A long-time friend from rural Virginia told me of his recent “death”. He is a former medical doctor living in his dream lakefront home. His ex-wife died over a year ago. Soon after, he noticed he did not receive his Social Security payment. Then when he went for a medical procedure, his Medicare coverage was denied. When asked why, they said his Social Security number was inactive.
To restore it, they said he should contact the Social Security Administration (SSA). When he called SSA (which took a long time due to personnel cuts), they said that he would have to come to the regional office because “You can’t prove you are not dead via the phone”. In the meantime, he had to renew his driver’s license, but after going through all the steps, this, too, was denied because his SS# was no longer valid. One year and he is still fighting his way back from “death”.
This was due to DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) – people with no knowledge of the Social Security systems who were sent in by President Trump. They made a mess of the data, as well as stealing the (our) data for their own use. I had read about this management failure, but hearing a personal story showed me how much worse things could get.
Which brings me to why I will be voting for Ned Lamont in the August 11th Democratic Primary. In general, I think two terms (eight years) are enough. But these are extreme times, and we need a steady, experienced hand governing Connecticut. With his team of Constitutional Officers, he has the institutional knowledge and the personal relationships in Connecticut and throughout the United States to navigate what will surely be another two years of cruelty, corruption and incompetence in Washington, DC.
— Ed Edelson,
Southbury, CT
The Southbury Record 