Billionaire Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick recently suggested on a podcast that if tens of millions of people’s monthly Social Security Administration checks were stopped, concerns would be overblown. Lutnick said, “Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain. She just wouldn’t. She’d think something got messed up, and she’ll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining. The easiest way to stop a fraudster is to stop payments and listen.”

The majority of SSA beneficiaries receiving this monthly benefit rely on these checks to pay for essentials like rent, food and medical care. They have no option to cover these expenses until a delayed SSA check arrives. These people have every right to complain and not be called fraudsters. Such accusations by arrogant billionaires appointed to positions running our government are unconscionable. These billionaires have no understanding of the plight of people who believed their years of FICA payroll deductions would provide for them in their retirement.

I grew up in a family that would have suffered this plight. I am very much aware of the anxiety my parents would have felt had they lost their sole form of income. They were people just trying to provide for themselves. I take great offense at Lutnick’s cavalier statements. We are not all born into billionaire families that have absolutely no understanding of the lives of hard-working people.

Pauline Huntley
South Portland