Since Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed it into being in 1933 , America ’s Social Security system of rules has been overwhelmingly popular . While religion in other politics program and means has notablywaned over the 10 , Americans ’ opinions about New Deal - era programs has remainedshockingly bouncy . The cause for this seems passably simple : People like retiring , and they fuck that they ca n’t do it without the Union program ’s assistance .
There is really only one demographic that hates Social Security , and that ’s the people in this land who are rich enough to not demand it . For twelvemonth , billionaire - fund rightwing organizations have lobbied to make dangerous cuts to the program , arguing that reductions are necessary for government “ efficiency . ” One of those system , the Heritage Foundation , is the same one that underwrote much of the policy for the first Trump governance and that , via its much - maligned Project 2025 opening , would endeavor to do the same thing for his 2nd term .
Unfortunately , there ’s another mortal who seems to be — at the very least — curious about gutting the popular upbeat programme and that ’s the world ’s ample man , Elon Musk . On Tuesday , Muskplatformed a thread on Xwritten by Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee which seek to barf Social Security as a villainous government plot to rob the American people of their severely - earned money . Lee ’s yarn , which garner 39 million purview , was get by Musk with cautious interest . “ Interesting thread , ” Musk quip .
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This would be less alarming were Musk not also simultaneously guide a so - called Department of Government Efficiency ( DOGE ) , a freshly created government agency that claims to be dedicate to boil down federal bureaucracy and government waste , and that has made known it plans to attack live administration programs that do n’t align with Trump ’s goals . Musk is also , notably , a core member of the Republican constituency — a political party that , in late Day , has stepped up public attacks on the Social Security system , despite previous claim that the GOP would not urge for cutting off to those programs .
Indeed , Senator Lee ’s thread is only the latest of several recent examples of Republican congressmen taking object at the long - cherished program . In a late interview on Fox News , Republican House memberRich McCormick , of Georgia , likewise said that “ some toilsome decisions ” want to be made when it comes to Social Security and Medicare and that there are “ hundreds of billions of dollars to be write ” if America has the “ stomach ” for such cuts .
To be clear , Lee ’s train of thought is devoid of circumstance or utile information and seems mostly design to trick hoi polloi who otherwise do n’t love how the Union government forge into believing that the Social Security programme is rip them off . In his screed , Lee pertain to the program as a “ Ponzi outline ” and claim that the government activity “ routinely raid ” the fund for its own benefit . “ Do the mathematics : with Social Security , you ’re looking at a yield that ’s pathetic compared to securities industry averages . It ’s not even an investment funds ; it ’s a tax . ”
Lee ’s system of logic is pretty eldritch . By his definition , all government programs are “ Ponzi schemes . ” However , most uses of taxpayer funds seem toothsome to Lee . For instance , he apparentlydoesn’t have a problemwith the government using billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money to , say , free fall bombs on people in Gaza . He also does n’t seem to manage about thebillions of dollarsthat are on a regular basis funnel from the American taxpayer to subsidize plutocrat like Musk ( SpaceX alone is said to have garneredas much as $ 20 billion in subsidies since 2008 ) . No , no — plain , the taxpayer - fund system that needs reforms is the form that has a foresightful track record ofhelping tens of millions of Americansretire each year .
“ There is nothing deceptive about Social Security . The societal insurance program has been working just hunky-dory for about 90 years and has never miss a defrayal , ” Richtman said , via astatement shared on X. “ The kind of propaganda Sen. Lee carry undermines public support for Social Security , making it easier to cut or privatise the program . It is perhaps no co-occurrence that Sen. Lee ’s second - expectant campaign contributor by industry is the surety and investiture sphere . ”
Richtman get on : “ The Senator ’s Wall Street backer would hump to get their manus on proletarian ’ Social Security contributions to risk them on the market . This kind of Republican plan of attack on Social Security conflicts with President Trump ’s promise not to tamper with Americans ’ make benefits . It signals where Trump ’s MAGA ally in Congress are heading — toward privatization and welfare cuts , something the legal age of Americans across party lines say they do not desire . ”
DOGEElon Musk
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