▪️This one is frustrating because, while it’s nice to see the vigor and speed that DOGE is acting with, they’re also sloppy with some of their findings. This is not some bombshell, millions of dead people’s SS numbers aren’t being paid out to fraudsters.
▪️This problem has been known for some time, you can read an inspector general’s report from 2015 about millions of names on the SS “numident” not being correctly annotated for deaths, even though they were older than 112 (the oldest known American at the time).
https://oig-files.ssa.gov/audits/full/A-06-14-34030_0.pdf
▪️There are innocent explanations for some of these. Expatriates that died outside the country, for example. Or immigrants given temporary work permit who returned to their country, people issued new numbers for various reasons, etc. However, most are simply due to the govt not diligently keeping track of deaths.
▪️It’s embarrassing that the govt has millions of numbers on the numident that are obviously deceased, but this does NOT mean these numbers are receiving payments. This a list of all current numbers, not a list of payments, and it’s dishonest of Musk to suggest so.
▪️In fact, the reason why this problem has persisted for so long is that payments aren’t being made to these zombie numbers. In the 2015 audit, virtually all of the 6.5M zombie numbers had no earnings and received no payments. Just 266 were receiving payments, and only 12 of those were over 112 (certainly deceased).
▪️Ironically, the bulk of the fraud from these numbers is illegal immigrants using them to work (and pay SS taxes). From 2006-11, almost 67k zombie numbers had $3.1B in reported wages. But since their names didn’t match the SS number, they were transferred to the Earnings Suspense File. These workers would pay in but never receive SS.
▪️While it’s a problem that illegal immigrants fraudulently used SS numbers of deceased people, correcting this problem would mean less tax revenue, not any savings. It’s still possible DOGE could show serious fraud with SS, or reveal new info since the 2015 audit, but this chart does not do that.
It’s bizarre to see them seesaw back and forth that Trump is totally clueless and aloof, just golfing all day, then all of a sudden he’s a dangerous king/dictator who’s diligently plotting to seize absolute power.
When you understand that the left uses language not to communicate, but to manipulate, it makes so much more sense. Notice how they flip the meaning of the word “stealing” here on its head. Laying off federal employees and cutting waste is now stealing from the people! Incredible.
