>

Social security doesn't add to the deficit, it's funded through payroll taxes.  So if they are gonna cut social security they mean they will reduce or try to eliminate payroll taxes altogether giving zero fucks how that will harm the country in its entirety.
When they talk about defending the American People, they mean corporations and millionaires and billionaires.  Not you.
Can't wait to hear how the GOP trying their hardest to fuck over the working class, seniors and the sick is all Democrats fault by the next jackass running to be president. >

It'll be like when McConnell tried to pass a bill to allow US Citizens to sue other countries and Obama said it was a bad idea. They passed the bill and Obama vetoed it saying it was a bad idea. They held a vote to override the veto and Obama said again that it was a bad idea. It passed and then they realized that it was a bad idea. So McConnell blamed Obama, saying that he obviously should have warned them more. >

Still not as good as that time McConnell filibustered his own bill because Democrats agreed with it. >

My favorite is still the international lawsuit one but man, this is a super close, nearly a tie kind of second.
What an absolute shitshow to live through, and even worse have to argue with people about.
HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DEFEND THIS SHIT? >


HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DEFEND THIS SHIT?

My family doesn't. They just deflect with whataboutism (half the time being just conspiracy theories) or worst. So you wind up arguing all these irrelevant things and can't get back to the main point. >

Never engage with that stuff. 
A simple phrase, "that's not what's being discussed here", repeated as needed. Do not honor any rhetorical tricks. 
The only reason rhetorical tricks work, ever, is because the other participant in the conversation treats them as serious points. 
In my experience rhetorical tricks are often knowingly used to deflect, and half the time they're only used out of imitation. Half the time people are arguing that way only because they've seen someone else do it. >

Great Advice I am going to use it next time when I argue with right-wing relatives and hate mongering friends >

The method is effective, I will warn you though, it will infuriate them. They will often feel cornered and wronged and may lash out with personal or even physical attacks. >

Which will again be ad hominem. 
Honestly, just stop arguing with people like that. You can't convince them anyway, their goal is never to understand your point or even learn something, but to convert you. There is no reason to entertain these fools. >

The other day my MAGA brother sent me a “gotcha” YouTube about Biden that was a lie.
So I pointed out the lie. Maybe 4 sentences.
He lost it. Started going off how I’m an over explainer and over explainers ruin things etc. started laughing at me. I try not to lose respect for him but it’s getting hard. >

If they won’t tax billionaires, they have to make up for it somewhere >

Looking at the big juicy sacred cow called runaway military spending. Gov should tax billionaires and cut defense to strengthen social funding. >

The problem with cutting military spending is that the cuts never go where they should. They won't stop ordering tanks or jets that aren't needed so instead the budget cuts go to child care facilities, tuition assistance programs, and dependent/retiree benefits. 
And then they wonder why they can't meet recruiting targets... >

That’s never occurred to me. That’s nauseating. They really hit them coming and going. >

When I advocate for free higher education I often get told, "just join the military." I have a heart murmur, they wouldn't even take me if I tried. Nothing but carrots and sticks and we've been pretty light on the carrots for a while >

My favorite is putting Scott Perry on the J6 “investigation” while his phone is still confiscated for…suspicion of being involved in J6 >

Yeah, he's basically using his committee and the powers it gives them to interfere with the investigation against him.
That's what it says in the article if you read between the lines of his statements. >

My hardcore MAGA relatives are relying on social security to survive. If it ever runs out I bet they'll blame democrats somehow >

Reminds me of some of my family claiming them dems are socialists while ironically collecting Social Security and Medicare. >

I remember people saying they loved the ACA but hated "Obamacare". >

I hate how ignorant voters are. They shit on military veterans and the elderly and yet get a sizeable portion of their vote. They've owned Texas since the mid 90s and don't have anything to show for it other than a failing electrical grid, poor education, massive gun deaths, and corruption. >

This part killed me:

“I’m all for a balanced budget, but we’re not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a former Army Green Beret, said Monday during an interview on Fox Business. “If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it’s the entitlements programs.”

Ignoring that literally half the budget goes to military spending and many "troops" don't make nearly enough or even as much as they used to, this dumb grunt fuck is essentially shitting on veterans.
There's roughly 16.5 million veterans in America, and 8 million of them (so nearly half!) collect Social Security, and 1 out of every 7 Social Security recipients is a veteran. On average, veterans also receive higher monthly benefit amounts, and I'd bet dollars to dipshits that it's one of the few things keeping the veteran recipient's poverty levels lower.
Same shit goes for Medicare, as roughly half of all veterans receive coverage through Medicare; of course, you can't blame them when it gives the tiniest bit more freedom in healthcare choices when compared to the VA.
Our military budget is already disgusting compared to the rest of the world, but when compared to how most these "MILITARY AND OUR TROOPS! OO-RAH!" assclowns don't recognize what junior enlisted, veterans, the elderly/disabled, low-income civilians, and even kids going with lunch at school live with daily, it's fucking abhorrent to defend military spending over social "entitlements" programs. >

Republicans don't give a single fuck about veterans. Most of them were against helping out burn pit victims just like they were against helping out 9/11 first responders. Thankfully we have the democrats and people like Jon Stewart. Whenever the Republicans talk about the troops it makes me sick because I know they are 100% full of shit like usual. >

Social Security and Medicare aren't freebes from the Government.  People have been paying into these programs their entire working lives.  These programs need better funding, not cuts!  F*ck the GQP for wanting to gut these! >

I always treated Social Security as a tax I paid so I didn't have to walk over the corpses of old people as I walked to work. >

Yes. Those are the bodies my SS tax helps keep from dying in the street. 
Imagine what this country would look like with 30 million old people living on the street.  We'll probably find out in 20 years... >

Imagine what it would look like if wages had risen for the bottom 99% enough that they would have been able to afford to save for themselves. >

We already learned this last century >

2020s reprising the 1920s.  Don't love this timeine >

2080s gonna be lit though. Getting my nostrils ready for space cocaine. >

I'm gonna be 100 then though >

Perfect time to not give a fuck and do a line with me >

We kept the senate, good luck fuckers. >

For two years. The Senate is very at risk in 2024. >

Everything is at risk in 2024.
Hopefully the country sees what a clown show a GOP-led house is and decides maybe they don't want more of that. >

Nothing they do will dissuade the hardcore base. Some people literally are just mad and want to see it set on fire, even if they get burned. >

They won't ever watch other news sources and the ones they do (FOX, NewsMax, OAN, The Blaze etc.) won't cover the negative results. Well they might, but blame them on ineffectual federal administration and Democrats. >

And then when Dems fight tooth and nail to get out a (watered down by republicans) bill that benefits everyone, republican will take credit even though they voted no! >

Boggles the mind how anyone votes for these guys. They literally smile and tell you they will pull the rug out from under you and people just say “ok!” >

I wish I could find an essay I read by a former Republican voter a few years ago. He basically said that his state of mind at the time was that the fact he needed government help - he was chronically unemployed or under-employed - was a sign of laziness, and if he could just take away his own safety net, it would finally force him to work hard enough to get back on his feet. He thought he needed to suffer in order to counter this supposed laziness.
Meanwhile, he was working himself into exhaustion and despair.
So yeah, people do just say "OK," because they've been psychologically conditioned to believe that they're lazy if they need any help, and that it's good for them if that help is taken away.
He knew full well that he was voting consistently to cut the very services he relied on. He genuinely thought that if they were gone, it would finally give him the impetus to make it on his own.
That's the mentality we're up against. These are people who have adopted Stockholm Syndrome as a political position. >

I think this was the thesis of a book I read called Strangers in their Own Land. It talked about people who all thought they could gain the American dream and didn’t want other people to “cut” them in line, so they didn’t want support for others even if it would help themselves. Interesting read actually. Made a lot of sense of why people seemingly vote against their own interest. >

It's the "zero-sum game" mentality. They believe you can't have a win/win scenario. If someone gets something, someone else has to lose. 
It works if your logical brain can't think past "If I give him a dollar, I lose that dollar," but once you expand out it becomes pretty clear that investing in other people can pay off for you as well. Paying a few tax dollars for afterschool programs not only improves education for students, but also reduces crime - and prosecuting and jailing criminals is much more expensive than those afterschool tax expenditures.
So it really comes down to people who haven't been made aware of the value of investing and how things are interconnected, and how they have only an elementary understanding of math and specifically taxes. >

The biggest concept that most voters don't understand is the velocity of money. I.E. how many times the "same" dollar will be spent as it cycles around an economy.
They think that if you give a dollar to someone poor, that money just disappears into their mattress. When in reality it starts a chain of purchases and sales that pays back a majority of that dollar bit by bit right back to the government and taxpayers. And that's purely the financial return! >

the funny part is that money only goes into a metaphorical mattress when you give it to the rich >

I have been paying a huge amount of my paycheck to Medicare and Social Security for decades now. How is it an “entitlement” that I want MY MONEY BACK when I retire? >

As a 56 year old, I was looking for a new job last year. Ageism is absolutely a thing. You have to be careful not to go too far back on your job history or put dates for education or they figure it out pretty quick. Happy to say I’m working at a university in admin and I’m happy. >

So is this the GOP's method for solving inflation?  Or did they just predictably stop caring about that issue? >

The GOP's standard playbook is based on bait and switch. >

I distinctly remember asking someone like 6 months ago "What are you going to do if they decide in January 2023 as a thank you for voting for them, that they need to cut social security and Medicare immediately?"  
Their response was basically "Well, they wouldn't cut mine. I paid into it."   
So I reiterated, "But what if in January they vote to cut SS/Medicare and it passes and starting in October 2023 it's not available to you anymore? Ya know. As a thank you for voting for them and a checkmark to filling out a campaign promise"  
Their response was "Well if they do cut it, it obviously wouldn't take place for like a decade. Which is fine. I'll get what I paid out of it, and those folks that don't deserve it will have to deal with the consequences of their actions".  
I should find that person again. I'm willing to bet the conversation will go swimmingly. >

Who exactly are the folks that don’t deserve it? Do they think there are millions of people who have never worked that are collecting? >


Who exactly are the folks that don’t deserve it? 

"everyone but me." >

Republican values in a nutshell. "Me, me, me, me....and fuck everyone else". >

Don't forget, they then put on the Christian mask so they can both pretend to be good, righteous people while also claiming religious persecution when you call out their selfish words and actions. >

Barf. So true >

If you voted for these idiots and you are under 54 years old, you just handed a good chunk of change to everyone 54 and older and got rid of entitlements you paid for. 
Good job morons. >

I’m vOting rEpUblicaN tO do SOmetHing aBout iNflAtion >

Of course. The secret to inflation is with Hunter Biden, hence the planned investigation. >

why tf hunter pushing the inflation button 😤 >

So they want to kill off their voting base. >

They’ll grandfather their base in.  Millennials will be shafted like we have been since 2008.
Edit: punctuation was difficult… >

Don't forget us GenX-ers. You can get Social Security at 62 - 70. That's in 15 - 23 years for me. Suddenly, Republicans will change my retirement from "everything you've saved up plus what you paid into Social Security" to "better hope you saved up enough because the money you paid into Social Security is ours now." 
Meanwhile, they'll probably also raise healthcare costs - while allowing boomers to stay on cheaper Medicare - so my less retirement money goes less far than it would have gone if they had only tempered with one of the programs. >

This is my fear exactly. At age 47, I'm looking at "retirement age" in less than twenty years. There is absolutely no way I'm going to be able to retire at the rate they're taking things away from us. I'll be working until they put me in the dirt. >

Vote blue or your nightmare comes true - SIMPLE. >

Except all of the "Keep yer gubmint hands off mah Medicare" people keep voting red. >

There was a guy like this driving me from the airport. 
Was on disability, and social security, and screaming about "socialist joe"
I told him his beloved republicans wanted to take away his social security and he was quite after that. >

If he had voted blue, there would be strong Union protections and he would be a cabbie instead of destroying his own car. >

I just had a realization. Thank you. >

Going after the little people and not the 1%, isn’t that a shocker? >

"Moochers and takers" >

All the people i know who are on SS vote hard R. No idea why. >

My brother and his wife are retired and hard Republicans. They hate anyone "undeserving" getting money and would sink their own lifeboat to prevent anyone they find undeserving getting aboard. >

Worth looking up the Tajfel experiment. >

“The aim of Tajfel's study was to demonstrate that merely putting people into groups (categorisation) is sufficient for people to discriminate in favour of their own group and against members of the other group.”
via >

Importantly, the study participants would hurt their own group as long as it hurt the other group more, rather than helping both groups equally. >

It's such a fucking scam to go after benefits in a country where benefits suck to begin with. You have to an ogre to rally to that shit. >

Why do Republicans hate Americans? >

Because they're racist and above all, desire a hierarchy of social class so they can legally hurt other people beyond political murder i.e. gutting medicare/medicaid, making abortion illegal, killing POC/homeless/drug addicts/fringes through a belligerently incompetent police. 
Political violence is really just violence, indirectly through policy and law change >

I’ve got nothing against a strong military but I don’t understand comments like “not on the backs of our military” and thus state defense spending cuts are off the table. 
The success of our nation is built on our people. It’s the reason our Constitution starts with “We the People…” not we the soldiers or I the king. Without a stable and happy people there is no country to defend. 
Cuts to the military (or any program) should be on the table as much as increasing revenue through taxes. The stance that social entitlements can be cut and other areas of government is asinine. 
You can’t undermine the population and pretend like it will have no impact. People aren’t living rich lives dependent solely upon government programs. They’re just living and in many cases on the contributions THEY made with THEIR tax dollars. And I’m pretty sure We the People can decide if we want to take care ourselves. >

It won’t come out of the weapons system budget. They’ll cut back on a benefit like the child development center >

Conservatives: Republicans won’t overturn Roe your overreacting!
Republicans: overturns Roe
Conservatives: Republicans won’t cut SS or Medicare your overreacting!
Republicans: “We need to cut entitlements programs”
I’m sensing a pattern here. >

The pattern is that they take advantage of the knuckledraggers who do not know better and/or do know better but do not care. >

Step 1: call democrats demons and use them as scapegoats for your horrible policy outcomes
Step 2: Fox News
Step 3: “I’m voting conservative becuase at least it’s not a democrat” >

the party of the people lol >

And yet, their constituents will vote for them again. Either out of ignorance or misinformation. >

Or fear of eternal hellfire and being outcasted from their churches if they don't.
Religion is the primary motivation for why most people vote Republican. >


“I’m all for a balanced budget, but we’re not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military,” - - Michael Waltz (R-FL)

Nope, you're going to do it on the backs of the elderly and the disabled. Much more noble. >

Cool. I want a refund with interest for every dime that I’ve contributed to social security for the past 25 years. >

Remember when Republicans said that the warnings of them doing this were just fear-mongering? They're more predictable than a Michael Bay film. >

Old folks screwing kids.  How very Republican. >

Canadian here. I just don't know how people vote for fucking idiots like this.
For real. >

They’ve been taking away rights and benefits my whole life. >

Practice what you preach and give up your own entitlements first. >

Let's be clear. It's not an entitlement when I fucking pay for it monthly out of my paycheck. >

They're going to hold the entire world economy hostage in order to do this.  They'll try to force it through by threatening a default on the debt.  This is terrorism on a grand scale.  Bin Laden could only dream of such power to destroy the United States and all it allies. >


Bin Laden could only dream of such power to destroy the United States and all it allies.

Bin Laden dreamed of that power, but the Southern Baptist Church has it. >

Please oh please let the Senate do its intended function as the voice of reason.  SSI and Medicare are not entitlement programs.  Workers pay into the government funds through payroll withholding or quarterly remittances for self-employed persons.  Benefits are prepaid, not entitlements. >

Republican voters: Yeah! From the Democrats, right?
Republican politicians:
Republican voters: …. Just the Democrats, right? >

As predicted.  The wealthy aren't wealthy enough.
Fuck you, republican voters.  You willingly ignored this tale of what was to come. >

It's cool, they can't do it unilaterally, and the Senate has a dem majority; anything they try to legislate away that's stupid can get blocked by Senate and the Executive  
..right? >

I think they figure if they hold the debt ceiling hostage, Biden and the Dems will have to agree to it.
Malarkey. >


Biden and the Dems will have to agree to it.

Biden could also just ignore the debt ceiling and borrow above the limit. If the Republicans have a problem with that, they can take it to court, and make it blatantly obvious in public that they want the government to default on its debts, since that's the only thing that would be in question. The entire premise of the debt ceiling is unconditional, and the article making it so does not mince words, I don't think even the currently disgraced SCROTUS would debase itself just to commit proactive national suicide on behalf of the maga morons.
Side benefit of this is that either way, we never have to hear a word about the stupid fucking manufactured issue that is the debt ceiling ever again. >

The Democrats need to make this a boogeyman now. Don’t wait until there’s a bill being pushed. Turn this into a giant, exaggerated monster where the GOP plans to steal SS and Medicare from every single senior. Make this 10 times scarier than those stupid immigration ads. >

“If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it’s the entitlements programs.”
Social Security doesn't cost the US government anything, and it never has.  You can't balance a budget when SS doesn't even touch the budget.  Lying liars are going to rob us of every penny they can. >

Remember this, people.  If you care about your older loved ones, remember this… >

As a retiree, I am tryng to understand why they keep referring to these programs as 'entitlements'. I paid into these for 43 years. It's my money. So the GOP solution is to make senior's lives more miserable whilst showering billionaires, defense contractors and corporation with huge tax cuts? I will  pay more tax on my SSI this year than Trump did for 2 years.
Why do people continue to vote for these self interested, disconnected from reality, posturing assholes???? >

Hey, lower income small town America, this is what you voted for here. >

I suspect they’ll try to tack this shit on to debt ceiling negotiations. Because their party is essentially a bunch of terrorists who want to hold the entire country hostage in order to gain enough leverage so that they can inflict as much pain on the average American as possible. >

I can't wait to hear the republicans explain how they shut down the government because the dems wouldn't agree to cut Social Security.  Talk about shooting yourself in the foot . . . >

Yeah, I'm sure they'll talk about it in an honest and forthright fashion LMAO. >

“Kids these days just don’t want to work. Anyways… here I go pulling up that ladder again while I continue to take your money…”
-Boomer generation and anyone 54 and over that this won’t affect. >

I told you this would happen, and a surprisingly large number of commenters didn't believe it. >

You cut social security, you get a war. 
I don't see it going any other way. >

From the article: “I’m all for a balanced budget, but we’re not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a former Army Green Beret, said Monday during an interview on Fox Business. “If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it’s the entitlements programs.”
So social security (paying old ppl to live since they aren’t capable of working) and helping people afford basic healthcare is an “entitlement” now. 
I know several people who work in the military realm. They literally piss away money. Those are some of the most entitled people I’ve ever met in my life. 28 yr old married couples making 120-140k annually working basic ass maintenance jobs with no degrees. PLUS $1,500 a month in living stipends, plus free strength trainers, plus free physical therapist, plus free mental health programs, plus free dietitians, plus free healthcare at brand new hospitals on base, plus free childcare, plus paid for higher Ed if they want it… 
but yeah, it’s those damn poor people making 35k a year begging for basic healthcare that are destroying America. Along with those damn retired people that built this country just begging for scraps. Hoping to got not have to work part time jobs at 80 or having to pass on 100k in debt bc they had to live in a nursing home for 3 months before they die. To hell with um, right? Fkn entitled poor ppl looking for handouts.
The irony of military members who live in a socialist society screaming at the top of their lungs against socialism all while wanting to cut others “socialist programs” so they can have more funding for theirs.. it’s almost unbelievable at this point. But hey… that’s the republican way 🤘🏼all for me and not for thee >

"Fuck the People! Its the Republican way!" -House Republicans >

My grandma literally wouldn't believe me that republicans are trying to gut social security, the cognitive dissonance is real >

Look how happy he is! I bet he’s 5 again, killing his cat with his father’s hammer behind the shed. >

This is wild to me. Anyone that has ever had to deal with a budget either personally or professionally - i.e. the majority of adults around the world - understands that there are two sides to the equation. 
Rather than balance the budget by increasing the tax contributions from those that at the top of society the only solutions they choose to acknowledge are to give less to those at the bottom. 
Oh no! the deficit has gone up! It cant possibly be due to an endless stream of tax cuts for the wealthy. Nope, its definitely entitlement programs that have got to go. >

Oh great! Whatever happened to the “we’re in control of the house and we are here to take care of the American people!” By cutting our benefits?? Nice one. And who cares because 40 million Americans support the gop just to make liberals cry. And then they call themselves patriots🤷‍♂️ wtf?! >

Two things that need to be EXPANDED!
Yeah go ahead and cut benefits we've been paying into our entire working lives you fucking ghouls.
FUCK YOU Republicans! I will never ever vote for one of you again EVER! i I don't care if it's for dog catcher. You're all filthy degenerate pissant scum! >

If Democrats aren’t buying every billboard in the state of Florida I’ll be very disappointed. >

i've paid into social security since i was a teen.  I will be retiring in the next five years.  This was not a 'gift' to the country.  I didn't get a choice.  Although I won't be able to live off my SS check, it will most certainly help.  I view it as an annuity, not a 'benefit' as the republicans like to refer to it.  So what IS a benefit that should be cut?  Lifetime healthcare for elected officials. >

Alright! Now I can finally explain to my MAGA Facebook meme grandparents with context why I don’t vote for these assholes! 
“Hey, just imagine if you didn’t have Medicare or Social Security. Would it be way different for you?! Yeah, I understand. Well, you see now that you were so passionate about a party winning instead of whatever their “platform” was, I will never experience those benefits. Thanks! I hope you are able to leave me a fat check in a few years or whenever none of this matters to you because you will be dead and whatnot. No worries. At least they’re owning libs and shit. Just eatin babies and space lasers and teaching about racism that happened about 60 years ago.” Fucks >

Honest to god how do conservative voters live with themselves >

Serious question… Why does anyone vote Republican? It seems that all they do is try to screw over the working/poor class. I genuinely don’t get it. >

Because they like to drum up culture wars to keep the poors busy while the politicians profit off of everyone. >

Remove the SS tax cap. Make the millionaires and billionaires pay taxes, which will take care of the employees they use and abuse then discard when they are elderly amd/or disabled. >

Americans are so stupid.  I know this will get downvoted because of how unfair that first sentence is.  However, a party known to do this kind of shit over and over again still gets voted in.  These kind of politicians shouldn’t exist.  Even if you, the redditor reading this, didn’t personally vote for them.  Enough Americans are voting them into office.  It’s ridiculous to give such power to people who are actively trying to ruin you.  
I had always laughed about how it used to be communists you’re so supposed to hate and then it’s terrorists.  I feel like at this point we can just make up any word for the people to be against and it will work.  
Oh wait, GOP leaders talking about the dangers of foreigners in the country and is married to a foreigner.  GOP leader constantly going on about the dangerous homosexuals being allowed to exist, get caught in homosexual extra-marital affairs.  Then we are supposed to worry about all the pedophiles and groomers out there when in all likelihood it’s the GOP housing all those awful pedophiles and groomers.  
It’s a total shame that there are people still voting for this party to exist. >

"Republicans don’t plan to alter benefits for current Social Security and Medicare recipients, according to Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas)."
So boomers get to have theirs and then scream "fuck you I got mine" while pulling up the ladder after them for every generation following. >

Elected politicians need to be on the SAME retirement/Social Security plan as the people they represent. >

My entire extended family bleeds red until something negatively impacts them or they realize that they need help, then they finally understand what the left is trying to do. Sad, but I feel like that is the majority of republicans. It’s all about me, me, me rather than us as a whole >

They'll really need to sell this to the American people.  Here are my suggestions. 

Get ready to help Mom and Dad with their medical bills
Making sure Social Security is broke when you're ready to retire
The rich get tax cuts, everyone else gets Social Security and Medicare cuts.  What could be fairer? >

Do they even care about constituents.  They don’t have to sell dick.   They will just do whatever lines their pockets. >

I have a four letter “word” to share with the Republican Party- AARP. They vote you moronic pieces of crap. >

Fuck you, Qevin. That's my money that I've invested my entire life. It's not yours to cut. >

Everything for corporations while stealing away money from any programs benefitting Americans who need help - that is so typical republican. Stop voting for these self-serving grifters. >

So they’re essentially raising taxes on the young. Social Security would no longer be an insurance program but simply another tax you pay. >

You want to turn Florida blue.   Fuck with their retirement.