116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
If you’re not scared about the future of Social Security, you should be
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
The Social Security program is 89 years old. Seventy-two million Americans currently receive a monthly benefit. Some 185 million Americans pay into the system and plan to receive benefits someday.
They depend on it to be there for them. Recent events raise serious questions whether it will be.
Here’s a recap:
Efforts underway to discredit the system
- Elon Musk claimed that millions of Americans over the age of 100, 200 or even 300 are getting monthly Social Security benefits. Those claims have been debunked by the media, and by the Social Security Administration. Tens of millions of dead people aren't getting Social Security checks, despite Trump and Musk claims, according to AP News.
- The president amplified those false claims in a speech to a joint session of Congress, saying they indicated “incompetence” in the Social Security program.
- Elon Musk called Social Security the “world’s biggest Ponzi scheme.”
Leadership of the Social Security Administration in turmoil
- It’s now on its fourth Commissioner (the leader of the agency) since November, with a fifth pending confirmation.
- The first Commissioner, who left in November, is raising alarms about a potential “systems collapse” and “eventual interruption of benefits.”
- Another Commissioner, who left in February, did so because she refused to allow Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) team to access top-security databases that contain personal information on almost every American.
- The current acting Commissioner, a midlevel Social Security employee elevated by the president, had been placed on administrative leave by prior agency leaders due to allegations of “multiple inappropriate actions” dealing with the Musk team.
Implications of a shrinking workforce
- The Social Security Administration is in a death spiral. Its workforce has dwindled from a high of 80,000 in the 1980s to a projected 50,000 this year. While resources have shrunk dramatically, workloads have ballooned largely due to the retirement of baby boomers and increasing life spans.
- The result is poorer service to the public: less access to humans for personal assistance, longer telephone wait times, delays getting appointments at local offices, more difficulty in getting clear answers to nonroutine questions, unacceptable holdups in getting decisions on applications for disability benefits, etc.
What the heck is happening here?
We believe there’s a plan at work — all the disruption at Social Security is designed to cause the program to eventually collapse.
Social Security Impact on Iowa (Estimated) — Source: Social Security Administration
Iowans receiving monthly Social Security benefits: 687,630
Total Social Security benefits received by Iowans every month: $1,235,464,000 ($1.2 billion)
Here’s the scenario: Continued declines in service lead to public frustration and anger. Citizens come to believe what they’re being told: the government can’t do anything well. People lose faith in the system and become ready to accept radical change.
In other words, break it to fix it.
And the fix? Privatize the system. Let banks and financial firms run it. Turn Social Security contributions into investments in stocks, bonds, crypto or whatever. End guaranteed benefits and instead have every American responsible for their investment return, with some people succeeding and some failing.
President George W. Bush wanted to do this back in 2005. His plan failed because Americans liked Social Security and they had confidence in it. It also failed because enough members of Congress were independent-minded and wouldn’t go along.
Times are certainly different now. But this train can and should be stopped.
Iowa’s members of Congress — Hinson, Miller-Meeks, Nunn, Feenstra, Ernst and Grassley — must stand up and speak out.
They should call for hearings, get answers, and insist on greater transparency and accountability from DOGE and leaders of the Social Security Administration.
Our elected representatives will only take those actions if constituents tell them to.
Advocacy organizations for workers, older Iowans and people with disabilities should raise their voices. Iowans of all ages should call, email and visit their representative’s offices. Express concerns. Ask if they support the existing Social Security system, and what they will do to improve it. Insist on clear answers.
Remind them while millionaires and billionaires may not depend on Social Security, ordinary people leading real lives do.
Frustrated? Scared? Then make some noise. It’s time to end the chaos and make Social Security secure again.
John and Terri Hale own The Hale Group, advocating for older Iowans and people with disabilities. John worked for the Social Security Administration for 25 years in its Baltimore headquarters, Kansas City regional office, and in multiple Iowa field offices. Contact: terriandjohnhale@gmail.com
Opinion content represents the viewpoint of the author or The Gazette editorial board. You can join the conversation by submitting a letter to the editor or guest column or by suggesting a topic for an editorial to editorial@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters