Opinion
By Steve Nicklas
3/6/25
The motley group of protesters had the right to be there, in downtown Fernandina Beach. However, they appeared unsure why they were there.
Apparently, their prevalent cause was protecting Social Security from cost-cutters like billionaire Elon Musk and his ardent band of DOGE (Department Of Government Efficiency) volunteers. The angst of the protesters bubbled like sea foam, directed at U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean.
The 50 or so meandering demonstrators outside Bean’s local office last week carried handwritten signs and chanted across Centre Street. They then crammed into a conference room at Bean’s office to complain, mostly about Musk and DOGE and President Donald Trump. To anyone who will listen.
A sign placed in a chair in Bean’s office read: “Rep. Bean, we are counting on you to protect Social Security.” Other signs they held said: “Hands off my Social Security” and “DOGE = Illegal.”
Not to deflate their flimsy bubble, but Musk’s efforts to identify waste and fraud within the Social Security Administration will salvage it from financial ruin — not decimate it. Somehow these corrective actions by DOGE are being misconstrued by many Democrats.
The findings are fitful, and widespread. DOGE has exposed fraudulent and/or erroneous payments from Social Security. The most egregious are payments to recipients over 100 years of age, who doubtfully exist.
To have 20 million centenarians receiving benefits is impossible. Obviously, these people were not purged from the Social Security rolls. Trump calls Social Security “one of the great potential scandals in history.” While Musk calls it a Ponzi scheme.
Meanwhile, the biased national media enjoys reporting how the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2033. With the chronic abuse exposed by Musk, no wonder it is bleeding and on life support.
And it’s not just Social Security. The abusive USAID office has practically been shut down, as has the brainchild of Elizabeth Warren, the Consumer Financial Protection Board. Not only was the CFPB predatorial, the fines and fees collected went to far-left liberal causes.
Through USAID, $50 million was targeted for condoms for the terrorist group Hamas (which the media tries to refute). That’s a lot of money, even for condominiums.
Another $1.5 million was spent on enhancing voter confidence in Liberia. “We need voter confidence too, when you read this,” Trump cracked.
To make matters worse, the wheels are coming off the wobbling economy left behind by the Biden administration. Without distorting the economic numbers, the real picture is being exposed.
And it’s grim. For instance, pending home sales just hit the lowest point ever. Overall, economic growth is anemic, and inflation is sticky.
Yet Trump remains remarkably popular. And his priorities are wildly supported by most Americans. Like deporting illegal aliens and securing the border.
All the left can do is protest. And they’re doing it across the country, in small towns like Fernandina Beach. It is a bizarre effort to defend reckless and wasteful government spending.
It is your right as a U.S. citizen to protest. But at least know why – and what – you are protesting.
(Steve Nicklas is a veteran financial advisor and a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor. He is also an award-winning columnist. His columns have appeared in the New York Times regional newspaper group and in various publications within Community Newspapers, Inc. He has written a book of his favorite columns from the last 20 years, “All About Money.” He has taught financial classes at Florida State College and he was an adjunct professor at the University of North Florida. He can be reached at 904-753-0236 or at [email protected].)
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida.
