Social Security labeled 'Ponzi scheme' by Musk
By Davis Winkie
USA today
WASHINGTON - Elon Musk sharply criticized Social Security in a Friday [02/28/2025] podcast interview with Joe Rogan, labeling the critical elder benefits program a "Ponzi scheme."
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Musk, who is the world's richest man and an increasingly powerful adviser to President Donald Trump, also described the federal government as "one big pyramid scheme." Musk is a leading figure in the administration's effort - largely through the Department of Government Efficiency - to cut costs and dismantle the federal bureaucracy.
..... Social Security, which dates to the 1930s and former President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal social programs sues funds collected form works' paychecks to pay small monthly benefits checks to retirees, disabled Americans and others. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX argued that the U.S. "better fix" its entitlement systems because birth rates have fallen and post-retirement life expectancy has increased.
..... "There are fewer babies being born," the billionaire said on the mega-popular podcast, "and you have more people who are retired that live for a long time and get (Social Security) payments."
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Musk previously claimed that tens of millions of dead Americans are receiving benefits, but the Associated Press found his comments were "overstated and misrepresent Social Security data."
..... The billionaire's remarks sparked concern over whether he aims to dismantle key social safety net benefits, immediately drawing rebukes from Democratic lawmakers.
..... But a top Republican, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, addressed the remarks Sunday [03/02/2025] on NBC's "Meet the Press." He argued any Musk-led efforts to scrutinize Social Security will focus on "fraud, waste and abuse." (The agency's independent watchdog found in august 2024 that between fiscal 2015 and 2022, less than 1% of its payments were "improper.")
..... Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, also speaking on Sunday's "Meet the Press," if Congress repealed the Social Security tax cap: U.S. taxpayers pay Social Security taxes only on the first $176,100 of their annual wages. he said that means the ultra-wealthy like Musk pay the same amount into the program "as a truck driver."