Former SSA Commissioner and MD Governor O’Malley: “We see a manipulation, a cherry picking of numbers in an effort to mask the truth that they’re cutting staff that all of us already paid for.”
Today, former Social Security Administration Commissioner and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, as well as healthcare advocates Rita Clagett and Mary Beth Furman, participated in a press call hosted by Defend America Action to discuss actions the Trump administration has taken to endanger Social Security.
The speakers highlighted the importance of Social Security and how it is a lifeline for millions of American seniors who would otherwise be left without sufficient financial resources to support themselves. They also called out Donald Trump and his cabinet for engaging in backdoor privatization schemes and demanded they take action to ensure the solvency of Social Security’s trust fund reserves, which are set to deplete in less than ten years, thanks in part to Republicans’ reckless agenda.
“The current regime in Washington, the Trump administration, as we saw most recently by their firing of the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, when that person put out honest numbers and is now being replaced with a total ideologue who has himself said that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme,” said Former SSA Commissioner and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. “We see a manipulation, a cherry picking of numbers in an effort to mask the truth that they’re cutting staff that all of us already paid for, the customer service necessary to access these benefits, they’re cutting staff and making it harder and harder and harder for people to do their business with the agency, and even worse, telling a rosy story and trying to pretend that everything’s rainbows and unicorns.”
“I was raised in an Army family. I remember my father taking me to the Pentagon to get my Social Security number when I was living in the single digits of my age, making me memorize it, telling me never to give it to anyone ever. Now a gang of civilians with no security clearance has that number and knows everything the Social Security Administration knows about me,” said Rita Clagett, a semi-retired teacher who depends on Medicaid and Social Security. “None of us planned to spend our retirements fighting all the social welfare and social justice fights again. The Trump regime’s agenda for Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare is un-American. It’s societal sabotage designed to benefit the rich and kill off the less wealthy.”
“We expected the government to do their duty, what they pledged to do, what we’ve lived under all of our lives, expecting. So we did all the right things. We earned money, we saved, we paid in, we have a financial plan. And now a 25% cut. It’s really pretty hard to swallow,” said Mary Beth Furman, a retired parent and full-time caregiver to her adult son, who depends on Social Security Disability. “We never thought that America would be a place where retirees would be abandoned and people with disabilities would be abandoned. It’s the government not living up to their end of the bargain. Rather than throwing more money at billionaires that don’t need it, how about solving the Social Security solvency problem?”
BACKGROUND
Social Security is a lifeline for millions of American seniors who would otherwise be left without sufficient financial resources to support themselves. Instead of protecting this program, Donald Trump and his cabinet gutted the Social Security Administration, throwing the system into chaos and forcing millions of seniors to travel long distances to manage their hard-earned benefits – all while engaging in backdoor privatization schemes as Social Security’s trust fund reserves are set to deplete in less than ten years.
- NEARLY 1 IN 4 AMERICANS RECEIVE SOCIAL SECURITY OR SSI BENEFITS. 74.3 million Americans receive Social Security or SSI benefits, including:
- 57.6 million seniors
- More than 11 million non-elderly people with disabilities
- At least 3 million children
- IN 19 STATES OVER ONE-THIRD OF RESIDENTS RECEIVE SOCIAL SECURITY. In 19 states, a third or more of residents receive Social Security benefits — the highest being West Virginia, where more than 41 percent of households receive Social Security.
- ATTACKING SOCIAL SECURITY: Trump’s DOGE Cuts Gutted Social Security. DOGE gutted the Social Security Administration, threatening benefit distribution and administration after unlawfully accessing the sensitive data of hundreds of millions of Americans.
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- MILLIONS OF SENIORS FORCED TO TRAVEL LONG DISTANCES FOR HARD-EARNED BENEFITS. After ending phone services and reducing staffing, DOGE cuts are estimated to cause 2 million extra visits to field offices. One staffer called the cuts “complete, utter chaos.” These cuts will force millions of seniors and rural Americans to travel long distances to verify benefits, change personal information, and more, with over a quarter of seniors living over an hour away from their nearest Social Security field office.
- ‘BACKDOOR PRIVATIZATION’: TRUMP’S TREASURY SECRETARY ADMITTED THAT THE GOP IS PUSHING A SCHEME TO PRIVATIZE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS. Earlier this month, Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted during an interview that the new “Trump Accounts” launched by their Big, Ugly Bill are intended as a backdoor way to privatize Social Security.
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