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cover of episode BREAKING NEWS : Gwen Moore Calls On GOP To Not Be 'Useful Idiots About' Musk, Trump Pushing For Social Security Cuts

BREAKING NEWS : Gwen Moore Calls On GOP To Not Be 'Useful Idiots About' Musk, Trump Pushing For Social Security Cuts

2025/3/18
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Elon Musk Podcast

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This chapter delves into the false claims made by Elon Musk and Donald Trump regarding Social Security, presenting evidence and data that debunk their assertions.
  • Elon Musk labeled Social Security as a Ponzi scheme.
  • Claims about deceased individuals receiving benefits were debunked by multiple news outlets.
  • Musk's misunderstanding stems from outdated data systems.

Shownotes Transcript

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by American Express. Now, before we get too deep into this episode, I want to share something interesting with you. I was in the analytics of this channel and I noticed something a little bit off. 65% of you listen or watch and are not subscribed to the channel. But 35% of you are and I appreciate you and thank you for subscribing. Now, the other 65% of you that aren't subscribed, I'm going to make you a deal.

If you subscribe to the channel right now, I will continue to bring you content that is better every single time. So it takes you a second to do that. But also you get something out of this too. Not only do you get my content, but you get content similar to mine that you'd be interested in in your feed because the platforms, they see what you do on their platform. If you like and subscribe here and also leave a comment, you're

You're going to get more stuff like this in your feed and you're going to love it. Not just for me, but from other creators on the platform. So that's the deal. I make better content every time. And all I ask is for a subscriber real quick. All right. Thanks. Sick with worry at the risk of fraudsters having their social security numbers, banking information, and other personal information shared with Musk cronies who've invaded the social security administration.

So let's be clear. President Trump and Elon Musk have launched a public campaign against Social Security. Mr. Musk is calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme, and both he and President Trump are spreading widely discredited lies about the program and its integrity. But the facts don't add up. Let me read just a few of the countless news headlines debunking their false claims.

The Associated Press says tens of millions of dead people aren't getting Social Security checks despite Trump and Musk claims. ABC News says Musk misreads Social Security data. Millions of dead people are not getting benefits, experts say. CBS News says new Social Security chief refutes claims of deceased people over 100 years old getting checks.

The Washington Post says, Elon Musk claims of Social Security fraud don't hold up, and here's why. And the New York Times says, millions of dead people on Social Security? The agency's own data says otherwise.

And in fact, the claims by Elon Musk are based on complete misunderstanding of Social Security's data systems, which often lack complete birth and death information for people born before 1920, before Social Security was established and long before electronic records were kept.

A 2023 Inspector General report said that almost none of these people born before 1920 with misinformation are paid benefits. But my constituents are also worried because the Trump administration is taking a wrecking ball to the Social Security administration. Far from making the agency more efficient and

They are undermining its ability to serve the public. And why are they trying to destroy the Social Security Administration? It's the first step of a long-standing effort by Republicans to dismantle trust in Social Security and slash benefits. The Trump Administration wants to close Social Security offices across the nation and slash the agency's workforce by nearly one in eight employees.

Social Security Administration, this administration is already at a 50-year staffing low due to years of underfunding, and it's serving more beneficiaries than ever. How will gutting its workforce help it to serve the American people? Well, the answer is that it doesn't. And in fact, it's very likely a move to undermine confidence in

so that the Trump administration can privatize it. And with that, I yield back. Remember, he yields back. I now recognize Ms. Moore for five minutes to strike the last word. Thank you so very, very much, Mr. Chairman and ranking member and members. I am reminded of what Maya Angelou said when she said, she said, when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

And then, of course, Rachel Maddow, who is a news commentator on MSNBC, often says you need to watch what people do and not what they say. And I think that those are very helpful admonitions in view of this discussion here today. We have our Republican colleagues swearing.

that Donald Trump will not do anything to Social Security. And, you know, from your lips to God's ears, let's hope, you know, I'm on your side. I'm hoping that you're right. But we have known that Republicans have long wanted to destroy Social Security and really privatize it.

As a matter of fact, former chair of this committee, my good friend Paul Ryan from Wisconsin, openly tried to privatize Social Security. My own Senator Johnson was the first person I ever heard call it a Ponzi scheme long before Elon Musk was on the scene. And Mick Mulvaney, during the Trump one campaign,

who was a former chief of staff, testified before the Joint Economic Committee that, yes, we need to go after Social Security because just like Jesse James robbed banks, it's because that's where the money is. And so I am, you know, I'm not convinced that

that they're not going to do it. Musk has just basically said we need to go after entitlement spending, which he designates as Social Security and Medicare. So I think that it's important for our Republican friends not to be willfully ignorant, to be useful idiots about this. You know, and so that's what they say. What are they doing? Let's look at that.

This CR that we passed just yesterday, in order to flat fund the operations of the Social Security Administration, we would have had to have added $600 million. Instead of adding the $600 just to flat fund the agency, they got an additional $100 million. That's $700 million. Watch what they do.

You're trying to save Social Security, but you want to destroy customer service. We heard Mr. Estes, the new chairman of the subcommittee, talk about how awful the customer service is. Well, yeah, but that is part of the scheme, to undermine Social Security to the point that people lose faith in it. As a matter of fact, Martin O'Malley sent me this text.

He says they just want to wreck it so they can rob it. And now with this CR and the mass firings taking place at Social Security, as we speak, they are destroying customer service for the American people, driving this agency to collapse and putting at grave and serious risk the monthly benefits of 72 million Americans. That's the former commissioner of Social Security, Martin O'Malley.

And then the President Trump tells us that he's going to cut taxes on Social Security. Well, that really sounds great. Send people, I heard, $5,000 checks. That really sounds great. And that, of course, would help people making $20,000, $30,000 immediately. But in the long run, they would be hurt the most and wealthy people would be helped the most. But in the meantime, it would cost money.

The trust fund, $1.5 trillion to do that. Watch what they do, not what they say. That would undermine Social Security tremendously. The Social Security payment accuracy is about 99.8%.

So I don't know how much waste, fraud, and abuse can be found in it. This really, the last point that I want to make is that Elon Musk is a tycoon. And I wonder what the value of this data is to him. It's immeasurable. So this is a serious conflict of interest for this man to have social security data when he is a tech tycoon.

Members, time has expired. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, for your indulgence. And I yield back. I recognize Mr. Boyle. This episode is brought to you by State Farm.

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