by Molly Regan

Frank Bisignano was confirmed as the Social Security Administrator Tuesday 6 May 2025 by the US Senate. The vote was 53-47. Not one local newscast station or 5:30 evening news channel or even PBS News Hour reported this yesterday. Today 7 May, there was nothing in the Des Moines Register, The QuadCity Times, The North Scott Press, or The Wall Street Journal. This is devastating news. It should be reported by responsible sources. Bisignano will lower or attempt to completely stop Social Security payments. So make a plan now if you haven’t. Make a list of what you can live without, and what you absolutely need.

Determine if you can continue to live where you are, or who you are willing to take into your home to help each other out. This may be one of the most difficult aspects of restructuring your life. Re-evaluate the money you spend on rent or mortgage, insurance on home, vehicle, medical, dental, vision, life. Food, gas, entertainment, tv service, vacations, you know, everything. Living without the possibility of a Social Security check being sent or deposited is a scary thing. Preparing for it gives you control, of a sort.

Decades ago I began using spiral bound notebooks to do important documentation. My Grandma Agnes carried a small notebook. I asked her one day why she had it, she explained, “Why should I remember things when I can write them down?”. I liked that.

While we may be temporarily powerless to stop the insanity that is surely going to affect many of the more than 72,000,000 of us on Social Security, we can prepare. Talk with your family and friends. Even the ones who don’t feel that anything will happen to themselves, or to you. Let them know you’re concerned and you’re making a plan. The day after you make the first draft of your survival plan, pare it down. Cut more things. Revise on a daily basis. Maybe sell some things. This is serious stuff folks.

Pay attention to past world history. These monsters in charge are self proclaimed nazis. They will come after our airwaves, which by the way we own. They’ll mess with our internet and cell phones. Why? Because these things will be huge disruptions to our lives, and because they feel they can. Write down the phone numbers of important people in your phone. You know, make an old fashioned address book in that spiral bound. I am not crying wolf. Prepare now. The storm’s on its way.

npr.org/2025/05/06/social-security-administration-frank-bisignano-confirmed