Dear John,
Social Security has been a lifeline for working Americans for 90 years — and in an age of historic income inequality, we need it more than ever.
For generations, it’s paid benefits in full and on time, protecting millions from poverty in retirement, disability, or after the loss of a loved one. But now, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are undermining that promise.
They’ve fired 7,000 Social Security experts and replaced them with a glitchy AI chatbot that leaves callers stranded. Even worse, the remaining staff are being pulled away from in-person help to cover the jammed phone lines. This intentional bureaucratic chaos is a direct attack on the most successful, efficient, and equitable social insurance program in U.S. history.
At a time when the wealth gap is wider than at any point since the Gilded Age — when billionaires like Musk can hoard fortunes while most Americans struggle to pay rent, buy groceries, or afford medicine — Social Security is one of the few guarantees left for ordinary people.
Send a direct message to Congress: Restore full Social Security funding, rehire its staff, and protect the system we’ve paid into our entire working lives.
Over 10,000 Americans retire every day. Millions more with disabilities, survivors, and children rely on Social Security’s modest benefits just to get by. Yet Trump and Musk’s team is making it harder than ever to access them.
Even worse, as of September 1st, most of the 700,000 people who receive Social Security by paper check will see them stopped — unless they somehow prove they “really need it,” a vague and insulting new hurdle. And when they call for help, they’ll face an unhelpful chatbot instead of a real human being.
Social Security is not a handout — it’s an earned benefit. It’s funded directly from our paychecks. And it runs with less than 1% in administrative costs, far more efficiently than private pensions, which can burn up to 15% on overhead. Cutting staff, reducing service, and replacing expertise with malfunctioning AI isn’t “modernization” — it’s sabotage.
This fight is about more than retirement checks. Seniors’ health care, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) are all at risk. In a country where the richest 1% already control more wealth than the bottom 90% combined, dismantling Social Security is an attack on fairness, dignity, and the basic promise of economic security.
Tell Congress: Restore full Social Security funding. Don’t let billionaires and politicians destroy the one guarantee that stands between millions of Americans and poverty — whether from debilitating illness or in retirement.
Thank you for standing up for economic justice.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
