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If a fraction of the lurid tales of corruption prove valid, then this is not a bad thing. The SSA was never anything other than a Tenth Amendment violation to

If a fraction of the lurid tales of corruption prove valid, then this is not a bad thing. The SSA was never anything other than a Tenth Amendment violation to begin with, as shown by FDR's court packing threat[1], so a bit of external review seems in order. Some sort of sane transition plan off of these socialized programs would be of great interest to a super-majority of voters, one expects. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Procedures_Reform_Bill_of_1937 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Procedures_Reform_B...

BLKNSLVR 1y ago
What are these "lurid tales of corruption"? There was the proven false claim that 40% of phone calls to SSA were fraudulent. I think it was DOGE fraud checking systems that proved that claim false, quite soon after Musk proclaimed it. https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/05/doge-went-looking-phone-fraud-ssa-and-found-almost-none/405346/ https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/05/doge-went... Personally, it feels like the tiny nibbles that DOGE has managed to save from the massive banquet of spending that US government does is proof that there really isn't a lot of waste based on corruption. The spending is systemic and has built up over decades of various policy changes throughout many administrations of both colours. Off topic, it feels as if this administration has also very effectively disproved any theory about the presence of a deep state controlling things from the background. Interestingly, Trump appears to be trying to show that it's possible, except for the fact that he's putting ridiculously unqualified and incompetent boobs into positions of influence. It'd be laughable except for the fact that this is not a TV show, this is real life.
- smitty1e 1y ago
  Not laughable: the ridiculous deficit/debt. > The spending is systemic and has built up over decades of various policy changes throughout many administrations of both colours. Strong concur. Time for reform.
  - watwut 1y ago
    Except that the administration is about to create biggest deficit ever. And they were unabke to find waste. It is funny ... employment by goverment was actually going down for years. America has low taxes so it could pay its debt, but it is choosing to lower them for richests and put more debt in.
    - smitty1e 1y ago
      > America has low taxes For whom, pray tell? Look at your combined burden, top to bottom, at all levels.
      - BLKNSLVR 1y ago
        The United States is generally considered a low-tax country compared to other high-income developed nations. In 2021, total taxes at all government levels in the US represented about 27% of GDP, which is significantly lower than the OECD average of around 34% and well below the 40% or more seen in several European countries like Denmark. The US ranks near the bottom among OECD countries in tax-to-GDP ratio, around 31st or 32nd out of 38 countries. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/is-the-us-a-low-taxing-country-_4DVtObtTt6HYjnU6ge0Xw https://www.perplexity.ai/search/is-the-us-a-low-taxing-coun... The problem is what "tax" means to US citizens as opposed to what taxes actually are. It's a communication / understanding issue.
        smitty1e 1y ago
        If one earns X currency, and X/2 of the earnings are absorbed by government in various forms, then the tax burden is high, no matter the pettifoggery offered by those arguing against what is in front of one's lying eyes.
        watwut 1y ago
        Otherwise said, I will complain about any tax no matter how low or high it is, either historically or in comparison to other countries. Yes, America is low taxes country. That is one of reasons why its debt was not seen as an issue by serious investors - there was an assumption it can pay it back any time via making taxes slightly larger. Oh, and while I am doing it, I am also complaining about deficits, while making them larger by refusal to tax. And any program that helps someone not me is a waste of money, no matter how much money it actually saves via having functional country and society. I prefer things dysfunctional.
- smitty1e 1y ago
  https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/social-security-for-200-year-olds https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/social-security-for-200-...
  - AlotOfReading 1y ago
    SSA automatically stops payments to anyone older than 115, or older than 90 who hasn't used Medicare in 3 years and can't be regularly contacted to verify residence on this mortal plane. Why are unclosed database entries important if no payments are going out?
    - smitty1e 1y ago
      Trust has been destroyed. Your assertion does may be true, but is met with general skepticism.
intermerda 1y ago
> If a fraction of the lurid tales of corruption prove valid, then this is not a bad thing. If my grandmother had wheels she would be a bicycle. > The SSA was never anything other than a Tenth Amendment violation to begin with, as shown by FDR's court packing threat[1], so a bit of external review seems in order. I know about the plan. But how did you make the jump from that to SSA being unconstitutional? > Some sort of sane transition plan off of these socialized programs would be of great interest to a super-majority of voters, one expects. A plan to eliminate program that keeps 22 million Americans out of poverty most of whom are seniors is of great interest to a super-majority of voters? Kids, this is what happens when you read far right conspiracy theory websites for news.
- smitty1e 1y ago
  > But how did you make the jump from that to SSA being unconstitutional? The 10A was intended to preclude scope creep. In defense of FDR, the voters let the Progressives run plays. So here we sit, decades later, waiting for a debt bomb to 'splode.
  - thrance 1y ago
    The progressives were never in power... Tell me, how will the "Big Beautiful Bill", that adds multiple trillions to the debt while gutting essential social programs, will fix your "debt bomb"? To me, it appears like straight up stealing, putting all the country's wealth in tax cuts to the rich and government contracts to military contractors. All the while placing the country on a sure path to financial and social ruin.
    - Dracophoenix 1y ago
      > The progressives were never in power... Prohibition, state-run eugenics programs, the end of freedom of contract, Wickard v. Fillburn, the Imperial Presidency, internationalist interventionism, etc. were all born from the original Progressivism movement.
      - 1y ago
eviks 1y ago
Since "a bit of external review" was always there, what's your actual argument that a review by this specific team is in order?
- smitty1e 1y ago
  > https://www.usdebtclock.org https://www.usdebtclock.org More specifically, a stable system requires feedback loops. Ours, like a vehicle without brakes, is running open-loop. I guess that if all one cares about is blame management, then we can all just blame ${FIGURE} when the whole thing "unexpextedly" craters, rather than putting on the Big People Pants and reforming matters.
  - eviks 1y ago
    You can't use generic pants/vehicles metaphors instead of a specific response and say it's more specific - it isn't, even to those people who care about more than blaming "management"
    - smitty1e 1y ago
      The specific response is the elephant in the room, the debt/budget deficit. My interpretation of your reply is that nothing short of catastrophic societal collapse will constitute an effective argument?

BLKNSLVR 1y ago

What are these "lurid tales of corruption"? There was the proven false claim that 40% of phone calls to SSA were fraudulent. I think it was DOGE fraud checking systems that proved that claim false, quite soon after Musk proclaimed it. https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/05/doge-went-looking-phone-fraud-ssa-and-found-almost-none/405346/ https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/05/doge-went... Personally, it feels like the tiny nibbles that DOGE has managed to save from the massive banquet of spending that US government does is proof that there really isn't a lot of waste based on corruption. The spending is systemic and has built up over decades of various policy changes throughout many administrations of both colours. Off topic, it feels as if this administration has also very effectively disproved any theory about the presence of a deep state controlling things from the background. Interestingly, Trump appears to be trying to show that it's possible, except for the fact that he's putting ridiculously unqualified and incompetent boobs into positions of influence. It'd be laughable except for the fact that this is not a TV show, this is real life.

smitty1e 1y ago
Not laughable: the ridiculous deficit/debt. > The spending is systemic and has built up over decades of various policy changes throughout many administrations of both colours. Strong concur. Time for reform.
- watwut 1y ago
  Except that the administration is about to create biggest deficit ever. And they were unabke to find waste. It is funny ... employment by goverment was actually going down for years. America has low taxes so it could pay its debt, but it is choosing to lower them for richests and put more debt in.
  - smitty1e 1y ago
    > America has low taxes For whom, pray tell? Look at your combined burden, top to bottom, at all levels.
    - BLKNSLVR 1y ago
      The United States is generally considered a low-tax country compared to other high-income developed nations. In 2021, total taxes at all government levels in the US represented about 27% of GDP, which is significantly lower than the OECD average of around 34% and well below the 40% or more seen in several European countries like Denmark. The US ranks near the bottom among OECD countries in tax-to-GDP ratio, around 31st or 32nd out of 38 countries. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/is-the-us-a-low-taxing-country-_4DVtObtTt6HYjnU6ge0Xw https://www.perplexity.ai/search/is-the-us-a-low-taxing-coun... The problem is what "tax" means to US citizens as opposed to what taxes actually are. It's a communication / understanding issue.
      - smitty1e 1y ago
        If one earns X currency, and X/2 of the earnings are absorbed by government in various forms, then the tax burden is high, no matter the pettifoggery offered by those arguing against what is in front of one's lying eyes.
        watwut 1y ago
        Otherwise said, I will complain about any tax no matter how low or high it is, either historically or in comparison to other countries. Yes, America is low taxes country. That is one of reasons why its debt was not seen as an issue by serious investors - there was an assumption it can pay it back any time via making taxes slightly larger. Oh, and while I am doing it, I am also complaining about deficits, while making them larger by refusal to tax. And any program that helps someone not me is a waste of money, no matter how much money it actually saves via having functional country and society. I prefer things dysfunctional.
smitty1e 1y ago
https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/social-security-for-200-year-olds https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/social-security-for-200-...
- AlotOfReading 1y ago
  SSA automatically stops payments to anyone older than 115, or older than 90 who hasn't used Medicare in 3 years and can't be regularly contacted to verify residence on this mortal plane. Why are unclosed database entries important if no payments are going out?
  - smitty1e 1y ago
    Trust has been destroyed. Your assertion does may be true, but is met with general skepticism.

intermerda 1y ago

> If a fraction of the lurid tales of corruption prove valid, then this is not a bad thing. If my grandmother had wheels she would be a bicycle. > The SSA was never anything other than a Tenth Amendment violation to begin with, as shown by FDR's court packing threat[1], so a bit of external review seems in order. I know about the plan. But how did you make the jump from that to SSA being unconstitutional? > Some sort of sane transition plan off of these socialized programs would be of great interest to a super-majority of voters, one expects. A plan to eliminate program that keeps 22 million Americans out of poverty most of whom are seniors is of great interest to a super-majority of voters? Kids, this is what happens when you read far right conspiracy theory websites for news.

smitty1e 1y ago
> But how did you make the jump from that to SSA being unconstitutional? The 10A was intended to preclude scope creep. In defense of FDR, the voters let the Progressives run plays. So here we sit, decades later, waiting for a debt bomb to 'splode.
- thrance 1y ago
  The progressives were never in power... Tell me, how will the "Big Beautiful Bill", that adds multiple trillions to the debt while gutting essential social programs, will fix your "debt bomb"? To me, it appears like straight up stealing, putting all the country's wealth in tax cuts to the rich and government contracts to military contractors. All the while placing the country on a sure path to financial and social ruin.
  - Dracophoenix 1y ago
    > The progressives were never in power... Prohibition, state-run eugenics programs, the end of freedom of contract, Wickard v. Fillburn, the Imperial Presidency, internationalist interventionism, etc. were all born from the original Progressivism movement.
    - 1y ago

eviks 1y ago

Since "a bit of external review" was always there, what's your actual argument that a review by this specific team is in order?

smitty1e 1y ago
> https://www.usdebtclock.org https://www.usdebtclock.org More specifically, a stable system requires feedback loops. Ours, like a vehicle without brakes, is running open-loop. I guess that if all one cares about is blame management, then we can all just blame ${FIGURE} when the whole thing "unexpextedly" craters, rather than putting on the Big People Pants and reforming matters.
- eviks 1y ago
  You can't use generic pants/vehicles metaphors instead of a specific response and say it's more specific - it isn't, even to those people who care about more than blaming "management"
  - smitty1e 1y ago
    The specific response is the elephant in the room, the debt/budget deficit. My interpretation of your reply is that nothing short of catastrophic societal collapse will constitute an effective argument?