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For Social Security’s 90th Birthday, Don’t Celebrate–Organize!
Instead of having a piece of birthday cake, make a call to your member of Congress, post on social media about how we need to protect Social Security, and talk to your friends about the need to speak up against threats to your benefits.
Aug 14, 2025
This August 14 marks the 90th anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law. This was a huge step forward for America, and our country has been profoundly changed for the better. We quite understandably focus on Social Security’s retirement benefits, but Social Security is much more than this. It is a social insurance policy that helps children whose parents have died and those who are disabled and provides spousal income.
It is very easy to be tempted into celebrating Social Security’s longevity and enjoying a piece of birthday cake. Given the threats to Social Security, as well as other programs like Medicaid, such celebrations are misleading. The best way to mark Social Security’s 90th birthday is to adapt a phrase made famous by the legendary labor organizer Joe Hill: “Don’t celebrate—organize!”
Given the threats to Social Security by the Trump administration in just seven months in office, celebrations are not helpful. Let’s briefly review some of the recent Trump actions that impact your benefits:
- Weakening confidence in Social Security by alleging widespread fraud. Back in April, Elon Musk, then the self-styled first buddy and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was leveling charges of massive fraud in Social Security. As The New York Times reported, “Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has continued his campaign to aggressively undercut Social Security, leveling baseless and often misleading attacks on the insurance program.”
- President Donald Trump has said consistently since 2016 that he would not touch Social Security. I have no doubt that some will dismiss all that we are saying by pointing to Trump’s repeated promises to protect. Rather than focusing on how much a promise from Trump is worth, I would point to the fact that Scott Bessent, Trump’s Treasury secretary who was discussing the Trump Accounts created by the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) described them as, “a backdoor for privatizing Social Security. Social Security is a defined benefit plan paid out. To the extent that if, all of a sudden, these accounts grow and you have in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for your retirement, then that’s a game changer, too.”
- In March, Axios reported that “Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested this week that only ‘fraudsters’ would complain about missing a monthly Social Security check, and that most people wouldn’t mind if the government simply skipped a payment.”
- All sides agree that Social Security faces some very significant long-term funding challenges. Rather than helping to solve Social Security’s challenges or even have no impact on them, the OBBB weakens Social Security’s finances. As The Hill recently reported: “President Trump’s tax and spending megabill could speed up insolvency for Social Security’s trust funds, according to an analysis from the Trump administration’s chief actuary for the program. The Office of the Chief Actuary (OACT) at the Social Security Administration (SSA) released an analysis this week of the law’s potential effects on the program’s finances in response to a request from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.”
- Last, but certainly not least, the Trump administration has made large cuts to Social Security staffing that impact its ability to help Americans access their earned benefits. As the Center for Budget and Policy pointed out in June: “Over the past five months, the Trump administration has forced the Social Security Administration (SSA) through a radical transformation that threatens to disrupt services for the largely older and severely disabled people who most rely on the agency. The Trump Administration and its so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have created huge gaps in customer service and support by indiscriminately pushing out 7,000 workers to hit an arbitrary staffing reduction target. This is the largest staffing cut in SSA’s history.”
Given all of this, if you really care about Social Security, it is impossible to blithely celebrate its birthday.
So instead of having a piece of birthday cake, make a call to your member of Congress, post on social media about how we need to protect Social Security, and talk to your friends about the need to speak up against threats to your benefits. In other words, don’t celebrate–organize!
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Hello, Fascism
It’s here. What should Democrats be doing now?
Aug 13, 2025
It’s here. Stop all the useless debate. Whether it’s a consolidating dictatorship, as Rachel Maddow says, or an illiberal democracy, or an electoral autocracy…
If masked and plainclothes secret police arresting undocumented immigrants, students, and citizens alike, including members of Congress, aren’t a clear enough indication, then the military takeover of Washington DC, citing lies about the crime rate, is.
America has become a fascist state. How fascist is irrelevant; the question serves only as an excuse, a way to tag out and wait for things to blow over. It’s not that bad.
So it’s here. It’s here thanks to President Donald Trump. What did we expect? It’s here thanks to his enablers, most prominent among them, Republican members of Congress. It’s here thanks to Republican voters and nonvoters alike, whose apathy in the last election should not be forgiven.
If anything, with approval ratings rock bottom, Democrats would be showing that they aren’t as feeble as they currently are and have been.
It’s here thanks to the ignorant and indifferent, the dumb and deluded, the hateful, scornful, spiteful, shortsighted, racist, militaristic, misogynistic, misguided…
Democrats—failed candidates and sitting representatives—are at fault too. For never putting up an effective fight despite all the warnings they gave us, despite all the warnings we gave them, pleading for proper change; who, even out of power, continue to resist with little ambition or desperation, strongly-worded letters a testament to what they are or have become: slaves to donors, the corporate class, and their own irrelevancy. Hello, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
This needs to change. It’s starting to, maybe. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has offered a bit more fight, but he feels so very performative, both eyes on the presidency. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker feels a bit more honest—maybe it’s the belly—but as a billionaire, he’s also part of the problem.
A few others seem genuinely genuine, and are channeling, for once, the frustration of those they represent—or hope to—which happens also to be their own, rather than chiding us or assuring us that all is well. Hello, Zohran Mamdani.
So there’s some hope, however slim. The midterms loom. Republicans are scared. Trump aside, whose handling of the Epstein scandal has isolated even the most MAGA, his policies are unpopular. They will only grow more unpopular as their effects kick in; they can’t all be delayed until after the midterms. The reality of them will only grow more stark as ordinary people begin to suffer and Republicans and Fox News struggle to skew the story, losing track of their own lies. But only if Democrats make a concerted effort to connect the dots.
Avoid Town Halls, Republicans have been advised. It’s easy to see why. The few representatives to hold them regardless have been heckled and booed, called out for what they are: liars. Shameful. They’ve been called worse.
They’re scared. Which is why the party is trying to gerrymander their way out of a potential midterm defeat, to secure the one-party system they crave, a facade of democracy that will allow them, like other autocracies, to persist.
It’s here where Democrats and even Independents—elected representatives and prospective ones, organizers, activists, celebrities, podcast hosts—should be filling the void. Be for once bold. Brave. Enough with echo chambers. Strike deep into the heart of Trump country. Spark debate and controversy; garner headlines by simply being there, everywhere there’s a microphone and a too-large, red hat, at least some of which are definitely made in China.
Book Town Halls and adjacent venues; stage protests and counterprotests; tour as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) did, albeit under a less pretentious title… Fighting Oligarchy is like a harder-to-say synonym of Save Democracy, and we know how well that went… and explain, in the simplest terms, what we know is concerning people.
With cultural issues being a tad touchy—I get it—lead with economic, as Mamdani has been doing. We know how tariffs are hurting small businesses and big ones alike, like General Motors. How farmers are hurting. How tariffs are ensuring inflation remains high. How the Big Beautiful Bill Act will cut taxes for the rich and healthcare and food programs for those struggling to get by. How Trump has no plan regarding in vitro fertilization. How the wars in Ukraine and Gaza go on…
Name every single broken promise. Follow with the Epstein scandal. Repeat Trump’s own words: “terrific guy,” “A lot of fun to be with.” Show him partying with the pedophile. Over and over again. Show how he’s just another golf-loving nepo baby, a member of the Swamp as well the cabal of pedophiles—at least a sympathizer—he was entrusted to destroy; has he not floated a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell? Moved her to Club Fed? Hint how he’s complicit, harnessing the conspiracy theories his supporters have themselves created. Challenge them to find, if they can and want to, the most twisted justifications.
There’s just so much to go on outside the more nuanced ways in which the current administration is unraveling not just democracy—which we don’t even need to mention—but what truly makes America great: economic opportunity, stability… Betrayal cuts deep.
Let the wounds fester, and we might find that something resonates, ripples outwards, flowers, flourishes, that seed of doubt; even if the most dug in refuse to admit that they were wrong, scammed, grifted… then at least the more moderate or indifferent can come around, inspiring, if not a popular revolt, than enough votes or nonvotes to turn the tide when the time comes.
If anything, with approval ratings rock bottom, Democrats would be showing that they aren’t as feeble as they currently are and have been. That, even if they believe in progressive policies more conservative voters may not agree with, like trans rights, women’s rights, due process for undocumented immigrants, or stricter gun laws, they also believe in a familiar, free, and safe, bountiful America.
So it’s here: fascism. The best we can do now is ensure it’s short lived.
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Trump’s Continuing War on Social Security
Despite assurances, Trump chips away at Americans’ earned benefits.
Aug 04, 2025
Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s assurances that he will not touch Social Security (or Medicare or Medicaid for that matter), his war against Social Security marches on step by step. Politico reported last week that “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday framed the president’s new ‘Trump accounts’ as a transformative tool for long-term wealth building and a ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security.’” Not surprisingly, Bessent walked back his comments and Trump defenders put out statements pointing to Trump’s promises to defend Social Security.
While many are quite understandably focused on the macro level, the Trump administration is making it harder for Social Security beneficiaries to access their benefits. Last week, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that beneficiaries will not be able to perform simple tasks on the phone, such as change their address or check the status of their benefits. Instead, people are forced to go online to verify their identity or visit an already-overburdened Social Security field office.
All of this might seem familiar to you. Earlier this year, SSA announced similar rules only to have to back off after an uproar from Congress and advocacy groups. Guessing that this fleeting retreat offered them an opportunity, SSA put forth these similar rules in midsummer hoping that people were not paying attention. Kathleen Romig and Devin O’Conner of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities offer some great perspective on this issue:
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is overwhelming its local offices by forcing millions more people to seek in-person service while cutting thousands of staff who provide that help. These offices, which primarily serve seniors, people with disabilities, and bereaved families, helped nearly 32 million visitors last year. But under a new policy set to take effect in August, beneficiaries will be forced to take millions of unnecessary trips to field offices, where they will face longer waits for appointments and slower processing times.
The Trump administration made no attempt to consult with members of Congress or advocacy groups. Instead, they simply put the notice in a technical note on the Office of Management and Budget website. These proposed changes will hurt older and more vulnerable beneficiaries the hardest as they will be less likely to travel to a Social Security field office or have the internet skills and access to be able to verify their identity online. One wonders why SSA failed to send an email out to beneficiaries with these important changes, especially since the administration used email recently to tout the misleading “benefits” of the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Like all the other changes that SSA has proposed, the rationale to limit beneficiaries’ ability to access their earned benefits is fraud. As I am sure you remember, earlier this year, the then-Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk proclaimed that there was widespread fraud in the Social Security System. Elaine Kamarck of the nonpartisan Brookings Institute points out that “claims of widespread fraud in Social Security were misleading, with fraud representing just 0.00625% of the annual budget, far less than what private companies like Mastercard or Visa would accept.”
Fortunately, there have been several Democrats who have spoken out in defense of Social Security. Among them is Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, who has asked Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano “to provide data by August 11, including on the total number of calls received; details about the calls taken by an artificial intelligence tool— including the percentage of calls dropped, transferred, or ended without resolving the issue; the same details about the calls taken by a human customer service representative.”
We are only helpless if we accept Trump’s promises that he will not touch Social Security. Now is the time to turn anger into action. Speak up for Social Security. Everyone can do something. The Social Security benefits you save may be your own.
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