Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
"This isn't just bad policy. It's sabotage. It's deliberate. It's unforgivable."
Found on FB...
Fear and Loathing: Closer to the Edge
Donald Trump is lying about Social Security. Elon Musk is sabotaging it. Together, they’ve created a slow-motion theft disguised as reform — a deliberate, calculated effort to break America’s most important safety net and blame the victims when it fails.
This isn’t just reckless governance. It’s cruelty wrapped in a spreadsheet — a war on America’s elderly, waged by a billionaire with a god complex and a president too lazy to learn the facts.
THE LIE THAT STARTED IT ALL
In his recent speech to Congress, Trump stood before the nation and claimed that millions of “dead” people were still in the Social Security system, draining taxpayer dollars with fraudulent checks. He said there were 4.7 million people aged 100 to 109 still on the rolls. He claimed 3.6 million people over the age of 110 were receiving benefits. By the time he suggested nearly 3.5 million people aged 140 to 149 were cashing Social Security checks, it sounded less like a speech and more like a fevered rant from a man who still believes windmills cause cancer.
The numbers weren’t just wrong — they were laughably impossible. The SSA’s own data shows that only about 44,000 records with unverifiable birthdates are still linked to active benefits. The agency has long had automated systems in place that suspend payments for anyone listed as 115 or older unless they actively prove they’re alive. Trump’s wild claims about centenarians on the take weren’t just exaggerated — they were fantasy.
But the truth didn’t matter. Trump’s lie wasn’t meant to inform. It was meant to create panic — to convince Americans that Social Security is a bloated, broken program riddled with fraud. Once that lie took root, the rest of his plan could unfold.
THE SABOTAGE STRATEGY: BREAK IT FROM THE INSIDE
Instead of openly cutting Social Security — a move that would spark public outrage — Trump and Musk are poisoning the system from within. They’re not slashing benefits; they’re engineering a bureaucratic hellscape designed to exhaust, confuse, and frustrate people out of claiming what they’ve earned.
The Social Security Administration is in the process of closing 47 field offices across the country. While not all have shuttered yet, several locations are already gone, and more closures are planned in the coming months. At the same time, the SSA is bleeding staff, with 7,000 employees cut from its workforce — the largest reduction in years. These closures and cuts are choking off access to in-person services when seniors need them most.
Meanwhile, the administration has introduced a new rule requiring seniors to verify their identities in person if they can’t use the SSA’s glitchy online system. For those in rural areas, this means driving hours to reach a field office — assuming they can even find one that’s still open. And when they arrive, they’re often met with overwhelmed staff and hours-long waits.
For many seniors, this new system is impossible to navigate. The online portal is a minefield for those unfamiliar with technology. The remaining offices are overloaded and chaotic. Seniors with mobility issues, vision problems, or cognitive decline are being pushed into a bureaucratic maze designed to wear them down.
The game is obvious. Trump’s administration isn’t fixing Social Security — they’re turning it into a series of locked doors and dead ends. The plan is to frustrate people into giving up. The more seniors they force off the rolls, the more Trump and Musk can pretend they’ve “fixed” the system.
WHO GETS HURT?
The victims are the people who can least afford to lose a dime — the elderly, the disabled, and those living in isolated areas where Social Security offices are disappearing. For these people, a delayed check isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s the difference between eating or going hungry. It’s missing medication. It’s losing your home.
Picture a retired veteran in West Virginia driving two hours down winding mountain roads just to find his local SSA office shuttered. Picture an 88-year-old widow in rural Texas standing in line for six hours only to be told, “Come back tomorrow.” Picture seniors with no access to the internet being told they must navigate a glitch-ridden online portal or risk losing their only source of income.
MUSK’S OBSESSION WITH KILLING SOCIAL SECURITY
Elon Musk’s fingerprints are all over this mess. As head of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has spent months openly attacking Social Security, calling it a “Ponzi scheme” and a “failed experiment.” Instead of strengthening the program, Musk has worked to dismantle it piece by piece.
He’s slashed staffing levels to ensure field offices are overwhelmed. He’s pushed for tighter deadlines that punish seniors who miss appointments. And he’s expanded the SSA’s reliance on an online system that’s notoriously unreliable — particularly for older Americans unfamiliar with technology.
Musk’s goal isn’t reform — it’s attrition. He’s betting that if the system is frustrating enough, vulnerable people will stop trying. The fewer seniors who manage to navigate this bureaucratic minefield, the more Musk and Trump can pretend they’ve “saved” Social Security dollars.
It’s not just sabotage — it’s theft.
TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES
While Musk tears Social Security apart from the inside, Trump has betrayed the very voters he claimed to protect. During his campaign, Trump promised to end taxes on Social Security benefits — a flashy pledge designed to win over retirees. That promise never materialized. No legislation was introduced. No serious effort was made. Instead, Trump’s administration has doubled down on sabotaging the system in ways that hurt the people who rely on it most.
Seniors aren’t getting a tax break. They’re getting a gauntlet of obstacles designed to starve them out. And when those seniors fall behind on their bills — when they can’t pay rent, can’t buy groceries, or lose access to medication — Musk and Trump will shrug and blame “fraud.”
THE REAL FRAUD
There is no crisis of fraudulent payments. There are no millions of ghost seniors siphoning money from the system. The only fraud here is Trump’s lie — a calculated deception designed to justify ripping Social Security apart.
This is cruelty disguised as reform. This is theft disguised as efficiency. This is Trump and Musk working hand-in-hand to cheat America’s elderly out of the security they earned. They aren’t fixing Social Security — they’re rigging the game so fewer people win.
And if they get away with this, the consequences will be catastrophic. Seniors will go broke. Entire families will be pushed into poverty — all so Trump and Musk can pat themselves on the back for “saving taxpayer dollars.”
This isn’t just bad policy. It’s sabotage. It’s deliberate. It’s unforgivable.
And no one should let them get away with it.
This isn’t just reckless governance. It’s cruelty wrapped in a spreadsheet — a war on America’s elderly, waged by a billionaire with a god complex and a president too lazy to learn the facts.
THE LIE THAT STARTED IT ALL
In his recent speech to Congress, Trump stood before the nation and claimed that millions of “dead” people were still in the Social Security system, draining taxpayer dollars with fraudulent checks. He said there were 4.7 million people aged 100 to 109 still on the rolls. He claimed 3.6 million people over the age of 110 were receiving benefits. By the time he suggested nearly 3.5 million people aged 140 to 149 were cashing Social Security checks, it sounded less like a speech and more like a fevered rant from a man who still believes windmills cause cancer.
The numbers weren’t just wrong — they were laughably impossible. The SSA’s own data shows that only about 44,000 records with unverifiable birthdates are still linked to active benefits. The agency has long had automated systems in place that suspend payments for anyone listed as 115 or older unless they actively prove they’re alive. Trump’s wild claims about centenarians on the take weren’t just exaggerated — they were fantasy.
But the truth didn’t matter. Trump’s lie wasn’t meant to inform. It was meant to create panic — to convince Americans that Social Security is a bloated, broken program riddled with fraud. Once that lie took root, the rest of his plan could unfold.
THE SABOTAGE STRATEGY: BREAK IT FROM THE INSIDE
Instead of openly cutting Social Security — a move that would spark public outrage — Trump and Musk are poisoning the system from within. They’re not slashing benefits; they’re engineering a bureaucratic hellscape designed to exhaust, confuse, and frustrate people out of claiming what they’ve earned.
The Social Security Administration is in the process of closing 47 field offices across the country. While not all have shuttered yet, several locations are already gone, and more closures are planned in the coming months. At the same time, the SSA is bleeding staff, with 7,000 employees cut from its workforce — the largest reduction in years. These closures and cuts are choking off access to in-person services when seniors need them most.
Meanwhile, the administration has introduced a new rule requiring seniors to verify their identities in person if they can’t use the SSA’s glitchy online system. For those in rural areas, this means driving hours to reach a field office — assuming they can even find one that’s still open. And when they arrive, they’re often met with overwhelmed staff and hours-long waits.
For many seniors, this new system is impossible to navigate. The online portal is a minefield for those unfamiliar with technology. The remaining offices are overloaded and chaotic. Seniors with mobility issues, vision problems, or cognitive decline are being pushed into a bureaucratic maze designed to wear them down.
The game is obvious. Trump’s administration isn’t fixing Social Security — they’re turning it into a series of locked doors and dead ends. The plan is to frustrate people into giving up. The more seniors they force off the rolls, the more Trump and Musk can pretend they’ve “fixed” the system.
WHO GETS HURT?
The victims are the people who can least afford to lose a dime — the elderly, the disabled, and those living in isolated areas where Social Security offices are disappearing. For these people, a delayed check isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s the difference between eating or going hungry. It’s missing medication. It’s losing your home.
Picture a retired veteran in West Virginia driving two hours down winding mountain roads just to find his local SSA office shuttered. Picture an 88-year-old widow in rural Texas standing in line for six hours only to be told, “Come back tomorrow.” Picture seniors with no access to the internet being told they must navigate a glitch-ridden online portal or risk losing their only source of income.
MUSK’S OBSESSION WITH KILLING SOCIAL SECURITY
Elon Musk’s fingerprints are all over this mess. As head of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has spent months openly attacking Social Security, calling it a “Ponzi scheme” and a “failed experiment.” Instead of strengthening the program, Musk has worked to dismantle it piece by piece.
He’s slashed staffing levels to ensure field offices are overwhelmed. He’s pushed for tighter deadlines that punish seniors who miss appointments. And he’s expanded the SSA’s reliance on an online system that’s notoriously unreliable — particularly for older Americans unfamiliar with technology.
Musk’s goal isn’t reform — it’s attrition. He’s betting that if the system is frustrating enough, vulnerable people will stop trying. The fewer seniors who manage to navigate this bureaucratic minefield, the more Musk and Trump can pretend they’ve “saved” Social Security dollars.
It’s not just sabotage — it’s theft.
TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES
While Musk tears Social Security apart from the inside, Trump has betrayed the very voters he claimed to protect. During his campaign, Trump promised to end taxes on Social Security benefits — a flashy pledge designed to win over retirees. That promise never materialized. No legislation was introduced. No serious effort was made. Instead, Trump’s administration has doubled down on sabotaging the system in ways that hurt the people who rely on it most.
Seniors aren’t getting a tax break. They’re getting a gauntlet of obstacles designed to starve them out. And when those seniors fall behind on their bills — when they can’t pay rent, can’t buy groceries, or lose access to medication — Musk and Trump will shrug and blame “fraud.”
THE REAL FRAUD
There is no crisis of fraudulent payments. There are no millions of ghost seniors siphoning money from the system. The only fraud here is Trump’s lie — a calculated deception designed to justify ripping Social Security apart.
This is cruelty disguised as reform. This is theft disguised as efficiency. This is Trump and Musk working hand-in-hand to cheat America’s elderly out of the security they earned. They aren’t fixing Social Security — they’re rigging the game so fewer people win.
And if they get away with this, the consequences will be catastrophic. Seniors will go broke. Entire families will be pushed into poverty — all so Trump and Musk can pat themselves on the back for “saving taxpayer dollars.”
This isn’t just bad policy. It’s sabotage. It’s deliberate. It’s unforgivable.
And no one should let them get away with it.
48 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
"Gimmee, gimmee, gimmee." - G.O.P. ClawBackers
who the fuck wrote it. It is a brilliant and truthful synopsis
