Twenty years ago, President George W. Bush's second-term honeymoon was ending, and Social Security was to blame. Voters rebelled against his plan to partially privatize the popular retirement program and, the following year, stripped the GOP of its majorities in Congress. The events of 2005 cemented Social Security's reputation as the 'third rail of American politics.' For the next two decades, Republicans didn't touch it. Musk recently called the program 'the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time' and claimed that it's rife with waste and fraud. DOGE staffers have gained entry to the Social Security Administration and obtained sensitive taxpayer data, and the Trump administration has cut the agency's workforce by thousands. Earlier this week, Social Security officials announced changes that could make it harder for retirees to access their benefits. These moves'and Musk's rhetoric'have frightened voters, who have jammed congressional phone lines and town-hall meetings to register their...
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