@vwbusguy@mastodon.onlineToday we published a sizable update to the Social Security Administration public archive. (Please note that the layout of the repo has changed to accommodate other subdomains of the SSA.)
https://git.lsit.ucsb.edu/publicdata/ssa-gov
More on the way soon!
@wdlindsy@toad.socialPolitical consultant Matt Herdman says, "Elon Musk and Donald Trump are stealing seniors' hard-earned benefits. It's already happening, and it'll get worse if they go through with closing branch offices and cutting staff."
See Jessica Corbett's good report (link below).
#Musk #Trump #SocialSecurity #seniors #TaxCuts #billionaires
/6
@wdlindsy@toad.socialLast week, he was told that SSA would fix the problem, but as of last Friday, he had not gotten his February and March SS payments.
Jeff Nesbit, public affairs chief for 5 federal agencies/departments including SSA under 4 presidents, shared this story on X, saying: "So incredibly sad that Musk/DOGE are now preying on people like this. I hope older Americans understand the assault underway against Social Security right now."
#Musk #Trump #SocialSecurity #seniors #TaxCuts #billionaires
/5
@wdlindsy@toad.socialAfter making multiple calls to SSA, during which he was "put on hold and then eventually disconnected" and securing an appointment that was ultimately rescheduled for the next week, Johnson went to his local SSA office, one of several sites DOGE now wants to shut down across the country.
He waited and waited to be seen at the SSA office and finally jumped the line and insisted he was alive.
#Musk #Trump #FederalGovernment #SocialSecurity #seniors #TaxCuts #billionaires #EconomicElites
/4
@wdlindsy@toad.socialDanny Westneat tells the story of what happened to Leonard "Ned" Johnson after his wife got a notice from their bank in February that the Social Security Administration requested a return for benefits paid out after the supposed death of her husband. Since Ned was alive, his wife figured it was a scam, but SSA then yanked $5,201 from their bank account.
#Musk #Trump #FederalGovernment #SocialSecurity #seniors #TaxCuts #billionaires #EconomicElites #destruction #chaos
/3
@wdlindsy@toad.social"This week, a still-more ominous threat appears to be circling. Bloomberg reports that three individuals representing private equity concerns — firms in an insidious financial industry intent on harvesting anything that can rake in a profit for the ultrarich — have now shown up, alongside DOGE, to meddle in the life-sustaining work of the SSA."
#Musk #Trump #FederalGovernment #SocialSecurity #seniors #TaxCuts #billionaires #EconomicElites #destruction #chaos
/2
@wdlindsy@toad.social"The Social Security Administration (SSA), an irreplaceable lifeline for 73 million people, is only the latest venerable U.S. institution to be hit with a campaign of media falsehoods and startling internal sabotage efforts, all on the orders of Trump and the reactionary right."
~ Tyler Walicek
#Musk #Trump #FederalGovernment #SocialSecurity #seniors #TaxCuts #billionaires #EconomicElites #destruction #chaos
/1
“Are we going to break something?” acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek asked, referring to what DOGE has been doing with Social Security data. “I don’t know."
@grrlscientist@mstdn.socialThe richest man in the world stole over $5K out of this guy's bank account, claiming he was dead. The richest man in the world said he was saving money.
He was not dead.
#GreedyBastard #fElonMusk #thief #oligarch #SocialSecurity #politics https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/heres-a-dead-person-on-social-security-in-seattle-with-plenty-to-say/
This is what is expected to happen when you put a billionaire with a severe drug addiction problem in charge of monitoring the Federal Government spending of the world's largest economy
"“DOGE Has 10 Staffers at Social Security in Hunt for Dead People,” the headlines read this past week.
I found a dead person on Social Security. Right here in Seattle, on Capitol Hill.
Of course the circumstances of Ned Johnson’s death were completely the opposite of what Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency had claimed was rampant.
“You wake up one day and discover you’re dead,” Johnson told me. “It’s been truly surreal.”
That’s the biggest difference — my deceased guy turns out to be very much alive. Musk is contending that hordes of dead people are listed as alive in the Social Security databases, and are fraudulently still drawing benefits (which the Social Security director disputes).
Johnson is 82 and still kicking. Yet sometime last month, someone or something led Social Security to both tag him as dead and start clawing back his benefits.
Johnson’s strange trip through the netherworld began in February, when a letter from his bank arrived addressed to his wife, Pam."
@paul@oldfriends.live20/ DOGE and Social Security declared a living man dead, robbed his bank account to claw back "erroneous" payments because he was dead — Man is still waiting on it to be fixed because of short staffing.
I think another lesson here is, if you collect Social Security, move your deposit to another account as soon as possible.
From the article:
Johnson’s strange trip through the netherworld began in February, when a letter from his bank arrived addressed to his wife, Pam.
“We recently received notification of LEONARD A. JOHNSON’s passing,” it began. “We offer our sincerest condolences …”
At first she figured it was a scam — her husband, after all, was sitting right there. But then the bank got to the point.
“We know this is a difficult time, and we’re here to help,” the bank wrote.
“We received a request from Social Security Administration to return benefits paid to LEONARD A. JOHNSON’s account after their passing.”
“There’s nothing you need to do — we’ve deducted the funds from LEONARD A. JOHNSON’s account.”
Here’s a ‘dead’ person on Social Security in Seattle, with plenty to say
#DOGE found a "dead" person (spoiler wasn't actually dead), drained their savings account, shut down their credit, cancelled their health insurance and stopped their social security retirement payments.
'Murika
Headline: Here’s a ‘dead’ person on Social Security in Seattle, with plenty to say
Voters flood town halls with fears of Social Security cuts, putting heat on GOP over Musk and DOGE
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and one of Trump’s most influential advisers, has called Social Security 'the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time'
Leaked audio from a staff meeting at the U.S. Social Security Administration suggests the agency may be in peril. Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek, a career civil servant who was promoted to his current position by the Trump administration, told others at a closed-door meeting: “Are we going to break something?” referring to what DOGE has been doing with Social Security data. “I don’t know.” Here's more from @ProPublica.
https://www.propublica.org/article/recording-reveals-leland-dudek-thoughts-trump-doge-social-security
@kkarhan@infosec.spaceAnd they should only be paid for the time they are actually working, not a second more!
Also every kind of income should be taxed like #WageWork and #BuyBorrowDie needs to be criminalized as illegal #TaxDodging and #SocialSecurityFraud!
@ZhiZhu@newsie.socialElon Musk's social insecurity
The billionaire's reckless claims seem intended to manufacture outrage to justify an end to what he refers to as an “entitlement program.”
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/elon-musks-social-insecurity
"Ronald Reagan called #SocialSecurity “a secure & stable base so that older #Americans may live in dignity.”
#ElonMusk calls it a “Ponzi scheme.”
...
differences of opinion between #Musk & #Trump, the White House... pledging not to cut Social Security, #Medicare or #Medicaid benefits"
@ZhiZhu@newsie.socialDOGE Is Pressuring Social Security to Make Another Massive Cut
#DonaldTrump & #ElonMusk want to make it harder for people to access their Social Security benefits.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192667/doge-pressures-social-security-cut-phones
"The #SocialSecurity Admn might slash the telephone service that millions of retired & disabled #Americans use to apply for & access their **earned** benefits...
#Doge is pressuring the agency... and in response, the #SSA is considering ending its #phone service"
@ZhiZhu@newsie.socialElon Musk Finally Admits Social Security Is on the Chopping Block
The #DOGE chief has revealed his true goals in a #FoxNews interview.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192579/elon-musk-social-security-medicare-entitlements
"Trump has said he won’t touch #SocialSecurity or #Medicare, but Musk’s entitlement math makes it clear that both those programs, as well as #Medicaid, are on the chopping block. Millions of older #Americans—many of them red-state #Republicans—will lose the vital benefits"
OFFS! They'll chip away & keep claim-lying fraud & abuse til bye-bye SS.
" #SocialSecurity Admin considering ending phone program that helps w claims processing/used by millions of elderly & disabled Americans...would disrupt the agency’s internal operations, threaten its ability to serve the public..just as DOGE is targeting the agency for across-the-board staff cuts of more than 12%" https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/12/social-security-phone-doge-elderly-disabled/
