Dangers of the DOGE

Donald Trump has appointed two billionaires, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead a new non-official government "agency", the Department of Governmental Efficiency or DOGE.  This agency has been tasked with making recommendations for slashing trillions of dollars from the federal budget and eliminating various labor and environmental regulations.

In a recent meeting with congressional Republicans, Musk and Ramaswamy reportedly said that “everything is on the table.” In a social media post, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah harshly criticized Social Security, suggesting it was analogous to a “Ponzi scheme” designed to cheat the American people out of freedom and security in retirement. Elon Musk commented on Lee’s post, describing it as “an interesting thread”. Chris Sununu, the exiting Republican governor of Maine, stated in a recent interview that he hopes the DOGE effort will include proposed cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Sununu stated that “in about 8 years, Social Security benefits drop to 83%, and Medicare goes bankrupt.” Sununu supports privatization of Social Security.

Countering the Republican attacks on Social Security and Medicare, Senator Bernie Sanders has clearly shown that Social Security could be made solvent for decades by simply removing the income cap on paying into the fund. Currently, the super-rich only have to pay a 6.2% Social Security tax on the first $132,900 they earn in a year. Sanders explains that if that cap were removed, Social Security benefits would be fully funded for another 52 years.

The Social Security program’s chief actuary explained that the program’s funding shortfall was caused by a shift in incomes during the final two decades of the last century. Incomes for the best paid 6% of earners rose by 62% while the incomes of the remaining 94% rose by only 17%. Hence, most of the income growth was above the cap and not subject to the program’s payroll taxes.

With the Republican-controlled Congress and incoming president Donald Trump soon having the opportunity to destroy these very essential programs, we the people are placed in a very tenuous position. Privatization of Social Security would be easy for those in the top 6% of the income scale but would be extremely dangerous for the other 94%.

We must prevent the creation of a government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich.

Ed Shaffer