Gen X is watching the generation that preceded it – the Baby Boomers – complain and demand their Social Security. A major chunk of the participants in the recent nationwide anti-Trump/Musk protests are senior citizens screaming “Hands Off” their Social Security.
Gen X, on the other hand, could not care less. Most of us have no expectation of ever seeing a dime of Social Security money. This is not just some “right wing” plot or propaganda. The last Democrat administration confirmed the insolvency concerns in a 2024 Social Security Board of Trustees annual report, CBS News reported a year ago:
Social Security relies on its trust funds to provide monthly checks to beneficiaries, with the funds primarily financed through the payroll taxes that workers and businesses provide with each paycheck. But the funds' reserves are drawing down because spending is outpacing income, partly due to the wave of baby boomer retirements and an aging U.S. population.
Translation: the funds will be depleted, and this will occur around 2035, according to the report’s last assessment. Benefits will not necessarily go away, but the beneficiaries will discover their money is now reduced. According to the report, “recipients would lose 17% of their current benefits.”
Bummer, dude.
So, Gen X funds our parents’, aunts’ and uncles’ Social Security benefits, while not enough millennials are coming behind to fund our retirements. We’re fine with that. Most of us have worked to diversify and invest in our own retirement plans. What Gen X is not fine with is the fearmongering and lies by elected officials; the majority coming from one side of the aisle.
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) took to his X account to declare [language warning]: “Let’s be clear: Social Security is your f*cking money.”
Oh really? Then why is it being managed so poorly and why do we not have any control over this management?
In response to Pocan, one Gen X colleague said it best: [another language warning]
Let’s be clear. Congress has so badly managed social security that my f*cking money is going to pay for someone else and has been for a long time. GenX and younger will likely never see their money returned so spare us your virtue-signaling BS.
Yet, the gaslight shines on. While avoiding foul language, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) also rants about Social Security and how DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and President Trump are robbing it. Sewell took to X, fearmongering to her constituents, and as 1819 News reported, Sewell blames Elon Musk for Social Security Administration employees in her district losing their jobs.
Despite the anti-DOGE protests and this hair-on-fire messaging from Democrats, it does not appear to be penetrating. So, these same folks are doubling down, trotting out former Biden administration Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley to tour the country to warn about Trump and DOGE taking away their Social Security benefits. But will they admit that the actual benefits become more and more amorphous by the day?
One of those tours is happening on Saturday, May 10, in Guntersville at 11 a.m. Hosted by Blueprint Alabama, this left-wing organization admits they are, “a new initiative dedicated to rebuilding Democratic infrastructure and messaging in the Deep South.” They further claim that “this town hall will empower attendees with information, clarity, and a path forward.”
This free, public event will give Alabamians a chance to hear directly from someone who has led the nation’s Social Security system and who understands both the threats we’re facing and the tools we have to fight back.
If you’re someone who is concerned about Social Security, it would behoove you to go … but arm yourself with some facts. No matter your political leanings, critical thinking is important, because everyone has an agenda – and the Democrat’s and left’s agenda (but I repeat myself) seem to be to scare you to death.
Here are the facts: The government takes money from your paycheck for Social Security. Had the government followed the plan to reform Social Security which former President George W. Bush tried to implement, that money could have been invested at a basic 5% annual return, and one could retire with confidence that 1) the money would be there; 2) you would be wealthier than the current return; and 3) upon your death, you could leave something behind for your loved ones.
Under the current system, the returns are fewer. You get more if you retire later than if you do it earlier. It’s a sliding scale, and with each year the insolvency continues to exist, the slide gets steeper. These same elected officials who are crying that the money is being stolen by DOGE do little to mitigate the steep decline. Currently, there is no compound interest or return on the money the government takes from you. If you die before retirement, your family does not get the money you paid in – the government keeps it and passes it on to the next beneficiary; and as we are discovering through the DOGE audits, some of those beneficiaries are not even in the country legally.
As I stated previously, most of my Gen X friends and colleagues have their own retirement plans, so we should be able to opt out of this system. But you can’t get off the government gravy train. If you don’t pay Social Security taxes, that same government comes after you with a vengeance.
So, Musk rightly called it a Ponzi scheme. Promising benefits from earnings that do not yet exist, and potentially never will, is the very definition of a Ponzi scheme.
I hope all concerned parties attend these town hall meetings and bring these facts. Let’s see if the response is confirmation or more gaslighting and fearmongering. I suspect the latter.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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