Jared Moskowitz Asks Witnesses One By One If Social Security Is 'A Ponzi Scheme'

2 days ago

During a House Oversight Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Jared Moskowtiz (D-FL) spoke about Elon Musk falsely calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for granting my waiver. I appreciate it. You know, I've

00:06been committed to helping the government become more efficient, save dollars, go after fraud,

00:11waste, abuse. I was the first Democrat to join the Doge Caucus, which, by the way, hasn't

00:16done anything and has not been included in anything Elon Musk has done. But, you know,

00:21it's nice that we have a caucus.

00:24And so this is a bipartisan effort, like the chairman mentioned. We do want to get

00:30at waste, fraud, and abuse. But I do think dispelling myths, dispelling fact from fiction

00:36is important.

00:37I want to drill down real quickly first on what my colleague from Florida, Mr. Frost,

00:44said. I'm going to be even more direct because I think it's important. We'll just go down

00:48the line. So you gave an answer on whether Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. The answer

00:55is no, right? It's not a Ponzi scheme.

00:59We have not reported that it's a Ponzi scheme.

01:00Right. So it's not a Ponzi scheme.

01:03I'm not aware that it's a Ponzi scheme.

01:05Okay.

01:06Agreed.

01:07Okay. So Mr. Musk is wrong. No one's going to get fired for saying it, right? He's wrong.

01:12You can say it. It's not a Ponzi scheme. I'll say it for you. It's not a Ponzi scheme. It's

01:16not a Ponzi scheme. Okay. He's wrong. I know we're afraid to say it. And see, that's part

01:19of the problem. We're afraid to say that Elon Musk is wrong. That's what Mr. Frost was talking

01:28about when he says he hears crickets from my colleagues. We hear crickets from the witnesses

01:35because everyone is afraid when Elon says something, if it's patently false, we're afraid

01:41to say it's false.

01:42All right. Let's talk about something else. The IG is getting fired. You support the IG

01:48is getting fired. I mean, I got to imagine if you're interested in getting rid of fraud,

01:51waste, and abuse, they're the people trying to get rid of fraud, waste, and abuse. So

01:56they got fired from agriculture, interior, HUD, department of defense, the EPA, the state

02:02department, HHS, veterans affairs, labor, transportation. You support that? In the mission

02:09of getting rid of fraud and waste and abuse?

02:12The inspector general committee is critical. There are certainly an administration can

02:18get rid of-

02:19You have no opinion whether that was good or bad. Again, we won't say Elon's wrong.

02:22I know you won't go there, but was that the right decision?

02:27You did lose institutional knowledge. Certainly administration has a right to change to the

02:31inspector general. There are reporting mechanisms that weren't necessarily followed.

02:36Let's use numbers. Let's use data. So like 51, 49, 51, bad idea. That was a bad idea.

02:45I'm trying to-

02:46The proper protocols weren't followed in executing that.

02:48Oh, right. Oh, we know it was illegal. Don't get me wrong. I didn't want to make you say

02:53that. I appreciate you saying that on the record. It was illegal. The proper protocols

02:56weren't followed. But is it good policy if you want to go after fraud, waste, and abuse?

03:00Was that good policy?

03:02To lose institutional knowledge-

03:04No, not good policy.

03:05Good policy?

03:06I don't think it improves the ability to fight fraud, waste, and abuse.

03:09Not good policy?

03:10Not good policy.

03:11Okay, right. And if you're telling the American people that this is a focus of your administration

03:17and then you go fire all of the AGs, that doesn't seem to compute. Okay. Lastly, did

03:24fraud and improper payments start with Joe Biden? In his administration, was that the

03:30first time the government has experienced that?

03:33That is not the first time that fraud was reported.

03:35First time?

03:36No.

03:37First time?

03:38No.

03:39So, we got to depoliticize this stuff because all we're hearing is what happened in the

03:42last four years and the last four years. In 2017, $140 billion of improper payments. That's

03:50inaccurate?

03:51In 2024, we reported $162 billion in improper payments.

03:57Hold on. In 2017, $140 billion in improper payments. In 2018, $150 billion of improper

04:05payments. In 2019, $174 billion of improper payments. And in 2020, $206 billion of improper

04:13payments. Those are GAO numbers. So, let me just do some math. In the first Trump administration,

04:20there were $670 billion of improper payments. I'm not blaming him, but he is blaming Joe

04:30Biden and so is Elon Musk. Blaming for the improper payments for what happened in the

04:36four years of Joe Biden. My point is, Mr. Chairman, if we do want to solve this on a

04:41bipartisan basis, then we got to separate fact from fiction. We got to depoliticize

04:46it. $670 billion of improper payments and fraud, waste, and abuse in the first Trump

04:52administration. Isn't that correct?

04:54Correct.

04:55Isn't that correct?

04:56I don't have any reason to doubt your math, sir.

04:59Okay. Isn't that correct?

05:00I believe so.

05:01Perfect. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

05:05Does the gentleman seek to give back his time, or is the gentleman wish...

05:11Mr. Chairman, I have no time back, but I'm happy to give you back your time.

Jared Moskowitz Asks Witnesses One By One If Social Security Is 'A Ponzi Scheme'

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