No, 150-Year-Olds Aren’t Collecting Social Security Benefits

12 comments

1. Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed that his so-called [Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)](https://www.wired.com/tag/doge/) project had uncovered massive government fraud when it alleged that 150-year-olds were claiming Social Security benefits.

   But Musk has provided no evidence to back up his claims, and experts quickly pointed out that this is very likely just a quirk of the decades-old coding language that underpins the government payment systems.

   Read the full story: [https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-doge-social-security-150-year-old-benefits/](https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-doge-social-security-150-year-old-benefits/)

2. Tell me you don’t understand COBOL. Just say you don’t have a clue.

3. Doesn’t matter. That talking point is already out there making its way through all of the conservative echo chambers. Just like the Gaza condoms that Musk admitted was false but still gets brought up regularly by his base. And by the time Elon confronts this misinformation he’ll already have another one out there making its rounds.

4. While we’re at it, maybe Dementia Don can also also give the nuclear codes to Chauncy Musk’s four year old to save even more money — given that they’ve “accidentally” fired all the engineers.

   Chauncy Musk: “Some of the things I will say will be incorrect.”

5. 

   The Dump and friends administration…

6. “We aren’t stealing your money.” “We also aren’t upgrading our antiquated system to optimize the process.”

7. One easy way to fix this is to do a data dump into a modern database.

   After that, it will be a breeze to match all those getting checks to social security numbers not getting any after 70 years old.

   How much could it cost to replace this antiquated system? $1 Mil? Won’t be surprised if one competent database guy could do this. Even if it cost $10 Mil to replace all those code and logic, it should be very easy. If nobody in the government could do it, outsource to someone competent. SSA employees might finally use a mouse and keyboard, than a keyboard based terminal. Are SSA going to EBay buying replacement terminals?

   This SSA using COBOL is worse than NASA searching for 8086 chips on EBay for the Space Shuttle.

8. Your bullshit is what it is “bullshit”, trying to redirect, probably pro-Demonrat

9. Welp looks like wired magazine got em. They should probably stop looking for issues and we probably shouldn’t invest in modern or easily verifiable systems especially given the push to automate mindless jobs in the future.

10. Reads like a garbage system runs social security.

11. I remember at the fall of communism in Russia, there were similar claims by the new government, of 130 year olds collecting income. I think the reports were long deceased parents and children with the same name making the claim. Pretty sure it turned out to be people not understanding the accounting system.

12. More on this subject from other reputable sources:

    —
    – Newsweek (B-): [Elon Musk Raises Alarm Over Social Security](https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-raises-alarm-social-security-doge-2032052)
    – Washington Post (B): [Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk’s DOGE over data](https://wapo.st/3X1VOmI)
    – NBC News (B): [Top Social Security official steps down after disagreement with DOGE over sensitive data](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/top-social-security-official-steps-disagreement-doge-sensitive-data-rcna192530)
    – New York Times (B+): [Top Social Security Official Leaves After Musk Team Seeks Data Access](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/us/politics/social-security-musk-team-access.html)

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