by Jan L.
Unbelievable! Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, claims most people wouldn’t mind if the government simply skipped a Social Security payment. “My mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain,” he explained.
Based on his extensive (cough, cough) research on the matter, he has therefore determined that anyone who complains about a missing Social Security check must be a “fraudster— always mak[ing] the loudest noise, screaming, yelling, and complaining.”
Really? Lutnick apparently hasn’t met my friend Emily. Emily is 85. She has worked for over 30 years and has paid taxes – including Social Security – for all those years. Social Security is her entire retirement savings. She has no other savings and no other source of support. Her monthly check (after taxes) = $2,098.
From that check, she has to pay:
| Rent | $1644.00 |
| PG&E | $74.00 (average over the year) |
| Other utilities | $86.00 |
| Internet | $40.00 |
| Health Insurance | $70.00 |
That all adds up to $1,914.00. Deduct that from her income of $2098.00 and that leaves $184 per month for food and incidentals. That’s it!
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF HER CHECK DIDN’T COME?
I think that’s obvious. She would have serious trouble making it through the month.
And if she complained? According to Mr. Lutnick, that would make her a fraud.
Mr. Lutnick, in the words of Ricky Ricardo: “You got some ‘splaining to do!”
