They Think Your Grandma’s a Thief
The government’s new fraud logic punishes anyone who dares to ask where their Social Security check went.
According to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, if your Social Security check doesn’t arrive this month and you so much as inquire about it—bam—you’re a fraudster. That’s it. That’s the bar now.
Your 94-year-old grandmother? If she calls the Social Security office to ask where her money is, clearly, she’s running a scam syndicate from her La-Z-Boy.
This is not satire. This is the actual position of a sitting Commerce Secretary on a podcast with some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful venture capitalists, describing a literal federal benefits policy heuristic: stop all payments and see who complains.
Here’s the video:
How Did We Get Here?
This is the latest flare-up in what we might call the War on People Who Depend on Stuff.
Led by a cadre of billionaires—Elon Musk, Howard Lutnick, and the usual All-In podcast crew—the Trump administration’s restructuring of the federal government has turned into a weird Hunger Games for civil servants and benefit recipients. Agencies are gutted, benefits delayed or denied, and anyone who notices is assumed to be part of an elaborate fraud ring. It’s “lean government” meets The Purge.
But this isn’t just about rhetoric. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has already begun laying off thousands of employees and shuttering offices across the country.
They’re even requiring elderly or disabled individuals to physically appear in person if they can’t navigate online verification tools. Because nothing says “accessibility” like forcing an 82-year-old with arthritis and no car to stand in line at a government office that’s three towns over.
The Billionaire Logic of “Fraud Detection”
Let’s talk about this idea that fraudsters yell the loudest. Lutnick claims his mother-in-law wouldn’t even blink if her Social Security payment didn’t show up—she’d just assume everything is fine. This, apparently, is model citizen behavior.
But who actually responds passively to a missing income stream? Not the rich. Try withholding a quarterly dividend from a billionaire and see how fast their lawyers materialize. But somehow, when a low-income senior calls to say their rent money hasn’t shown up, it’s not concern—it’s evidence.
This is the absurdity of the “shut off payments and see who screams” method. It assumes that:
The innocent are deferential and quiet.
The guilty are loud and entitled.
Only the desperate ever follow up on missed payments.
Let’s apply this logic elsewhere. If your paycheck doesn’t show up and you complain to HR, are you a payroll scammer? If the power goes out and you call the electric company, are you secretly siphoning electricity from the grid?
This isn’t governance. It’s Kafkaesque cruelty with a private equity gloss.
Who Really Benefits from “Cutting Waste”?
Here’s the quiet part: this isn’t about fraud prevention. It’s about gutting entitlements under the guise of modernization.
Elon Musk has called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” and his appointment to lead the Department of Government Efficiency is like hiring Gordon Ramsay to run a vegan retreat.
The goal is clear: use the specter of “waste” to justify massive cuts, fire federal employees en masse, and let AI and apps take over the job of public service—because if Uber can get you a car, why can’t it adjudicate your disability benefits?
But the deeper irony is this: fraud exists at the margins of these programs, not the center.
According to the SSA’s own data, fraud rates are exceedingly low. Meanwhile, corporate tax evasion, Wall Street malfeasance, and procurement fraud cost the U.S. far more—but those aren’t being scrutinized on podcasts. Why? Because those systems are designed to be gamed by the rich.
Fraud, in this context, is not a systemic flaw. It’s a useful myth. A way to cast suspicion downward while keeping the top untouched.
What Does This Say About Power?
We’re witnessing a fundamental shift in how government relates to its citizens. The safety net is being recast not as a collective good, but as a criminal enterprise—something to be policed rather than maintained.
Lutnick’s comments embody a deeper philosophy: If you need help, you’re suspect. If you ask questions, you’re guilty. Trust flows one way—you must trust the government unconditionally, but it owes you no such courtesy.
It’s a worldview where institutions are optimized not for justice, but for silence. A belief that the ideal citizen is one who doesn’t ask, doesn’t push back, and certainly doesn’t complain.
But here’s the thing: silence isn’t a virtue. It’s a survival tactic. And a system that punishes noise is a system that protects power—not people.
The Real Fraud
The real fraud isn’t some retiree trying to get her $1,600 check on time. It’s the idea that billionaires can pose as efficiency experts while dismantling the very systems that made their success possible.
It’s pretending that public benefit fraud is the problem—while ignoring the Fortune 500 companies that pay $0 in taxes, the hedge funds that exploit regulatory loopholes, and the lobbyists writing laws in exchange for campaign checks.
The real fraud is calling this “reform” when it’s just revenge.
So the next time a senior calls the SSA because her check didn’t come, don’t ask if she’s the fraudster.
Ask why we let people with Gulfstreams decide who’s “deserving” of help in the first place.
That’s the point.