Summary
Former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley warns that staffing and funding cuts under Elon Musk could cause Social Security payments to halt within 30 to 90 days.
The SSA is reducing its workforce and closing offices, prompting concerns from Democrats, who accuse the Trump administration of trying to dismantle the program.
O’Malley predicts a major political backlash if payments are interrupted.
Meanwhile, leadership changes at SSA have added further instability, with no confirmed commissioner in place.
Sorry about the needy, but for us outside the US it is high time to stock up on popcorn.
I wonder if the gun owners under the affected population will sell their weapons to buy food, or if they will use them to remedy their situation.
Maybe the number of seats needing re-election will rise next month…
Will the ones not recieving their assistance understand why they are not getting it any more?
Sure, it will be Biden’s fault. What do you think? /s
It is funny how when Trump took office the first time, riding Obamas economy, he took credit for it. Now with his words he has started the downward trend of the stock market and now it is Bidens fault, Bidens economy.
As for the people that will be affected by the SS not coming, they will believe what they are told to believe.
Just a reminder: People don’t steal food. No one has ever witnessed a hungry person stealing food, that is a myth, an urban legend. It never happens. If you thought you saw someone stealing food, you were wrong and should call your eye doctor for a vision check. In conclusion, hungry people do not steal food, that’s not a real thing. The More You Know.
Bring it, bitches. This is what the fucking idiots voted for, let’s go. I got a bigass bowl of popcorn.
And for everyone else that was barred from representation? This isnt going to hurt who you think it will.
They’re all along for the ride. Fuck you, fuck me, fuck us all. Take it out on a republican.
You’re not a Republican? Why the celebratory let’s go then?
I would prefer that all republicans spontaneously combust. Or something more painful than that, whichever.
I am for the quickest possible path to what is the inevitable outcome: turmoil, suffering, and through that, change.
I too wish for change, and I recognize that turmoil, suffering may be part of the process. However, I am sorry for those that are victims, because losing empathy for the sake of change is not a healthy form of change.
Agreed. But we’re in the shit now, and the only way out is through. We can’t afford to only have the country mostly break down but continue to limp along for another few decades. If we want to make a real difference we are going to have to change some fundamental assumptions about American society. The only way that happens is to have enough people care to make the change, and the only way that happens is by having a majority of Americans become personally hurt by this situation. We have proven time and again that we have a remarkable talent for ignoring anything that doesn’t affect us personally. So now I’m in favor of big, horrible things that personally hurt everyone in the country because that’s what is required to make people wake up and open their eyes to the reality that exists around them.
I do not wish any suffering on anyone beyond what is required to make them see. I find it upsetting and immoral that this suffering is what is required to make them see. But this has been a problem for a very long time and we are now at a crossroads where this all comes to a head and explodes. If people won’t pay attention to anything that doesn’t hurt them personally then you’re going to need to hurt them personally to make them pay attention. Simple as.
I have sympathy for the kids in this and the non-abstainers, (edit: non-third-party voters,) non-trump-voters. The others, well, I couldn’t care less about their fate. But we must face reality: this ends with blood in the streets.
Left accelerationism and right accelerationism both cause lots of vulnerable people to suffer.
Honestly, everything causes vulnerable people to suffer. Voting (which everyone should do) clearly does nothing substantial, revolution has never been a safe path regardless of if the revolutionaries win, and accelerationism makes things worse in basically the same way a revolution does, but at least people aren’t pointing at revolutionaries as the problem when accelerationism happens. I think we’d all much prefer being able to snap our fingers and making the world perfect, but it looks like the world chose accelerationism all by itself. Certainly wouldn’t have been my first choice.
Charitably, it could just be kind of a fuck it, we ball energy
Have you not seen all the democrats here absolutely jerking off over the idea of Palestinians getting genocided even harder under Trump?
You mean the 2000s Republicans dressed in blue?
Yeah, liberals.
No taxation without representation.
I like this far more than the “taxation is theft” rhetoric.
Like, yes, taxation is theft the way it has been used, but it doesn’t have to be if it’s done transparently and used for the benefit of all.
Well, I guess the price of eggs won’t matter if they don’t have any fucking money, huh?
If the old people can’t afford their treats there will br hell to pay
If such a thing does not incite mass revolt, I cannot imagine anything ever would.
Why would retired old people suddenly riot? They will call their social security rep and wait for hours on hold while they watch Jeopardy and cable news that tells them rioting is bad and only criminals do that.
The imagery is compelling.
Elderly people slowly starving while watching game shows and calling an anonymous entity in the hope of salvation. Reminds me of a certain movie, though that one wasn’t even about politics, just addiction. One could argue that many people are addicted to outrage, misinformation, fear and hate today - maybe it’s not such a difference in the end.Between Social Security Insurance and Supplemental Income, there’s about 70 million recipients (holy wow - just shy of 20% of the U.S. population). Most of them are elderly, sure - but not all, and not all of those elderly will be infirm.
The way I see it is if these checks don’t come in April, we’ll start to see protests as the winter weather fades into spring.
I think a lot of folks feel disempowered by the system. Voting doesn’t work. And even when voting does work, the political parties seem to have their own agenda that is divorced from their purported constituents, their promises, and even reality. (Purported, because we know that voters are just the vehicle, but money is the fuel under our current system. The constituents they claim to have are not the constituents they serve.) Beyond that, they’re slapping felony convictions onto college kids who protested a genocide. Even if you want to soften the language, they were protesting violence in a nonviolent way, and they are going to have their entire lives impacted by criminal charges for expressing their ‘right’ to freedom of speech. Add in that a lot of folks are trapped in media bubbles and don’t even realize there are problems, or if they realize there are problems, they don’t really recognize their severity. And as we’ve repeatedly seen, Trump does not see justice, and there are no advocates for democracy or the rule of law. The only person that a lot of people felt was ‘on their side’ was Luigi Mangione, and failing attempts to paint him as a terrorist, the media has done their best to quash coverage of him to erase him from the national consciousness. The deck is clearly stacked in every which way.
So I mean, the consequences are dire, the impact of Trump’s actions are not yet being felt broadly or acutely enough yet, and it’s frankly kind of shitty outside, so no one wants to go stand in freezing temps, cold rain, or ceaseless winds for no gain, and incredible peril. I hate to serve up excuses, but I think the situation will have to get much worse before people are driven to action.Oh, we are definitely getting protests. But, will we see riots? Will we see people taking control of their workplaces? Will people start growing their own food and shopping at farmer’s markets instead of grocery chains? The only people who have the ability to dismantle the vestiges of power that control them are the people themselves.
Because many of their children and grandchildren would pick up the slack.
People are already struggling just to get by. Imagine suddenly having to house, feed, and/or care for an elderly person on top of that.
More than one i would bet in a lot of cases. If it 100% dries up between me and my partner we may have to help up to 6 or more people between parents, grandparents, and aunts/uncles.
I don’t know specifically about elderly people, but I have heard it said that historically, people who cannot afford to eat have a higher chance of overthrowing their government.
And so it is often in a government’s interest to have some sort of social programs that provide food security.
Historically, there have been riots during the Great Depression where people raided grocery stores. But, hey, homeless people and poor single parents have been doing this for years and are called criminals for doing so.
These people will need to be okay with being considered criminals if they truly wish to riot and change things, but they’ve spent decades voting to put people who do those things in jail.
I mean, I guess if the only people who ever rioted were those personally affected you’d be right. Not really able to see it that way, myself.
Sorry, but you should. Historically, the only people who have ever rioted were people who were directly affected by said issues. If they can successfully be convinced that Daddy Government is going to fix everything while demonizing the actual protestors on the streets, you get decades of stagnation.
I’d love for you show me any counter examples in history.
If I mention the Floyd protests are we going to start splitting hairs about what makes a protest vs a riot?
Hey look, the MAGA cult is seeing if they can more directly steal our money to see if anything happens.
If it’s any consolation, they’re inviting leopards inside their own homes while doing so.
You would
absolutely notbe surprised how many Trump supporters rely on some form of welfare like disability or child benefits. As usual, those complaining about the others taking advantage of the system are either projecting, trying to reduce competition in the hopes that they get a bigger slice of the pie, or both.They are morons. Plain and simple.
When I was still on facebook, they announced on the school page they were ending the free lunch program started during the COVID pandemic because the Republicans at the state level ended the program.
Those that yelled the loudest? The poor (whose kids got at least 1 good meal a day out of this) who voted for Republicans. Some people don’t learn until they get punched in the nuts.
Unless they’re no longer voting for Republicans then they didn’t learn anything. My own experience tells me that is unlikely.
I really wish they do. I guarantee you people who can’t pay for food or rent because they didn’t get their check will exact violence on those responsible.
I guarantee you their violence will be deflected by the rich onto other poor people.
The fact of the matter is it’s still far, far easier to punch sideways than up.
If your child is screaming in hunger, do you plan a trip to Washington? On what time and money? Or do you grab your gun and visit the neighbor’s house to get him some food?
What’s that middle aged lady in the parking lot of the grocery store going to do if you just push her down and grab her groceries from her cart? Or even approaching grandma and gently taking the grocery bag from her hand and hopping into a vehicle before she even knows what happened.
You think your house window is a barrier? Psychological, yes, it is. Actual? Not at all.
This is where things get violent but not for the rich men in Washington because they’re not accessible.
Frankly, as someone who has studied people for 35yrs, I am bordering on an intense fear that could be likened to terror. People go for what’s easiest, in general. You all are thinking of Luigi, but he’s the exception not the rule. Most people grab what’s easiest and closest and pull from their guts, not careful planning.
That’s the excuse they’re waiting for to declare martial law. And this time, they’ve made sure that the people who wouldn’t obey orders to fire on civilians are gone. It’ll be a major bloodbath that will make Tiananmen look like peanuts in comparison.
Price of gold will also skyrocket I reckon.
Price of gold will also skyrocket I reckon.
More importantly, the price of Crypto will explode once the dollar tanks. That’s what these chucklefucks are going for.
More likely they’ll blame the gays and start a pogrom.
