Don the Con says we are living in the golden age: 40 Trillion in debt; tripling cost of food, medical… slashing Social Security checks for over 50 million retirees on the horizon. Trump the liar.
The lies and manipulations of present and past elected members of Congress have helped deconstruct our democracy and bankrupt America’s moral standing around the globe. Combine that with Citizens United, which the Supreme Court, in a profound failure of judgment, saw fit to uphold – a decision that effectively stole the only meaningful influence ordinary Americans have to hold politicians accountable and responsible to the people they were elected to serve. Citizens United disenfranchised the American people and opened the door to a political system increasingly dominated by powerful political action groups and wealthy special interests, including organizations such as AIPAC. Part 2-Citizens United
Social Security – Congress’s Achilles Heel
Congress has a statutory and profound public responsibility to safeguard the Social Security system, on which Americans have relied for decades. Lawmakers have known about its projected financing shortfall for generations. Choosing not to address a known problem does not remove their responsibility for the consequences. D-day
But they will walk away, free and clear, just like Trump’s family cartel will face no criminals courts, despite having enriched themselves on Trump’s official influence.
Here is the part Americans need to understand: Congress does not have to sit down and vote for a bill saying, “We are cutting your Social Security.” Under current law, if lawmakers fail to fix Social Security’s financing problem before the retirement trust fund is depleted, the system will not have enough money coming in to pay the full benefits that have been promised. The result will be an automatic reduction in what beneficiaries receive—currently projected to be roughly 20–25%.
And that is exactly why I call it congressional cowardice. And it should infuriate every person in America.
Members of Congress know the problem exists. They know millions of Americans depend on Social Security. They just don’t care because they have nothing to fear—no repercussions at all. These congressional parasites will walk away from office with ill-gotten gains and retire in luxury.
They know that doing nothing eventually means a substantial reduction in benefits under current law. Yet fixing the problem requires them to make politically painful choices—stop funding Israel, stop funding the Iran war, stop funding wars-for-profit, stop funding the black hole of the DoD; stop putting the interest of corporate predators above those of the voters and taxpayers. It is economics 101.
When the retirement trust fund is depleted sometime around 2030, under current law if Congress does not change the financing structure, the program will restrict the payment of benefits as supported by incoming revenues.
The Trustees’ latest projections put the resulting reduction at roughly one-fifth to one-quarter of scheduled benefits. In real numbers this mean:
For a senior receiving $2,000 per month, a 20% reduction would mean approximately $400 less each month or $4,800 less per year.
At $2,500 per month, it would mean approximately $500 less per month, or $6,000 annually.
At $3,000, it would mean approximately $600 less per month, or $7,200 annually.
Those aren’t abstract numbers when you’re already spending nearly every dollar you receive trying to pay outrageous medical bills, absorb the relentless price increases at the grocery store, and keep up with rising utility costs – to name just a few of the avoidable crises that are placing enormous financial pressure not only on America’s seniors but working class individuals and families.
There is another problem that doesn’t get enough attention: many older Americans have very little ability to compensate for the income shock that is coming in 2030.
A 35-year-old who loses 20% of disposable income can potentially work more hours, change careers, move, or delay retirement.
A 78-year-old receiving Social Security cannot do those things.
That makes Social Security fundamentally different from many other federal programs. For a substantial portion of beneficiaries, it isn’t supplemental spending money. It is the foundation of their ability to remain housed, fed and medically cared for.
Congress does not have to pass a bill saying, “We are cutting your Social Security.” They can simply fail to fix the problem and allow the consequences to occur under existing law. Politically, that allows lawmakers to avoid taking responsibility for devastating and impoverishing over 70+ million people who depend on social security monthly payments to survive.
Congress knows the problem exists. They know millions of Americans depend on Social Security. Congress doesn’t give a damn.
I call them disgusting. Weak. Parasitic. Cowards. Politically protected criminals because of the laws they put in place to shield themselves. In the near future, many seniors and others will die because of their malfeasance as elected officials.
Congress and the White House don’t give a damn about anyone in America except for themselves, family, corporations, and Israel. Their actions speak louder than the rhetoric and lies they broadcast to the public.
The social security meltdown is only one part of a much larger problem: Trump’s D-Day Against the American People.
The United States is carrying roughly $40 trillion in national debt while Washington continues to authorize extraordinary levels of federal spending, including historically enormous defense expenditures. At the same time, the president and members of his family have continued to benefit financially from businesses, investments, and ventures operating alongside the extraordinary power, influence, and access that come with the presidency.
This isn’t simply another disagreement between Republicans and Democrats.
It is about fiscal responsibility. It is about conflicts of interest. It is about accountability. And ultimately, it is about whether the government is being run for the benefit of the American people or increasingly for those who possess the money and power to influence it.
We should stop pretending that “doing nothing” is a neutral decision.
When the consequences of inaction are known, choosing inaction is still a choice.
And the people who will ultimately pay for those choices aren’t the politicians sitting safely in Washington or those retired in multi-million dollars homes gorging on fat pensions and insider investments gains.
Everyday peoples living in America today are experiencing exactly what led to the Great Depression. And no amount of fiddling by the Fed will prevent this from happening; in fact, we most likely have crossed the threshold of no return partly because of a Republican controlled Congress, Trump and his administration.
The Great Depression emerged from a combination of vulnerabilities and shocks: the 1929 stock-market crash, banking failures, a severe contraction in credit and money supply, collapsing investment and consumption, agricultural distress, international debt and trade problems, and policy mistakes that transformed a recession into a catastrophic contraction. U.S. unemployment eventually reached roughly 25%, and real GDP fell by about 30% between 1929 and 1933.
