I love the way you phrased your challenge to him. He won’t let you anywhere near the White House, and it will prove your point. Then we will continue to spread your message and build the network to the point where he won’t HAVE to let you in!! Keep up the amazing work!!
I wanna hear why Musk is sleeping (literally) in the White House.
More importantly ask about charitable deductions to save the SSA retirement Trust Fund.
The default of Trust Funds is supposed to apex in 2033 due to the increase of birth rates of baby boomers. After 2033, birth rates of later generations flatten and the funds can be solvent.
Social Security is the greatest anti-poverty program in US history. Social Security protects workers, widow(er)s, orphanabouts and disabled people and is a major investment for many of us. Donations can flatten the default curve, extending the apex.
It is because Mrs. Trump is not sleeping in the same bed as Donald. Is Elon really sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom, or should we say where is Donald sleeping?
I don’t think Melonia is even in the same building as Trump. They have separate suites as before. She said she’s going to float between New York and Mar-A-Lago, FL. She’ll be at the White House for state dinners, holidays, and special occasions. She won’t be there to hold his hand so she ain’t going to sleep in the same bed. Lol 💙
There seem to be similar folks on both RRs substack and this one I am gladdened. I am also supportive of the PE union. Just because folks with college degrees are better paid than thosw without does NOT mean they are overpaid. (Disclosure my father was a PE and engineering teacher union member and mom was a union teacher) Fight for a just wage!
BTW, I "fired" RR, who misses the forest for the trees. We need a big tent.
I'm hoping that recent Trump overreach can get some affected members of Congress to flip. How can any Black Republican put up with obvious race discrimination? How can any Hispanic Republican put up with disrimination against Hispanics?
Agreed using some of the critical thinking that I learned from RRs videos I do not see the Democrats with the unity that they sometimes protray in votes they cant win anyway. Trying to appeal to Democrat leadership in general still favors its wealthy donors over its contituents. A group that has ignored Robert Reich for decades. Id say there are only about 40% of dem senators that will vote for their constituents over big money (less than a 1/3rd of the senate in overall numbers). On the voter side of things its easy to see that Dem voters lost 11 million and independents gained 11 million. Republicans lost 3.5 million so win? The thing to see is disgust with both parties. Ignoring a 1/3 of the voters (independents will lead to another defeat). I believe the republicans are ripe for more churn. Just like the Dems were disgusted with their decreasing income/wealth (For the bottom 50% which was stagnant for some negative for the other half, dont piss off 160 million people!) during the Biden term, the republicans who think they are going to see growth in the next 4 years will be sorely mistaken and angered. It cant be about culture war issues, that didnt work. Kill the current admin on the economy. Just like they did against Biden.
I love Robert Reich He saw the income disparity early. There are clips from the 90’s and n which he predicted what would happen today. His online u tube course covers the topic in detail.
Yeap I reviewed those courses. I especially like the income inequality graph he had once that showed the flat lining of the incomes of the bottom 60%. Those courses also talked about how towns discriminate against the poor with high taxes. Where living in the town is like paying for private school. The modern approved form of segregation. Real eye opening.
Those same black and Hispanic republicans voted for him Did they think they were special blacks and Hispanics so they wouldn’t be scathed by him and the 2025 republicans? Reality bites assholes! You were good with hurting the “not special like you” minorities! Surprise they don’t have categories like that
Well said. But, SSA can also be supported by removing the wage cap on contributions. There's no reason that high-income wage earners maxed out prior to year end and have months of no contributions into Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
My husband and I are both disabled. They flipped him to regular SS when he turned 65.
That's our only source of income and we are seriously medically needy! We are QMB. Without that we would have a good chunk of our payments reduced to pay part B premium's.
I picked up a couple of prescriptions. One was $53.00. I told them to put it back, I'll use something else.
It's the infusion's that costs the most $7,000 a month and FOTUS wants to raise the price of drugs!
Perhaps the birth rate will plummet as most women have no trust they can access medically necessary healthcare because of the lying, corrupt “supreme” court and the lying, corrupt and heartless administration sycophants. If birth control is also restricted, the only children born in America will be the product of rape. Good luck with those population shifts, Drumpf lovers!
It's the population of wage earners. We knew that in the 1980s when the fix was made. In 1986 we thought that immigration was fixed. I think the numbers reflected a history of sending people to die in wars and a failure to discover how new technology and medical research would extend life expectancies.
BTW a lot of immigrants pay into the system but never collect, which benefits the trust fund.
The "privatizers" still demand control of the trust fund. Republicans have a bill to take most of it and invest it...in themselves. At one time, they wanted to give the funds to the savings and loan industry. GWB thought he had a mandate to put in in the stock market, but Dems put a stop to it.
My father was a regional manager in Phila PA way back in the 60’s. He had been there 20 years before that. I know he would role in his grave if he knew there were plans to cut the program.
I will have just a small income from pension and I work part time to enable me to afford meds and my gap ins for medical because Medicare only pays 80%
I am scared to death
I could probably sell my house if the economy doesn’t crash
Can we keep money in a bank account or will that crash and we will lose it?
My part time job will go away because it’s retail
I know IT but where will that take me ?
Great with Quickbooks maybe try to implement into small business?
I’ll probably die because I won’t be able to afford meds for heart disease
Rebecca, I too have the same fears, but we can not let the fear take hold. Plan as best as you can but please don't do anything out of fear. I depend on the God above and He hasn't failed me yet. Trump wants us to be afraid. It gives him power. I refuse to let him bully me into fear. Many Americans are in the same situation depending on Social Security and Medicare.
I have fear also. My husband's income is Military retirement, Social Security and VA 100% disability. My income is civilian Service retirement. If all of that is diminished or goes away, we'll starve. If Medicare and Tricare is reduced we won't be able to afford our medications. My daughter's job depends on the Department of Education. I feel anger, then I feel like crying, but I always hate those who voted for this mess.
The military supported GOP candidate - they were lied to. They thought they were promoting a stronger military, but they were wrong. That Orange man with foot spurs doesn't have any appreciation for the military, even though they voted for him in overwhelming numbers. He will gut them, he will forfeit Taiwan to a Chinese take-over, and he will get patriots like Gen Miley killed.
They believe that their money gives them privilege, so if they have more money than you, they ought to have more privilege than you as well. I would suggest reminding yourself what your grammar school definition of "Feudalism" was & in that context, what "vassals" & "serfs" were. That's what they want US to be.
Not a time to panic…there’s minimal evidence beyond a drumpf/Musk “effort “ . ( Musk is world’s richest man) who’s making himself the unelected prez…there are more of us than they have on their side of this issue, and not a time to panic.
You and I are twins from another Mother! I am a heart failure patient since 2022. Have 1/3 working hard, work PT retail from home as I care for my husband in home hospice from Dementia. I will lose SS, his SS and my job most likely and my home of 35 years.
I don't think they will completely cut it unless you are on SSI.
This used to be my subject. For starters, the Republicans long have asked to "sunset" all benefits. That "all" includes stuff like Medicare, VA, Black Lung, food stamps, etc , The Republicans are in denial that SS is not part of the budget. You have to understand SS is NOT a retirement program although there is a retirement trust fund that will "default" in 2033 according to the trustees. Every wage earner who is fully and currently insured also has disability coverage that is on average worth about $ 1 MM. If the programs were sunsetted, they'd have to be renewed on an annual basis, and given politics, would die .
Trump sad he will not do "anythng". By doing that, the default date is still pending.
In a 2000 book he co-wrote called “The America We Deserve,” Trump called Social Security a “huge Ponzi scheme” that American workers are forced to pay into. He added that for future retirees under 40 at the time, “we can also raise the age for receipt of full Social Security benefits to seventy,” because “we’re living longer.”
In December 2004, just before a Republican push to partially privatize the program, Trump was asked on MSNBC’s “Hardball” whether he’d support individual retirement accounts and answered: “I sort of think I would. Something has to be done. Social Security is a huge problem right now, funding it.”
In 2012, Trump praised proposals by Ryan, then the Republican vice presidential nominee, to convert Medicare into a “premium support” system that would cap spending for future retirees and give them vouchers to buy insurance plans.
“I think Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney will save Medicare. I know they will. And people are starting to understand it. They’re going to be very happy with what’s going on, but they’re going to be very, very unhappy if Obama gets in,” Trump told Fox News at the time, reflecting on the 2012 presidential race. “I think actually if Obama gets in and if Obamacare isn’t ended, I really think Medicare will be a thing of the past.” (President Barack Obama ran against the Ryan plan and won re-election; seven years after he left office, Obamacare and Medicare still exist.)
By 2015, when Trump ran for president, he sought to position himself in the Republican field as the rare candidate who wouldn’t cut those programs. “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican, and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid,” he said as he was launching his campaign.
By 2020, it was clear Trump was trying to break the system. He offered a "payroll tax cut" designed to result in significant revenue losses for Social Security, but also to eliminate employee payroll taxes for good. That would kill both the retirement and disability programs.
Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget endorsed Social Security cuts to the tune of billions of dollars for disabled seniors. His budget would have made changes to Social Security Disability Insurance, slashing the maximum amount of retroactive benefits for disabled workers from 12 months to six. According to the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, that could lead to a $7,500 average cut for a worker injured in a car crash. The budget also called for reducing Supplemental Security Income benefits for those who live with other SSI recipients.
Trump wanted to kill the child's portion of SSI, which comes from the general funds, i.e. the budget. As president, Trump tried and failed to cut benefits drastically. Some Republicans wanted to replace the entire system. See. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Trump, House Republican Cuts to SSI Would Harm Children With Disabilities, Sept. 18, 2017, Kathleen Romig and Guillermo Herrera. https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/trump-house-republican-cuts-to-ssi-would-harm-children-with-disabilities
“The Trump proposal would cut SSI by more than $8 billion over the next decade, shrinking benefits for roughly a quarter of a million children with disabilities by between 38 and 66 percent. It would also increase SSI’s administrative costs and improper payments”.
The next year, they asked CBO to score a program "Eliminate Supplemental Security Income Benefits for Disabled Children." https://www.cbo.gov/budget-options/54742 (2018)
Background
The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides cash assistance to people who are disabled, aged, or both and who have low income and few assets. In 2018, 15 percent of SSI recipients, or 1.2 million people, are projected to be disabled children under age 18, receiving an average monthly benefit of $686. To receive benefits, those children must have marked, severe functional limitations and usually must live in a household with low income and few assets.
I don't have a problem with raising the early retirement age. They could change it to 65 and it would help. what won't work is changing it to a private IRA each person opens. the vast majority of people, unless money is automatically deducted from their pay, won't contribute. The vast majority of Americans don't have a clue how to manage money and will mismanage it and lose money.
We already know what the solution is, and that is to remove the cap on the amount of earned income where FICA is no longer deducted. In other words, we need a system where every dollar of earned income is subject to FICA. (might need to revise some laws as to what constitutes earned income or Trump and his buddies will designate everything they earn as something other than earned income) Just think how much Elon Musk would contribute to SS then. Unfortunately, the republicans won't do that for that very reason. They don't want their rich friends to contribute to anything that benefits someone other than themselves.
Without a revolution, raising the cap will never make it through Congress.
I've been at this a long time. 3 commissioners from both parties thanked me for advocating the charity issue, but SSA has never publicized it. Most of the big donors use foundations as an identify vehicle, and although they get a dollar for dollar deduction, are ignorant about it or don't give a shit if the trust fund defaults.
Musk, standing alone, could extend the apex if he donated to save the fund.
Once the baby boomers die off, based on probabilities the population of beneficiaries returns to normal and FICA taxes should cover.
BTW I feel the same about Medicare. If the base is expanded, Part B premiums could drop. If the "collateral source rule" were eliminated, the cost of almost all insurance would drop like rocks.
MUSC would never give money to the government. He takes it and wants to cut programs so he can get even more. The biggest conflict of interest in history. But know one in DC seems to know what ethics are.
The problem with this is IRA’s are stock market buy in. So if the market crashes people have nothing. It’s another way to fleece the people if that’s the only retirement they have
Having an IRA is a good thing to do but it should never be the entire source of retirement income for the reason you state. About half my retirement income comes from SS and half from my IRA and taxable investments. without SS i might not have enough money to last the rest of my life.
Expect a really bad income tax year in for 2025. Trump will gut the IRS, cut funding, and fire employees. He will ruin the IRS and they in turn will tax the middle class to death and spare the Billionaires.
I sincerely hope that Trump won’t put his filthy hands on Social Security. I’m sure he’d be stopped legally & many lawsuits would be filed. Also, I don’t think the legislature would let that happen. Let’s be brave America. 💙
Where did you hear that people had their bank accounts drained?? I don't see how that could have been done unless they direct deposited some money and then pulled it back out right away. Do you have any links to that info?
Hang on - the "SwamP" is actually made up of very loyal Americans who won't be intimidated or fooled. The may not be the best or brightest workers, but they are good people. America survived 4 years of this racist mad-man and we will do it again. Hopefully, not for 4 years this time.
I have worked with USPS and SS and Medicare offices and they are not going to abandon American citizens. They are the RESISTANCE. And, the MILITARY will be too.
Ask him to a game of golf interview, putt putt should get the interview. Ask him why he is starving people? Ask him why he thinks he is better than everyone else. Ask him how he wants his grandchildren to remember him?
Dud Donold is scared of Mighty Meidas! You don’t want to go near any government office right now because anti-vaxxer MAGAts are spreading COVID. The science deniers infected me last week, please remember to stay up to date on your boosters: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/maga-fascists-gave-me-covid
Even if you get in, I doubt you'll be allowed to ask a question. Sad.
Doing what I can to inform my Republican US Representative of what nonsense we see Congress supporting. The House margins are thin. And Donald doesn't like Minnesota anyway, so hoping to swing a vote!
I can’t listen to him. Interviewing him is fruitless. I would much rather MEIDAS sent the same request to every one of our representatives in Congress. I want to hear why they are not screaming from the White House rooftops. While you are at it, maybe ask why Musk is running the White House.
Agreed! We need plain talking, outraged, and loud voices! The people voted. They don’t want the mainstream politician. They want someone with fire, guts, someone commanding. They just happened to have voted for someone who also has no moral convictions, no integrity, not a slither of humanity because he only cares about gaining power and wealth for himself.
I totally agree with you! I'd like to know why Congress isn't doing anything and why Musk seems to be running the white house AND getting into things like the Federal Reserve and telling them what they should be doing. I'd like to know why Congress isn't doing anything about this new "branch" of the govt that Trump want Musk and Rameshwamy run.. the office of over spending.. something like that. Some oversight of overspending ROFL.. like their even know. (Shaking my head).I didn't need to go in. You so know what I'm taking about... Medias, you should ask about that! Where the h*lol is Congress?
This! The shock and awe blitz is something we were sort of prepared for, but Congress is up to some shady shit while everyone is distracted. Why haven't there been any stories about House Resolution 7? Attacking women's healthcare with such a broad stroke should concern everyone.
Can you speak to the individual from the Treasury who Musk just squeezed into resigning. The Treasury person was responsible for the oversight of $6 Trillion in payments and Musk wanted access to the info.......
Yes! What is Musk doing with our personal information? Is this a hunt for "illegals"? Ask Trump what he thinks about the a corporation gathering information about a country's people so the leader has the data for genocide. Did he read "IBM and the Holocaust"? He likes reading about Hitler
Yes, what is Musk doing and why is he allowed to do it. Who is firing all the FBI agents, even the field head agents in major cities around the country. What is happening, folks, reads like a coup to me....with Musk and the oligarchs involved "bigly."
This is really important, everyone should read it. There are already people who’ve been infected with Avian flu and it can easily develop and spread to humans…. This has already killed huge numbers of birds and animals around the world. Every Government in every country should be looking at this and doing the research!
Musk has studied Hitlers rise to power "bigly". Nazism is all over 2025........ie preparng women for housework and motherhood...etc...
Removing the Department of Education will force all kids to become part of the "SS MUSK YOUTH."
Just watch Donable Lector sign those exective orders.........he looks stoned out of his mind.........Maggots got so fucked over and fucking blinded from the election lies...
True. He told his wives he would cut off support if they let his kids join the military. He's a liar and a traitor. btw: Eric was just sworn in as a deputy sheriff (I don't remember where), but that was before Mr. Stupid let the JAN6 out of prison.
I do wonder what Law Enforcement (including unions and the Border Patrol has to say about Trump and his ugly ragamuffin adult grifters. We know MAGA by "their fruits." It's all putrid and rotten.
Compelling as always but sadly, there’s no chance they’ll let Meidas or any real journalist pose challenging questions. I saw today that federal employees are now required to remove gender pronouns from their signature blocks. Glad to see that pronouns continue to be such a top priority for a crew that pledged to solve the problems of real Americans.
I think all writers should from now on refer to Donald and the maga intoxicated White House staff and department leadership with ‘they, them, theirs’. Expect that will get their attention.
I don’t think he’s gonna let any of us in, the coward. He might remember that whole 2020 election loss and our role. And the 7,000 times we’ve said he should be arrested for crimes he committed. 😁👍
Scott and Ben — ask him about this: why did you break the law in firing all those IGs? No 30-days’ notice or probable-cause lists. USDA IG Phyllis Fong, who courageously reported to work after the “firings,” and was “escorted” out of the building, should report back every single day (along with all the other “fired” IGs) until the Trump mob is forced to rescind the firings.
Chuck Grassley also wants to know where the Trump mob gets off thinking they can break any law they don’t like. That’s LAW, not just norm or tradition.
As much as I so desperately want you to be able to go in, I doubt you will be able to. While it's such a positive for us, you are too blunt and honest and most people find that intimidating. To get into the Whitehouse to ask those questions, one really needs to play covert ops. Go in acting like you won't do exactly as you say here. And then when your in, unleash it all.
I do hope you get in. I hope there is enough push from the public to get them to agree. I just don't think there will be.
I was going to say something similar. You have to be coy and hold your cards close to the chest and then go in for the k*ll. Don’t provoke the bear ahead of time. Go in for a sneak attack.
Agree!!! He is illiterate and ignorant. I'm encouraged, however, by a phrase I read in a book: "Pride cometh before a [great] fall." He always attacks the questioner when he's unable (unwilling) to answer a question. So pathetic and also so predictable. The orange clown show isn't enjoying the rollout they thought they'd have.
A bad dancer 😂 I love this. Just another facet of his complete and utter buffoonery. Picture President Eisenhower dancing to YMCA with the Village People. After the laugh, then I cry how he has shamed us 😥
Donable Lector may be able to handle 6 Big Macs/6 Whoppers and a bucket of KFC in one sitting.........the diaper wearing bloated slob still can swing a golf club somehow
He is deeply afraid that you will point, laugh and say LOOK THE EMPORER IS NAKED!
Which needs to be done, along with calling out MUSK-rat and the chaos he has sown.
All you need to do is keep up the pressure, surely Kayleigh- OOPS wrong bubble head blonde (I think), mouth piece will never let you get a question asked.
Keep beating the drum, Adam Kinzinger would be a nice grab for an interview..
I love the way you phrased your challenge to him. He won’t let you anywhere near the White House, and it will prove your point. Then we will continue to spread your message and build the network to the point where he won’t HAVE to let you in!! Keep up the amazing work!!
I wanna hear from the IFTPE! https://www.ifpte.org/
I wanna hear why Musk is sleeping (literally) in the White House.
More importantly ask about charitable deductions to save the SSA retirement Trust Fund.
The default of Trust Funds is supposed to apex in 2033 due to the increase of birth rates of baby boomers. After 2033, birth rates of later generations flatten and the funds can be solvent.
Social Security is the greatest anti-poverty program in US history. Social Security protects workers, widow(er)s, orphanabouts and disabled people and is a major investment for many of us. Donations can flatten the default curve, extending the apex.
https://www.ssa.gov/agency/donations.html
Why doesn't SSA advertise that donations can flatten the curve and extend the default date beyond 2033?
It is because Mrs. Trump is not sleeping in the same bed as Donald. Is Elon really sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom, or should we say where is Donald sleeping?
The Donald is Sleeping on the Floor beneath Elons Bed…
Like the good dog that he is.
I was going to say...in a dog bed? Lol.
No dog would have anything to do with either one of those pieces of shit. The dogs have standards!
I’ve never seen any of them with any kind of pet. Black-hearted people.
🤣🤣🤣
😂
Donald plans to sleep at his golf course 🤨
That would be par for the course.
😂
Maybe next to Ivana hopefully 🤞
LMAO
Donald is sleeping in his stinky makeup stained dog bed in his own room. Nobody wants to smell him all night
In his golf cart ✌️😵💫
I don’t think Melonia is even in the same building as Trump. They have separate suites as before. She said she’s going to float between New York and Mar-A-Lago, FL. She’ll be at the White House for state dinners, holidays, and special occasions. She won’t be there to hold his hand so she ain’t going to sleep in the same bed. Lol 💙
I’m guessing she will make herself available to Gavin or Justin, since she seems quite fond of them.
There seem to be similar folks on both RRs substack and this one I am gladdened. I am also supportive of the PE union. Just because folks with college degrees are better paid than thosw without does NOT mean they are overpaid. (Disclosure my father was a PE and engineering teacher union member and mom was a union teacher) Fight for a just wage!
They represent the FAA employees that Trump alleged caused the DC plane crash. Air traffic controllers. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/05/1025018833/looking-back-on-when-president-reagan-fired-air-traffic-controllers
BTW, I "fired" RR, who misses the forest for the trees. We need a big tent.
I'm hoping that recent Trump overreach can get some affected members of Congress to flip. How can any Black Republican put up with obvious race discrimination? How can any Hispanic Republican put up with disrimination against Hispanics?
"Affected" or Infected!?
Agreed using some of the critical thinking that I learned from RRs videos I do not see the Democrats with the unity that they sometimes protray in votes they cant win anyway. Trying to appeal to Democrat leadership in general still favors its wealthy donors over its contituents. A group that has ignored Robert Reich for decades. Id say there are only about 40% of dem senators that will vote for their constituents over big money (less than a 1/3rd of the senate in overall numbers). On the voter side of things its easy to see that Dem voters lost 11 million and independents gained 11 million. Republicans lost 3.5 million so win? The thing to see is disgust with both parties. Ignoring a 1/3 of the voters (independents will lead to another defeat). I believe the republicans are ripe for more churn. Just like the Dems were disgusted with their decreasing income/wealth (For the bottom 50% which was stagnant for some negative for the other half, dont piss off 160 million people!) during the Biden term, the republicans who think they are going to see growth in the next 4 years will be sorely mistaken and angered. It cant be about culture war issues, that didnt work. Kill the current admin on the economy. Just like they did against Biden.
I love Robert Reich He saw the income disparity early. There are clips from the 90’s and n which he predicted what would happen today. His online u tube course covers the topic in detail.
Yeap I reviewed those courses. I especially like the income inequality graph he had once that showed the flat lining of the incomes of the bottom 60%. Those courses also talked about how towns discriminate against the poor with high taxes. Where living in the town is like paying for private school. The modern approved form of segregation. Real eye opening.
Those same black and Hispanic republicans voted for him Did they think they were special blacks and Hispanics so they wouldn’t be scathed by him and the 2025 republicans? Reality bites assholes! You were good with hurting the “not special like you” minorities! Surprise they don’t have categories like that
Exactly this. No way will he let Meidas in, he’ll just trash you on Faux News.
Well said. But, SSA can also be supported by removing the wage cap on contributions. There's no reason that high-income wage earners maxed out prior to year end and have months of no contributions into Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
high earners should get SS.
They don't need it.
My husband and I are both disabled. They flipped him to regular SS when he turned 65.
That's our only source of income and we are seriously medically needy! We are QMB. Without that we would have a good chunk of our payments reduced to pay part B premium's.
I picked up a couple of prescriptions. One was $53.00. I told them to put it back, I'll use something else.
It's the infusion's that costs the most $7,000 a month and FOTUS wants to raise the price of drugs!
Line the pockets of big pharma! It's sickening!
Trump just nixed the next phase of Medicare drug price limits.
Blame Big Pharma !!
They unwrite idiots like Sen Tom Cotton and Sen McConnel
Perhaps the birth rate will plummet as most women have no trust they can access medically necessary healthcare because of the lying, corrupt “supreme” court and the lying, corrupt and heartless administration sycophants. If birth control is also restricted, the only children born in America will be the product of rape. Good luck with those population shifts, Drumpf lovers!
It's the population of wage earners. We knew that in the 1980s when the fix was made. In 1986 we thought that immigration was fixed. I think the numbers reflected a history of sending people to die in wars and a failure to discover how new technology and medical research would extend life expectancies.
BTW a lot of immigrants pay into the system but never collect, which benefits the trust fund.
The "privatizers" still demand control of the trust fund. Republicans have a bill to take most of it and invest it...in themselves. At one time, they wanted to give the funds to the savings and loan industry. GWB thought he had a mandate to put in in the stock market, but Dems put a stop to it.
Once upon a time they tried to force the disability fund into default, which I documented. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/naalj/vol36/iss1/4/
My father was a regional manager in Phila PA way back in the 60’s. He had been there 20 years before that. I know he would role in his grave if he knew there were plans to cut the program.
Why not just let the most wealthy people pay the same rate as the rest of us by eliminating the cap over $174,000??
BECAUSE CONGRESS WILL NOT APPROVE IT.
I will have just a small income from pension and I work part time to enable me to afford meds and my gap ins for medical because Medicare only pays 80%
I am scared to death
I could probably sell my house if the economy doesn’t crash
Can we keep money in a bank account or will that crash and we will lose it?
My part time job will go away because it’s retail
I know IT but where will that take me ?
Great with Quickbooks maybe try to implement into small business?
I’ll probably die because I won’t be able to afford meds for heart disease
I have 5 stents in my heart
I exercise and I am not going to give up!
I will fight till my death!
We cant give in or give up!
Thank you Meidas Mighty !
Rebecca, I too have the same fears, but we can not let the fear take hold. Plan as best as you can but please don't do anything out of fear. I depend on the God above and He hasn't failed me yet. Trump wants us to be afraid. It gives him power. I refuse to let him bully me into fear. Many Americans are in the same situation depending on Social Security and Medicare.
Thank you. I needed to hear that. Giving up is not an option.
Thank you
I have fear also. My husband's income is Military retirement, Social Security and VA 100% disability. My income is civilian Service retirement. If all of that is diminished or goes away, we'll starve. If Medicare and Tricare is reduced we won't be able to afford our medications. My daughter's job depends on the Department of Education. I feel anger, then I feel like crying, but I always hate those who voted for this mess.
The military supported GOP candidate - they were lied to. They thought they were promoting a stronger military, but they were wrong. That Orange man with foot spurs doesn't have any appreciation for the military, even though they voted for him in overwhelming numbers. He will gut them, he will forfeit Taiwan to a Chinese take-over, and he will get patriots like Gen Miley killed.
Well they're looking to kill the FDIC as well, so the prospects are dimmer than POTUS' intellect.
Wow!
So any money will not be safe anywhere?
If I sell my house, I’ll get a safe
My grandmother always said trade in gold and silver, minerals of the earth and not manmade.
They believe that their money gives them privilege, so if they have more money than you, they ought to have more privilege than you as well. I would suggest reminding yourself what your grammar school definition of "Feudalism" was & in that context, what "vassals" & "serfs" were. That's what they want US to be.
TRUMP will try to boost crypto pyramid schemes, along with Elon, but he will fail. It will be his undoing.
I think you’re right…
If the general pop. can't afford crypto (& they cant) it's not going to get the scanners anywhere except broke, which is exactly where they want us.
Not a time to panic…there’s minimal evidence beyond a drumpf/Musk “effort “ . ( Musk is world’s richest man) who’s making himself the unelected prez…there are more of us than they have on their side of this issue, and not a time to panic.
You and I are twins from another Mother! I am a heart failure patient since 2022. Have 1/3 working hard, work PT retail from home as I care for my husband in home hospice from Dementia. I will lose SS, his SS and my job most likely and my home of 35 years.
I don't think they will completely cut it unless you are on SSI.
This used to be my subject. For starters, the Republicans long have asked to "sunset" all benefits. That "all" includes stuff like Medicare, VA, Black Lung, food stamps, etc , The Republicans are in denial that SS is not part of the budget. You have to understand SS is NOT a retirement program although there is a retirement trust fund that will "default" in 2033 according to the trustees. Every wage earner who is fully and currently insured also has disability coverage that is on average worth about $ 1 MM. If the programs were sunsetted, they'd have to be renewed on an annual basis, and given politics, would die .
Trump sad he will not do "anythng". By doing that, the default date is still pending.
In a 2000 book he co-wrote called “The America We Deserve,” Trump called Social Security a “huge Ponzi scheme” that American workers are forced to pay into. He added that for future retirees under 40 at the time, “we can also raise the age for receipt of full Social Security benefits to seventy,” because “we’re living longer.”
In December 2004, just before a Republican push to partially privatize the program, Trump was asked on MSNBC’s “Hardball” whether he’d support individual retirement accounts and answered: “I sort of think I would. Something has to be done. Social Security is a huge problem right now, funding it.”
In 2012, Trump praised proposals by Ryan, then the Republican vice presidential nominee, to convert Medicare into a “premium support” system that would cap spending for future retirees and give them vouchers to buy insurance plans.
“I think Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney will save Medicare. I know they will. And people are starting to understand it. They’re going to be very happy with what’s going on, but they’re going to be very, very unhappy if Obama gets in,” Trump told Fox News at the time, reflecting on the 2012 presidential race. “I think actually if Obama gets in and if Obamacare isn’t ended, I really think Medicare will be a thing of the past.” (President Barack Obama ran against the Ryan plan and won re-election; seven years after he left office, Obamacare and Medicare still exist.)
By 2015, when Trump ran for president, he sought to position himself in the Republican field as the rare candidate who wouldn’t cut those programs. “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican, and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid,” he said as he was launching his campaign.
By 2020, it was clear Trump was trying to break the system. He offered a "payroll tax cut" designed to result in significant revenue losses for Social Security, but also to eliminate employee payroll taxes for good. That would kill both the retirement and disability programs.
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/trumps-plan-defund-social-security/
Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget endorsed Social Security cuts to the tune of billions of dollars for disabled seniors. His budget would have made changes to Social Security Disability Insurance, slashing the maximum amount of retroactive benefits for disabled workers from 12 months to six. According to the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, that could lead to a $7,500 average cut for a worker injured in a car crash. The budget also called for reducing Supplemental Security Income benefits for those who live with other SSI recipients.
Republicans encouraged slashing all benefits and the Republicans tried to kill the disability fund. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/naalj/vol36/iss1/4/
Trump wanted to kill the child's portion of SSI, which comes from the general funds, i.e. the budget. As president, Trump tried and failed to cut benefits drastically. Some Republicans wanted to replace the entire system. See. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Trump, House Republican Cuts to SSI Would Harm Children With Disabilities, Sept. 18, 2017, Kathleen Romig and Guillermo Herrera. https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/trump-house-republican-cuts-to-ssi-would-harm-children-with-disabilities
“The Trump proposal would cut SSI by more than $8 billion over the next decade, shrinking benefits for roughly a quarter of a million children with disabilities by between 38 and 66 percent. It would also increase SSI’s administrative costs and improper payments”.
The next year, they asked CBO to score a program "Eliminate Supplemental Security Income Benefits for Disabled Children." https://www.cbo.gov/budget-options/54742 (2018)
Background
The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides cash assistance to people who are disabled, aged, or both and who have low income and few assets. In 2018, 15 percent of SSI recipients, or 1.2 million people, are projected to be disabled children under age 18, receiving an average monthly benefit of $686. To receive benefits, those children must have marked, severe functional limitations and usually must live in a household with low income and few assets.
Option
I don't have a problem with raising the early retirement age. They could change it to 65 and it would help. what won't work is changing it to a private IRA each person opens. the vast majority of people, unless money is automatically deducted from their pay, won't contribute. The vast majority of Americans don't have a clue how to manage money and will mismanage it and lose money.
We already know what the solution is, and that is to remove the cap on the amount of earned income where FICA is no longer deducted. In other words, we need a system where every dollar of earned income is subject to FICA. (might need to revise some laws as to what constitutes earned income or Trump and his buddies will designate everything they earn as something other than earned income) Just think how much Elon Musk would contribute to SS then. Unfortunately, the republicans won't do that for that very reason. They don't want their rich friends to contribute to anything that benefits someone other than themselves.
Without a revolution, raising the cap will never make it through Congress.
I've been at this a long time. 3 commissioners from both parties thanked me for advocating the charity issue, but SSA has never publicized it. Most of the big donors use foundations as an identify vehicle, and although they get a dollar for dollar deduction, are ignorant about it or don't give a shit if the trust fund defaults.
Musk, standing alone, could extend the apex if he donated to save the fund.
Once the baby boomers die off, based on probabilities the population of beneficiaries returns to normal and FICA taxes should cover.
BTW I feel the same about Medicare. If the base is expanded, Part B premiums could drop. If the "collateral source rule" were eliminated, the cost of almost all insurance would drop like rocks.
yes, as i said above, the republicans would never vote for it. Too greedy to pass any laws that might benefit the average American.
What happened to public service and representation of constituents? That is absent in the Republican Party
It's barely been present in our body politic at all, if you want to be coldly honest.
MUSC would never give money to the government. He takes it and wants to cut programs so he can get even more. The biggest conflict of interest in history. But know one in DC seems to know what ethics are.
Musk is stimulating this issue….
The problem with this is IRA’s are stock market buy in. So if the market crashes people have nothing. It’s another way to fleece the people if that’s the only retirement they have
Having an IRA is a good thing to do but it should never be the entire source of retirement income for the reason you state. About half my retirement income comes from SS and half from my IRA and taxable investments. without SS i might not have enough money to last the rest of my life.
EXACTLY!!!
At least then the rich get hurt too
it will be 1929 in 2025.
Too early to panic….but get the conversation going, it helps
Expect a really bad income tax year in for 2025. Trump will gut the IRS, cut funding, and fire employees. He will ruin the IRS and they in turn will tax the middle class to death and spare the Billionaires.
He’s not a king, but by all means contact your local legislators and raise your concerns!
Agree wholeheartedly.
I believe SSI will be available over the long term. A good time to write your legislators about your concerns? Yes, tell them your concerns!
Same I would love to pay for some of these sub stacks but the money isn’t there
Same here! I have to juggle them, unfortunately.
Ditto. Scared every month now. Payment went in yesterday.
Me too.... and it's not much of an income. Doable, sortof, but there's nothing else.
I sincerely hope that Trump won’t put his filthy hands on Social Security. I’m sure he’d be stopped legally & many lawsuits would be filed. Also, I don’t think the legislature would let that happen. Let’s be brave America. 💙
Same here, I'm worried there won't be a deposit on Monday! Even worse, I've heard some people have had their bank accounts drained!
All the money they have and they want more! How much is too much for them?!
Where did you hear that people had their bank accounts drained?? I don't see how that could have been done unless they direct deposited some money and then pulled it back out right away. Do you have any links to that info?
How could they drain their bank accounts? That isn’t possible unless the money went in and they took it back out.
If the money is deposited, remove it immediately to a different account.
If we don’t have money, the corps won’t do well either. No Amazon, no purchases of any kind.
I hope it doesn’t go that far. If it does, we need a revolution or civil war. Why did they call it civil war? What war is civil?
Not a time to over react….ask questions of your representatives and they will move the conversations when they realize their constituents are worried…
Indeed! I won't either. Or a home.
Hang on - the "SwamP" is actually made up of very loyal Americans who won't be intimidated or fooled. The may not be the best or brightest workers, but they are good people. America survived 4 years of this racist mad-man and we will do it again. Hopefully, not for 4 years this time.
I have worked with USPS and SS and Medicare offices and they are not going to abandon American citizens. They are the RESISTANCE. And, the MILITARY will be too.
Same for me
Ask him to a game of golf interview, putt putt should get the interview. Ask him why he is starving people? Ask him why he thinks he is better than everyone else. Ask him how he wants his grandchildren to remember him?
Dud Donold is scared of Mighty Meidas! You don’t want to go near any government office right now because anti-vaxxer MAGAts are spreading COVID. The science deniers infected me last week, please remember to stay up to date on your boosters: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/maga-fascists-gave-me-covid
https://www.opm.gov/fork/faq/
He’ll never let you in .. he can barely answer questions from his own cult members
Even if you get in, I doubt you'll be allowed to ask a question. Sad.
Doing what I can to inform my Republican US Representative of what nonsense we see Congress supporting. The House margins are thin. And Donald doesn't like Minnesota anyway, so hoping to swing a vote!
I can’t listen to him. Interviewing him is fruitless. I would much rather MEIDAS sent the same request to every one of our representatives in Congress. I want to hear why they are not screaming from the White House rooftops. While you are at it, maybe ask why Musk is running the White House.
And yes, more interviews as like with Adam Schiff. So important.
Agree but he was even too blah. I want to know how he is going to fight. Kept saying we will get through the next 4 years. We won’t have a govt.
AOC or Jasmine Crockett !!
Or Gavin Newsome….
Agreed! We need plain talking, outraged, and loud voices! The people voted. They don’t want the mainstream politician. They want someone with fire, guts, someone commanding. They just happened to have voted for someone who also has no moral convictions, no integrity, not a slither of humanity because he only cares about gaining power and wealth for himself.
I totally agree with you! I'd like to know why Congress isn't doing anything and why Musk seems to be running the white house AND getting into things like the Federal Reserve and telling them what they should be doing. I'd like to know why Congress isn't doing anything about this new "branch" of the govt that Trump want Musk and Rameshwamy run.. the office of over spending.. something like that. Some oversight of overspending ROFL.. like their even know. (Shaking my head).I didn't need to go in. You so know what I'm taking about... Medias, you should ask about that! Where the h*lol is Congress?
Whey did Social Media, Disney and Amazon cave it so fast ?
Scared.
Money.
You KNOW Elonia Musk is on the spectrum! Hasn't his companies received more Federal $$ than US AI??
He needs to be stopped!
This! The shock and awe blitz is something we were sort of prepared for, but Congress is up to some shady shit while everyone is distracted. Why haven't there been any stories about House Resolution 7? Attacking women's healthcare with such a broad stroke should concern everyone.
Can you speak to the individual from the Treasury who Musk just squeezed into resigning. The Treasury person was responsible for the oversight of $6 Trillion in payments and Musk wanted access to the info.......
Agree. Would like to hear from the FBI agents who've been trounced by the orange idiot as well.
Did the FBI academy teach that there were 40 assasination attempt on Hitlers life?
Did they ever study on why they failed? Just wondering what those now out of work talented agents took in history class.
https://fbijobs.gov/locations/quantico
Yes! What is Musk doing with our personal information? Is this a hunt for "illegals"? Ask Trump what he thinks about the a corporation gathering information about a country's people so the leader has the data for genocide. Did he read "IBM and the Holocaust"? He likes reading about Hitler
Yes, what is Musk doing and why is he allowed to do it. Who is firing all the FBI agents, even the field head agents in major cities around the country. What is happening, folks, reads like a coup to me....with Musk and the oligarchs involved "bigly."
Bird Flue epidemic???
https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/cdc-trump-mmwr-bird-flu-studies-blocked-meddling/
This is really important, everyone should read it. There are already people who’ve been infected with Avian flu and it can easily develop and spread to humans…. This has already killed huge numbers of birds and animals around the world. Every Government in every country should be looking at this and doing the research!
Musk has studied Hitlers rise to power "bigly". Nazism is all over 2025........ie preparng women for housework and motherhood...etc...
Removing the Department of Education will force all kids to become part of the "SS MUSK YOUTH."
Just watch Donable Lector sign those exective orders.........he looks stoned out of his mind.........Maggots got so fucked over and fucking blinded from the election lies...
words cannot describe
Mein Kämpf is his bible.
Shamelessly True.
You know Hitler took down a Democratic German nation in only 53 days.
Yes!
His own grandfather is a draft dodging coward. It's in his blood to be a cowardly little bitch boy.
True. He told his wives he would cut off support if they let his kids join the military. He's a liar and a traitor. btw: Eric was just sworn in as a deputy sheriff (I don't remember where), but that was before Mr. Stupid let the JAN6 out of prison.
I do wonder what Law Enforcement (including unions and the Border Patrol has to say about Trump and his ugly ragamuffin adult grifters. We know MAGA by "their fruits." It's all putrid and rotten.
And, making an ongoing line of cowardly little bitches. There's never been a better case for criminals being sterilized.
WELL SAID 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Compelling as always but sadly, there’s no chance they’ll let Meidas or any real journalist pose challenging questions. I saw today that federal employees are now required to remove gender pronouns from their signature blocks. Glad to see that pronouns continue to be such a top priority for a crew that pledged to solve the problems of real Americans.
I think all writers should from now on refer to Donald and the maga intoxicated White House staff and department leadership with ‘they, them, theirs’. Expect that will get their attention.
Yup!
Absolutely! Ftump(they) and Musky(they) should be showing up EVERYWHERE!
I don’t think he’s gonna let any of us in, the coward. He might remember that whole 2020 election loss and our role. And the 7,000 times we’ve said he should be arrested for crimes he committed. 😁👍
Scott and Ben — ask him about this: why did you break the law in firing all those IGs? No 30-days’ notice or probable-cause lists. USDA IG Phyllis Fong, who courageously reported to work after the “firings,” and was “escorted” out of the building, should report back every single day (along with all the other “fired” IGs) until the Trump mob is forced to rescind the firings.
Chuck Grassley also wants to know where the Trump mob gets off thinking they can break any law they don’t like. That’s LAW, not just norm or tradition.
And Grassley sponsored the bill in 2022, right?
Musk thinks he bought the whole country, not just Trump. Now he's going around collecting the keys so he can turn them over to Xi.
As much as I so desperately want you to be able to go in, I doubt you will be able to. While it's such a positive for us, you are too blunt and honest and most people find that intimidating. To get into the Whitehouse to ask those questions, one really needs to play covert ops. Go in acting like you won't do exactly as you say here. And then when your in, unleash it all.
I do hope you get in. I hope there is enough push from the public to get them to agree. I just don't think there will be.
I was going to say something similar. You have to be coy and hold your cards close to the chest and then go in for the k*ll. Don’t provoke the bear ahead of time. Go in for a sneak attack.
Ask him when he's going to resign and spend what's left of his life golfing.
Eh, he's never letting MTN in. Let's be real.
Please ask him “Who hurt you so bad that it made you mean, cruel, a womanizer, incompetent, a bad dancer, etc.?
Agree!!! He is illiterate and ignorant. I'm encouraged, however, by a phrase I read in a book: "Pride cometh before a [great] fall." He always attacks the questioner when he's unable (unwilling) to answer a question. So pathetic and also so predictable. The orange clown show isn't enjoying the rollout they thought they'd have.
I agree 100%!
A bad dancer 😂 I love this. Just another facet of his complete and utter buffoonery. Picture President Eisenhower dancing to YMCA with the Village People. After the laugh, then I cry how he has shamed us 😥
He will not let you in because he only lets in those that he controls. You all are too strong for him.
Ronald McDonald can’t handle the heat, piece of shit and his magats
Donable Lector may be able to handle 6 Big Macs/6 Whoppers and a bucket of KFC in one sitting.........the diaper wearing bloated slob still can swing a golf club somehow
Special effects.
I love this! Also I really needed this beam of hope that you share in all your reports but it feels especially powerful today. Thank you!!
Sadly you won’t get approved. But keep trying.
Agree to both comments above but we love that your after the truth and to hold him accountable
He is deeply afraid that you will point, laugh and say LOOK THE EMPORER IS NAKED!
Which needs to be done, along with calling out MUSK-rat and the chaos he has sown.
All you need to do is keep up the pressure, surely Kayleigh- OOPS wrong bubble head blonde (I think), mouth piece will never let you get a question asked.
Keep beating the drum, Adam Kinzinger would be a nice grab for an interview..