But #SocialSecurity is barreling toward #insolvency faster than before because of Trump’s #tax bill & #immigration policies, acc/to experts. The agency has faced tumult since #DOGE came in with a grand scheme to root out *fraud* & overhaul the program, causing disruptions & frustrations within the agency.

And despite the repetition of “no tax on Social Security” from Trump & his allies, the #law ultimately signed by #Trump did NOT eliminate #taxes on #seniors’ #benefits.

#Trump marked the 90th anniversary of #SocialSecurity on Thursday with an Oval Office signing of a *proclamation* [meaningless piece of paper] that the safety net was “more resilient than ever before,” thanks to him. He claimed improvements to the program’s customer service. He also *misleadingly declared* [flat out lied] that he had checked off his campaign promise to eliminate #taxes on #benefits for #seniors.

#FactCheck #TrumpLies #economy #PersonalFinance

@wdlindsy

Funny he should say that...because the Republican/MAGA plan is a) to hide the theft (eg by 'investing' SS in crypto) and b) to destroy democracy.

'One thing I know: Social Security is so firmly embedded in the American psychology today that no politician, no political party, no political group could possibly destroy this Act and still maintain our democratic system.'"

"'It is safe. It is safe forever, and for the everlasting benefit of the people of the United States.'"

Yet the unqualified partisan Trump wants to make head of BLS has stated publicly that he regards Social Security as a "Ponzi scheme" and he thinks it should be "sunset."

#SocialSecurity #FDR #Trump #EJAntoni
/5

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-pick-social-security-cola-sunset-program-ej-antoni-2112825

Richardson notes that FDR’s secretary of labor, Frances Perkins, the driving force behind the Social Security Act, said in a 1962 speech,

'One thing I know: Social Security is so firmly embedded in the American psychology today that no politician, no political party, no political group could possibly destroy this Act and still maintain our democratic system.'"

#SocialSecurity #FDR #Trump #EJAntoni
/4

"The Social Security Act established a federal system of old-age benefits; unemployment insurance; aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children; funds to promote maternal and child welfare; and public health services. It was a sweeping reworking of the relationship between the government and its citizens, using the power of taxation to pool funds to provide a basic social safety net."

~ Heather Cox Richardson

#SocialSecurity #FDR #Trump #EJAntoni
/3

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-13-2025

"'Most had no access to private pension plans and the limited state-run programs that existed had paltry benefits and stringent age and residence requirements.'

Passage of the Social Security Act also laid the foundation for future government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid 30 years later."

#SocialSecurity #FDR #Trump #EJAntoni #Medicare #Medicaid
/2

"NBC News reported that E.J. Antoni, President Trump’s egregiously unqualified nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, can be seen in multiple videos on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, before leaving the area. The White House says Antoni was merely a curious 'bystander.'…"

~ David Kurtz

#EJAntoni #Trump #BLS #SocialSecurity #statistics #data #economy
/11

https://morningmemo.talkingpointsmemo.com/p/the-courts-cant-and-wont-save-us

"Unlike other commissioners of the BLS, Antoni, the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, the think tank behind Project 2025, has no background in labor economics, and his social media forays into macroeconomic debates show vanishingly little knowledge there as well."

~ Chris Lehmann

#EJAntoni #Trump #BLS #SocialSecurity #statistics #data #economy
/10

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/ej-antoni-bls-trump-jobs/

Antoni's 2020 dissertation at Northern Illinois University was dedicated to "my spiritual patrons: Our Lady of Victory, St. Joseph, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Jude, St. Joseph of Cupertino, and Sts. Peter and Paul. Thank you, most especially, to Our Lord, with whom anything is possible."

#EJAntoni #Trump #BLS #SocialSecurity #statistics #data #economy
/9

https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7820&context=allgraduate-thesesdissertations

"Trump’s nominee for head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, EJ Antoni, was present outside the Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riot."

~ Aaron Parnas

#EJAntoni #Trump #BLS #SocialSecurity #statistics #data #economy #Jan6
/8

https://aaronparnas.substack.com/p/news-washington-dc-residents-protest

"E.J. Antoni, Trump’s pick for BLS Commissioner, has actually said that we should define a recession not on the basis of things like employment data or GDP but by how people 'feel.' =...

We’re clearly entering an era of policy driven by feelings rather than facts. But facts always win in the end."

#EJAntoni #Trump #BLS #SocialSecurity #statistics #data #economy
/7

~ Paul Krugman

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/magas-feelings-dont-care-about-your

Jonathan V. Last takes a close look at Antoni's c.v. and says,

"That’s it. That’s the full CV. He wrote some pieces for Townhall, Breitbart, and the Federalist, went on Fox News, and now he’ll be running an organization of 2,000 economic specialists."

#EJAntoni #Trump #BLS #SocialSecurity #statistics #data #economy
/6

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-ministry-of-truth-is-real-now-ej-antoni-bls-labor-statistics

"Economists said they found Dr. Antoni’s history of distorting economic statistics to support partisan positions more concerning.

They cited numerous examples of Dr. Antoni’s appearing to misunderstand the same government data that he will now, if confirmed, be in charge of."

~ Ben Casselman, Alan Rappeport and Lydia DePillis

#EJAntoni #Trump #BLS #SocialSecurity #statistics #data #economy
/5

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/business/trump-bls-ej-antoni.html

"He is utterly unqualified and as partisan as it gets.”

~ Stan Veuger of American Enterprise Institute quoted by Jason Furman

#EJAntoni #Trump #BLS #SocialSecurity #statistics #data #economy
/4

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/opinion/trump-bls-nominee-antoni.html

"I don't think I have ever publicly criticized any Presidential nominee before. But E.J. Antoni is completely unqualified to be BLS Commissioner."

~ Economics professor Jason Furman quoted by Hugh Cameron

#EJAntoni #Trump #BLS #SocialSecurity #statistics #data #economy
/3

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-bls-appointment-ej-antoni-alarms-economists-2112440

"On a 2024 podcast, Antoni wanted to sunset Social Security payments for workers paying into the system, saying that "you'll need a generation of people who pay Social Security taxes but never actually receive any of those benefits."

~ Christopher Rugaber and Josh Boak

#EJAntoni #Trump #BLS #SocialSecurity #statistics #data #economy
/2

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/why-economists-are-criticizing-trumps-nominee-to-oversee-data-on-jobs-and-inflation