‘Yes Or No?’: Cortez Masto Asks SSA Chief Nom If He Thinks Social Security Is A Ponzi Scheme

2 days ago

During a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) questioned Frank Bisignano, President Trump's nominee to be Commissioner of Social Security Administration, about recent remarks from the Trump administration on social security.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Bisognino, thank you so much for meeting with me.

00:08I appreciate it. Welcome. Congratulations on your nomination. Welcome to your

00:12family. Let me just get a couple of questions out of the way and hopefully we

00:18just have this candid conversation and we carry it through like we did in my

00:21office. Recently in an interview with Joe Rogan on February 28th, Elon Musk called

00:27Social Security the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time. Do you believe that Social

00:31Security is a Ponzi scheme? I believe it's a promise to pay. It's an 89-year

00:37institution so far. It will continue. Yes or no, do you think it's a Ponzi scheme?

00:43It's a promise to pay. In a podcast appearance last week, Commerce Secretary

00:50Howard Lutnick suggested that only fraudsters would complain about missing

00:53a Social Security check and that most people wouldn't mind if the government

00:56simply skipped a payment. Do you agree with Secretary Lutnick that only

01:00fraudsters complain when the government fails to send Social Security checks?

01:05I don't think anyone would appreciate not getting their Social Security check

01:11on time. I'm sorry, say that again. I said I think. I don't think anyone would

01:18appreciate not getting their Social Security check on time. So you would

01:21agree they're not fraudsters? I don't, I'm answering what you asked, so I think.

01:29Well that's the question is, his implication is if you're questioning

01:33whether you got your check or not, you're probably a fraudster. Would you agree

01:36with that? It'd be hard to get to that conclusion. Pardon me? It'd be hard to get to that

01:42conclusion. Okay, now let me ask you this as well. The Social Security, current

01:48Social Security administrator, briefly ended a contract that had allowed

01:52parents of newborn babies in Maine to sign their children up for Social

01:56Security number at the hospital. Instead, he required them to do so in person at

02:01an office. The current administrator, according to a New York Times article,

02:05said he had ordered the move after watching Governor Janet Mills clash

02:11with Mr. Trump at the White House. He then quickly reversed that decision but

02:16said he did it because he felt that the governor of Maine was not being real

02:21cordial to the president. Do you think Social Security should be used as a

02:26political weapon against individuals in the future? As I said in my opening

02:32comments, it's the most bipartisan thing we have. I believe its job is to deliver

02:38for the American population. I agree, but do you think it should be used as a

02:41political weapon at the whim of somebody who wants to show fealty to the

02:47president? I don't think it should be. Good, that's the right answer. It should

02:52not be because everything you've said up until now has agreed that we should get

02:56the benefits out to individuals, that we should ensure that our focus is making

03:01those that need this disability benefits or who worked hard their entire lives

03:06are entitled to these benefits really get them. So I appreciate that comment.

03:12Let me also jump back to a couple of questions. The Social Security

03:19Administrator, let me jump to this. More than 570,000 Nevadans rely on Social

03:26Security after paying into it for decades, yet they face long wait times

03:30and inaccessible offices. Problems that have only worsened under the so-called

03:34efficiency measures introduced by DOJ. DOJ has cut staff, they've closed field

03:40offices, and they've shifted services online. I'm hopeful that you are going to

03:46address this issue, and as you think about moving into this office, what are

03:52you going to do based on all of the complaints that we are hearing now?

03:55There are more so than before this administration came into office. How do

03:59you expect to, in the first hundred days, address these issues? I'm a battle-tested

04:04executive. In the mortgage crisis, when I was asked to come in and work shoulder

04:12to shoulder with the government, we figured out how to clean up a pretty big

04:16mess. And so would you reverse some of the DOJ's decisions if you felt that

04:20that was, they were inappropriate and they weren't getting to the beneficiaries,

04:24the information, the benefits they need? Any decision I thought was inappropriate

04:28would be revoked at all, all issues. And you'd be willing to reverse it? I'm sorry. And you

04:33would be willing to reverse it if you felt it was appropriate? If something

04:37was inappropriate, it would be changed. Thank you. And then finally, let me ask

04:41you this. There's a lot of concern, and rightfully so, about individuals who

04:45don't even work in the administration. They are actually rifling through the

04:50personal information of Americans. And I am hopeful that you are going to guard

04:56that personal information for anybody who has provided it to Social Security

05:00Administration. Are you willing to protect their private information? I've done it my

05:04whole career. That's yes? I've done it my whole career, that would be yes. Thank you.

05:10Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

‘Yes Or No?’: Cortez Masto Asks SSA Chief Nom If He Thinks Social Security Is A Ponzi Scheme

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