this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2025
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politics

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Summary

Elon Musk sparked controversy by falsely claiming entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid have "$700 billion" in fraud annually, vastly exaggerating the actual figure (~$10 billion/year).

Musk labeled Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" and spread conspiracies about immigrants exploiting the system.

Critics argue Musk’s ignorance and conspiracy-mongering threaten essential public programs and data privacy, while his inflammatory rhetoric—such as calling Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and combat veteran, a "traitor"—reinforces demands for his immediate removal from government.

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[–] [email protected] 72 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago
[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I wonder why he always brings his toddler kid to public gatherings...

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I have a theory his kid is a human shield so he doesn’t get luigi’ed.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago (4 children)

He's been wearing that kid like a hat ever since that CEO got shot. First time anyone had EVER seen the kid in public, too, and suddenly he hasn't been seen anywhere without him.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

Imagine getting older and realizing your dad only spent time with you to avoid getting shot. Poor kid.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

I just saw this and had to share. Seems you’re right….

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago

All it does is puts a second person on that side of the trolly tracks.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

It's a strange tactic coming from someone who supports Israel, where "human shield" is used as justification to destroy said shield along with the target.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 week ago

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Social Security is a non-partisan red line.

If this chode killed it his chances of survival would plummet.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That the case may be, but he'd be a martyr for the ultra-capitalistic sorts that make these efforts their life's work.

A despicable end, but one that may appeal to Musk himself.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Nah. No one would mourn him. The next ultra rich person would learn from his mistakes, but continue on with his work.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I really hope he fucks with it.

I would buy all the popcorn to watch 2 million boomers walk up Pennsylvania Avenue to Gaddafi his ass for days.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Same, I truly believe Americans won't be on the same page about anything. Unless they fuck with it.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

before his slash-and-burn nonsense and warped views of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid cause a spike in the sale of pitchforks.

Ha. I'd argue the time for pitchforks is already here.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago

He needs to be able to steal that money, you guyzzzzz!

Enriching fElon is about "efficiency", at least according to MOE - the Ministry of Efficiency, where up is down, black is white.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago

POS Nazi

Redundant statement is redundant.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (3 children)

If he guts SS, it will be his demise. That’s all the working class has to look forward to.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

77 million mouth breathers will blame “woke”

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They will themselves become "woke" when they realize they've been asleep for so long.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

You could've said that 1,000x by now. Nothing will wake these people up.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

At the first missed payment, they'll start burning down Social Security offices.

You don't want to piss off the old people. For many of them, its all they have. If you take that away, they'll have nothing left to lose, and lot of them are armed. That's a bad combination.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (3 children)

He’ll be replaced with another billionaire. Why are people focused on musk instead of at the root of the problem?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Perhaps if we made a strong enough example of him it'll make other billionaires think twice. The De Witt Brothers come to mind, tell them "It's either this or 92% wealth tax on assets, you pick."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Who is "we"? You're not American.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

There will always be a billionaire somewhere out there who’d be willing to give it a go. They don’t need to be a wealthy American who doesn’t want to pay taxes to do it. They can be a Russian oligarch. We need to get to the root source.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Then perhaps we should be so ruthless against that sort of practice, that it just doesn't look worth the gamble. Yes I agree, we need to get to the root source, but the billionaires are standing in the way of that arent they. Once upon a time they used to call social programs and such "Riot Tax" so we don't go after them, but we've clearly proven we don't even need a "riot tax" since we've proven to them we won't brutally deal with them in the most humiliating and painfully scary way possible. They're not worried about maintaining their social code because we're not giving them the appropriate consequences, so yes, as long as we don't sufficiently scare them another billionaire will take a crack at it.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago

Republicans are doing a great job on both sides...social security in case your luck fucks out, and the market in case your thought you could get away:

Who said retirement? That's illegal! You and I will be working for elon until we both end up 6' under. (By that I mean fucking dead like a month Python parrot)

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago

Unelected tech lord deciding grandma's retirement funds is exactly the cyberpunk hellscape novels warned us about.

🐱

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago

Maybe stop using "unelected". Most of the cabinet is technically "unelected". Focus on the part where he did not get a senate confirmation.

Like... he must be so unpopular if he can't even get a republican controlled senate to approve him.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Musk is a symptom! Trump is the elected guy responsible for the actions of his "employee". Get him out and fix the nation!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Specifically, he is just one a dozen+ members what I dub Yarvin's Cabal, a group of elites trying to implement Project 2025. They all need to be hanging out with Mussolini, else the enshittification of America will continue unabated.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I do not understand why the fact that Musk is "unelected" matters so much to everyone. Is the Secretary of Defence elected? The Attorney General?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Is the Secretary of Defence elected? The Attorney General?

Those are real positions that are appointed by every President. "DOGE" is a complete bullshit position/department pulled out of thin air to avoid any kind of confirmation and/or security clearance.

It is incredibly dangerous for a President to be allowed to invent whole government departments and appoint whoever he wants to them without any checks and balances.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I think it's just to point out another layer of legitimacy he doesn't have to do what he's doing.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You don't hear this criticism levelled at other malfunctioning government officials though. Perhaps one would if they went as off-the-rails as Musk. Still, I wish people would use accurate critiques of their opponents, such as as @Doctor_Satan mentions, that he is wholly without cheques or balances.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

And he's not a government official, even though he's impersonating one, and that the administration tells the public he's in charge of a government agency but tells the courts he's not.

While all of these things are true, I find it disingenuous to imply that his not having been elected is somehow less accurate than any other criticism levelled against him.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

@sporkler @jsomae has he formally passed any security checks yet?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

I doubt he could pass a captcha.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Musk labeled Social Security a "Ponzi scheme"

Well, he is correct about that. But in true republican fashion his solution is to get rid of it, instead of reforming it to be more sustainable without infinite population growth

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

No. I'm sick of ratcheting right, of normalizing the former Republican president's regime by half, of promising that maybe, eventually, long after my kids have died of old age, we'll get around to fixing what's broken. A return to normalcy will only legitimize this fucking bullshit. The climate is collapsing, there's microplastics in my brain and balls, the wealthy are actively trying to re-establish feudalism, and the level best the democrats can do is hold up signs and give me downvotes when I say they're not doing enough. There's evidence coming out that microplastics inhibit photosynthesis and cause crop failures, the shit's everywhere, and lol and fucking behold the UN can't even talk about it without getting drowned in a tsunami of lobbyists. Yes, hello, my name is Timothy Thompson, I'm with United Plastics, and I'm here to tell you about how single use plastics are good actually; can I offer you $5,000? I've recently come around to the idea that there's only around 10,000 very specific enormously wealthy, influential, or both people that we'd need to persuade to make the world a better, more livable place for everyone on the planet now and in the future, and right now, they aren't being effectively persuaded.

Friendship ended with centrist democrats. I am now friends with accelerationism.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

How many Luigi's do we need to persuade the rest of the 10,000?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

This isn't what I'd expect to see from the McPaper.

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