Episode 98: DOGE's Social Security Rewrite - Killing Americans to Save Money

Isaac Askew and Jeffrey Sherman discuss DOGE's proposed rewrite of the Social Security system, focusing on the implications of transitioning from COBOL to a modern programming language like Java. They explore the motivations behind the rewrite, the challenges of legacy code, the potential role of AI, and the human cost of possible failures. The conversation culminates in predictions about the outcome of the rewrite and the impact on millions of Americans relying on Social Security. Show Notes: Wired Magazine article referenced: https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/ Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Social Security Rewrite Predictions 01:17 Understanding the Proposal and Its Context 03:34 Debating the Need for COBOL Developers 06:24 Evaluating Cost-Saving Claims 10:11 Assessing the Quality of COBOL Code 12:15 The Role of AI in Code Rewriting 14:39 Legal Constraints and Historical Context of Social Security Code 16:45 Understanding Social Security's Code Complexity 18:46 Predictions on the Social Security Rewrite 22:54 The Human Cost of System Failures 27:38 Data Issues vs. Code Solutions 31:44 The Future of the Rewrite Project