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Trump Dictatorship and All Things Politics

Sardines said:
I hope for your sake Karma is not real.
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That is kind of you to say, but even if there is karma or if there is a hell, I'm not worried. The only way I'm hosed is if there is a petty god who demands a lifetime of worship, and if it is that, at least I won't be lonely.
 

Elon Musk and the Trump administration are pitching cuts in one of the most politically dangerous arenas in America — the Social Security Administration.

Musk has cast the idea as one that’s primarily about immigration, falsely claiming that undocumented immigrants are fraudulently accessing hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of entitlements, including Social Security, Medicaid and disability programs, as part of a Democratic scheme for votes.

“By using entitlements fraud, the Democrats have been able to attract and retain vast numbers of illegal immigrants,” Musk, the billionaire tech CEO behind the Department of Government Efficiency, said Monday on Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast, without evidence. “And buy voters. Basically bring in 10, 20 million people who are beholden to the Democrats for government handouts and will vote overwhelmingly Democrat, as has been demonstrated in California.” (must be why Harris won the election. Oh wait...)

It’s an argument Musk has been making repeatedly in recent weeks, as DOGE and the Trump administration announce and push for more cuts to the SSA, including eliminating thousands of employees from the already lean agency, ending the ability to make claims by phone and shuttering dozens of field offices that help seniors access their benefits.

Social Security sends retired people checks every month based on their incomes as working people, and it also sends checks to disabled people. Medicaid insures low-income people, while Medicare provides health insurance for people older than 65. Broadly, immigrants without legal status don’t qualify for federal dollars through the programs. Some states do fund health care for undocumented immigrants like pregnant women, and Medicaid will reimburse hospitals for emergency health care provided to low-income, undocumented immigrants, as hospitals aren’t allowed to turn away people seeking emergency care. That amounts to less than 1% of Medicaid’s annual spending.

Social Security cuts have been a major focus of tense town halls for Republican lawmakers, with constituents expressing fear that cuts at the SSA could make it harder for them to access their benefits.


According to a May report from the Office of the Inspector General, people were already experiencing prolonged wait times working with the SSA. The report noted that in-office appointments could be completely booked up for more than 40 days in the future and that it could take months for promised services to be delivered. The report said 65% of Social Security beneficiaries were unaware that there were online services for the agency.

But even with constituents struggling to interface with the SSA, Musk has portrayed pushback to his changes as politically motivated.

Musk’s argument crucially cast significant cuts to Social Security as a critical part of Trump’s agenda cracking down on illegal immigration, his most popular major issue, according to recent polling by NBC News. It’s also fundamentally inaccurate, experts and former executives told NBC News, warning that cuts made in the name of fraud will hurt eligible recipients of government benefits.

“When you look at the numbers, it’s actually the opposite: Undocumented immigrants cannot get SSI or Social Security benefits, but in fact, the undocumented immigrants contribute a lot to the Social Security system,” said Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
In 2022, immigrants working in the United States without legal authorization paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes and $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, according to a recent analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It’s one of the things bolstering the program despite challenging demographics as the baby boomers retire with fewer younger, working people paying into the program at the same time.
But Musk, who has called it “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” has expressed interest at least once in the idea of privatizing Social Security.
Trump voiced support for privatizing Social Security back in 2004.

Musk’s latest statements haven’t included a mention of privatization, focusing instead on the idea that there’s widespread fraud or abuse by undocumented immigrants in the system — an allegation for which he hasn’t offered evidence and that experts say is inaccurate.

Fraud exists within every government program, but a former executive at the SSA with knowledge of the agency’s anti-fraud program said overseas criminal rings’ stealing eligible people’s benefits and people’s faking disability or not reporting relatives’ deaths are the most common types of Social Security fraud, not fraud involving undocumented immigrants.

Drawing on Social Security requires people to verify their eligibility and work histories, effectively preventing immigrants without legal status from drawing benefits.

Musk’s claim of a pipeline of undocumented immigrants to Democratic voters is also inaccurate. He is wrong to say undocumented immigrants are voting in statewide elections. Washington, D.C., and some municipalities in three states allow immigrants with legal status to vote in local elections, but it’s illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and no state allows noncitizens to vote in its elections, either.
 
The Trump administration and Elon Musk’s push to gut the Social Security Administration under the guise of eliminating fraud is a classic example of using manufactured crises to justify authoritarian economic policies.

Historically, fascist regimes have relied on scapegoating marginalized groups, blaming immigrants, minorities, or political opponents for economic woes, to dismantle social safety nets and consolidate control over public institutions.

Musk’s baseless claims that undocumented immigrants are defrauding entitlements mirror the propaganda tactics used by leaders like Hitler and Mussolini, who framed economic instability as the result of "undesirable" populations.

These cuts are not about stopping fraud; they are an assault on the working class and elderly, designed to weaken public trust in government programs and lay the groundwork for privatization, an effort that would funnel trillions into the hands of the wealthy elite.

The parallels to historical fascist economic policies are clear: stoke division, gut public resources, and centralize power. This is no longer just politics; it is a fascist takeover, and the time to resist is now.
 
fishonjazz said:
Historically, fascist regimes have relied on scapegoating marginalized groups, blaming immigrants, minorities, or political opponents for economic woes, to dismantle social safety nets and consolidate control over public institutions.
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Um wut? Fascist regimes NEVER dismantle social safety nets. Ever. Fascists implement social safety nets. That is a hallmark of fascism and pretty much all of socialism throughout history.

Apart from never happening in history, your claim doesn't even make sense on a logical level. A social safety net is part of the government. It is a public institution. You think fascists dismantle the public institution to consolidate control over the public institution that is now dismantled? How do you put those pieces together?
 
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enchilada_style said:
If I remember right, the Biden administration did not ignore the ruling but they did appeal it. Trumps people said to ignore the court ruling to not send people to El Salvador and of course Trump did in fact ignore the court ruling. See the difference?
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I see that the point went right over your head. AOC is the new face of the democratic party and she told Biden to ignore the courts. More liberal hypocrisy.
 
We'll have none of that conservative stuff on jazzfanz!! Long live the liberals and Trump haters.
 
Sardines said:
Thing is, I'm open to arguments in favor of closing down the DOE, but none have been made. All this stuff is happening and no discussion is involved. What are the pros and cons of shutting down the DOE, because their obviously has to be both, pros and cons.

Can we have a discussion? Can a thoughtful reason be presented?
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Fair enough. DOE was created by Congress and shutting it down should also go through Congress which would require some discussion.
 
Sardines said:
Thing is, I'm open to arguments in favor of closing down the DOE, but none have been made. All this stuff is happening and no discussion is involved. What are the pros and cons of shutting down the DOE, because their obviously has to be both, pros and cons.

Can we have a discussion? Can a thoughtful reason be presented?
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Silly liberal.

Discussion? Lol

Kill the DOE. That way we make the libs cry, states can divert the monies to charters and private schools with connections to Christian nationalists, and we won’t have to educate any DEI students or enforce policies that we don’t like (like equality for women or civil rights for DEIs and SPEDs).

Discussion? Lol

How quaint.
 
enchilada_style said:
Fair enough. DOE was created by Congress and shutting it down should also go through Congress which would require some discussion.
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But discussion might lead to voters yelling at us in town halls. That’s not good.

But we can’t stand up against what Trump or president Elon are doing, because they’ll primary us with their influence and money. It’s much easier to just stay quiet, do hits on Fox News, and let Elon do all our dirty work for us.

As long as we bow down to Trump and president Elon, we’ll avoid primaries. And as long as we avoid town halls, we avoid our own voters. Besides, American voters are too stupid to remember anything past a week. So we just gotta endure the next lil bit. Then we can blame problems on some DEI or gay.
 
The Thriller said:
Silly liberal.

Discussion? Lol

Kill the DOE. That way we make the libs cry, states can divert the monies to charters and private schools with connections to Christian nationalists, and we won’t have to educate any DEI students or enforce policies that we don’t like (like equality for women or civil rights for DEIs and SPEDs).

Discussion? Lol

How quaint.
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This really does feel like a Christian thing, like public schools don't push Christianity hard enough so public school needs to go because church attendance is down.

I don't think all this is going to go where Christian Nationalists are hoping it will go.
 
Sardines said:
This really does feel like a Christian thing, like public schools don't push Christianity hard enough so public school needs to go because church attendance is down.

I don't think all this is going to go where Christian Nationalists are hoping it will go.
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For those of us who’ve followed politics, especially in the post tea party era, this has been at the top of their list, much like abortion. Republicans have hated the DOE for decades because it enforced policies that helped DEIs and girls. And just like abortion, returning enforcement of policies and funding to “the states” is merely code for red states ****ing over minorities and women while enriching their friends. In education, that means enriching Christian nationalist schools.
 
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