Senior Citizens voting Dem for 1st time: "We're not gonna let Trump go after our Social Security."

[Dennis Donovan]

Link to tweet

Jon Cooper
‼️I just spoke with a white, elderly couple (in their late 80s) at an Orlando coffee shop. They said they’ve NEVER voted for a Democrat for president — but they’ll both be voting for Kamala Harris! The husband told me why: “We’re not gonna let Trump go after our Social Security.”

Project 2025 is a real winner!

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. Spread the word people...tRump wants to end Social Security and Medicare! Project 2025 says so.

I am spreading that message as best I can where I live despite some tRumpers living here.

[WarGamer]

13. P25 doesn't end SS. You got a link I assume?

[PatrickforB]

20. Well, it starts by calling for significant cuts in both SS and Medicare. But, here's the thing...

As an economist who has been practicing for some time I know a number of things:

1. Wall Street millionaires tried a coup against FDR back in the 30s. Rachel has that. They didn't like Social Security, you see.

2. Lewis Powell's 1971 Manifesto "An Attack on American Free Enterprise" lays out the entire plan for a corporate takeover of this republic. It is easily accessible on line, just google Powell Manifesto and you can read the whole thing.

3. In 1987, Reagan killed the old Fairness Doctrine, which had been put into place after WWII to prevent Americans from falling prey to a demogogue like Hitler. It required every local area who had a news station that offered a half hour of national news every night. They could report the who, what, where, when and sometimes how, but if they went into the 'why,' then they had to present both sides.

4. Killing this doctrine allowed the rise of publicly traded cable 'news' which is biased not in favor or right or left, but in favor of shareholder profits (reference the legal doctrine of shareholder primacy born in 1919 with a MI Supreme Court ruling against Henry Ford in favor of the Dodge brothers, who sued Ford for raising the wages of his factory workers so they could buy the cars they built on the basis that these 'excessively high' wages deprived them of PROFITS to which they were ENTITLED as shareholders. Seriously. And they won. This is why we have the 'horserace' narrative. The execs at NBC (Comcast), and ABC (Disney), Fox and the WSJ (FOX), and the rest feel that presenting the election as a horserace is better for ratings, which allows higher ad revenue, AND hugely expensive presidential and congressional campaigns that require massive donations from us and guess where that money ends up? In PROFITS for these media companies who charge an arm and a leg for the Harris campaign to run these ads. It is a huge money machine. This is why campaign finance reform, which is really popular with us, got killed by Citizens United. It creates too much profit.

5. In the meantime, when Nixon had to resign in '74 after Watergate, his guy Atwater, and his desciples Karl Rove, Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney started this scorched earth obstruction thing that held winning power over everything else, including the basic 'governing the country' role.

6. Then you had the twin movements - the Tea Party, started by that kid with the really long sideburns but was quickly co-opted by Charlie Koch, and the 'birther' movement, which was the Klan backlash against a black president.

7. Also do not forget 2004, when W went around the nation trying to get Americans to OK privatizing Social Security - the SS Trust Fund has been coveted by the orc-like greed lizards on Wall Street since the 1930s. W tried to make that happen, and that, coupled with the Iraq war and the Bush lies that got us into it almost lost them the WH, until they swiftboated Kerry.

So, while Project 2025 doesn't actually say 'end' Social Security, should the GOP take power and end the republic, one of their first steps will be to privatize Social Security and give that Trust Fund to Wall Street. Imagine the wonderful PROFIT bubble they could create to usher us into another Great Recession!

That said, the actual fulcrum that could end a lot of seemingly intractable problems right off the bat would be to end the doctrine of shareholder primacy and replace it with a stakeholder approach that would hold the interests of workers and consumers (including truth in news reporting), as well as the environment EQUAL in weight to shareholder profits. For more, check out 'The Myth of Shareholder Value' by the late Lynn Stout, who was a distinguished professor of corporate law at Stanford University.

Think Archimedes. Our current rules around corporate governance, which encourage sociopathic behavior on the part of corporate officers in publicly traded companies - the lever that could move us to a more perfect republic is not to END capitalism, but to change the rules so they require a stakeholder approach to corporate governance as opposed to the fiduciary responsibility now, which is ONLY to generate shareholder profits.

This is also why we have the media labeling people like Bernie as 'far left' and working really hard to drive the discussion to the right.

You can look all this up yourself and verify its truth quite easily. And if you want to explore it further a great place to begin is the late Howard Zinn's 'A People's History of the United States.' Once you know, there's no going back.

Why do you think we have such a huge 'anti-woke' movement? They do not want us to know (wake up) to these things. Better we be asleep and docile, focused on distractions like sports, gambling, gaming, porn, excessive eating, alcoholism, drug addiction and so on. Anything to keep us from seeing all this and then voting accordingly.

Cheers.

[ShazzieB]

21. Yes, ending SS and Medicare don't have to be in Project 2025.

The GOP has had both of those programs in their sights for decades, and reelecting Trump would put them in immediate danger, Project 2025 or no Project 2025.

[markodochartaigh]

25. Trump propsed ending the payroll tax which funds Social Security

and he actually suspended it while he was president.


https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/601197/what-trumps-payroll-tax-cut-will-mean-for-you

https://itep.org/trumps-proposed-payroll-tax-elimination/

[captain queeg]

27. Ending the Fairness Doctrine has had a hige effect.

[UpInArms]

31. You can look at this link

https://www.25and.me/?topics=23#23

[TommieMommy]

2. Glad they realized what he is like and maybe they will get rid of our other Florida idiots in office

[Joinfortmill]

3. Encouraging, but does it always have to be about them?

Can it, for once, be about the greater good?

[barbtries]

7. I'm afraid not.

they didn't stop being republicans.

[Warpy]

14. Social security is all the retirement too many old folks have these days

since the corporate retirement age is a good ten years before it kicks in. That's why you're seeing so many old folks doing the nigh shift at gas stations or clerking in national parks, social security isn't enough and they have to work.

While it seems self serving to the yoyng who can't conceive of having a body that is tired and hurts all the time, to most old folks it's the difference between having a place to sleep inside and being on the street.

Social Security isn't an investment, a Ponzi scheme, or free money. It's an insurance program against being orphaned, disabled, or living too long. People on Social Security paid their premiums their whole working lives. And TFG wants to cheat them out of those premiums to make himself and his buddies richer.

[Joinfortmill]

28. I'm 75. I get all that. I think you missed my point.

[Warpy]

29. Sorry

With my eyesight, that happens a lot.

[Joinfortmill]

30. No worries. Take care.

[Biophilic]

19. They're in their 80s. Never voted for a Democrat.

Nope, little to no chance of it being about the greater good.

[electric_blue68]

23. Still, I'd sure rather have their votes than not! : )

[Beartracks]

26. Climate change? Nope. LGBTQ rights? Nope. Equitable economy? Nope.

"My Social Security?!" Yep.

Republicans don't seem to care about the negative effects of rightwing policies until they are impacted personally.

But, hey, it's a glimmer of sense, so we'll take it.

=========

[peggysue2]

4. Think this story as well as numerous others are on the mark

There has been a shift in the over 65 voter block, those who would have never before considered voting Democratic. But Agent Orange and Project 2025 in their infinite stupidity wrote down and said the quiet part out loud: the safety line for seniors--SS and Medicare--will be on the chopping block if these goons have their way.

The Republican threat to these vital programs has always been there but now Agent Orange's Heritage Foundation buddies have trumpeted The Plan with an arrogance that's breathtaking.

Lo and behold, senior citizens have reacted accordingly.

Hallelujah!

[spooky3]

11. I believe far more would shift if it weren't for pervasive misinformation.

Yes, we are all responsible for seeking out information but many Americans of all ages simply don't do it diligently enough.

[4lbs]

16. They've had DECADES to figure out that the Republican party was not for them, and wanted to

take away / destroy what was "sacred" to them - MediCare and Social Security.

In the 1960s, soon after 'their' St. Ronny RayGun became a Repuke, he began railing against MediCare and Social Security.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Speaks_Out_Against_Socialized_Medicine

Reagan "criticized Social Security for supplanting private savings and warned that subsidized medicine would curtail Americans' freedom"

So...... what, he was just blowing smoke, or was the GOP against all that for DECADES?

Project 2025 just cements their wishes into full-blown action. They could have prevented this 8 years ago, but nooooo...

[Think. Again.]

5. Purple Wave a-building!

[leftieNanner]

6. Would be nice if they didn't vote for Scott

He put out a paper calling for the sunset of social security and Medicare.

[IbogaProject]

8. Prison 20-25

Of course he will deny it until he is sentenced. A fellow can dream right?

[Skittles]

9. so that's all it takes, their finances being threatened

I'm glad they see some light but these kind of people seriously make me sick. UGH

[LiberalFighter]

10. With those two it will put Kamala four votes ahead

[lpbk2713]

12. Post billboards near The Villages

... that carry that same message.

[GenThePerservering]

15. I'll take anything we can get

sometimes it takes a mallet to wake people up.

The fact that they do not want SS to be turned into a political football may lead to re-thinking of some other issues.

[liberalla]

17. Hallelujah!

People voting in their own best interests??? Wow!

Spread the word!

[4lbs]

18. Just like most Republicans, it doesn't "hit their radar" until it threatens their pocketbook.

Then suddenly, they take notice.

They could have prevented this shit 8 years ago, but didn't.

Nice that they are voting Democratic now, but they could have clued in a long time ago.

It took Project 2025 to open their eyes? *SMFH*

[Cha]

22. Thank Goodness this is Out There! One of the Most Important

Issues of this Election!

TY, Jon Cooper and those voting For VP Harris!

[Generic Brad]

32. I know one lifelong Republican who told me the same thing

She took the time to actually read Project 2025 and was alarmed, especially since she will be retiring soon. She told me she is furious with Republicans for plotting against us and will never vote for any of them again.

[essaynnc]

33. Who knows who Virginia Foxx is?

In our great state of North Carolina, she's been sending out postcards that decry the Democrats attack on social security and Medicare! She has vowed to protect it, whatever the cost!

Really Virginia? WTF!

Once again, the Republicans are lying through their teeth. Unfortunately, the rubes believe her. I'm expecting that pretty soon it'll come out that Trump and JD are going to SAVE YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY.

[Dennis Donovan]

34. You mean "Look me in the eye" Virginia Foxx?

Her continued electoral success has always been a mystery to me, much like MTG, Gaetz, Jordan and Boebert's is. Surely their constituencies cannot be that out-of-it?

[essaynnc]

35. Her key to success is...

An r next to her name, in a highly gerrymandered district. Actually, in a highly gerrymandered State.
North Carolina is basically 50/50, but the state senate and House have super majority Republicans. Same with the US House, and I sure as hell don't understand how we have two Republican senators???