LMAO now this is a headline - Shoppers Are Skimping on Cigarettes, Doritos and Twinkies

[MtnMan]

IMHO that's nonsense. The GOP will gladly axe Medicaid and parts of the ACA if they get the chance. There's little indication they plan to nuke SS and Medicare out of orbit before 2026 as you're suggesting.

If they do, you'd probably have massive social unrest in the streets and then DJT would likely invoke the Insurrection Act. They call SS the third rail of politics for a reason.

It's possible that I'm wrong, but mandatory spending isn't an area where DOGE can come in and say monthly SS checks must take a 20% haircut (much less stopping payments entirely).

They know they can't just kill SSA and Medicare as the blowback, as every republican will need POTUS level Secret Service protection. They can however "break" the system or actually wipe the database where they can no longer function. 19-year-old computer nerds, hand-picked by Musk, who were never vetted, have already had access to the systems that run these programs. Surely they would cause no harm.

I also think you should revisit your naivety about not what DOGgiE and his lapdog Trump can legally do, vs. what they are actually doing.

A judge says "you can't do that, it is illegal/unconstitutional" and who is going to enforce that, Trump's DOJ?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

They know they can't just kill SSA and Medicare as the blowback, as every republican will need POTUS level Secret Service protection. They can however "break" the system or actually wipe the database where they can no longer function. 19-year-old computer nerds, hand-picked by Musk, who were never vetted, have already had access to the systems that run these programs. Surely they would cause no harm.

I also think you should revisit your naivety about not what DOGgiE and his lapdog Trump can legally do, vs. what they are actually doing.

A judge says "you can't do that, it is illegal/unconstitutional" and who is going to enforce that, Trump's DOJ?

It is an opportunity to create a problem then offer a solution. They privatize and bot source it. It doesn't have to work. Discouraging tax payer from using it because of how broken it is would be a feature not a bug.

 

[MtnMan]

I've reduced spending over the past year. This month is the smallest amount I've spent in several years. I'm doing my part to make things uncomfortable for maga and the billionaires. I'm tired of giving my money to people who want take our freedoms. I'm also saving in case I have to get out of Dodge.

Likewise, and really stepped it up when Trump won.

The simple fact that Trump is president would have a cooling effect on the economy. This is if he had just gone and played golf every day. Probably not a recession, but at best stagnation in the GDP. But with an oligarch master with his pimped out chain saw, and Trumps myopic tariff tactics, bring on 1929.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Cigarettes, Doritos, and Twinkies?

Perhaps Trump will invite the press to the White House to film him buying all three, just as he made a show out of supposedly buying a Tesla from Elon.

I'm sure that all the MAGAites blindly follow their leader's example, and that will immediately cure what ails our nation's economy. 😖

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Cigarettes, Doritos, and Twinkies?

Perhaps Trump will invite the press to the White House to film him buying all three, just as he made a show out of supposedly buying a Tesla from Elon.

I'm sure that all the MAGAites blindly follow their leader's example, and that will immediately cure what ails our nation's economy. 😖

It would certainly help brain worm man make america healthy again. If you can't afford cigs and snacky cakes, you are already on the road to better health.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

They know they can't just kill SSA and Medicare as the blowback, as every republican will need POTUS level Secret Service protection. They can however "break" the system or actually wipe the database where they can no longer function. 19-year-old computer nerds, hand-picked by Musk, who were never vetted, have already had access to the systems that run these programs. Surely they would cause no harm.

I also think you should revisit your naivety about not what DOGgiE and his lapdog Trump can legally do, vs. what they are actually doing.

A judge says "you can't do that, it is illegal/unconstitutional" and who is going to enforce that, Trump's DOJ?

- It will be sold as "we're cutting your benefits to save your benefits" and people will eat it right up.

The poorest and most vulnerable will be sold hate and patriotism to give up what little they already have so that the richest man on earth and a bunch of billionaires can add a couple billion more onto their net worth (although at the rate it's going everyone is just going to end up poorer here before long).

 

[MtnMan]

- It will be sold as "we're cutting your benefits to save your benefits" and people will eat it right up.

The poorest and most vulnerable will be sold hate and patriotism to give up what little they already have so that the richest man on earth and a bunch of billionaires can add a couple billion more onto their net worth (although at the rate it's going everyone is just going to end up poorer here before long).

It is a work in progress...

Cliffs notes:
40% of claims are made over the phone because many elderly are not internet/computer savvy, or even have access.
Solution #1: Turn off the phones.
Solution #2: Close field offices

 

[GodisanAtheist]

It is a work in progress...

Cliffs notes:
40% of claims are made over the phone because many elderly are not internet/computer savvy, or even have access.
Solution #1: Turn off the phones.
Solution #2: Close field offices

- Wow I was kinda kidding about eliminate social security and then force all the destitute old people to work the fields/meatpacking facilities the deported illegals leave unstaffed.

Their bodies fertilizing the soil where they fall and all meat products have a non-negligible amount of old people in them...

 

[nakedfrog]

It is a work in progress...

Cliffs notes:
40% of claims are made over the phone because many elderly are not internet/computer savvy, or even have access.
Solution #1: Turn off the phones.
Solution #2: Close field offices

Yeah, I've found out that we have older folks in our neighborhood that have neither internet service nor smart phones.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I have been seeing corpo propaganda stories lately about how retirees are taking jobs no one else wants anymore. They spin it like the old folks are excited to work retail, be personal assistants, take customer complaints, etc.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

It is a work in progress...

Cliffs notes:
40% of claims are made over the phone because many elderly are not internet/computer savvy, or even have access.
Solution #1: Turn off the phones.
Solution #2: Close field offices

They voted for Leopards eating faces. It'll be theirs soon https://www.americanprogress.org/ar...americans-retirement-and-disability-benefits/

 

[manly]

They know they can't just kill SSA and Medicare as the blowback, as every republican will need POTUS level Secret Service protection. They can however "break" the system or actually wipe the database where they can no longer function. 19-year-old computer nerds, hand-picked by Musk, who were never vetted, have already had access to the systems that run these programs. Surely they would cause no harm.

I also think you should revisit your naivety about not what DOGgiE and his lapdog Trump can legally do, vs. what they are actually doing.

A judge says "you can't do that, it is illegal/unconstitutional" and who is going to enforce that, Trump's DOJ?

We agree that Trump is both dumb and crazy, so I don't want to rule out his administration doing fucked up shit. IMHO things have already been worse than expected, but they're just getting started.

My prediction is that SS retirement benefits will still be paid out a year from now in an orderly fashion. IIRC healthcare spending in the U.S. is at least 1/8 of GDP. If Trump's goons break Medicare, we're no longer talking about a Trump recession but a depression. And they wouldn't be able to put the genie back in the bottle.

The "database" isn't something sitting on a single server. The idea that DOGE goons can expunge critical data, and there would be no means of recovery is ludicrous.

Let's come back in a year and see if your prediction that unless Musk is ousted, SS & Medicare will be broken becomes true. Again, I'm not ruling out very harmful stuff happening but there are degrees. I even said I could be wrong; only time will tell.

Nobody knows what happens WHEN (not if) Trump admin refuses court orders, because we've never had that level of Constitutional crisis to my knowledge. I'm not a retiree or active politically, but I'll be protesting in the streets if DOGE "breaks" SS & Medicare. It would be the least I could do for my country, and for my parents.

 

[Moonbeam]

I miss the projects, the problem solving, and creating something that I can drive by and admire in 20 years, I even miss my clients, and still keep in touch with some of them. But I don't miss California and the massive regulation I had to deal with. I have pretty much the same disposable income now as I did when I was working, and I really love the small town I live in, even though it's not really a small town (18,000 population).

I blame regulation on business people who took advantage of lack of oversight when America was great to cheat by producing shoddy products for their own greed, unlike people like you who naturally treated people well and took pride in their work. Today's Republican party is run by these same cheaters who remind you of why, in your case, regulation was ridiculous. The money is where the population is but eventually people in small towns will be fully paracitized by Harvard Business School trained bean counters. Enjoy while you can. There is no saving a society whose moral principles have not been internalized.

 

[Indus]

We agree that Trump is both dumb and crazy, so I don't want to rule out his administration doing fucked up shit. IMHO things have already been worse than expected, but they're just getting started.

My prediction is that SS retirement benefits will still be paid out a year from now in an orderly fashion. IIRC healthcare spending in the U.S. is at least 1/8 of GDP. If Trump's goons break Medicare, we're no longer talking about a Trump recession but a depression. And they wouldn't be able to put the genie back in the bottle.

The "database" isn't something sitting on a single server. The idea that DOGE goons can expunge critical data, and there would be no means of recovery is ludicrous.

Let's come back in a year and see if your prediction that unless Musk is ousted, SS & Medicare will be broken becomes true. Again, I'm not ruling out very harmful stuff happening but there are degrees. I even said I could be wrong; only time will tell.

Nobody knows what happens WHEN (not if) Trump admin refuses court orders, because we've never had that level of Constitutional crisis to my knowledge. I'm not a retiree or active politically, but I'll be protesting in the streets if DOGE "breaks" SS & Medicare. It would be the least I could do for my country, and for my parents.

LOL at protests mattering.

Unless you're willing to tackle the problem (the MAGA voters).. the status quo will not change.

 

[Pens1566]

If you don't think that drastic SSA and Medicaid/medicare cuts are coming, you haven't been paying attention.

And, they don't care who it impacts. Base or no base, doesn't matter.

 

[K1052]

If you don't think that drastic SSA and Medicaid/medicare cuts are coming, you haven't been paying attention.

And, they don't care who it impacts. Base or no base, doesn't matter.

Medicaid work requirements to push millions off the program and making it more difficult to obtain SS payments and Medicare services seems the likeliest path. Huge cuts by another name.

 

[K1052]

Consumer sentiment headed straight into the toilet.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Firstly: fuck all the dollar stores. They prey on poor folks.

 

[gothuevos]

Firstly: fuck all the dollar stores. They prey on poor folks.

Will these voters connect the dots or nah?

I'm leaning towards NO.

 

[DZero]

Consumer sentiment headed straight into the toilet.

View attachment 119838

And that age was because of Pandemic.

 

[Greenman]

I have been seeing corpo propaganda stories lately about how retirees are taking jobs no one else wants anymore. They spin it like the old folks are excited to work retail, be personal assistants, take customer complaints, etc.

Seems like that would depend on the job. I've considered applying at the local hardware store, but I don't want to do 40 hour weeks. I know home improvement and repair inside out, I could bring very real value to the store and it's customers.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Seems like that would depend on the job. I've considered applying at the local hardware store, but I don't want to do 40 hour weeks. I know home improvement and repair inside out, I could bring very real value to the store and it's customers.

Greenman be all

 

[SteveGrabowski]

If there is one silver lining for me here, I'm actually relieved that I'll be hitting retirement age in ~35+ years.

If it makes you feel better you'll probably still get conscripted at 65 for our inevitable civil wars over water.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

IMHO that's nonsense. The GOP will gladly axe Medicaid and parts of the ACA if they get the chance. There's little indication they plan to nuke SS and Medicare out of orbit before 2026 as you're suggesting.

If they do, you'd probably have massive social unrest in the streets and then DJT would likely invoke the Insurrection Act. They call SS the third rail of politics for a reason.

It's possible that I'm wrong, but mandatory spending isn't an area where DOGE can come in and say monthly SS checks must take a 20% haircut (much less stopping payments entirely).

Trump literally defunded Social Security in 2020 and ran on making the defunding permanent.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

If you don't think that drastic SSA and Medicaid/medicare cuts are coming, you haven't been paying attention.

And, they don't care who it impacts. Base or no base, doesn't matter.

Medicare, Social Security, and stockpiling weapons to be used on field trips to go kill brown people are the three big things this government spends on. You can guess which is the one of those three that won't be cut.