Column: GOP and Musk unveil a threat to Social Security.

[JohnSJ]

"You may have been tempted to believe Donald Trump when he swore, along with some of his Republican colleagues, to protect Social Security. If so, the joke may be on you.

That concern emerged Monday when Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) uncorked a tweet thread on X labeling Social Security "a classic bait and switch" and "an outdated, mismanaged system."

Twenty-three minutes after Lee posted the first of his tweets, it was retweeted by Elon Musk, who has been vested by Trump with a portfolio to root out inefficiencies in the government. Musk led his retweet with the comment "interesting thread"; if that wasn't an explicit endorsement, it matched his way of amplifying others' tweets, tending to give them credibility within the Musk-iverse."

.........

"Social Security is funded by taxes. So what? Lee's salary as a senator is funded by taxes too. Does that make it illegitimate? It's true that once a tax is collected Congress can decide to spend it however it wishes. But it's also true that the payroll tax was enacted jointly with the provisions of the Social Security Act that designated the revenue for Social Security benefits."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/column-gop-musk-unveil-threat-221131683.html

IT ISN'T A BAIT AND SWITCH. It is like an annuity that we have been paying into, and when we retire we are entitled to to its benefits.

The fraud are these THUGS, and sociopaths that make-up the repuke party. They are degenerate and deplorable human beings.

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

[jimfields33]

2. They believe if it was put into the stock market at 18

years old until retirement, you would get 3-4 grand instead of 2. That’s a lot of hoping.

[Kingofalldems]

16. They don't believe that at all.

[lastlib]

36. 2008-2009 put the lie to that.

Few Americans, even well-educated ones, have the knowledge and skills to put together a proper investment portfolio; to do it well takes extensive knowledge and experience that cannot be acquired readily. And the Wall Street vultures who want to take over our Social Scurity system are going to gut us with exorbitant fees. They didn't dodge the Great Recession bullets, either.

Bottom line: Leave Social Security the F*** ALONE!

[markodochartaigh]

41. "...to do it well takes extensive knowledge and experience that cannot be acquired readily. "

And luck. Most portfolio managers, with training, and following the market in an informed manner daily are unable to beat the simple market averages.

[Mike 03]

44. It's a terrible idea backed by a dishonest faith in markets

A brutally honest investment advisor will always have this hard conversation with his clients, preparing them for difficult times. "One day you are going to wake up and the market will be down 30%" (to use one example).

You can't yoke the social safety net to something so precarious, especially at this moment in history when we are facing such vast geo-political, technological and environmental change and extreme unknowns--increasing conflict and nearly monthly natural disasters plus climate change that instead of preparing for or mitigating we have clearly decided to "wing it" and improvise as we burn up.

[wnylib]

57. There will be a grey rebellion if they try to change or gut it.

[misanthrope]

58. It won't last long

Especially if they screw with Medicare on top of SS, because those older Americans will start thinning out quickly without those safety nets. I think that is what the right wing is counting on, the opposition dying off in short order.

The younger generations who have become ever more jaded about seeing any SS will be more likely to take it in stride and let it wither away.

[k55f5r]

75. It's a bad idea to take away everything from an old person

Because they've got nothing to lose at that point. Last I looked, an old person could buy a gun just like a young man.

[wnylib]

76. True that. I can think of possible fighting back scenarios

by people who have nothing to lose, but can't post them.

[drray23]

46. No. They believe that the financial firms

Would make a lot of money off that by being able to churn all that money in the stock market. They really don't care if you end up with more money for retirement.

[BoRaGard]

3. "Ha ha, Suckers." - G.O.P.'s Greatest Felon/Rapist

"This is all your fault, you stupid proles.
You believed me. Ha ha.
How stupid you are. Stupid suckers." - G.O.P.'s Greatest Felon/Rapist

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

4. Allow me to translate "an outdated, mismanaged system."

What Mike Lee means is that there's no rich guy making huge bank from it. That's what privatization has ALWAYS been about. "Corporate efficiency" = ability to extract profit.

[OMGWTF]

24. "Medicare Advantage" plans were GeeDumbya's attempt to privatize Medicare. They are a rip-off.

It's private insurance and they can tell you "NO you do not get to have that operation you need" whereas traditional Medicare supplemental plans cost more but you are covered and can see whichever doc you want.

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

29. My POV is that Medicare should cover everyone for everything.

Think of how much money we could "save" (re-direct into services, actually) if we eliminated the profit extracted by elite stakeholders in the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

[Farmer-Rick]

65. Exactly right

The filthy- rich like Musk want your money. They can't stand the idea that Trillions of dollars are sitting there to hand out to the elderly people who put it there. They so need to take a deep cut of it and put it in their pockets and portfolios.

It's like a gambling addiction. You see that lump of money going to your mortgage and you have to get your hands on it because you know you can win the big one.

[travelingthrulife]

72. Social Security seems very well managed. One of the last functional programs.

Privatizing Medicare has turned it into an annual nightmare and an absolute bingo game for retirees. Will you be covered, will you not be covered.

[kimbutgar]

5. Those young bros who voted for the orange Hitler 2.0 will end up having to care for their parents

If Medicare and social security is eliminated.

[Timeflyer]

10. Many of them rely on their parents to help pay their bills, or keep a roof over their head, or pay for internet connect.

Perhaps Musk will invent a Soylent Green solution to reduce the number of Soc Sec recipients.

[kimbutgar]

21. yikes you know the movie set was set in 2022!

We'll be 3 years off in the orange Hitler 2.0 disaster presidency!

[misanthrope]

59. I somehow think Musk would have no issue with doing just that

I think he is every bit as malevolent and evil as the orange one. And more dangerous than Trump because he has more money and a better brain.

[travelingthrulife]

73. I actually like that soylent green solution. As long as it is a choice.

Sit in a comfy chair, put music on and let the lethal drug do its thing.

[Cosmocat]

6. They 100% are going to come for it

And every R who talked down to me about how that was ridiculous before the election will be parroting the bs Lee posted, along w some senseless babble about how dems are to blame.

[Timeflyer]

7. Senator Lee should come discuss his ideas in FL at the Villages.

[SunSeeker]

8. I hate these assholes. My mom's only income in old age was Social Security.

They have no idea what that is like. And they don't care. They are money hoarders who just want to pay less in taxes.

[Beachnutt]

9. They will take it over time and disguise it

as Democrats taking it.
They'll raise the retirement age first from 67 to 70 for folks born after say 1985 and they will keep hacking away at it until it is gone.
IMO

[rampartd]

13. nope. it will be "ashock and awe"

the social security money will be designated a "sovereign wealth fund" and "invested , probably with kushner's hedge fund, in crypto currency.

thast will jack up the price of whatever crypto is to the point wherethe tech bros can cash out their worthless holdings for bug money.

"conservative doctrine considers social security to be a "ponzi scheme," demonstrating that the rubes don't understand social security or ponzi schemes

[Colorado Liberal]

23. You're more optimistic than I am

I'm 62, and I fully expect the retirement age to go up to 70 before I reach 67 (i.e. during Trump's term)

[Horse with no Name]

30. Same

I’m 61.

[travelingthrulife]

74. They will go after the payroll tax which funds SS. It is easy to get the rubes to

go along with this because it is a tax, thus 'bad'. I think I read somewhere that getting rid of payroll tax would deplete funds in about 6 years. That last part might be faulty memory though.

Trump tried this the last time he was in office.

[Nigrum Cattus]

11. 65,000,000 Americans are on Social Security -

Anyone who tries to take it will regret it very quickly.
Also, you would then greatly increase pessimism of
the younger generations towards employers. The 401K
system already destroyed any employee loyalty to employers.

[rampartd]

14. the chileans who protested cancellation of their p[ensions were loaded onto helicopters.

trump will probably just declare us to be the domestic terrorists and let the proud boys and such deal with us.

the biggest fafo moment for many maga cultists is when the nursing home calls and gives them until noon to pick up their mom or she will be wheeled into the parking lot.

[Dem4life1234]

35. And thank God

Thank God Chile is a different place today, a model of democracy.

That type of barbaric governing doesn't last long.

[rampartd]

38. lasted 75 years in the soviet union

jim crow lasted 80 years

the shaf fled iran 40 years ago, and his reign was less than enlightened.



hell. wkithout medicare i;ll be dead in fairly short order.

[Dave says]

42. Ditto here

[misanthrope]

60. Same here without Medicare

I've known for a while I'm a "useless eater." I've even had people in my community say as much.

[bluestarone]

31. IF they did try to take Social Security, i'm thinking the possible and i say possible ONLY thing that will save it is

A REVOLT like we are witnessing in South Korea!

[NBachers]

12. Maggots on SS&SSI will be in for a rude awakening. Then they'll blame it on us with their dying foul breaths.

[Magoo48]

18. The question always seems to be these days, will we be inconvenienced?

Well, if this shot across my fellow oldsters’ bows doesn’t break the suction between our collective asses and our Lazy Boys, nothing will.

If we don’t stand up for ourselves, who the fuck will?

[AllaN01Bear]

19. when do they realise they cant mess w ss . they arnt intitlments they are paid for benigits

the jerks have been trying to get rid of ss since fdr. they get rid of it . theres hell to pay in the mid terms .

[calimary]

22. And don't forget: Boomers are a HUGE demographic group.

How many?

Just How Many Baby Boomers Are There?


Data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that there are 76.4 million baby boomers.

There were actually a total of 76 million births in the United States from 1946 to 1964, the 19 years usually called the “baby boom.” Of the 76 million baby boomers born, nearly 11 million had died by 2012, leaving some 65.2 million survivors. However, when immigrants are included (the number of people coming into the United States from other countries, minus those moving the other way), the number grows to an estimated 76.4 million because immigrants outweighed the number of baby-boomer deaths. The flow of immigrants greatly increased after passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, just as the baby boom was ending.

https://www.prb.org/resources/just-how-many-baby-boomers-are-there/

[AllaN01Bear]

26. yeppers , as i said in my prior post , theyd be in for it. no:)

[Random Boomer]

53. They ARE entitlements

That's the very definition of an entitlement: benefits that we have paid for and are entitled to receive. Stop feeding the false narrative that "entitlements" are somehow unearned or frivolous expenditures.

Entitlements are not the same as "entitled" people who presume too much. The distinction matters.

[Beck23]

20. Social Securty deductions go into a trust fund.

Congress can't spend these any way they want.

[Mariana]

51. What's to stop them?

The law? They can just make a new law.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

25. Anyone under the age of 50 has been programmed to believe SS will go away.

One of their long term plans is to strip it away by misinforming those who aren't yet collecting.

Devious AND disastrous. Every time the market crashes we relearn why SS is so vital.

[Sneederbunk]

27. When are they going to threaten the military budget?

[Bleacher Creature]

28. FAFO at its finest - unfortunately that means the rest of us also find out.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

32. , it was retweeted by Elon Musk, who has been vested by Trump .....to root out inefficiencies in the government

The same asshole Musk who believes he deserve $56 billion a year.

[Lonestarblue]

33. F they can steal the Social Security funds for themselves, they will.

We are dealing with a group of unhinged people who think that they can take whatever they want.

[DownriverDem]

34. When W tried

to change Social Security, there was so much backlash that it was dropped.

[markodochartaigh]

43. Although Reagan was able

to increase the retirement age, increase the payroll tax, and screw public employees with a pension with the Windfall Provision.

[krkaufman]

37. Trump's lies Re: protecting Social Security

I look forward to seeing the differing coverage Re: Trump’s lies Re: Social Security and other campaign promises and Biden’s legitimate shift Re: Hunter’s pardon.

[Ferryboat]

39. Look at it as an insurance program.

If you were born totally disabled with a bleak future. Social security would pay benefits from day one till end of life.

No-one could buy or afford such insurance.

[Mr.Bee]

40. "a classic bait and switch" and "an outdated, mismanaged system"

that has worked perfectly for 80 years, and every other industrialized country in the world copied for their own societies, until Republicans decided not to raise the rate in order to kill it!
You raise the rates and you keep Social Security solvent for years, decades, centuries!

[JustAnotherGen]

45. Reveals?

It was right in Project 25.

[returnee]

47. More disinformation from repub creeps.

Quelle surprise!

[kwijybo]

48. When all of the old people, with expensive meds, realize they are now doomed

I wouldn't want to be a cop in the front lines when they arm themselves and invade DC.

[dlk]

49. Republicans have been salivating over the Social Security trust fund for decades

It’s about Republicans’ insatiable avarice.

[Abolishinist]

50. The major problem with this 'libertarian' view

is that IF dollars were not deducted from the average person's wages throughout their lifetime for social security, many would have spent vs. invested every one of those dimes. At the age of 65, these same folks would either be broke or have marginal savings at best.

And then, of course, those of us who have empathy toward the 'poor', who instead have saved/invested during their earning years, would be called upon to bail them out.

[badhair77]

52. Kick

[Figarosmom]

54. This means they dont care about re- election

Of every Republican rhat would go along with this.

[C Moon]

63. Remember trump said...

"Get out and vote! Just this time. You won't have to do it anymore! Four more years, you know what? It'll be fixed, it'll be fine, you won't have to vote anymore."

[Figarosmom]

77. Yep

That's how he'll fix the housing shortage. When Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa all move in with their kids and sell their homes.

[moondust]

56. Taxes and laws and regulations and

Social Security and Medicare and all that gubment stuff just interferes with the plutocrats' and wannabe plutocrats' greed and predation. Loony and Swampy will take care of it.

[Karasu]

61. I mean...the very existence of today's GOP is a threat to Social Security.

[C Moon]

62. Why do right-wing idiots hate social security so much? I don't understand!

[soandso]

64. Is there a threadreader link to the whole thread?

I don't have an account but want to read it.

[alarimer]

66. It is OUR fucking money.

So go fuck yourself, Mike Lee.

WE PAID INTO IT for years. It is OURS. Not yours. And not Elon Musk's.

[JohnSJ]

67. and you can almost bet on it that most of the MSM won't be there to push back on that fact.

[GiqueCee]

68. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) is...

... an especially odious sociopath.

"... democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity [sic] are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that.”

– His words. Lee's various defenders and spokespersons must have sprained some muscles and torn some ligaments trying to put a positive spin on that remark.

[augyboston]

69. Social Security benefits have lost around 36% of their purchasing power since 2000

As if this substantial loss of purchasing power isn't bad enough, now we're going to have clowns like Musk and The Jerk trying to gut or eliminate the program?!?

Bottom line is over half of America's elderly will be put into poverty without Social Security and Medicare.

Perhaps the MAGA plan is to deport the immigrants and replace them in the fields with America's seniors!!!

[SayItLoud]

71. Greed of Musk and the GOP ers will do this first:

Reduce SS for those with pensions. Why? Because it's "costing" the companies $$ that could go into the "shareholder's" (their) pockets. This will be the first step in their attack on SS.