Letter to the editor: Trump targets Social Security, Brunswick Beacon

Brunswick Beacon, 04.03.25

In 1954, Democrats won the House, the Senate and eight governorships. Some Republicans, including President Eisenhower’s brother Edgar, blamed him because he didn’t try to abolish Social Security, then just 19-years-old. “Dear Ed,” Ike wrote, “Should any political party attempt to abolish social security you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group that believes you can do [that]. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.” Today, their number includes Musk and Trump. 

Musk fired 7,000 Social Security Administration employees, closed six of 10 regional offices, eliminated customer phone services and forced elderly recipients to travel to resolve payment issues in person. The result? Long waits, website crashes and chaos. 

Musk and Trump said 150-year-olds were fraudulently receiving Social Security payments. That was a debunked lie. Trump’s Commerce Secretary, billionaire Howard Lutnick, said, “The easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen, because whoever screams is the one stealing.” Tell that to 73 million retired and disabled recipients who need Social Security to survive.

When a federal judge blocked Musk’s minions from rifling through private Social Security data, Trump’s acting commissioner Lee Dudek threatened to “shut it down.”   

Musk calls Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” In fact, Social Security is a self-funded program, relying on payroll taxes and trust fund reserves to pay benefits. It can be fully funded for the next 75 years by ending the salary cap so high-earners pay the same Social Security tax rate as those making less than $160,000/year. 

Because of Musk, Trump and conservatives’ Project 2025, the number of people working to wreck Social Security is no longer negligible. But President Eisenhower would still say, “they’re stupid.”

Nancy Briganti

Carolina Shores