Donald Trump and Elon Musk are daring us (and the world) to stop them from taking all they can from us.
On April 5, 1:00-3:00 p.m , at the Courthouse, we will send a clear message of HANDS OFF!
Please join this demonstration! Bring your signs stating Hands Off Social Security, education, Medicare, libraries, Canada, the Post Office, etc. etc.
If you have never been to a demonstration, come to this peaceful national demonstration (unless you are joining the really big one in Washington D.C.).
This is for everyone: Republicans, Independents or Democrats who see the dangers with what they are seeing in D.C.
Darlene Ponko
Ludington
Former employee shares some Social Security info
Your readers may be aware that Social Security has been in the news lately. As a retired Social Security Claims Representative, I would like to share some information that might be of interest to the people of Mason County. Understand that I no longer work for the government, and that I did not seek approval or permission from SSA to write this letter. I am a private citizen now, using only Public Domain information available to anyone with internet access.
Every month at least 10,230 people in Mason County get money from SSA (“Social Security Facts” website). According to the most recent data I could find, the total paid out to Mason County residents each month is over $1,708,00.00. That amounts to nearly $20,500,000.00 per year (most recent figures from 2023).
43% of the Mason County population is age 65 or over (2020 US Census). 35% of the population benefits from SSA (SSA Facts, 2020 Census), most of them relying primarily on this income for daily living expenses. And yet roughly 15% of our county’s population lives in poverty, as defined by Federal standards (2020 Census).
Social Security benefits are funded by taxes on wages. Thus it is considered “an entitlement”, because, like an insurance policy, workers pay “premiums” in the form of taxes. It pays out to retirees, spouses, ex-spouses, surviving spouses, minor children and disabled adult children (if they also meet certain non-disability requirements). It also pays those who were disabled before age 65, and often their dependents and survivors.
SSA also administers the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which is a needs-based benefit that pays the aged and the disabled. In 1974 Federal laws were passed to shift the burden for caring for our people in need from the States to the Federal Government. This was done at the request of the States, because studies found that many States did not have a tax-base sufficient to afford care for those who needed it. By doing this we, as a Nation, effectively pooled our resources to help those who needed our help.
Social Security and Medicare are paid for with a separate tax, not general income tax. They add nothing to the National Debt, and savings there will not add to the National Budget. The SSA Trust Fund currently has a surplus of $2.7 trillion, by design.
In the 33 years I worked for SSA, our operating/administration costs never reached 1%. SSA has always been a Public-facing agency, under rigorous scrutiny by Congress, Office of Management and Budget, the Treasury, various other agencies and the general public.
One of the questions I was asked most often in my job was “will there be a Social Security Administration when I need it?” I used to answer, “Well, if Social Security fails, it will only be because this country has suffered such a disaster that Social Security will be the least of our problems.” Little did I know how prophetic this answer was.
The previous Social Security Commissioner stated in a recent interview that if the current Acting Commissioner, following the direction of the White House, pushes through the recommendations of the DOGE team (as he has stated he plans to do with all speed), the Social Security system is already 90% of the way toward total collapse.
Among the people who are being forced out are the experts who keep the antiquated and many-patched SSA computers running. When they are gone, there will be no one to do the critical programming required every year to update earning levels, cost of living adjustments, etc.
One might think, “well, then things will just go on as they have until we can figure this out.” Unfortunately, the system is designed to stop payments until certain critical information is updated or reconfirmed. That yearly deadline is coming very soon. As a result, the former Commissioner predicts that the Social Security program could collapse within approximately 3 months. And if it does, it will take months, perhaps years, to resurrect, if that can be done at all.
Whatever your politics, whatever your station in life, please care, while we can still make a difference.
Deborah L. Schrader, SSA Retired
Ludington
A letter of sarcasm about national politics
The actions of the Trump administration have aroused a torrent of angry backlash from citizens, as suggested by the plethora of letters written to the Reader’s Forum of the Ludington Daily News which of course is the constitutional right of people to do.
Humans do not take well to change. Most animal species do not. Adaptation to change can be difficult and stressful. Change can cause many negative emotions. Anger and worry can be antithetical to one’s physical and mental well being. The gnashing of teeth can be detrimental to one’s dental health, just ask your dentist.
Perhaps what people should do is accept the changes. After all, what can be more important to a person than their health and happiness. Life under an authoritarian government might not be all that onerous. Think about it. Big Daddy, a dictator, will be wholly responsible for the care and feeding of everyone under his control, kind of like a first sergeant in the Army.
So rather than dwell on the purported negative aspects of the ruling dictator’s audacious sword wielding to federal employees and programs, and his other unconventional actions, one might consider reflecting on the positive facets. Under a dictatorship it will not be necessary for citizens to vote, saving them the angst of decision-making. The semi-annual inspection of one’s home by an armed and uniformed ICE unit to search for Canadian whiskey, fentanyl, anti-MAGA material, pro-abortion handouts and illegal immigrants won’t take more than an hour usually. What’s an hour in a lifetime? The state’s emphasis on military strength will impact only young males, ages 18 to 28, who will be required to serve a mere 10 years of active duty. Consider the benefits: shooting a gun; receiving a monthly check, free food, free housing and free travel; and wearing a uniform. Can’t beat it. And for 10 years!
The southern border? That problem will easily be resolved by diverting huge amounts of meltwater from the Rocky Mountains into the Rio Grande River to create continuous flooding which even a strong-swimming immigrant will be unable to surmount. Take that, Immigrants! Buying a car will become joyously simple: dealers will sell only the Tesla brand. The only consumer products available will be those produced in the U.S.; thus, unfettered by big box store crowds, a person uses the black market system to buy Canadian whiskey and Mexican beer. Liberal universities will be shuttered, which is not a bad thing if you muse about the dissolution of brash protesting students and snobby elitist professors. Down with the educated and elite!
Watching news broadcasts on television will be simplified. The FCC will permit only Fox News and its affiliates to disseminate the news. Won’t it be a relief knowing that everything you hear will be unbiased and factual and thoroughly reliable? Environmental regulations will be ravaged. So what’s the big deal? The advent of extreme summer temperatures caused by climate change will favor tourism in Lake Michigan’s coastal communities. Nothing more refreshing than a dip in cool lake water. That’s a good thing, even though the industrial and municipal smoke and contaminants will be too dense for tourists to see the lake or breathe the air. Cough, cough!
The national parks and other public lands, including the Ludington State Park, will be opened to the coal, oil, mineral and timber corporations. So what’s a little noise, destruction and dust? Tourists will see oil rigs instead of bison herds at Yellowstone. If one is creative they will see beauty in an oil rig and sound engineering in an earth mover. They are nothing to stir negative feelings, though. A person’s exasperation will subside if they take the time to count the benefits ($) that will accrue to the needy corporations and their CEOs. Needy or greedy? It is time to chill.
A majority of voters voted for Donald Trump in 2024. A presumption is that that majority is pleased, perhaps even feeling exhilaration, with the changes effected by the Trump administration. The rest of us, the angry and depressed, can adapt to the changes. Or buy a one-way ticket to Plato’s Atlantis.
Thank you.
Bob Morman
Ludington, MI 49431
