Millions are barely scraping by on the program, which Trump seems determined to gut
Ned Barnett lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, meaning he resides in one of the seven swing states that Donald Trump swept in the 2024 presidential election. LIke a majority of voters on Election Day, Barnett is primarily concerned about economic issues like inflation. That is why he cast his ballot for Trump; he explained that he has simply suffered too much from the rising prices under President Joe Biden’s economy.
“When I heard [Vice President] Kamala [Harris] on the View saying she wouldn’t change a thing, I knew I couldn’t survive four more years of Bidenomics,” Barnett explained. In one sense, Barnett’s experience is consistent with the polls, which found American voters primarily concerned with economic issues like inflation. Yet Barnett also brings up an economic issue that was not widely discussed during the campaign: Social Security.
Barnett is fearful that Trump’s plans for Social Security will deprive him of the little money he has left to survive. According to experts who spoke with Salon — both about the agency’s long-term solvency and about why it is essential to public health — Barnett and the millions of other Social Security beneficiaries like him are correct to keep a close eye on the program.
“My wife and I depend on Social Security — it is our lifeline to the future,” Barnett said. The couple was “wiped out” during the economic crash that began in 2008; Barnett’s wife lost her half-million dollar retirement fund in nine days in 2009, and the spouses later filed for bankruptcy in 2011-12. Like many hardworking Americans, Barnett gradually rebuilt his finances, thriving in the mid-to-late 2010s by ghostwriting and performing consulting work. Yet the two depended on Social Security to survive, as it bridged the gap between Barnett’s income and what they needed to survive.
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Article URL : https://www.salon.com/2024/11/18/has-murky-plans-for-social-security-raising-fears-of-a-public-health/