplus, as it was designed to do when the bipartisan committee started by Reagan rescued SS in the 1980s, that surplus goes into Treasury Bills. When SS takes in less money than it pays out, as it does now, then it cashes in those T-bills as it is currently doing just as any other investor would do. Congress has not “stolen” ONE CENT from Social Security and people repeating this misinformation are damaging its long term future, whether wittingly or unwittlingly.
All these lies about SS, from Congress “stealing” money to phony calculations showing that investing your SS deposits over the years would let you retire in luxury have the effect of weakening confidence in the system, and people will put up less of a fight about saving a program if they have doubts that it’s any good.
I’d like to address this.
I don’t live in the boonies, I’m reasonably computer literate, and I can’t access my information on the SSA site. It seems to be yet another one of those “it’s stupid easy until suddenly it’s not” situations.
Yes - please explain how Congress has “stolen” money from SS.
Moderating:
Actually, no, if you want to rehash this conversation, spin it off to a new thread.
Click Reply, in the upper left corner of the reply window is the reply type button, looks like a curving arrow point to the right.
Choose Reply as linked topic and it starts a new thread. As an example, you can choose GD, IMHO or The Pit for it.
That is actually the best method.
So please nothing more on Social Security being robbed in the past or not in this thread. Keep it current.
Have you ever been able to access your info on the SSA site? IOW, have you created an account in the past and can no longer log in? Or are you unable to now create an account?
I’m asking because just last month I helped an elderly woman create an ID ME account and link it to her SSA info. It took several days (she received a letter with an access code from SSA) but we were finally able to access her stuff and download her 1099-SSA.
Yes, this. Those with high incomes pay SS taxes on only the first $176,100 of income (as of 2025). Changing this would make the system fully solvent and functional.
But of course that wouldn’t make any Trumpite rich!
Of course.
The right-wing targeting of SocSec isn’t limited just to Musk. Two days ago, Trump’s Commerce Secretary revealed the plan:
Lutnick was widely reviled for suggesting that “only” fraudsters would make a peep if their SocSec payment doesn’t arrive. Of course in his world, every senior has tons of disposable income just sitting around in their many bank accounts.
Hegbith (sp) has already started–he said only vets with service-related conditions should get benefits, also layoffs/cutting personnel
This is the problem I encountered months ago. Some people need an activation code for whatever reason but no one was able to tell me where to get it and I was tearing my hair out. I have had a log in gov account at work and tried to link it but nothing worked.
I am hoping I remember how to do everything once I get a second activation code from my local SS office. I rarely use the log in gov account and can’t recall the sign in protocol. But I do have my password.
I think I wrote on here about it some months ago. It was beyond frustrating. I am very computer literate, work in the social service field and am familiar with all kinds of different websites and log in protocols for agencies.
I used to log in without a problem for several years. Once they changed the log in protocol I thought I was going to lose my mind.
I still may.
Yeah, we’ll see what happens when the impact of those cuts really hits. There is a history of the government trying to shaft veterans en masse and when those actions hit a tipping point, the ‘leaders’ in charge discover that veterans in particular are not a group with whom to fuck around and find out:
While it was the Great Depression overall and Hoover’s lackluster response that did him in, he didn’t win any points with veterans or their families, and MacArthur’s involvement probably put the kibosh on his presidential ambitions.
Stranger
Last week I tried to login using Social Security username, that didn’t work and I thought I had forgotten my password. Had to get a reset code snail mailed to me and that didn’t work. Finally it dawned on me to try login.gov and that worked with old password. If you had logged in SS in the past with a username you might just want to try login.gov.
Per Broomstick, it’s been temperamental for us, and we’ve occasionally had to get on the phone to seek help. In addition, our foreign residency makes our eligibility more complex. We’ve lived overseas long enough that we qualify for our country’s pension plan. This supposedly won’t change what we’re eligible to receive from the US, but it does affect the timing, so we need to provide the relevant information to the SSA apparatchiks. That’s much easier over the phone, versus navigating the website to figure out which exception report applies to us. If we’re no longer able to call, we genuinely don’t know whether we’d be able to properly tick all the boxes they need us to tick.
Can someone explain to me what “privatize Social Security” means? Clearly, the money for benefits comes from the federal government, which collects payroll taxes. How would that change if Social Security was privatized?
Some of it can be siphoned off before going to the “undeserving”.
Of all the things that could be “leopard ate my face,” cutting Social Security for elderly MAGA retirees would have to be near the top.
I have never been able to get in, ever. So far I’ve been able to do everything I need to do over the phone or in person - and actually, I’d prefer to do things in person - but I’d like to be able to get on line.
What do I need to do to do an ID Me?
Go to ID.me and follow the instructions. I did it years ago for something or other. I don’t remember exactly what I needed but I think it was a picture of a government ID and face scan