1 00:00:06,825 --> 00:00:09,325 - We have this incredibly bloated financial sector. 2 00:00:09,595 --> 00:00:10,845 - It's a phony crisis that it 3 00:00:10,845 --> 00:00:11,885 does. They don't have to be cut. 4 00:00:12,145 --> 00:00:13,845 - We know how to get out of a great depression. 5 00:00:13,865 --> 00:00:18,805 We spend money. If 6 00:00:18,805 --> 00:00:20,485 we take a look at the typical worker, 7 00:00:20,635 --> 00:00:21,845 they're not doing fine. 8 00:00:22,825 --> 00:00:23,925 - Hi, I'm Dean Baker. 9 00:00:24,185 --> 00:00:27,405 I'm your host for the podcast, mostly Economics. 10 00:00:27,855 --> 00:00:31,045 Today we have on our show Nancy Altman, who's the president 11 00:00:31,045 --> 00:00:32,245 of Social Security Works, 12 00:00:32,345 --> 00:00:34,605 and someone who I could say has been working on social 13 00:00:34,965 --> 00:00:37,165 security issues even longer than I have. 14 00:00:37,345 --> 00:00:41,645 Uh, Nancy's work goes back, uh, many, many years, uh, back 15 00:00:41,645 --> 00:00:45,805 to the Greenspan Commission in 1982, which was the last, uh, 16 00:00:45,805 --> 00:00:47,645 major overhaul of social security. 17 00:00:47,945 --> 00:00:50,925 So when it comes to knowing social security, I think very, 18 00:00:50,925 --> 00:00:53,245 very few people can claim greater authority to Nancy. 19 00:00:53,825 --> 00:00:56,325 So I'm very happy to have Nancy on the show here. 20 00:00:57,265 --> 00:00:59,015 - Thank you so much for having me, Dean. 21 00:01:00,445 --> 00:01:02,415 - Well, we have a lot to talk about today 22 00:01:02,755 --> 00:01:04,495 and, you know, which is both good and bad. 23 00:01:04,775 --> 00:01:06,375 'cause, uh, you and I both feel the same. 24 00:01:06,375 --> 00:01:07,815 Social security's a great program, 25 00:01:08,235 --> 00:01:10,495 and, uh, unfortunately it's threatened today 26 00:01:10,495 --> 00:01:12,415 and perhaps a way it never been before. 27 00:01:13,155 --> 00:01:16,015 But to start with, uh, maybe we could just outline, 28 00:01:16,115 --> 00:01:18,375 you know, what you see as the major features 29 00:01:18,375 --> 00:01:20,095 of Social Security and why, 30 00:01:20,395 --> 00:01:21,855 why it's such an important program. 31 00:01:22,875 --> 00:01:26,975 - Social Security is really essential for an, um, 32 00:01:27,415 --> 00:01:30,455 a society where people get their, they, their, um, 33 00:01:31,065 --> 00:01:33,535 essentials through work where everyone works 34 00:01:33,795 --> 00:01:35,055 and you need work. 35 00:01:35,055 --> 00:01:38,295 There's no uniform, basic income or anything like that, 36 00:01:38,445 --> 00:01:40,295 because what social security is, 37 00:01:40,325 --> 00:01:42,615 it's insurance against the loss of wages. 38 00:01:43,035 --> 00:01:46,775 As I say, as long as you, uh, need your salary 39 00:01:46,955 --> 00:01:50,695 or wages to pay for your housing and your food 40 00:01:50,715 --> 00:01:52,095 and your clothing and so forth, 41 00:01:52,835 --> 00:01:54,455 you need insurance against their loss. 42 00:01:54,635 --> 00:01:58,495 You can lose that income if you, um, 43 00:01:58,755 --> 00:01:59,855 die leaving young children 44 00:01:59,955 --> 00:02:01,415 who are dependent on those benefits. 45 00:02:01,555 --> 00:02:05,535 You can lose that income if you become so disabled 46 00:02:05,535 --> 00:02:07,375 that you cannot support yourself through work. 47 00:02:07,715 --> 00:02:10,655 Or if you have the good fortune to live to very old age, 48 00:02:11,355 --> 00:02:13,055 you lose your income if you retire. 49 00:02:13,435 --> 00:02:18,015 Social security ensures wages in those three categories. 50 00:02:18,235 --> 00:02:20,455 In addition, you can lose your wages 51 00:02:20,455 --> 00:02:21,575 if you become unemployed. 52 00:02:21,635 --> 00:02:23,615 And we don't think of unemployment insurance 53 00:02:24,355 --> 00:02:25,455 as social security, 54 00:02:25,515 --> 00:02:28,575 but it was part of the Social Security Act of 1935. 55 00:02:28,995 --> 00:02:30,495 And it's the same concept. 56 00:02:30,805 --> 00:02:33,495 It's insurance against the loss of wages. 57 00:02:33,915 --> 00:02:37,975 And Nina, if I can say one more thing, it is extremely, 58 00:02:38,075 --> 00:02:39,615 it is strikingly superior 59 00:02:39,795 --> 00:02:41,895 to its private sector counterparts. 60 00:02:42,285 --> 00:02:46,535 It's portable from job to job. It's extremely secure. 61 00:02:47,275 --> 00:02:50,655 Um, the it's plan sponsor is the federal government, 62 00:02:50,655 --> 00:02:54,655 which is not going out of business and, uh, can, can tax 63 00:02:54,715 --> 00:02:56,135 and borrow funds and so forth. 64 00:02:56,715 --> 00:02:58,775 So it's strikingly superior. 65 00:02:58,845 --> 00:03:01,525 It's one shortcoming is that its benefits are too low. 66 00:03:02,865 --> 00:03:05,035 - It's, you know, again, you know this of course very well. 67 00:03:05,155 --> 00:03:07,875 I mean, it's just remarkable what an amazing success story 68 00:03:07,875 --> 00:03:09,035 Social Security has been. 69 00:03:09,215 --> 00:03:11,835 So, you know, president Roosevelt support starts 70 00:03:11,835 --> 00:03:13,075 this during the depression. 71 00:03:13,075 --> 00:03:15,835 And at that time to be elderly pretty much meant to be old. 72 00:03:15,995 --> 00:03:17,315 I mean, you're dependent on your family, 73 00:03:17,495 --> 00:03:19,795 so if your family could support you, you're okay. 74 00:03:19,935 --> 00:03:22,115 But a lot of families, particularly during the Depression, 75 00:03:22,445 --> 00:03:24,435 could support their, their aging parents 76 00:03:25,055 --> 00:03:26,675 and the poverty rates were 77 00:03:26,675 --> 00:03:28,115 through the roof for, for the elderly. 78 00:03:28,415 --> 00:03:31,155 And today, I, I haven't looked at the latest numbers, 79 00:03:31,255 --> 00:03:34,635 but the poverty rate for people over 65, some around 10%, 80 00:03:34,865 --> 00:03:36,715 it's actually a little bit lower than 81 00:03:36,995 --> 00:03:38,315 for the rest of the population. 82 00:03:38,375 --> 00:03:40,915 So that, that's just an amazing success story there. 83 00:03:41,455 --> 00:03:44,275 And as you mentioned, I think a lot of people forget that, 84 00:03:44,415 --> 00:03:46,595 uh, social security also, uh, 85 00:03:46,595 --> 00:03:48,115 protects people against disability. 86 00:03:48,175 --> 00:03:50,555 So you, uh, somewhere around 10, 87 00:03:50,555 --> 00:03:53,275 12 million people get disability from Social Security 88 00:03:53,775 --> 00:03:56,715 and then also, um, for children of, sort of, 89 00:03:56,775 --> 00:03:58,275 of workers that die young. 90 00:03:58,615 --> 00:04:01,155 And, uh, again, it's almost comical. 91 00:04:01,665 --> 00:04:03,075 Elon Musk was very upset 92 00:04:03,075 --> 00:04:05,195 that you had four year olds getting social security. 93 00:04:06,935 --> 00:04:09,115 The rest of us were going, yeah, that's 94 00:04:09,345 --> 00:04:10,355 what happens when you, 95 00:04:10,355 --> 00:04:12,715 unfortunately they had a parent that died young. 96 00:04:12,935 --> 00:04:14,995 That's one of the benefits of social security. 97 00:04:15,215 --> 00:04:16,995 But you know, he apparently thought he'd found 98 00:04:17,015 --> 00:04:19,555 new evidence of fraud. So yeah, 99 00:04:19,665 --> 00:04:20,665 - Exactly. 100 00:04:20,665 --> 00:04:22,955 It should just shows his ignorance of the program 101 00:04:23,455 --> 00:04:26,195 and the, as important as Social Security is 102 00:04:26,455 --> 00:04:29,555 as an anti-poverty program, and it is extremely effective. 103 00:04:29,735 --> 00:04:32,395 In fact, when social security was enacted, 104 00:04:32,565 --> 00:04:34,755 every statement New Mexico had poor houses. 105 00:04:34,935 --> 00:04:37,035 And then those poor houses were people 106 00:04:37,035 --> 00:04:39,115 who normally had worked their entire lives, 107 00:04:39,295 --> 00:04:41,955 but in old age did not have family. 108 00:04:42,055 --> 00:04:45,275 You could support them and literally went to the poor house. 109 00:04:45,335 --> 00:04:47,075 But the difference between that 110 00:04:47,295 --> 00:04:51,475 and means tested programs is that insurance is to, 111 00:04:52,125 --> 00:04:55,075 means tested programs are to alleviate poverty, 112 00:04:55,575 --> 00:04:57,635 but what insurance is it prevents you from 113 00:04:57,635 --> 00:04:58,675 falling into poverty. 114 00:04:59,415 --> 00:05:02,435 So it's, it really is a extremely, 115 00:05:03,795 --> 00:05:05,915 Franklin Roosevelt and his colleagues really knew 116 00:05:05,915 --> 00:05:07,875 what they were doing when they designed 117 00:05:08,255 --> 00:05:09,435 and created this program. 118 00:05:10,405 --> 00:05:12,495 - Yeah, no, it's an incredibly important point that, 119 00:05:12,595 --> 00:05:14,335 you know, I think is often underappreciated. 120 00:05:14,335 --> 00:05:15,975 Well, probably not underappreciate, so 121 00:05:15,975 --> 00:05:17,495 unless it's deliberately distorted. 122 00:05:17,875 --> 00:05:20,175 So when people talk about social security as, 123 00:05:20,235 --> 00:05:22,535 as an entitlement, as a benefit, it is, 124 00:05:22,875 --> 00:05:24,495 but the point is people paid for it. 125 00:05:24,495 --> 00:05:27,095 So it's just like no one would think that if, 126 00:05:27,115 --> 00:05:29,255 if I was paying for, for insurance 127 00:05:29,355 --> 00:05:33,335 and my house burned down, that somehow that was a handout. 128 00:05:33,455 --> 00:05:35,255 I mean, I, I paid for the insurance. 129 00:05:35,555 --> 00:05:37,255 That's, that's what social 130 00:05:37,575 --> 00:05:40,055 - Security is, so you didn't get it right. 131 00:05:40,965 --> 00:05:44,015 - Yeah, so, so the the attacks on it are just, you know, 132 00:05:44,015 --> 00:05:45,255 again, so I I I don't know 133 00:05:45,255 --> 00:05:48,495 how much it's confusion versus deliberate misrepresentation 134 00:05:48,495 --> 00:05:51,175 because obviously if your intent is to cut 135 00:05:51,235 --> 00:05:52,615 or destroy the program, 136 00:05:53,675 --> 00:05:55,695 it gets less support if you could portray it 137 00:05:55,695 --> 00:05:57,365 as a handout rather than, no, 138 00:05:57,365 --> 00:05:58,965 this is the insurance program workers 139 00:05:59,115 --> 00:06:00,405 paid into it their whole lives. 140 00:06:01,105 --> 00:06:03,125 And yeah, they have every right in the world 141 00:06:03,145 --> 00:06:04,765 to expect the benefit for it. 142 00:06:05,585 --> 00:06:07,325 - And that's, that is I think, part 143 00:06:07,325 --> 00:06:09,085 of the undermining of social security. 144 00:06:09,145 --> 00:06:10,485 And, and it's really had, I think, 145 00:06:10,485 --> 00:06:12,485 an impact on disability benefits. 146 00:06:12,485 --> 00:06:15,405 And that is somehow to make people feel they shouldn't 147 00:06:15,915 --> 00:06:16,965 take those benefits. 148 00:06:16,965 --> 00:06:18,965 That somehow there's something wrong 149 00:06:18,995 --> 00:06:21,205 with those programs when actually it's 150 00:06:21,205 --> 00:06:22,245 deferred compensation. 151 00:06:22,305 --> 00:06:24,885 You know, people don't feel funny about 152 00:06:24,885 --> 00:06:26,005 taking their salaries. 153 00:06:26,065 --> 00:06:28,085 So that's their current cash compensation. 154 00:06:28,755 --> 00:06:33,125 They, you know, if they get a, um, retirement through, uh, 155 00:06:33,125 --> 00:06:36,205 their employer, there's, you know, you're 156 00:06:36,205 --> 00:06:37,125 of course you're gonna get that, 157 00:06:37,125 --> 00:06:38,485 that's part of your compensation. 158 00:06:38,785 --> 00:06:40,685 And social security is the same thing. 159 00:06:40,745 --> 00:06:44,045 In fact, until a few decades ago, 160 00:06:44,685 --> 00:06:48,405 employers would claim Social Security as a benefit that they 161 00:06:48,645 --> 00:06:51,845 provided their workers because they do match the worker 162 00:06:52,365 --> 00:06:53,565 contribution dollar for dollar. 163 00:06:53,705 --> 00:06:55,285 But we don't see that anymore. 164 00:06:55,385 --> 00:06:58,445 But it worker, you know, employers would be smart 165 00:06:58,465 --> 00:07:02,165 to take credit for it and to, um, push to improve it. 166 00:07:03,135 --> 00:07:04,955 - You have one more point about social security, 167 00:07:04,955 --> 00:07:06,995 which obviously you know very well, Nancy, that you know, 168 00:07:06,995 --> 00:07:09,315 the, the benefit structure's very progressive, 169 00:07:09,655 --> 00:07:11,835 and that's, again, quite explicit. 170 00:07:12,135 --> 00:07:13,155 So that, you know, 171 00:07:13,155 --> 00:07:15,555 it's based on your average earnings over most 172 00:07:15,555 --> 00:07:17,435 of your working life, your best 35 years. 173 00:07:17,575 --> 00:07:19,675 And for a lot of people, that is, their whole work might, 174 00:07:19,715 --> 00:07:21,355 I mean, at least the years that they credited 175 00:07:21,775 --> 00:07:25,395 and you get 90% back of your average earnings on year, 176 00:07:25,415 --> 00:07:28,355 you know, the cutoff it 1212. 177 00:07:28,375 --> 00:07:29,955 - So yeah, I haven't looked at what it is 178 00:07:30,115 --> 00:07:31,795 for this year, but it's something like that. Yes. 179 00:07:31,945 --> 00:07:34,915 - Yeah. So you get 90% and ob you know, better 180 00:07:34,915 --> 00:07:36,955 or worse, there's a lot of people in that category. 181 00:07:37,055 --> 00:07:38,195 So they get 90% 182 00:07:38,195 --> 00:07:41,035 of the first 12,000 people work part-time part, 183 00:07:41,145 --> 00:07:43,115 they're outta labor force period of time. 184 00:07:43,335 --> 00:07:44,955 Disproportionately that's women, you know, 185 00:07:44,955 --> 00:07:46,435 they spend more time raising kids. 186 00:07:46,575 --> 00:07:48,835 So disproportionate women in that category. 187 00:07:49,295 --> 00:07:51,715 But then you get 35% on your next, 188 00:07:51,735 --> 00:07:53,315 and again, I'm shooting in the dark here, 189 00:07:53,315 --> 00:07:54,595 it's roughly 40,000. 190 00:07:54,935 --> 00:07:56,955 You know, we used to know these numbers by harm. Yes. 191 00:07:58,335 --> 00:08:02,595 So you get 30, 33% of the next, let's say 40 or 50,000, 192 00:08:02,935 --> 00:08:06,875 and then higher incomers, you know, they get 15% 193 00:08:07,475 --> 00:08:09,955 of their income above, let's say 60,000. 194 00:08:10,005 --> 00:08:11,635 Again, don't take me to town on that, 195 00:08:11,695 --> 00:08:12,955 but it's somewhere around there. 196 00:08:13,295 --> 00:08:16,235 So it's a very progressive payback structure, which again, 197 00:08:16,235 --> 00:08:18,275 we could core with where you have the cutoffs. 198 00:08:18,455 --> 00:08:20,595 Should it be higher? Nancy's making the point. 199 00:08:20,595 --> 00:08:22,475 It would be good if it were higher. I'd agree with that. 200 00:08:22,855 --> 00:08:24,355 You know, but you could talk about all sorts 201 00:08:24,355 --> 00:08:25,475 of ways to restructure that. 202 00:08:26,015 --> 00:08:28,835 But it's clearly a very bad, very progressive 203 00:08:29,425 --> 00:08:31,355 payback structure, which is one 204 00:08:31,355 --> 00:08:32,875 of the reasons why it keeps a lot of people, 205 00:08:32,875 --> 00:08:34,995 they have low earnings during their working lifetime, 206 00:08:35,375 --> 00:08:38,075 but even with their low earnings during their life lifetime, 207 00:08:38,465 --> 00:08:40,915 they could still, it still gives them enough to stay out 208 00:08:40,915 --> 00:08:43,515 of poverty, which isn't to say it gives them enough to have 209 00:08:44,045 --> 00:08:45,435 great lifestyle or anything, 210 00:08:45,535 --> 00:08:47,515 but it's enough to keep them outta property. 211 00:08:48,225 --> 00:08:49,675 - Yeah. And it's, again, 212 00:08:49,735 --> 00:08:52,475 and I think it fits with the insurance concept 213 00:08:52,475 --> 00:08:55,805 because, you know, it's sort of beyond behind the veil. 214 00:08:55,905 --> 00:08:58,005 You don't know when you're starting out in your career, 215 00:08:58,515 --> 00:09:00,765 whether, you know, I mean, you can 216 00:09:01,485 --> 00:09:04,125 speculate somebody's has higher education 217 00:09:04,145 --> 00:09:06,565 and so forth, likely to make a high salary, 218 00:09:06,785 --> 00:09:09,085 but anybody can get hit by a truck 219 00:09:09,345 --> 00:09:13,765 and, um, wind up, um, with a disability where they, 220 00:09:14,035 --> 00:09:16,285 they just cannot support themselves through work. 221 00:09:16,785 --> 00:09:18,885 And therefore having 222 00:09:18,885 --> 00:09:21,965 that progressive benefit formula is really beneficial 223 00:09:22,105 --> 00:09:25,365 for everyone at the start of your career. You know, and it, 224 00:09:25,395 --> 00:09:27,725 - Yeah, yeah, again, that's, that is again, a point 225 00:09:27,725 --> 00:09:28,805 that has to be emphasized. 226 00:09:28,885 --> 00:09:30,965 'cause I've come across, I'm sure you have many people 227 00:09:30,965 --> 00:09:33,045 that really don't understand that idea of insurance. 228 00:09:33,045 --> 00:09:35,045 They go, well, I've, you know, I'm a lawyer. 229 00:09:35,245 --> 00:09:36,925 I earn 200,000 a year, you know, 230 00:09:36,925 --> 00:09:38,165 which would put you over the top 231 00:09:38,265 --> 00:09:41,125 and you know, your payback would be relatively low relative 232 00:09:41,125 --> 00:09:42,725 to your two thou 200,000 a year. 233 00:09:42,755 --> 00:09:45,405 Because you're at the high end, you're getting, you know, 234 00:09:45,405 --> 00:09:48,285 15% your average pay goals, it's real bad deal for you. 235 00:09:48,475 --> 00:09:50,645 Well, maybe they're able to work their whole life 236 00:09:50,705 --> 00:09:54,005 as a lawyer and it ends up not being that good a payback. 237 00:09:54,035 --> 00:09:55,685 Well, you know, I'm in good health. 238 00:09:55,945 --> 00:09:58,125 My health insurance has been a real bad deal for me. 239 00:09:58,265 --> 00:09:59,605 So I angry you, 240 00:09:59,705 --> 00:10:01,205 - My, my hat's never burned down. 241 00:10:01,305 --> 00:10:02,925 So there you go. And I've always had fire 242 00:10:02,925 --> 00:10:03,925 insurance - . 243 00:10:04,035 --> 00:10:05,445 Yeah, yeah. You know, so, so 244 00:10:05,445 --> 00:10:06,965 that's the nature of it being insurance. 245 00:10:07,105 --> 00:10:10,765 And you know, as, as you said a moment ago, I mean, yeah, 246 00:10:10,865 --> 00:10:12,125 you know, you have a good job. 247 00:10:12,305 --> 00:10:15,205 You, you know, it turns out you earn 200,000 a year, 248 00:10:15,205 --> 00:10:16,525 your whole working life, so it 249 00:10:16,525 --> 00:10:17,645 doesn't give you that good of payback. 250 00:10:17,825 --> 00:10:19,965 But there's no guarantee you don't get hit by a truck. 251 00:10:19,965 --> 00:10:22,165 You don't get real sick. I, you know, we've all known people 252 00:10:22,165 --> 00:10:23,485 that, you know, they're relatively young 253 00:10:23,505 --> 00:10:25,845 and they have something that happens to them. 254 00:10:25,985 --> 00:10:28,165 And even though they're on a good career track 255 00:10:28,165 --> 00:10:30,405 where they would've had high earnings, they don't, 256 00:10:30,405 --> 00:10:32,365 because, you know, they, they get sick 257 00:10:32,425 --> 00:10:33,645 or they were in an accident, 258 00:10:33,745 --> 00:10:35,725 and you know, from the time they're 33, 259 00:10:35,725 --> 00:10:36,925 they're barely able to work. 260 00:10:36,925 --> 00:10:38,085 Yeah. Maybe not work at all. 261 00:10:38,115 --> 00:10:39,685 They're gonna get a better, you know, 262 00:10:39,795 --> 00:10:42,085 they'll get a good return on their social security benefits. 263 00:10:42,195 --> 00:10:44,925 It's, again, it's important to understand it's insurance. 264 00:10:45,185 --> 00:10:47,405 That's the design. We aren't making up words here. 265 00:10:47,515 --> 00:10:50,565 It's actually called, you know, uh, social insurance. 266 00:10:50,565 --> 00:10:52,245 - Sure. That's yes. Survivors. 267 00:10:52,505 --> 00:10:56,045 And in fact, um, one of the stories I I read about 268 00:10:56,045 --> 00:10:57,325 that really struck me 269 00:10:57,325 --> 00:11:00,845 and that I really like to talk about is social security is 270 00:11:01,505 --> 00:11:03,445 disproportionately beneficial 271 00:11:03,505 --> 00:11:05,605 to those who've been disadvantaged in the workplace. 272 00:11:05,785 --> 00:11:10,485 So people of color, women, lgbtq plus community, 273 00:11:10,745 --> 00:11:13,805 but it's actually important for, you know, I like 274 00:11:13,805 --> 00:11:15,485 to joke wealthy white men as well, 275 00:11:15,875 --> 00:11:19,885 because, um, there was a story that, uh, about a couple 276 00:11:20,705 --> 00:11:24,525 did very well, were retired in Florida, had millions 277 00:11:24,525 --> 00:11:27,885 of dollars, had a very pleasant lifestyle and so forth, 278 00:11:28,465 --> 00:11:29,685 but made one mistake. 279 00:11:30,235 --> 00:11:32,725 They happened to put all of their, give all their money 280 00:11:32,785 --> 00:11:34,445 to invest to Bernie Madoff. 281 00:11:34,985 --> 00:11:36,125 And when they woke up 282 00:11:36,185 --> 00:11:38,765 and found out what had happened, they were destitute 283 00:11:38,905 --> 00:11:41,445 and they only had their social security. 284 00:11:41,545 --> 00:11:43,485 And thank god they had that social security 285 00:11:43,725 --> 00:11:44,725 'cause they would've been on the street. 286 00:11:45,305 --> 00:11:49,485 So again, we, it, it, it's insurance. 287 00:11:49,635 --> 00:11:51,805 It's there to protect you as, as you 288 00:11:51,805 --> 00:11:54,765 and I say, you know, a lot of kinds of insurance. 289 00:11:54,765 --> 00:11:58,205 You'd rather, I I'd prefer to pay for disability insurance 290 00:11:58,265 --> 00:12:00,245 and never collect disability insurance, 291 00:12:00,865 --> 00:12:03,125 but it is there if something were to happen. 292 00:12:04,185 --> 00:12:05,595 - Yeah. It's also, and, 293 00:12:05,595 --> 00:12:07,595 and again, uh, obviously Nancy knows this very well. 294 00:12:07,635 --> 00:12:10,275 I mean, it's incredibly efficient. You made this point out. 295 00:12:10,305 --> 00:12:12,395 It's, you know, superior to private plans. 296 00:12:12,955 --> 00:12:14,995 I, you know, we've both been in this debate forever. 297 00:12:15,315 --> 00:12:16,435 I dunno how many times, you know, 298 00:12:16,435 --> 00:12:17,875 I've gone up against the privatizing 299 00:12:17,895 --> 00:12:20,675 and go, oh, it's just, you know, 1% a year. 300 00:12:20,775 --> 00:12:23,115 If you have a 401k, often they're considerably 301 00:12:23,265 --> 00:12:25,475 that often the administrative costs, they're often 302 00:12:25,475 --> 00:12:28,635 around one half, even 2% people have analyzed that closely. 303 00:12:28,775 --> 00:12:30,395 So you often have a lot of plans 304 00:12:30,725 --> 00:12:32,595 where they're very high administrative costs. 305 00:12:32,615 --> 00:12:35,235 But what's important to understand, they compare that 306 00:12:35,235 --> 00:12:37,115 to the administrative cost for social security, 307 00:12:37,325 --> 00:12:40,115 which is less than four tenths of 1% of 308 00:12:40,115 --> 00:12:41,635 what it pays out the benefits each year. 309 00:12:41,775 --> 00:12:46,395 So they compare the one one 5% for, for their 401k 310 00:12:46,495 --> 00:12:47,835 to the four tenths, and they go, 311 00:12:47,835 --> 00:12:48,995 eh, it's not that different. 312 00:12:49,375 --> 00:12:50,595 That's very misleading. 313 00:12:51,115 --> 00:12:54,355 'cause let's say I put my $10,000 in 401k, 314 00:12:54,865 --> 00:12:58,115 they're charging me one, 1.5% each year. 315 00:12:58,995 --> 00:13:01,375 So if it's sitting in that 401k for 20 316 00:13:01,475 --> 00:13:05,815 or 30 years, I've paid maybe 25, even 30% of 317 00:13:05,815 --> 00:13:07,535 what I'm ultimately gonna get out of that. 318 00:13:07,725 --> 00:13:10,375 I've paid that to the company, to the financial company 319 00:13:10,395 --> 00:13:12,135 that's administering the 401k. 320 00:13:12,515 --> 00:13:15,975 So we aren't just talking about, well, even 1% for 4s, 321 00:13:15,975 --> 00:13:17,055 it's more than twice as much. 322 00:13:17,085 --> 00:13:19,255 Yeah. But even that's a big difference. 323 00:13:19,255 --> 00:13:20,775 But it's actually much more, 324 00:13:20,825 --> 00:13:22,855 we're talking about saying it's more than a order 325 00:13:22,875 --> 00:13:25,815 of magnitude different, which, you know, to my view, 326 00:13:25,815 --> 00:13:27,175 that's one of the big reasons why there's 327 00:13:27,175 --> 00:13:29,015 so many people interest in privatizing it, 328 00:13:29,015 --> 00:13:30,095 because that's waste. 329 00:13:30,115 --> 00:13:32,895 You, oh, I think Doge looking to get rid waste. 330 00:13:33,005 --> 00:13:35,015 Well, that's some serious waste. 331 00:13:35,595 --> 00:13:38,335 But that waste is income for, for banks, 332 00:13:38,395 --> 00:13:40,415 for insurance companies, for, for businesses 333 00:13:40,415 --> 00:13:42,415 and financial industry that would love to be able 334 00:13:42,415 --> 00:13:44,415 to get their hands on social security funds. 335 00:13:45,115 --> 00:13:47,695 So that's, yeah. You know, again, I'm sorry, go ahead. 336 00:13:47,915 --> 00:13:49,535 - No, no, I was gonna just agree with you. 337 00:13:49,695 --> 00:13:52,255 I mean, that's exactly what I think, um, 338 00:13:52,475 --> 00:13:56,415 is going on right now is, you know, as much as, um, 339 00:13:57,155 --> 00:14:00,055 George W President Bush back in 2005 sought 340 00:14:00,055 --> 00:14:02,415 to privatize Social security 341 00:14:02,755 --> 00:14:05,495 and I think security for just that reason, that, so 342 00:14:05,495 --> 00:14:10,415 that there could be, um, um, the Wall Street could make, 343 00:14:10,435 --> 00:14:13,575 you know, about $1.5 trillion flows 344 00:14:13,575 --> 00:14:14,935 through Social Security every year. 345 00:14:14,935 --> 00:14:16,215 Wall Street gets none of that. 346 00:14:16,635 --> 00:14:20,255 And they would like to get a, a big chunk of that, at least 347 00:14:20,315 --> 00:14:23,255 for administration and brokerage fees and so forth. 348 00:14:23,915 --> 00:14:26,175 Um, but to George w Bush's credit, 349 00:14:26,875 --> 00:14:29,415 he at least had a proposal that he put on the table 350 00:14:29,635 --> 00:14:32,335 and went around and talked about, and you and I 351 00:14:32,335 --> 00:14:33,895 and others could debate about it 352 00:14:34,035 --> 00:14:36,055 and show all the problems with it. 353 00:14:36,115 --> 00:14:40,055 And it didn't even get a vote in a Republican held Congress 354 00:14:40,055 --> 00:14:42,175 because it was such an unpopular, um, 355 00:14:42,485 --> 00:14:43,815 idea and such a bad idea. 356 00:14:44,515 --> 00:14:46,055 But what they're doing now is worse, 357 00:14:46,185 --> 00:14:47,975 which is all behind closed doors. 358 00:14:48,175 --> 00:14:52,185 I mean, you mentioned Doge, Elon Musk's department 359 00:14:52,405 --> 00:14:54,665 of supposed to be of government efficiency, 360 00:14:55,005 --> 00:14:58,185 but it's really creating enormous amount of waste 361 00:14:58,245 --> 00:15:01,145 and inefficient and inefficiency and, um, 362 00:15:01,925 --> 00:15:03,905 and opening the door to outright fraud. 363 00:15:04,885 --> 00:15:06,015 - Yeah. Just to, to back up, 364 00:15:06,065 --> 00:15:07,095 we'll come back to that in a second. 365 00:15:07,215 --> 00:15:09,015 I just wanted to, you know, emphasize some 366 00:15:09,015 --> 00:15:13,055 of the misleading claims that really, you know, often made, 367 00:15:13,055 --> 00:15:15,415 but certainly made by Elon Musk about social security. 368 00:15:15,555 --> 00:15:17,975 So one, he's, I don't know what's in his head, 369 00:15:17,975 --> 00:15:19,415 so I can't say what he's convinced of, 370 00:15:19,415 --> 00:15:21,535 but he constantly talks about the fraud there. 371 00:15:22,115 --> 00:15:24,335 And, you know, again, this is one of these things, you know, 372 00:15:24,615 --> 00:15:26,815 I mean, it's more general with Doge, 373 00:15:27,275 --> 00:15:28,735 of course there's waste, of course 374 00:15:28,735 --> 00:15:29,895 there's fraud in the government. 375 00:15:29,915 --> 00:15:31,575 You know, it's a huge enterprise. 376 00:15:31,715 --> 00:15:35,255 How can you dish out $7 trillion a year 377 00:15:35,595 --> 00:15:37,015 and not think there's some fraud? 378 00:15:37,515 --> 00:15:38,935 And we do have, you know, 379 00:15:38,955 --> 00:15:41,695 the general Account Government Accountability Office, 380 00:15:41,745 --> 00:15:43,095 which actually does do that. 381 00:15:43,475 --> 00:15:45,935 We have inspector generals at Social Security, 382 00:15:46,035 --> 00:15:48,695 at the other agencies that spend careers. 383 00:15:48,695 --> 00:15:50,575 They have professionals. They've been looking at this 384 00:15:50,575 --> 00:15:51,695 for years and years and years. 385 00:15:52,195 --> 00:15:54,015 And you know, in the case of social security, 386 00:15:54,165 --> 00:15:55,455 they have looked for fraud. 387 00:15:55,595 --> 00:15:57,135 And they know it's very rare. 388 00:15:57,635 --> 00:15:59,135 And you might have the data on that. 389 00:16:00,015 --> 00:16:03,335 - I do. It's, I mean, you're exactly right. 390 00:16:03,755 --> 00:16:06,615 You know, they're running around claiming all 391 00:16:06,615 --> 00:16:08,015 this, um, fraud. 392 00:16:08,035 --> 00:16:11,455 But this is another way that social security is superior. 393 00:16:11,565 --> 00:16:15,375 There's much more fraud in private, um, insurance. 394 00:16:15,595 --> 00:16:17,615 You know, the American Academy 395 00:16:17,675 --> 00:16:19,535 of Actuaries have done studies about that 396 00:16:19,535 --> 00:16:21,735 with very widespread fraud. 397 00:16:21,795 --> 00:16:24,215 And a lot of private sector insurance, 398 00:16:24,555 --> 00:16:26,495 social security has been audited. 399 00:16:26,525 --> 00:16:27,935 It's constantly audited. 400 00:16:28,045 --> 00:16:30,735 It's got the Inspector General who again, 401 00:16:31,075 --> 00:16:33,895 if the Trump administration were concerned about fraud, 402 00:16:34,055 --> 00:16:35,735 I think their first move would not have been 403 00:16:35,735 --> 00:16:38,495 to fire the Inspector General whose job it is 404 00:16:38,495 --> 00:16:39,855 to be looking for that. 405 00:16:40,675 --> 00:16:42,695 Um, and so, 406 00:16:42,855 --> 00:16:45,975 but there's also been lots of outside auditors. 407 00:16:46,045 --> 00:16:48,695 It's a very heavily audited program. 408 00:16:48,955 --> 00:16:53,135 And what they found is that 99.7% 409 00:16:53,395 --> 00:16:56,975 of all the payments are accurate in full on time 410 00:16:56,975 --> 00:16:58,295 to the right people. 411 00:16:58,955 --> 00:17:03,655 And that 0.3%, even that most of that is 412 00:17:04,435 --> 00:17:06,495 are, um, payments made in error. 413 00:17:06,755 --> 00:17:10,255 So, for example, where information gets is changed, 414 00:17:10,405 --> 00:17:11,935 it's reported, but 415 00:17:11,935 --> 00:17:15,055 because social security is understaffed, it takes a while 416 00:17:15,055 --> 00:17:18,215 to get the information, um, through the systems. 417 00:17:18,875 --> 00:17:21,855 And so there may be several months of overpayments, 418 00:17:21,875 --> 00:17:23,815 or there could be underpayments as well. 419 00:17:23,815 --> 00:17:26,735 They're not fraud, but they're just mistakes. 420 00:17:27,035 --> 00:17:30,495 And with respect to overpayments, that money is clawed back 421 00:17:30,555 --> 00:17:33,335 as soon as the government realizes it's, um, 422 00:17:33,875 --> 00:17:35,255 it was a higher benefit 423 00:17:35,285 --> 00:17:37,015 that should have been paid. And in fact, yeah, 424 00:17:37,255 --> 00:17:40,735 - I can give you a very example that I, I, I know someone 425 00:17:40,795 --> 00:17:44,535 who was getting disability and her situation improved. 426 00:17:44,755 --> 00:17:47,495 And she sent, she wrote to Social Security 427 00:17:47,495 --> 00:17:48,815 and said, you know, I shouldn't be getting it. 428 00:17:48,875 --> 00:17:50,405 I'm able to work now, at least the 429 00:17:50,405 --> 00:17:52,165 disability's not preventing me from working. 430 00:17:52,705 --> 00:17:54,685 And she continued to get checks for around three months, 431 00:17:54,685 --> 00:17:55,685 four months from whatever the, 432 00:17:55,925 --> 00:17:56,845 whatever the period of time was. 433 00:17:56,845 --> 00:17:58,045 And then they processed it 434 00:17:58,045 --> 00:17:59,765 and they said, oh, okay, you have to get that money. 435 00:17:59,765 --> 00:18:01,765 Give us the money back. Which she did. 436 00:18:01,865 --> 00:18:03,285 You know, so they got the money back. 437 00:18:03,465 --> 00:18:07,405 So, you know, so it was 438 00:18:08,115 --> 00:18:10,045 - Payment, it may not be a loss to the government, 439 00:18:10,185 --> 00:18:11,645 and there tend to be, 440 00:18:11,745 --> 00:18:13,045 and this thank this is thanks 441 00:18:13,045 --> 00:18:14,445 to the Republicans in Congress, 442 00:18:15,065 --> 00:18:17,165 the administration wrongly I think, 443 00:18:17,345 --> 00:18:20,165 or, um, uh, Trump administration's probably different, 444 00:18:20,165 --> 00:18:22,965 but prior administrations were much more diligent about 445 00:18:22,965 --> 00:18:24,765 overpayments than underpayments. 446 00:18:25,035 --> 00:18:27,405 Yeah. You know, and that's, to me is, 447 00:18:27,665 --> 00:18:28,965 is shouldn't be that way. 448 00:18:29,065 --> 00:18:31,685 But, but the point is that the actual fraud, 449 00:18:31,745 --> 00:18:35,445 and there is, as you say, in any program this size, 450 00:18:35,445 --> 00:18:37,645 there's going to be, there are gonna be attempts. 451 00:18:37,665 --> 00:18:42,605 And in fact, even fraud, you know, scam, they, they get 452 00:18:43,155 --> 00:18:45,445 your money deposited from supposed to go 453 00:18:45,445 --> 00:18:47,085 to your bank account, they switch the 454 00:18:47,085 --> 00:18:48,125 bank account or something. 455 00:18:48,395 --> 00:18:50,685 Usually people discover that right away. 456 00:18:50,985 --> 00:18:54,085 And even though they might not catch the fraudster, 457 00:18:54,475 --> 00:18:57,125 they stop the, um, fraudulent payments. 458 00:18:57,185 --> 00:18:59,565 So just looking at snapshots doesn't 459 00:18:59,565 --> 00:19:00,805 really tell the full story. 460 00:19:01,835 --> 00:19:04,205 - Yeah. I remember this, again, 461 00:19:04,315 --> 00:19:07,205 I've talked about this in the past, but the Washington Post, 462 00:19:07,385 --> 00:19:10,525 and this is the sort of reporting that encourages people 463 00:19:10,545 --> 00:19:11,845 to think poorly of social security. 464 00:19:12,115 --> 00:19:15,405 They had a big front page story, jumped to two full pages 465 00:19:15,705 --> 00:19:18,165 inside about how social security paid out. 466 00:19:18,425 --> 00:19:20,365 And I'm forgetting the exact number or something, like two 467 00:19:20,385 --> 00:19:22,365 or $3 billion to dead people. 468 00:19:22,945 --> 00:19:26,005 And you know, any of us would see that, you know, well we, 469 00:19:26,025 --> 00:19:28,245 we have our nose of the numbers, but most people don't. 470 00:19:28,285 --> 00:19:29,965 I don't blame them. They have other things to do. 471 00:19:29,965 --> 00:19:31,685 They have lives to go, oh my God, 472 00:19:31,685 --> 00:19:33,925 they paid out $2 billion for dead people. 473 00:19:34,505 --> 00:19:36,685 And then if you read, if you actually read 474 00:19:36,685 --> 00:19:39,045 through the piece, it was over, I think five year period 475 00:19:39,825 --> 00:19:41,645 and most of it was gotten back, 476 00:19:41,945 --> 00:19:44,565 and the percentage of the actual payments, 477 00:19:45,025 --> 00:19:47,445 and again, I don't have the number at my fingertip, 478 00:19:47,465 --> 00:19:50,445 but it was something like 1000th of 1% 479 00:19:50,945 --> 00:19:52,325 of the actual payments. 480 00:19:52,785 --> 00:19:53,965 Now, I, I've raised that people 481 00:19:53,965 --> 00:19:54,965 and go, well, it should be zero. 482 00:19:56,165 --> 00:19:58,895 We'd love it to be zero, but that's not the real world. 483 00:19:59,285 --> 00:20:01,215 Well, you know, do you wanna spend 10 billion 484 00:20:01,315 --> 00:20:04,055 to catch 2 billion in, in overpayments? 485 00:20:04,055 --> 00:20:05,535 Most of which you get back anyhow. 486 00:20:06,715 --> 00:20:08,615 You know, that's, anyhow, 487 00:20:08,615 --> 00:20:10,095 but that's the sort of thing because, you know, 488 00:20:10,725 --> 00:20:12,735 - There's also, and some of this also, 489 00:20:12,735 --> 00:20:16,095 people don't understand because Congress, in some sense, 490 00:20:16,915 --> 00:20:19,055 the, again, the concerns in Congress are 491 00:20:19,115 --> 00:20:21,975 so concerned about fraud, that they have made the program 492 00:20:22,595 --> 00:20:24,535 so incredibly complicated 493 00:20:24,885 --> 00:20:28,415 that in some cases overpayments are impossible to avoid. 494 00:20:28,415 --> 00:20:29,735 Lemme give you just one example, 495 00:20:29,955 --> 00:20:34,015 and that is that you, your payment is, 496 00:20:34,515 --> 00:20:36,775 the payment people get is for the month 497 00:20:36,775 --> 00:20:39,015 before your social security benefit. 498 00:20:39,595 --> 00:20:41,935 And to be eligible for that payment, you have 499 00:20:41,935 --> 00:20:43,975 to be alive every single day of that month. 500 00:20:44,715 --> 00:20:45,815 Now, I think that's wrong. 501 00:20:46,015 --> 00:20:47,965 I think if you die on the last day of the month, 502 00:20:47,965 --> 00:20:49,405 you should get a prorated benefit. 503 00:20:49,625 --> 00:20:52,845 You should get most of the benefit. Um, but you don't. 504 00:20:53,345 --> 00:20:54,685 So imagine someone, 505 00:20:54,825 --> 00:20:58,045 or you don't, I mean, I'm sure it happens, happens, 506 00:20:58,145 --> 00:21:01,325 but think of a case where someone dies on the last day 507 00:21:02,065 --> 00:21:04,845 of the month, and then their benefit is to be paid 508 00:21:05,885 --> 00:21:07,805 on the first Wednesday of the following month. 509 00:21:07,955 --> 00:21:09,365 Well, there might only be a day 510 00:21:09,365 --> 00:21:11,685 or two between those two events, 511 00:21:12,225 --> 00:21:14,685 and so there's gonna be an overpayment 512 00:21:14,685 --> 00:21:17,485 because it, the death hasn't even been reported. 513 00:21:18,075 --> 00:21:19,325 That is an overpayment. 514 00:21:19,465 --> 00:21:22,805 Now, as the government will find out about that, you know, 515 00:21:22,825 --> 00:21:25,965 two days later, and they'll go to the bank account 516 00:21:26,025 --> 00:21:27,765 and they'll scoop the money back, 517 00:21:28,345 --> 00:21:30,765 or if the bank account's been closed, they'll go 518 00:21:30,765 --> 00:21:33,285 to the family, a grieving family and get the money back. 519 00:21:33,785 --> 00:21:37,085 But that's one where I would argue there's no way it can be, 520 00:21:37,105 --> 00:21:40,405 that's not even, um, an error 521 00:21:40,465 --> 00:21:42,605 or careless, it's just you can't get the 522 00:21:42,605 --> 00:21:43,685 information that quickly. 523 00:21:44,465 --> 00:21:45,965 So just because, 524 00:21:46,305 --> 00:21:47,565 and that would be a dead payment, 525 00:21:47,795 --> 00:21:50,365 dead person getting a payment because they're dead. 526 00:21:51,365 --> 00:21:53,705 - And, and that undoubtedly is the bulk of the, you know, 527 00:21:53,725 --> 00:21:55,145 not necessarily the last day of the month, 528 00:21:55,205 --> 00:21:56,425 but it's someone. But, but 529 00:21:56,425 --> 00:21:58,025 - Something like that where it's, yeah, 530 00:21:58,415 --> 00:22:00,625 - Yeah, that's the bulk of the, it was striking. 531 00:22:00,805 --> 00:22:03,905 And again, obviously you're totally on top of this Elon Musk 532 00:22:03,905 --> 00:22:05,705 and who know, again, I don't, can't speak 533 00:22:05,705 --> 00:22:08,465 for what's in his head, but say 20 million, he found a file 534 00:22:08,815 --> 00:22:10,745 that has a hundred, what was it, uh, 535 00:22:10,845 --> 00:22:14,505 20 million people over the age of 115 or something. 536 00:22:14,805 --> 00:22:15,865 And he's going, oh my God, 537 00:22:15,925 --> 00:22:17,265 all these people are getting checks. 538 00:22:18,005 --> 00:22:20,785 And you know, again, if he had talked to anyone there, 539 00:22:21,255 --> 00:22:23,825 they would've explained to, this is an inactive file. 540 00:22:24,055 --> 00:22:26,625 None of them are getting checks. They know they're dead. 541 00:22:27,205 --> 00:22:29,745 And the reason why they don't clean it up is it would cost 542 00:22:29,745 --> 00:22:31,305 them millions of dollars to clean it up. 543 00:22:31,745 --> 00:22:33,225 Congress doesn't wanna give them, you know, so, 544 00:22:33,225 --> 00:22:35,065 so they have this file, it, it, 545 00:22:35,605 --> 00:22:37,465 it has no consequence for the program. 546 00:22:37,815 --> 00:22:39,345 It's not that they're getting checks. 547 00:22:39,525 --> 00:22:41,505 So yeah, they have a file with people 548 00:22:41,525 --> 00:22:43,985 who are 130 years old if they were alive, 549 00:22:44,205 --> 00:22:46,225 but they know they're alive, they're not getting checks. 550 00:22:46,805 --> 00:22:50,465 - And in fact, I mean, one, um, thing, I, I mean, 551 00:22:50,465 --> 00:22:54,185 that's one thing where, you know, someone, um, is born, 552 00:22:54,185 --> 00:22:55,785 gets a number and then dies at age 10 553 00:22:55,805 --> 00:22:57,345 and is never gonna get a benefit. 554 00:22:58,085 --> 00:23:00,865 Um, it would be a way, it would really be a misuse 555 00:23:00,885 --> 00:23:04,025 of dedicated revenue to be cleaning that up, 556 00:23:04,025 --> 00:23:08,265 because there's, it's, IM immaterial that the name, the, 557 00:23:08,405 --> 00:23:11,425 the, um, the person has a number. 558 00:23:11,445 --> 00:23:14,665 But even more than that, and this again shows Elon Musk 559 00:23:14,685 --> 00:23:17,625 and Donald Trump's ignorance that 560 00:23:18,475 --> 00:23:22,015 you can have dependence on a, on a, on an earnings record, 561 00:23:22,475 --> 00:23:25,135 so that you still need that social security number 562 00:23:25,155 --> 00:23:27,695 and that earnings record even after the person has died. 563 00:23:27,855 --> 00:23:31,135 I mean, as I was looking at this, you know, the last person 564 00:23:31,155 --> 00:23:36,135 to get a Civil War pension, it was five years ago in 2020, 565 00:23:36,355 --> 00:23:39,575 and that was because it was a disabled adult daughter 566 00:23:39,995 --> 00:23:44,175 of a Civil War veteran who had, um, so, you know, 567 00:23:44,755 --> 00:23:48,005 the daughter had been born, um, towards the end of his life 568 00:23:48,025 --> 00:23:49,045 and lived a long life. 569 00:23:49,545 --> 00:23:54,045 So it, it, again, it's um, this has been very, 570 00:23:54,075 --> 00:23:55,685 very heavily audited 571 00:23:56,105 --> 00:23:59,325 and the program is extremely efficiently run 572 00:23:59,585 --> 00:24:00,805 and accurately run. 573 00:24:02,445 --> 00:24:04,865 - So let's talk a little bit about specifically, you know, 574 00:24:05,025 --> 00:24:06,945 'cause obviously we know Elon Musk 575 00:24:06,965 --> 00:24:10,385 and Doge have been getting into to the running 576 00:24:10,405 --> 00:24:11,905 of social security in a big way. 577 00:24:12,085 --> 00:24:14,145 And you wanna say a little bit about what, 578 00:24:14,375 --> 00:24:16,705 what the issues have been raised and obvious since a lot of 579 00:24:16,705 --> 00:24:19,625 - Them, it's, it's really, and I have a whole theory 580 00:24:19,645 --> 00:24:22,505 and we sort of were touching on it, what, what is going on? 581 00:24:23,205 --> 00:24:24,705 But the, um, 582 00:24:27,375 --> 00:24:31,465 Elon Musk has been looking, he, as soon as the, um, 583 00:24:32,195 --> 00:24:35,945 after January 20th, these Doge minions, you know, one 584 00:24:35,945 --> 00:24:39,025 as young as 19, the, you know, the, the races 585 00:24:39,025 --> 00:24:40,585 who got fired and was brought back. 586 00:24:40,585 --> 00:24:43,465 They're, they've been all over the Social Security 587 00:24:43,925 --> 00:24:48,785 administration and they, um, they were seeking 588 00:24:49,565 --> 00:24:50,945 our most sensitive files. 589 00:24:51,105 --> 00:24:52,625 I mean, these are, there is 590 00:24:52,645 --> 00:24:54,425 so much they're doing this in every agency, 591 00:24:54,445 --> 00:24:58,305 but all of our, we, you know, we have an agreement 592 00:24:58,305 --> 00:25:01,385 with the government that we provide, uh, 593 00:25:02,085 --> 00:25:04,025 the sensitive information to them 594 00:25:04,165 --> 00:25:06,505 for a mission driven purpose. 595 00:25:06,805 --> 00:25:10,505 And that is to, um, in the case of social security, 596 00:25:10,645 --> 00:25:12,185 to keep our earnings records 597 00:25:12,405 --> 00:25:15,225 and our, our family's earnings records and so forth. 598 00:25:15,685 --> 00:25:18,225 And in, actually, in the case of disability insurance, 599 00:25:18,285 --> 00:25:20,385 if you've even applied for disability insurance, 600 00:25:20,385 --> 00:25:21,745 even if you haven't gotten it, 601 00:25:22,365 --> 00:25:23,785 you have all your medical records 602 00:25:23,895 --> 00:25:25,945 that the Social Security Administration has. 603 00:25:25,975 --> 00:25:27,945 It's got a lot of sensitive records. 604 00:25:28,125 --> 00:25:30,665 If somebody's in a witness protection program 605 00:25:30,845 --> 00:25:33,385 and has to get a new social security numbers, all kinds of 606 00:25:34,015 --> 00:25:38,425 information, no one in the history of the program has had 607 00:25:39,005 --> 00:25:40,785 access to all of the information, 608 00:25:41,405 --> 00:25:44,865 and the only ones who've had access at all, they'd have 609 00:25:44,865 --> 00:25:47,185 to have very mission specific purpose. 610 00:25:47,325 --> 00:25:49,425 And then they talk about it being sandboxed. 611 00:25:50,125 --> 00:25:52,585 So it's, and it's very securely held. 612 00:25:52,585 --> 00:25:55,905 It's always been looked at in, in a very secure way. 613 00:25:55,925 --> 00:25:58,465 And there'll be, um, and so forth. 614 00:25:59,485 --> 00:26:03,015 The, um, January 20th came 615 00:26:03,395 --> 00:26:06,015 and the, um, acting commissioner, 616 00:26:06,335 --> 00:26:09,735 'cause of course the, the political commissioner had had 617 00:26:09,735 --> 00:26:12,975 left the one, the, um, Martin O'Malley 618 00:26:13,315 --> 00:26:14,615 and then Carolyn Colvin. 619 00:26:14,635 --> 00:26:17,855 So the acting commissioner was named by Trump, 620 00:26:17,955 --> 00:26:20,175 was someone who'd been there for 30 621 00:26:20,235 --> 00:26:23,495 or more over 30 years, was very, um, 622 00:26:23,635 --> 00:26:25,815 had been in very high level positions, was kind 623 00:26:25,815 --> 00:26:27,295 of the perfect person you'd think of 624 00:26:27,875 --> 00:26:30,455 as the acting was not political and so forth. 625 00:26:31,275 --> 00:26:35,615 And she was very cooperative, um, until they asked 626 00:26:35,995 --> 00:26:38,495 for access to everything, including the source code, 627 00:26:38,555 --> 00:26:41,935 so they could rewrite anything in our in. 628 00:26:42,985 --> 00:26:44,405 And she, I know her, 629 00:26:44,425 --> 00:26:46,965 and I'm sure she was very polite in explaining 630 00:26:46,965 --> 00:26:50,125 to them why they could not have that broad access, 631 00:26:50,545 --> 00:26:52,405 but if they could explain what they needed, 632 00:26:53,025 --> 00:26:54,245 she would provide it for them. 633 00:26:55,025 --> 00:26:58,565 And of course, what happened was the next day she was 634 00:26:59,115 --> 00:27:00,685 sent an email saying she was no 635 00:27:00,685 --> 00:27:01,965 longer the acting commissioner. 636 00:27:02,585 --> 00:27:03,885 The person who was the act 637 00:27:03,985 --> 00:27:05,485 to be the acting commissioner had, 638 00:27:05,545 --> 00:27:07,565 was actually on administrative leave. 639 00:27:08,185 --> 00:27:10,845 He was a middle level, um, 640 00:27:11,545 --> 00:27:14,765 person at Social Security Administration who'd been leaking 641 00:27:14,765 --> 00:27:16,405 information and working with Doge, 642 00:27:16,635 --> 00:27:18,765 even though his bosses didn't know that he was doing that. 643 00:27:19,465 --> 00:27:21,725 And so he'd been put on administrative leave, 644 00:27:22,185 --> 00:27:23,925 he now was the new acting commissioner. 645 00:27:23,985 --> 00:27:27,725 He was leapfrogged over about 120 more senior people. 646 00:27:28,465 --> 00:27:32,245 His one, um, um, qualification was 647 00:27:32,245 --> 00:27:33,925 that he'd give Doge whatever they wanted. 648 00:27:34,385 --> 00:27:38,925 And so that's who now has all of that on top of it. 649 00:27:39,025 --> 00:27:40,205 And he has acknowledged 650 00:27:40,515 --> 00:27:43,045 that he's not calling the shots, the White House. 651 00:27:43,595 --> 00:27:45,365 They have hollowed out the agency. 652 00:27:46,155 --> 00:27:49,565 They, the, it's, uh, Dean, it's gonna sound crazy, 653 00:27:49,665 --> 00:27:53,285 but it's not an exaggeration to say nearly a thousand years 654 00:27:53,425 --> 00:27:57,245 of institutional knowledge has walked out the door in the 655 00:27:57,245 --> 00:27:59,205 last few weeks or been pushed out the door. 656 00:27:59,425 --> 00:28:02,365 People who'd worked there 30, 35, 40 years. 657 00:28:03,345 --> 00:28:06,405 And as a result, people who were, um, 658 00:28:06,985 --> 00:28:09,445 the top people on cybersecurity, people 659 00:28:09,445 --> 00:28:11,525 who maintain the website, all of them gone, 660 00:28:11,525 --> 00:28:12,805 the communications people. 661 00:28:13,545 --> 00:28:16,085 So now you know how SSA 662 00:28:16,665 --> 00:28:19,005 issues doesn't issue press releases anymore. 663 00:28:19,305 --> 00:28:21,485 It puts statements on X. 664 00:28:21,905 --> 00:28:25,525 That's how the public gets their information from the Social 665 00:28:25,805 --> 00:28:28,925 Security Administration, a for-profit platform 666 00:28:28,925 --> 00:28:30,365 that has advertisements. 667 00:28:30,485 --> 00:28:31,525 I mean, it's just outrageous. 668 00:28:32,105 --> 00:28:36,565 But they have, um, decimated the agency. The, um, 669 00:28:37,425 --> 00:28:38,685 - If I, if I could just back up 670 00:28:38,685 --> 00:28:40,365 because I emphasize a couple things here. 671 00:28:40,365 --> 00:28:42,245 Sure. First off, I'll start with that last one 672 00:28:42,245 --> 00:28:44,925 because it is, this has happened with a number of agencies 673 00:28:44,985 --> 00:28:48,285 and I trust people know X is Elon Musk platform. 674 00:28:48,785 --> 00:28:52,485 So here you have government agencies that instead 675 00:28:52,685 --> 00:28:55,925 of issuing press releases that are freely available 676 00:28:56,225 --> 00:28:58,685 to whoever wants, I mean, to general public, 677 00:28:58,745 --> 00:29:01,085 but also obviously to the media, to to, to press. 678 00:29:01,185 --> 00:29:02,445 That's what they're designed for. 679 00:29:02,945 --> 00:29:04,685 You have to instead go to X. 680 00:29:05,545 --> 00:29:09,045 And how they could think that's justified, how they think 681 00:29:09,045 --> 00:29:11,565 that can make sense is just mind boggling. 682 00:29:11,725 --> 00:29:14,685 I mean, you know, obviously You don't even have 683 00:29:14,685 --> 00:29:16,005 to argue it's a conflict of interest. 684 00:29:16,005 --> 00:29:17,125 What else can we just call it? 685 00:29:17,585 --> 00:29:20,165 But you know, the other point, you know, I think people have 686 00:29:20,165 --> 00:29:21,645 to, you know, we're researchers. 687 00:29:21,665 --> 00:29:24,955 We, we work with this stuff, you wanna look for fraud, 688 00:29:25,745 --> 00:29:29,755 they could give you the d you don't need the person's name. 689 00:29:29,815 --> 00:29:32,235 You could, you know, here's, here's, you know, 690 00:29:32,235 --> 00:29:33,715 here's the information, here's 691 00:29:33,715 --> 00:29:34,875 how we calculate their benefit, 692 00:29:35,095 --> 00:29:36,275 you know, whatever it might be. 693 00:29:36,495 --> 00:29:37,675 And that's done all the time. 694 00:29:38,415 --> 00:29:40,235 You know, and the Social Security administration, 695 00:29:40,335 --> 00:29:42,005 the professional staff who have been there, 696 00:29:42,315 --> 00:29:44,765 were perfectly willing to tell Elon Musk, okay, 697 00:29:44,945 --> 00:29:46,485 you wanna look over a million files? 698 00:29:46,735 --> 00:29:48,765 We'll give you the data, but we're not gonna 699 00:29:48,775 --> 00:29:49,965 allow you in there. 700 00:29:50,545 --> 00:29:52,885 So you have that you could find information, 701 00:29:52,905 --> 00:29:54,605 you really have no business finding out. 702 00:29:54,605 --> 00:29:56,525 You don't get to know their medical history. You don that. 703 00:29:56,525 --> 00:29:59,805 That's not your business. And you don't get to play with it. 704 00:30:00,025 --> 00:30:03,285 You know, again, we have to trust them that, you know, I, 705 00:30:03,355 --> 00:30:05,285 I've worked 35 years, whatever period, 706 00:30:05,425 --> 00:30:06,525 you're not gonna change that. 707 00:30:06,555 --> 00:30:08,885 Make it 15 years, you know, you know, 708 00:30:09,505 --> 00:30:10,505 - That's right. 709 00:30:10,505 --> 00:30:11,285 - I assume they didn't do that, 710 00:30:11,465 --> 00:30:13,325 but, you know, there's no way 711 00:30:13,325 --> 00:30:14,325 - To know. 712 00:30:14,325 --> 00:30:14,765 There's no way to know. 713 00:30:14,945 --> 00:30:18,445 And in fact, I was told, I don't know if this is right 714 00:30:18,445 --> 00:30:19,965 or not, but I'm afraid it may be 715 00:30:20,275 --> 00:30:23,045 that social security has always gotten a clean audit. 716 00:30:23,145 --> 00:30:25,885 As I say, it gets audited by outside, um, 717 00:30:26,205 --> 00:30:27,285 auditors all the time. 718 00:30:27,705 --> 00:30:30,245 And it's always a clean audit. 719 00:30:30,825 --> 00:30:32,965 I'm, I'm told that it will never have another clean audit. 720 00:30:33,165 --> 00:30:34,325 'cause they'll have to be an asterisk 721 00:30:34,325 --> 00:30:36,165 because for just the reason you're saying 722 00:30:36,875 --> 00:30:39,125 that no one knows whether something's been changed. 723 00:30:39,155 --> 00:30:41,525 There's no way to, to find out. 724 00:30:41,785 --> 00:30:44,085 Um, which is it just, 725 00:30:44,665 --> 00:30:47,085 and that's, that's sort of almost the, 726 00:30:47,225 --> 00:30:49,885 the most trivial aspect of all this. 727 00:30:50,005 --> 00:30:54,605 I mean, they are doing real damage, even if they are, um, 728 00:30:55,585 --> 00:30:58,365 you know, even if they had the most benign motives, 729 00:30:58,365 --> 00:30:59,605 and I don't believe that they do, 730 00:31:00,065 --> 00:31:04,205 but even if they did, it is a complicated system. 731 00:31:04,265 --> 00:31:07,485 You to, to make changes, you really have 732 00:31:07,485 --> 00:31:08,805 to understand the program 733 00:31:09,195 --> 00:31:11,485 because you, it's not just that it's COBOL 734 00:31:11,485 --> 00:31:13,485 and the language that, a computer 735 00:31:13,845 --> 00:31:14,925 language that they don't know. 736 00:31:15,395 --> 00:31:17,645 It's also that these people don't know the program 737 00:31:17,715 --> 00:31:21,245 because you have to know what order to put things in. 738 00:31:21,305 --> 00:31:24,645 And it may have, um, one change may have 739 00:31:25,275 --> 00:31:27,245 another change, um, somewhere else. 740 00:31:27,305 --> 00:31:30,325 And they're talking about this another thing that's, uh, 741 00:31:30,325 --> 00:31:32,805 there's so much that crazy stuff going on, 742 00:31:32,825 --> 00:31:37,165 but they've talked about re updating the whole, um, 743 00:31:37,675 --> 00:31:39,405 systems within a few months. 744 00:31:39,715 --> 00:31:44,325 That is the experts I talked to that is almost certain 745 00:31:44,465 --> 00:31:46,805 to cause problems with cascading effects 746 00:31:46,905 --> 00:31:48,525 and could crash the entire system. 747 00:31:49,565 --> 00:31:52,055 - Yeah. One of the things, and again, they're mocked for it, 748 00:31:52,075 --> 00:31:54,815 but you know, they use this language cobol, which goes back, 749 00:31:54,895 --> 00:31:56,895 I think to the sixties, you know, it's a, yeah, 750 00:31:57,245 --> 00:31:59,775 - It's - An ancient, can make fun of them for that. 751 00:31:59,875 --> 00:32:02,295 But there's there, there's a logic to that. 752 00:32:02,555 --> 00:32:04,015 And it, it's simply that 753 00:32:04,085 --> 00:32:06,615 because it has been used for so long 754 00:32:06,795 --> 00:32:10,335 and on such a large scale, we know there are no bugs in it. 755 00:32:10,525 --> 00:32:14,055 - Exactly. - And, you know, we get the, 756 00:32:14,195 --> 00:32:15,855 he calls 'em super high iq, 757 00:32:15,975 --> 00:32:17,615 I maybe give him an IQ does, I don't know. 758 00:32:17,615 --> 00:32:18,735 But you know, that, you know, , 759 00:32:19,015 --> 00:32:22,575 we get the Doge boys in there and maybe they are very smart. 760 00:32:22,735 --> 00:32:24,535 I have no idea. But you know, 761 00:32:24,535 --> 00:32:26,775 when you put in a new system there, the idea, 762 00:32:26,845 --> 00:32:30,255 it's gonna run perfectly and there won't be serious bugs. 763 00:32:30,455 --> 00:32:32,535 I mean, it'd be great if that were true, 764 00:32:32,755 --> 00:32:35,855 but know there are a lot of very smart people that try 765 00:32:36,525 --> 00:32:39,135 working on changing the program before, 766 00:32:39,385 --> 00:32:40,485 and they all backed away 767 00:32:40,485 --> 00:32:42,765 because they realized they, they couldn't do it. So, 768 00:32:43,065 --> 00:32:46,285 - And they, and there's no reason to update it. 769 00:32:46,305 --> 00:32:48,485 The, the, the concerns are there are fewer 770 00:32:48,505 --> 00:32:51,085 and fewer people who know cobol 771 00:32:51,265 --> 00:32:54,125 and they're, they're, you know, they charge, they, 772 00:32:54,125 --> 00:32:57,165 they're expensive because there are so few of them. 773 00:32:57,785 --> 00:33:01,555 Um, but it, it's a system that works. 774 00:33:02,175 --> 00:33:05,795 And, you know, I, I was reading about sort of this idea 775 00:33:05,795 --> 00:33:08,275 that, oh, the cool kids, you know, it's not the, uh, 776 00:33:08,275 --> 00:33:10,235 program the cool kids know. 777 00:33:10,265 --> 00:33:12,555 Well, it's, as you say, it's a program 778 00:33:12,625 --> 00:33:14,795 that is operated for so long. 779 00:33:15,025 --> 00:33:17,475 It's, it's, the bugs are gone. 780 00:33:17,775 --> 00:33:19,555 And if you have any kind of new system, 781 00:33:20,065 --> 00:33:21,595 they're gonna be putting bugs in 782 00:33:21,735 --> 00:33:25,075 and it's gonna be cascading, um, problems 783 00:33:25,075 --> 00:33:26,755 because they don't know the, they, 784 00:33:26,755 --> 00:33:27,955 they don't understand the program, 785 00:33:28,095 --> 00:33:31,035 and they're not taking the time if you were gonna do this. 786 00:33:31,135 --> 00:33:33,835 And they, they do it with little pieces of it. 787 00:33:34,155 --> 00:33:38,755 They have been updating the system and you do little pieces 788 00:33:38,895 --> 00:33:41,275 and you test them, and you have redundancies, 789 00:33:41,275 --> 00:33:43,915 and you make sure before you turn one off 790 00:33:43,915 --> 00:33:46,635 and turn the other on that it's not that it's going 791 00:33:46,635 --> 00:33:48,035 to produce the right results. 792 00:33:48,575 --> 00:33:51,355 You can't do that in a few months. That takes years. 793 00:33:51,855 --> 00:33:54,995 And that's just that they're also making 794 00:33:55,175 --> 00:33:56,195 all kinds of changes. 795 00:33:56,615 --> 00:33:57,795 And again, this is, I think 796 00:33:57,795 --> 00:34:00,595 because of the fraud on what you can do on the phone, 797 00:34:00,745 --> 00:34:03,875 because they claim there's fraud where there's not fraud. 798 00:34:03,935 --> 00:34:06,075 And it's just creating chaos 799 00:34:06,375 --> 00:34:10,515 and it's creating the opportunity for scammers to come in 800 00:34:10,815 --> 00:34:14,755 and, um, prey on a population seniors 801 00:34:15,055 --> 00:34:18,235 who are disproportionately or subject to scams. 802 00:34:19,195 --> 00:34:21,765 - Yeah. The phone issue was, you know, they, they said that, 803 00:34:21,865 --> 00:34:23,485 and I think they backtracked on this, 804 00:34:23,505 --> 00:34:26,125 but people wouldn't be able to set up their, 805 00:34:26,305 --> 00:34:29,285 or change their, uh, direct deposit over the phone. 806 00:34:29,425 --> 00:34:31,445 And of course, a lot of, almost 807 00:34:31,445 --> 00:34:33,165 by definition we're talking about people, 808 00:34:33,165 --> 00:34:35,085 we're talking about disabled people, many 809 00:34:35,085 --> 00:34:37,405 of those people will have trouble working on the 810 00:34:37,565 --> 00:34:38,885 internet, and there's 811 00:34:38,885 --> 00:34:40,845 - More fraud on the internet. I mean, that's the, 812 00:34:40,845 --> 00:34:42,565 - Yeah, no, and, and, yeah, exactly. 813 00:34:42,715 --> 00:34:43,765 This is what I was gonna get to. 814 00:34:43,835 --> 00:34:46,525 Elon Musk was running around saying that 40% 815 00:34:46,585 --> 00:34:48,805 of the phone calls are fraudsters. 816 00:34:49,185 --> 00:34:50,565 - Oh, yeah. - And, 817 00:34:50,565 --> 00:34:54,685 and what the actual statistics was, 40% of the fraud 818 00:34:55,385 --> 00:34:56,445 is done over the phone. 819 00:34:56,835 --> 00:34:59,085 - Exactly. - Which is like, you know, 820 00:34:59,115 --> 00:35:00,445 like totally opposite. 821 00:35:00,485 --> 00:35:02,405 I dunno what that's like one in a, one in 822 00:35:06,185 --> 00:35:08,325 - One in 3,100 phone calls. 823 00:35:08,545 --> 00:35:11,245 - So, yeah. So it just, you know, again, you just go like, 824 00:35:11,245 --> 00:35:13,205 he gets this number that, you know, 825 00:35:13,475 --> 00:35:15,125 obviously he wanted to say it. 826 00:35:15,145 --> 00:35:17,565 I'm sure Elon Musk could figure out if we sat him down 827 00:35:17,585 --> 00:35:20,485 and explained, oh, it's, you know, 40% of the fraud, 828 00:35:20,585 --> 00:35:21,845 not 40% of the phone calls. 829 00:35:22,345 --> 00:35:24,805 But yeah, he just totally misrepresented it. 830 00:35:24,945 --> 00:35:27,405 And as a result of that, he's proposing his policy. 831 00:35:27,425 --> 00:35:30,085 That'd be an incredible inconvenience for, you know, 832 00:35:30,085 --> 00:35:32,605 hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people. Millions. 833 00:35:32,745 --> 00:35:35,485 - No, and because they were also saying that you couldn't, 834 00:35:35,485 --> 00:35:38,765 you had to come in, um, when you're filing a claim, 835 00:35:38,865 --> 00:35:41,645 you really had to file it in person or over the internet. 836 00:35:41,645 --> 00:35:43,125 Again, in person. 837 00:35:43,795 --> 00:35:46,915 They're, first of all, over the internet, 838 00:35:47,125 --> 00:35:49,115 especially in rural areas, there are a lot of people 839 00:35:49,135 --> 00:35:50,235 who don't have broadband. 840 00:35:50,775 --> 00:35:55,235 And the field offices could be mile, you know, hour 841 00:35:55,335 --> 00:35:56,795 and hours drive, drive away, 842 00:35:57,375 --> 00:35:59,555 and they're talking about closing the field offices. 843 00:36:00,375 --> 00:36:04,555 So it's, it's this sort of Orwellian stuff where they say, 844 00:36:05,345 --> 00:36:07,315 okay, people who work in the field offices 845 00:36:07,615 --> 00:36:08,715 cannot work remotely. 846 00:36:08,745 --> 00:36:10,675 They have to go into the field offices, 847 00:36:10,855 --> 00:36:12,195 but by the way, we're gonna cancel. 848 00:36:12,245 --> 00:36:15,075 We're gonna close all the field offices, offices, 849 00:36:15,075 --> 00:36:16,635 they've already closed regional offices. 850 00:36:16,745 --> 00:36:18,515 They've created chaos. 851 00:36:18,605 --> 00:36:21,675 Where the employees themselves don't know, 852 00:36:21,825 --> 00:36:24,035 they find out about these changes the 853 00:36:24,035 --> 00:36:25,195 same way the public does. 854 00:36:25,495 --> 00:36:27,995 And the public starts calling, and they don't have answers 855 00:36:27,995 --> 00:36:30,155 because it hasn't been vetted. 856 00:36:30,155 --> 00:36:31,435 They haven't been trained. They, 857 00:36:32,215 --> 00:36:33,995 the policies haven't even really been 858 00:36:34,345 --> 00:36:35,555 very well thought through. 859 00:36:35,735 --> 00:36:37,275 And so they keep reversing them. 860 00:36:37,875 --> 00:36:41,275 I mean, it's really, um, as I say, 861 00:36:41,615 --> 00:36:43,995 the most benign is that they're incompetent. 862 00:36:44,015 --> 00:36:46,595 But unfortunately, I think they're really trying 863 00:36:46,615 --> 00:36:47,915 to undermine the system. 864 00:36:48,055 --> 00:36:50,475 So you take your pick, is that, yeah, 865 00:36:50,535 --> 00:36:51,555 - It sure seems that way. 866 00:36:51,775 --> 00:36:53,835 You know, again, the abuse of the workers. 867 00:36:54,015 --> 00:36:56,115 So, you know, again, they talk about these people, like, 868 00:36:56,375 --> 00:36:59,195 you know, they're living high on the hard, you know, I, 869 00:36:59,255 --> 00:37:01,475 you know, we both don't make people work in social security. 870 00:37:01,975 --> 00:37:03,235 You can make comfortable living. 871 00:37:03,495 --> 00:37:04,795 You're not getting rich there. 872 00:37:04,895 --> 00:37:06,875 You know, most of the people could get much more money in 873 00:37:06,875 --> 00:37:09,035 the private sector, but they, they're, they're there, 874 00:37:09,035 --> 00:37:10,315 they're serving the public. 875 00:37:10,345 --> 00:37:11,555 They understand what they're doing. 876 00:37:12,095 --> 00:37:13,955 And, you know, here's Musk comes in 877 00:37:13,955 --> 00:37:15,075 and he just treats 'em like shit. 878 00:37:15,095 --> 00:37:17,355 You know, like, oh, you know, that was the policy. 879 00:37:17,445 --> 00:37:18,435 Today, it's a different policy. 880 00:37:18,535 --> 00:37:19,675 Oh, tomorrow it's a different one. 881 00:37:20,015 --> 00:37:21,435 You know, and it's just, 882 00:37:21,455 --> 00:37:22,875 - And it's demeaning and it's, 883 00:37:22,935 --> 00:37:25,595 and it's the, you know, go get a real job basically, 884 00:37:25,665 --> 00:37:28,355 even though these, these jobs are so hard 885 00:37:28,615 --> 00:37:31,755 and really, um, not well compensated. 886 00:37:32,135 --> 00:37:35,235 And, but people do it because they believe in the mission 887 00:37:35,295 --> 00:37:37,155 and they believe in public service, 888 00:37:37,895 --> 00:37:39,155 but they're, you're right. 889 00:37:39,345 --> 00:37:43,535 It's, it's just horrible. And on top of it, they never know. 890 00:37:43,535 --> 00:37:45,895 They don't know from day to day what's gonna happen. 891 00:37:46,515 --> 00:37:49,695 You know, they're said, okay, fork in the road. Okay. 892 00:37:49,755 --> 00:37:54,375 You know, there's the carrot of you can, um, retire early, 893 00:37:54,675 --> 00:37:57,215 or you can leave and take, get a lump sum payment, 894 00:37:57,755 --> 00:37:59,295 but the stick is, if you don't, 895 00:37:59,295 --> 00:38:00,335 you're probably gonna be fired. 896 00:38:00,835 --> 00:38:03,095 And those are starting now we're in this phase two 897 00:38:03,095 --> 00:38:05,255 where they're huge number. 898 00:38:05,355 --> 00:38:09,845 So you've got an agency that is, uh, 899 00:38:09,985 --> 00:38:11,765 was already at a 50 year low 900 00:38:12,305 --> 00:38:16,725 and is now, um, they're talking about getting rid 901 00:38:16,725 --> 00:38:18,325 of about 15% more. 902 00:38:18,705 --> 00:38:21,005 So it's understaffed, overworked, 903 00:38:21,005 --> 00:38:24,285 and it's just spiraling downward. 904 00:38:24,345 --> 00:38:27,085 And it's really, I mean, 50 year low is actually 905 00:38:27,625 --> 00:38:28,805 an understatement because 906 00:38:28,835 --> 00:38:32,685 what happened 50 years ago was the enactment of SSI. 907 00:38:33,105 --> 00:38:37,485 And so before SSSI, the administration was, 908 00:38:38,265 --> 00:38:40,045 was the social security program. 909 00:38:40,305 --> 00:38:42,445 So it's, I think it's basically 910 00:38:43,285 --> 00:38:45,205 probably the lowest it's ever been. Certainly, 911 00:38:45,315 --> 00:38:47,085 - Just to be clear for people, SSI is 912 00:38:47,085 --> 00:38:48,445 supplemental security income. 913 00:38:48,445 --> 00:38:49,525 So it's it's an add on. 914 00:38:49,525 --> 00:38:52,005 It's not part of the regular Social security program. 915 00:38:52,005 --> 00:38:53,845 Exactly. So that is a means tested program. 916 00:38:54,265 --> 00:38:56,005 And actually for that reason, it requires a lot 917 00:38:56,005 --> 00:38:58,165 of administrative staff that you don't need 918 00:38:58,585 --> 00:39:01,525 for Social security, the, the disability part 919 00:39:01,525 --> 00:39:03,285 of Social security and social security itself, 920 00:39:03,285 --> 00:39:04,565 because that's not means tested. 921 00:39:04,675 --> 00:39:06,125 It's you have an earnings record. Exactly. 922 00:39:06,345 --> 00:39:07,325 You know, they, they don't have 923 00:39:07,325 --> 00:39:08,245 to go out and check your income. 924 00:39:09,585 --> 00:39:10,885 - And of course, again, 925 00:39:10,885 --> 00:39:14,005 because it's, uh, it's a kind of demonized program, 926 00:39:14,195 --> 00:39:16,765 even though it's a really important program, 927 00:39:17,255 --> 00:39:19,045 there are all kinds of, you know, you have 928 00:39:19,045 --> 00:39:20,805 to bring your pay stubs in every month 929 00:39:20,905 --> 00:39:21,965 to show you what you've earned. 930 00:39:22,065 --> 00:39:23,685 And if your family gives you 931 00:39:23,685 --> 00:39:25,285 groceries, you have to report that. 932 00:39:25,365 --> 00:39:28,205 I mean, it's ki so that it, 933 00:39:28,545 --> 00:39:31,645 the supplemental security income represents about 5% 934 00:39:31,645 --> 00:39:33,045 of all the benefits that go out. 935 00:39:33,045 --> 00:39:37,965 95% are for social security, yet it's something like 40% 936 00:39:38,025 --> 00:39:41,885 of the administrative expenses or SSI expenses. 937 00:39:42,545 --> 00:39:44,565 So again, it gives you a sense of 938 00:39:45,065 --> 00:39:46,765 how much resources are devoted 939 00:39:46,825 --> 00:39:48,005 to administering that program. 940 00:39:49,015 --> 00:39:50,755 - Let me get to something I'm sure is about 941 00:39:50,755 --> 00:39:53,075 that use scares me to death, uh, bad term. 942 00:39:53,575 --> 00:39:54,675 Um, the, the use 943 00:39:54,675 --> 00:39:57,235 of the Social Security death files in an immigration. 944 00:39:57,935 --> 00:40:00,675 Yes. I, I, you, you know more about than I do. 945 00:40:00,775 --> 00:40:02,315 I'm sure this one really scared me. 946 00:40:02,975 --> 00:40:07,035 - Yes. So despite what the richest man in the world, 947 00:40:07,225 --> 00:40:08,715 Elon Musk, and at the moment, 948 00:40:08,775 --> 00:40:10,915 the most powerful man in the world, Donald Trump 949 00:40:11,505 --> 00:40:14,595 will spout about all these dead people getting benefits. 950 00:40:14,615 --> 00:40:17,795 You know, I mean, I can't believe that Donald Trump on a, 951 00:40:18,715 --> 00:40:22,195 a joint session to Congress that was broadcast nationwide, 952 00:40:22,765 --> 00:40:25,795 spent minutes talking about just lies, 953 00:40:25,925 --> 00:40:29,555 about all these people getting benefits, actually, 954 00:40:29,555 --> 00:40:34,195 because social, the Congress breezed down the nexts 955 00:40:34,195 --> 00:40:37,955 of SSA to make sure that there aren't overpayments. 956 00:40:38,465 --> 00:40:39,555 They are extreme. 957 00:40:39,625 --> 00:40:43,195 This administration is ex has always been extremely diligent 958 00:40:43,735 --> 00:40:45,475 in making sure that payments 959 00:40:45,475 --> 00:40:47,755 of people who've died terminate immediately. 960 00:40:47,855 --> 00:40:49,955 So it used to be funeral homes 961 00:40:50,015 --> 00:40:53,675 and families that reported there was a lump sum death 962 00:40:53,675 --> 00:40:57,435 benefit that was put in, in the 1950s part. 963 00:40:57,575 --> 00:41:00,195 The idea was to pay, um, funeral costs, 964 00:41:00,255 --> 00:41:03,995 but it was also d an incentive for people to report when, 965 00:41:04,445 --> 00:41:07,915 right away, when someone, um, a beneficiary had died, 966 00:41:08,545 --> 00:41:10,355 they spend millions of dollars. 967 00:41:10,815 --> 00:41:12,875 The Social Security Administration spends millions 968 00:41:12,875 --> 00:41:16,195 of dollars every year, all 50 states have 969 00:41:16,195 --> 00:41:18,235 what are called electronic death registries. 970 00:41:18,655 --> 00:41:22,835 So when the death is reported, it's immediately checked out 971 00:41:23,055 --> 00:41:27,835 and the, um, the information's immediately transmitted 972 00:41:27,935 --> 00:41:30,275 to the Social Security Administration 973 00:41:30,495 --> 00:41:34,565 and benefits are, are terminated immediately. 974 00:41:34,945 --> 00:41:37,925 So it's actually, they're extremely quick 975 00:41:38,095 --> 00:41:39,725 about catching that. 976 00:41:40,025 --> 00:41:42,565 And actually, there's a problem where sometimes 977 00:41:43,235 --> 00:41:45,445 they make a mistake and someone who's alive, 978 00:41:46,225 --> 00:41:47,365 um, is recorded. 979 00:41:47,465 --> 00:41:49,765 It could be that in the funeral home, 980 00:41:50,185 --> 00:41:52,485 the person's filling it out, you know, a spouse 981 00:41:52,505 --> 00:41:55,085 or someone who's upset, misunderstands 982 00:41:55,085 --> 00:41:56,565 and fills out their own name 983 00:41:56,585 --> 00:41:58,605 or their own social security number, you know, 984 00:41:58,605 --> 00:42:01,725 where it's supposed to be the deceased persons or something. 985 00:42:01,825 --> 00:42:06,125 So a person who's living gets on, um, 986 00:42:06,265 --> 00:42:07,685 is reported as dead. 987 00:42:07,825 --> 00:42:11,205 And that is devastating. 988 00:42:11,355 --> 00:42:14,445 That it is hard to underestimate how catastrophic, 989 00:42:15,045 --> 00:42:18,285 I wouldn't wish that on my, you know, worst enemy. 990 00:42:18,285 --> 00:42:22,825 It's a, because what happens is not only are your benefits, 991 00:42:23,285 --> 00:42:25,105 um, canceled 992 00:42:25,205 --> 00:42:27,585 and your Medicare, if you're getting health insurance, 993 00:42:27,585 --> 00:42:29,025 so you have no health insurance, 994 00:42:29,925 --> 00:42:34,675 but that even though that, um, um, 995 00:42:35,125 --> 00:42:37,875 death Master filed, there's supposed to be caveats 996 00:42:37,875 --> 00:42:41,115 and so forth, they, they are used by banks and others. 997 00:42:41,215 --> 00:42:43,395 And so your, your banks are closed, your credit cards, 998 00:42:43,425 --> 00:42:46,955 your your houses, um, is, 999 00:42:47,135 --> 00:42:49,035 uh, put up for sale. 1000 00:42:49,235 --> 00:42:50,355 I mean, all kinds of things. 1001 00:42:50,495 --> 00:42:53,785 And it can take, you can get in these endless loops 1002 00:42:53,845 --> 00:42:55,345 of trying to correct it. 1003 00:42:55,755 --> 00:42:56,865 There was a, a case, 1004 00:42:56,865 --> 00:42:59,625 there's actually a class action against Social Security now 1005 00:42:59,625 --> 00:43:03,585 because a woman was put on, um, inadvertently 1006 00:43:04,205 --> 00:43:05,505 was reported as dead. 1007 00:43:05,525 --> 00:43:07,745 And she, it took her months and months and months 1008 00:43:07,745 --> 00:43:09,545 and months to correct it. 1009 00:43:10,005 --> 00:43:13,305 And within seven months of that having happened, she died. 1010 00:43:13,685 --> 00:43:16,265 And her family believes that a lot of it is 1011 00:43:16,265 --> 00:43:18,145 because of the stress and the horror. 1012 00:43:18,345 --> 00:43:20,825 I mean, again, can you imagine you have no health insurance, 1013 00:43:20,825 --> 00:43:22,505 you have nothing, you can't, so 1014 00:43:22,775 --> 00:43:24,545 - This is actually what I want to highlight. 1015 00:43:24,545 --> 00:43:28,465 You know, that, uh, Musk, actually, I forget the number. 1016 00:43:28,545 --> 00:43:29,945 I believe it was 6,000 people. 1017 00:43:30,325 --> 00:43:31,825 - 6,000, that's right. And 1018 00:43:31,925 --> 00:43:33,185 that's gonna just do the beginning. 1019 00:43:34,015 --> 00:43:37,465 - Yeah. And you know, so they, they recorded them as dead. 1020 00:43:37,565 --> 00:43:38,705 So as they understand it, 1021 00:43:38,705 --> 00:43:40,025 and who knows that they're accurate, 1022 00:43:40,045 --> 00:43:42,505 but they're saying they had identified 6,000 1023 00:43:42,505 --> 00:43:43,985 people who aren't here legally. 1024 00:43:44,205 --> 00:43:46,505 And again, we dunno what standard they're applying. 1025 00:43:46,895 --> 00:43:50,385 They had them classified as dead, which means that, 1026 00:43:50,565 --> 00:43:53,385 you know, they can't work, they can't have a bank account, 1027 00:43:53,385 --> 00:43:56,145 they can't use a credit card if they own property, 1028 00:43:56,145 --> 00:43:58,465 if they own a house, they lose it. You know, they 1029 00:43:58,465 --> 00:44:00,585 - Lose their health insurance, they lose everything. 1030 00:44:01,525 --> 00:44:05,185 And in fact, the thing that's so crazy about the concept, 1031 00:44:05,295 --> 00:44:09,625 this is to get them to, to, um, um, self deport, 1032 00:44:10,405 --> 00:44:12,465 is that you couldn't even do that. 1033 00:44:12,525 --> 00:44:13,905 You can't buy a plane ticket. 1034 00:44:14,125 --> 00:44:17,545 You can't, um, get a visa for, you know, if you're, 1035 00:44:17,885 --> 00:44:21,145 if the world thinks you're dead, you cannot do any of that 1036 00:44:21,145 --> 00:44:23,465 because it would be viewed as fraudulent. 1037 00:44:23,465 --> 00:44:26,665 But what the fraudulence is putting someone on the death 1038 00:44:26,665 --> 00:44:28,625 master file when you know they're not dead. 1039 00:44:29,175 --> 00:44:32,715 It's, it's really cruel and horrible. 1040 00:44:33,095 --> 00:44:37,395 And, and it's, it's part of this administration, which is, 1041 00:44:37,475 --> 00:44:39,475 I think cruelty is part of the game. 1042 00:44:40,015 --> 00:44:42,755 - And again, just to be clear, we don't even know, I mean, 1043 00:44:42,775 --> 00:44:45,795 we saw how careless they've been in sending people, uh, 1044 00:44:45,795 --> 00:44:47,155 prison in El Salvador. 1045 00:44:47,665 --> 00:44:50,155 They have not, these people haven't had a trial. 1046 00:44:50,305 --> 00:44:52,075 They haven't gone through a legal process. 1047 00:44:52,705 --> 00:44:56,035 It's just however the names came to Elon Musk 1048 00:44:56,095 --> 00:44:58,235 or whoever's calling the shots there, 1049 00:44:58,255 --> 00:44:59,515 you know, it was Stein. 1050 00:44:59,865 --> 00:45:02,555 They've decided these people should leave the country 1051 00:45:02,735 --> 00:45:03,915 and they're reporting them as dead. 1052 00:45:04,015 --> 00:45:06,395 Now, they could be US citizens for all we know. 1053 00:45:06,415 --> 00:45:07,475 For all they know. They, 1054 00:45:07,785 --> 00:45:09,955 - Well, they could be enemies of the, 1055 00:45:09,955 --> 00:45:12,395 and I, you know, they could be, you know, they're not, 1056 00:45:12,675 --> 00:45:14,075 probably not gonna do it to Liz Cheney 1057 00:45:14,235 --> 00:45:15,235 'cause she's too well known. 1058 00:45:15,255 --> 00:45:18,475 But you could imagine they could do it to, um, 1059 00:45:18,935 --> 00:45:20,035 people they don't like, 1060 00:45:20,095 --> 00:45:22,195 or people who've registered Democratic 1061 00:45:22,375 --> 00:45:25,155 or, you know, who knows how they might, 1062 00:45:25,375 --> 00:45:28,075 and again, you've got these young guys, you know, 1063 00:45:28,105 --> 00:45:30,795 they might say, Hey, let's, let's do every fifth person. 1064 00:45:31,315 --> 00:45:33,995 I mean, how would we ever know? And, um, yeah, no, 1065 00:45:33,995 --> 00:45:36,875 - It's a very, very similar, - And for that matter, 1066 00:45:37,745 --> 00:45:39,195 that would be the worst, putting them 1067 00:45:39,195 --> 00:45:40,235 on the Death Master file. 1068 00:45:40,255 --> 00:45:43,515 But as you said, they could wipe out your earnings record. 1069 00:45:43,745 --> 00:45:46,995 They could say, um, you don't have, um, 1070 00:45:47,075 --> 00:45:48,115 quarters of coverage. 1071 00:45:48,115 --> 00:45:50,275 You don't, you're not eligible for your, 1072 00:45:50,295 --> 00:45:51,395 the benefits you've earned. 1073 00:45:51,935 --> 00:45:55,475 So this is, and there is no oversight. 1074 00:45:55,955 --> 00:45:57,595 Congress is completely silent. 1075 00:45:58,215 --> 00:45:59,795 We don't know what these people are doing. 1076 00:45:59,815 --> 00:46:01,955 And that's what's, that's, I mean, 1077 00:46:01,955 --> 00:46:03,435 there are many scarier things. 1078 00:46:03,575 --> 00:46:06,555 The the idea of any of us could be picked up on the street 1079 00:46:06,555 --> 00:46:08,355 and find ourselves in El Salvador. 1080 00:46:08,875 --> 00:46:11,845 I mean, how, you know, that could happen. 1081 00:46:12,105 --> 00:46:16,405 How, I mean, we, you know, people probably saw what the, 1082 00:46:16,405 --> 00:46:19,285 that Tuft student, um, who was surrounded 1083 00:46:19,385 --> 00:46:21,445 by all these men in black and whisked away. 1084 00:46:21,645 --> 00:46:23,765 I mean, she could have been whisked away to El Salvador, 1085 00:46:23,765 --> 00:46:25,645 and what was she supposed to do at that point? 1086 00:46:25,955 --> 00:46:29,205 Yeah. So it's, that of course is much more serious. 1087 00:46:29,545 --> 00:46:34,405 But that doesn't minimize the idea that they can just, um, 1088 00:46:35,115 --> 00:46:37,485 undermine say, Hey, I don't like the way you look. 1089 00:46:37,545 --> 00:46:39,965 You're not getting social security even though you've worked 1090 00:46:39,965 --> 00:46:41,085 your whole life for it. 1091 00:46:41,705 --> 00:46:45,085 - And, and that's exactly why these files had always been 1092 00:46:45,085 --> 00:46:47,285 very tightly held by professional staff. 1093 00:46:47,385 --> 00:46:49,885 And that's why, you know, you know the Biden, you know, 1094 00:46:49,885 --> 00:46:52,525 they have all these crazy stories about Biden was doing this 1095 00:46:52,585 --> 00:46:53,765 and Obama was doing that. 1096 00:46:53,945 --> 00:46:55,805 No, no. None of them ever tried. 1097 00:46:55,805 --> 00:46:57,965 And if they did try, probably have heard about it. 1098 00:46:58,025 --> 00:47:01,445 But if they did try, professional staff would've said no. 1099 00:47:02,025 --> 00:47:03,965 And if they for some reason have persisted, 1100 00:47:04,065 --> 00:47:06,245 I'm sure they would've contacted members of Congress 1101 00:47:06,305 --> 00:47:08,685 who would've stepped in and said, no, you can't do that. 1102 00:47:09,225 --> 00:47:12,365 In this case, you know, the Republicans of Congress, 1103 00:47:12,385 --> 00:47:13,765 and obviously they control the House and Senate. 1104 00:47:13,955 --> 00:47:16,645 They're like, we didn't see anything okay. 1105 00:47:16,665 --> 00:47:18,405 By us. Whatever. Yeah, 1106 00:47:19,185 --> 00:47:22,765 - No, and it's, um, it's really unbelievable. 1107 00:47:22,985 --> 00:47:25,565 Um, what's going on. 1108 00:47:25,705 --> 00:47:29,645 And then in fact, you can, there has a, is a lawsuit 1109 00:47:29,795 --> 00:47:32,605 that has been brought, um, by a number 1110 00:47:32,605 --> 00:47:36,365 of the unions against, um, the, 1111 00:47:36,755 --> 00:47:38,925 against Social Security administration against 1112 00:47:39,515 --> 00:47:40,845 Elon Musk and so forth. 1113 00:47:41,305 --> 00:47:44,245 And there was, there have been what are called declarations. 1114 00:47:44,245 --> 00:47:46,445 There's sort of like depositions or, 1115 00:47:46,785 --> 00:47:48,605 and there have been some whistleblowers too 1116 00:47:48,605 --> 00:47:52,405 who have come forward and they're really chilling reading, 1117 00:47:52,505 --> 00:47:55,845 but it's, um, and it's online so anyone can read it. 1118 00:47:55,845 --> 00:47:58,565 But there was, I mentioned Michelle King, 1119 00:47:58,585 --> 00:48:01,845 the acting commissioner who'd been named by um, 1120 00:48:01,845 --> 00:48:04,605 Donald Trump, but was fired when she wouldn't give them, 1121 00:48:04,665 --> 00:48:07,325 or was replaced when she wouldn't give them 1122 00:48:07,785 --> 00:48:09,165 access to all of this data. 1123 00:48:09,865 --> 00:48:13,685 Her chief of staff filed what's called a declaration 1124 00:48:14,425 --> 00:48:16,885 in great detail about all of this. 1125 00:48:16,985 --> 00:48:20,005 And one of the things she said that really got me was 1126 00:48:20,395 --> 00:48:23,925 that the data's always been held very securely. 1127 00:48:24,075 --> 00:48:27,125 It's gotta be seen on site in certain kinds of very 1128 00:48:27,695 --> 00:48:30,045 controlled, um, environments. 1129 00:48:30,425 --> 00:48:32,245 But the Doge people took it off site 1130 00:48:32,245 --> 00:48:35,885 and they were looking at an OPM, they have no idea who was, 1131 00:48:36,305 --> 00:48:38,965 who had a, who was legitimately had access. 1132 00:48:39,245 --> 00:48:40,605 Somebody walking by could look at it. 1133 00:48:40,725 --> 00:48:44,445 I mean, it's, and again, a lot of this is, some 1134 00:48:44,445 --> 00:48:46,085 of this is national security stuff. 1135 00:48:46,085 --> 00:48:49,165 If someone has, um, defected to this country 1136 00:48:49,665 --> 00:48:52,045 and gotten a new identity that 1137 00:48:52,425 --> 00:48:56,205 that's data you don't want loosely, um, you know, others 1138 00:48:56,225 --> 00:48:57,405 to be able to hack into it. 1139 00:48:57,785 --> 00:49:00,725 And there, so the good news is there was a lawsuit 1140 00:49:01,625 --> 00:49:05,045 and the, um, plaintiffs got a temporary restraining order 1141 00:49:05,425 --> 00:49:07,405 and have just gotten a preliminary injunction. 1142 00:49:08,025 --> 00:49:09,605 But of course, Elon Musk 1143 00:49:09,625 --> 00:49:13,085 and Donald Trump, it's not like they're so, uh, um, 1144 00:49:14,605 --> 00:49:15,845 sensitive to the rule of law and, 1145 00:49:15,845 --> 00:49:19,525 and, uh, the understanding of checks and balances. 1146 00:49:19,905 --> 00:49:23,565 And so I'm quite concerned that they're circumventing it 1147 00:49:23,565 --> 00:49:26,005 because a lot of the Doge people are being embedded. 1148 00:49:26,665 --> 00:49:31,245 The, the, the, um, the, what the court said was that, 1149 00:49:31,915 --> 00:49:35,765 that the Doge people could not, um, have access to any 1150 00:49:35,765 --> 00:49:37,125 of this information. 1151 00:49:37,265 --> 00:49:40,045 And to the extent they already had, they had to delete it. 1152 00:49:40,665 --> 00:49:43,645 Um, but it's hard to know whether they're really doing 1153 00:49:43,645 --> 00:49:44,805 what they're supposed to be doing. 1154 00:49:45,725 --> 00:49:46,955 - Lemme just mention something. 1155 00:49:46,995 --> 00:49:48,435 I don't usually give financial advice, 1156 00:49:48,435 --> 00:49:50,035 but I'll get some financial advice here. 1157 00:49:50,455 --> 00:49:53,355 Um, people should, if you don't already have a copy 1158 00:49:53,415 --> 00:49:56,195 of your Social Security earnings record, get one, 1159 00:49:56,615 --> 00:49:58,915 get a hard copy, keep it somewhere secure, 1160 00:49:58,985 --> 00:50:00,155 make two copies of it. 1161 00:50:00,305 --> 00:50:03,315 Because again, we should, you know, we should hope 1162 00:50:03,385 --> 00:50:05,555 that they keep your records intact. 1163 00:50:05,555 --> 00:50:06,995 They've done that for, you know, 1164 00:50:07,295 --> 00:50:08,955 the program's entire existence. 1165 00:50:09,015 --> 00:50:11,395 But that's not unfortunately something we could 1166 00:50:11,395 --> 00:50:12,475 take for granted at this point. 1167 00:50:13,415 --> 00:50:16,195 - And it's, it, I, I a hundred percent agree with that. 1168 00:50:16,295 --> 00:50:19,835 And one of the things that really angers me is that 1169 00:50:20,615 --> 00:50:23,515 the law requires that those statements be mailed 1170 00:50:23,515 --> 00:50:26,635 to everyone age 25 and older every year. 1171 00:50:27,465 --> 00:50:28,765 And they're, that is the law. 1172 00:50:28,765 --> 00:50:31,125 That's, that is not discretionary. 1173 00:50:31,195 --> 00:50:33,965 That is a requirement of the law. 1174 00:50:34,385 --> 00:50:38,005 But during the George W. Bush years, the commissioner at 1175 00:50:38,005 --> 00:50:40,845 that time claiming they didn't have the money 1176 00:50:40,865 --> 00:50:42,125 for it, stopped the mailing. 1177 00:50:42,125 --> 00:50:43,525 Even though there are a lot 1178 00:50:43,525 --> 00:50:44,765 of other things they could have stopped 1179 00:50:44,765 --> 00:50:46,165 continuing disability reviews. 1180 00:50:46,165 --> 00:50:47,765 There are all kinds of things they could have stopped, 1181 00:50:47,865 --> 00:50:49,565 but they chose to stop that. 1182 00:50:49,665 --> 00:50:52,485 And even democratic administrations have not restored it. 1183 00:50:52,785 --> 00:50:53,885 And that's unfortunate. 1184 00:50:54,105 --> 00:50:58,325 But, um, you still can get that either by going online 1185 00:50:58,545 --> 00:51:00,965 or you can write and, and get the record. 1186 00:51:01,225 --> 00:51:02,885 And I agree that, 1187 00:51:03,105 --> 00:51:04,885 and the other advice I would give 1188 00:51:04,885 --> 00:51:09,325 to people is political advice, which is to call your members 1189 00:51:09,345 --> 00:51:12,245 of Congress, your senators and your representative. 1190 00:51:12,345 --> 00:51:13,805 And I would call them every day 1191 00:51:14,465 --> 00:51:16,805 and demand that there be some oversight 1192 00:51:16,805 --> 00:51:18,325 of Elon Musk, so we know what he's doing. 1193 00:51:19,775 --> 00:51:21,875 - We should probably, uh, cut this off there. 1194 00:51:21,975 --> 00:51:24,035 But thanks a lot for coming on. 1195 00:51:24,135 --> 00:51:26,195 And you know, this is, you know, both 1196 00:51:26,195 --> 00:51:28,835 of us obviously think it's incredibly important program 1197 00:51:29,215 --> 00:51:32,115 and you know, it's really crucial 1198 00:51:32,225 --> 00:51:33,875 that we protect and preserve it. 1199 00:51:34,175 --> 00:51:35,315 So absolutely. Thanks for coming out 1200 00:51:35,535 --> 00:51:36,535 - And expand. 1201 00:51:36,535 --> 00:51:37,515 And expand. A big expand. 1202 00:51:37,545 --> 00:51:39,035 - Yeah, we'll come to that in the next show. 1203 00:51:39,035 --> 00:51:40,555 Let's, let's hope we have a time 1204 00:51:40,555 --> 00:51:42,075 to seriously talk about Hispanic. 1205 00:51:43,285 --> 00:51:44,755 - Thank you so much for having me. 1206 00:51:47,295 --> 00:51:49,595 - If you like what you just saw, please help us out 1207 00:51:49,615 --> 00:51:52,235 by liking us and subscribing. Thank 1208 00:51:52,235 --> 00:51:52,315 - You.