Speaking of the hands off protest, this past Monday I saw this on X:
X
A bit long but good:
"Credit to Denise Cattoni (via Fb) for summing it up quite nicely.
To all the "Hands Off" Protesters (Democrats):
We are currently at a critical juncture with a national debt of $36.5 trillion, increasing by $2 trillion each year. This is a critical issue, and most experts are warning us that we have relatively few years left to take decisive action before America faces a financial crisis that would have catastrophic consequences for this country and the world.
Amid all your protests, the burning of Teslas, and your petulant vitriol, one crucial element is glaringly missing: any plan to cut government spending. Instead, your goal appears to be to spend even more.
We finally have leaders in President Trump and Elon Musk who are courageous enough to finally focus on sustainable spending practices that are critical to avoid risking our economic future. Time is of the essence—instead of being in the way, let’s act together before it’s too late.
If not...
HANDS OFF - my tax dollars, which were not intended for your pet projects and the corrupt, virtue-signaling Socialists who spew the garbage you all take as gospel. It’s not a slush fund and a money laundering operation through left-wing NGO's to make politicians rich.
HANDS OFF - my child at school. Teach them the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. They are not there to be indoctrinated into your Marxist ideologies.
HANDS OFF - trying to force American women and girls to compete against biological men and then adding insult to injury, forcing them to change and shower in front of them. Stop forcing your fu@ked up theories on the rest of us.
HANDS OFF - all the property you destroy in the name of whatever cause you’re supporting that given week. Other people’s vehicles are not yours to destroy. Neither are statues or all the other s#it you light on fire.
HANDS OFF - our college campuses. Decent kids are there to learn. Free speech is protected. Violence, intimidation, and taking over buildings are not. By the way, if your cause is so just, take off the masks and show yourself. Cowards one and all.
HANDS OFF - our president, who was duly elected to clean up the mess y’all created. We sat by and watched as you supported a puppet who was practically dead. It damn near destroyed the nation. Financially, from a security standpoint, and morally.
HANDS OFF - to all the federal district judges. Your power does not supersede the executive branch. And, stop using Lawfare by going after your political opponents.
HANDS OFF - our ICE Agents, who are taking violent gang bangers out of our country and forcing people who want to come here to do so legally. It should be the only way. Period. End of story.
HANDS OFF - our Free Speech rights. For years, you have used the process of cancelling people who simply wanted to express their own ideas. In your world, you think free speech can only be allowed if it agrees with your screwed up ideologies.
HANDS OFF - the American family. You have done everything possible to destabilize the concept of families because you believe that our ultimate allegiance should be to the government.
HANDS OFF - from imposing your Marxist views of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the methods you’ve used to implement them through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Most Americans are compassionate individuals who believe in judging people based on their character rather than the color of their skin.
These principles are what the vast majority of Americans voted for.
You don’t like it, be like that slob Rosie O'Donnell and move to Europe, which is being taken over by radical Islam.
So, to borrow your stupid little slogan…. Hands Off... "
As for the longstanding, out-of-control government spending, Conservative Contrarian's comments seem a little odd, given that the President has just proposed a Defense Department of a trillion dollars--by far the highest ever. I have grave doubts as to his and DOGE's ability, or even willingness, to raise tax rates to pay for this increase. I also suspect that if they were to try to make budget cuts substantial enough to actually reduce the national debt, there would be serious rioting in the streets which would make the recent protests look pretty tame--which in fact they were. Both political parties have been living in Budgetary Fantasyland for generations.
Yes they have. No one is excused from complicity but finally someone is trying to do something about it and all they get is a ration of shit. How bout some help from the infants.
The Pentagon gets MORE than it asks for, and the corruption among contractors is notorious. I guess that, like the lottery, DOGE is popular among people who can’t do math.
Is contractor corruption notorious? I didn't know that. What I do know is that contractors will charge what the government will bear. The whole process is a scandal, but it starts with Uncle Sam.
Clearly. We the People need good advocates and we don't have any. If we did they would reign in the colossal graft attendant with not just our military budget but all the other ways in which a spell in Congress or the Senate is little more than a get rich quick scheme.
Frankly, I,m not sure how to correct that short of voter head transplants. And then there's the problem of party politics and good candidates, not to mention a free and honest press.
Yes, it’s likely that DoD and their contractors are both rampantly corrupt. We won’t know the exact parties and to what extent until a DoD audit is performed, completed and transparently communicated. Outside (non-government) auditors are needed. The DoD has not been / completed an audit in over a decade, perhaps longer (what I read some where else, perhaps from DOGE or Open The Books staff).
“I have grave doubts as to his and DOGE's ability, or even willingness, to raise tax rates to pay for this increase.” You should have doubts. Trump has been adamant he has no desire or intention to raise taxes.
The solution is to raise taxes to confiscatory levels on billionaires. Eliminating billionaires entirely will solve almost every social problem we have. As for the rest of it, she’s a fucking idiot like every other MAGAt.
Sure, what will you do two months later when their money is gone? BRW, billionaires exist because of wasteful government spending. 37 trillion had to go somewhere.
I started playing that on the guitar for the first time in decades the other day and thought to myself “Well, there’s a great song you probably couldn’t perform without some serious angst from the blue haired virtue brigade.
Yes, all the “confiscate the billionaire $$$” idiots don’t seem to realize that trying to confiscate stock value is fundamentally idiotic-it will vanish if Pelosi or Marjorie Taylor Green try to grab it.
There is no evidence that Elon Musk thinks at all. He buys things and takes credit for others’ work, just like every other billionaire. He’s a particularly virulent parasite killing his host.
Host. Elon Musk is destroying me and the nation I love and you are a fucking dimwit if you think anything else. Anyone who admires the Nazi Nepo Baby is also a Nazi parasite.
I understand it is now progressive fashion to use a lot of swear words. I think we can tell by the content which side you're on. You can swear all you want but no one believes you guys are tough.
On the family point, I strongly desire to see the end of the patriarchal male-headed family. No male has the right to obedience ànd no woman should ever defer to any male.
I’m too old ànd women weren’t allowed to when I was the appropriate age. More specifically, the draft is not even remotely equal to the demands males place on women. First, women don’t send men into combat; other men so that. Second, only à tiny number of men ever face combat. Third, women die in wars as much as men do, the difference is that we never get to find back. We just get raped ànd bombed ànd starved because of MEN.
Your screed is carefully constructed to support Republican politics, where key items are missing (Pentagon) or misrepresented (you can’t call for free speech and deny that to students). Just like the Hands Off was/is a Democratic Party action, staying away from topics uncomfortable for their donors.
You lost me with the Pentagon reference. If the Hands Off ngo was trying to cut Pentagon spending it would be a good thing. Do they make any mention of Biden's wars? As for free speech, what students are being denied free speech, and who is denying said free speech, the institutions?
It seems we’re in agreement on Pentagon spending, not addressed by the Trump administration, almost all Republicans and most Democrats,which is a sign of the corruption of the system. Legal residents are being deported by the federal government for their speech, particularly condemning Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. Most faculty are afraid to speak out for fear of being fired, but universities are not yet forbidding it for students. They are under pressure from Jewish supremacists to do so.
Reducing fraud may be the thing that saves the viability of Social Security and Medicare. Unfortunately the art and science of propaganda has been perfected over decades by Madison Avenue and the intelligence apparatus. I vacillate between amusement and sympathy for its victims. Have you seen the people still wearing surgical masks in their cars and in the parks? It’s a freaking tragedy.
Speaking to medicare, in addition to outright fraud there is plenty of waste built into the rules. Too much input from too many lobbyists. Lobbyists are rarely helpful to anyone but their own industries. And too much input from "experts" and politicians licking boots.
Social security investment too should be hands-off to congressional "borrowing" (no invasion of funds.) Maybe privatize by choice according to income level.
These activism uncensored protests are intended to capture what’s happening on the ground in real time and have covered both pro and anti Trump events.
Ah. How do I turn them off? I already get news headlines about this shit from this perspective from NYT, Wapo, Axios, and Politico. I don’t need another one.
For old folks like me (age wise) it is AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) headquartered in D.C., a quasi-government 501(c)(4) organization formed in 1958 by a female retired educator and principal from California and Leonard Davis who then founded Colonial Penn’s insurance companies. By 2018 its magazine and bulletin were the two largest-circulation publications in the US.
Originally it met a need, eventually ensuring seniors could get health insurance but over many decades its hardline stances on SS and medical assistance and insurance coverage, while using its base of tens of millions, has thwarted Congressional policies for the better, making the programs sustainable.
It has millions of volunteer activists and offices in every state, including Washington D.C. magnifying its reached and effect on policy. In the 21 century most of the members are hippies and revolutionaries from the ‘50s and ‘60s.
So, yes, the older generations (50+) certainly have been brainwashed to understand that they are owed and no policy changes are allowed – they are truly brainwashed regardless of political leaning and Congress members and Presidents have always known this. Stuck with Obamacare for good.
“ It’s also not surprising since concerns over the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid were among the reasons for the “Hands Off” events.”
Charlie Kirk doesn't need me to defend him, but those people in their 60s and 70s with walkers and wheelchairs aren't EVER going to vote for a candidate of Kirk's choice. I don't think we can assume that ALL people in those demographics are as anti-Trump.
A lot of those protesters are those who do this as an avocation. Million Whatever marches, BLM, abortion rights, anti-Musk, it's the same usual suspects.
Yes, you cannot assume. I’m 76. Last democrat I voted for was in 2020. I won’t be voting for them anytime soon. I voted for what President Trump is doing.
"concerns over the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid were among the reasons for the “Hands Off” events."
-So, now you are protesting THINGS THAT ARE NOT HAPPENING?
Literally nothing is happening to Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid. And the administration has said over and over again that they are not on the table and will not be touched.
Cutting Social Security STAFF- not touching SS itself.
Newsweek conveniently fails to mention that the Budget Framework doesn't use the word MEDICAID even once. Because its not in there. They are SPECULATING.
"Cutting staff and restricting services" says the WSJ subhead in front of the paywall. They're getting a good start by identifying SS payments to dead people and people over 100-years-old, adding up to billions in waste. DOGE is saving SS and Medicare, not gutting them.
I don't assume you are one of them, but I just can't understand why there are so many people opposed to DOGE and its mission and Musk. They are doing what we voted for when we elected Trump, and they even have a website that publishes their findings and actions. You cannot be more transparent than that.
I can't help but conclude that the resistance to DOGE is just a sort of juvenile foot-stamping because we elected "literally Hitler." This was driven home to me when I saw Democratic Congressmen holding up their idiotic little signs during Trump's address and that dork with the cane who had to be bounced from the room. The stupidity and vengefulness is beyond belief.
Well, I guess it's nice to see what ever happened to "those kids" after we all graduated from high school... You know - the ones who sat in the cafeteria after school, coloring signs and talking to the kind of weird, young history teacher with the long hair who listened earnestly but ended up on page 8 of the local newspaper in some article about his kiddie viddies...
Knowing the Left and its tactics, I'm betting the walkers and wheelchairs were props, or their operators specifically sought out and recruited for the street drama. The Left just fibs, that's all. They think they're the only virtuous people and therefore it's OK. Dollars to donuts a fair number of these old-timers were veterans of the campus protests of the 60s. Red diaper oldsters, in other words. Literally, one imagines. (I'm their age, so it's OK.)
Come on Matt, did you see the 1970 Moratorium against the Vietnam War down Boston Common redux? Meaning last Saturday, right down to the open toed Birkenstocks and the 5 gallon plastic buckets they used for drums. Same crowd as 55 years ago. Ya know “1,2,3,4 we don’t want to go to war!” Same worn out rich kids now worn out old rich kids who live on Beacon Hill, Comm Ave, and around Harvard Square. Hey what is it from Harvard Square to Government Center on the Red Line? Couple of stops and a a few bong hits and you’re there! WOW! What hero’s! Let’s recount their goodness. Sat in at Harvard College. Shaved the lamb chop side burns and went to the B School. Got on to Wall Street and strip mined the nation and now in their dotage upset because Orangeman Bad is calling them out. What is really funny is the coupon clippers still haven’t figured out that the 3 Card Monty game up by the corner of the Common that is under the watchful eyes of the Golden Dome of the Massachusetts General Court, is being run by the grand kids of the Bulgers, and they are still fooling the 10 generation losers that haven’t figured out where their money comes from or where the pea under the walnuts really is hiding. what a bunch of frauds. Not enough bad stuff can happen to this lot. They left middle America to rot and die. Now there is a slim possibility that we can save the middle class and these spoiled rotten jerks want to just steal and rob more, because up to now they can. Well we will see. People pick up torches and pitch forks when they lose hope, we either help them regain their footing, or we face pitch forks and torches.
“Some people spend their entire lives wondering if they have made a difference in the world…Marines don’t have that problem.” President Ronald Reagan. When one hears their country calling they go, if lucky they become US Marine Corps Infantry Officers, who are granted the privilege of leading the finest men in the world.
For anyone with a brain, those Hands Off protests are about the midterm election, the Democrats engaging voters in order to take over the Congress. Those protests are neither non-partisan nor grassroot, the organizers being progressive nonprofits, which include not only charities, but lobbyists (401(c)(4) ) and PACs. There are more older people, perhaps, because of how and where the event was advertised. Plus, seniors experience more isolation and lack of social life.
Obviously I can't say for certain but maybe Turning Point's point "But even if every person was, in the words of Turning Point USA, in “their 60 to 70s and are using walkers and wheelchairs,..." is the fact a vast majority of people using walkers and wheelchairs are the types of people who are bleeding Social Security dry. Social Security wasn't created to support people and their real and imagined ailments, it's a basic retirement supplement.
Those people paid into the system and supported those who were drawing benefits before them. Also, just for your future information, Social Security doesn't pay a dime for anyone's "ailments."
Wish that were true. Biden's Social Security "Fairness" Act gave government workers lump sum windfalls for the time they were NOT paying into FICA/ Social Security. In Biden's case that was from when he was elected in 1972 until government workers were forced to pay FICA taxes in 1983 (when the government also started taxing Social Security benefit payments). This was clearly just a partisan move to solidify support among the DC bureaucracy, mostly Democrats. Buying votes whenever possible.
Social Security manages substantial elements of Medicare and Social Security runs a huge disability program. You are correct that these benefits were taxed out of the recipients income but it is just not accurate to claim "Social Security doesn't pay a dime for anyone's "ailments."
As you are as well. We saved knowing social security is not enough. Most of those I know did the same. We paid cash for stuff. Our house in 10 years. Paid off credit cards every month. Lived well within our means and didn’t feel had to go into debt to have stuff—something I don’t see as much of now in younger generations. Had jobs. Took care of our health. We drove our last car 16 years. We paid all our working lives. That is the system we dealt with. Not my fault it’s a f’ing mess and I’m not bleeding anyone.
Many boomers (and I am one) seem defensive about SS and Medicare. They see a realistic assessment of these Ponzi schemes as somehow denigrating their work and contributions. Yes, we all know you worked and contributed. That doesn’t make the programs viable.
It’s a shame so many were led to believe they were saving for their own retirement, when in truth they were paying for their parents to live independently in Florida instead of with their kids.
I'm not defensive about either. I don't even have Medicare by choice. I'm one of those "deadbeat" career federal employees who spent 30 years in public service, whether the looneys want to call it that or not. I didn't write the laws, I just followed them. There seems to be a lot of envy/jealousy of boomers because we got the best of things. We built a lot of the best of things too.
"Families are supposed to do that." -- In today's fractured and frequently impoverished society, a great many people don't have any family they can rely on for support. This country has more than enough money to enable its citizens to enjoy a decent standard of living, but our "leaders" habitually put their priorities elsewhere.
Let me guess, you stole that babble from a Seinfeld rerun, didn't you? Who said it, George, Newman or Kramer?
Money is like water, it falls from the sky and everyone is rich. Of course most don't work, aka provide necessities of life, because money is like water and everyone is rich.
FWIW, I may be one of the few people, at least in this country, who never watched Seinfeld at all. The point of my little aphorism is that there are (probably) enough resources in the world to support decent lives for most humans. For a variety of reasons, however, those resources are distributed very disproportionately.
I'm not suggesting that resources need to be apportioned equally. But I do believe it is within our power, if we so chose, to provide almost everyone a decent **minimum** standard of living, which would be a big step up for millions of people.
That's good to know, because I only started watching Seinfeld in it's last, new year. I enjoyed reruns for a couple of years but after that there came a point when I had seen enough. There were some great episodes so like a few other classic shows, those episodes are rememberable.
Again we agree, I believe there are enough resources to support us, but humans are prideful, we have a need to control that which we can't control. It's an awareness of that fact, and the fact that as much as we try to ruin it, this planet is an amazing place to live. I live in the country and every day I'm witness to a creation that fascinates me. My faith in God grows every day because of His magnificence!
Money is like water: there is plenty of both of them in the world; they're just not fairly distributed.
And then there's the story of the old bank robber, Willie Sutton. When asked why he robbed banks, he replied, "That's where the money is." Writ large, too much of our money is in the hands of the plutocrats. Higher income taxes on them (with fewer loopholes), and perhaps a "wealth tax," could go a long ways towards helping reduce our annual budget deficits.
Closing some, or many, of our 800 military bases around the world would save not just billions but cut carbon emissions substantially. But then we’d have to slow down on our obsession with making enemies, and we all know how much profit there is in that…
That was supposed to happen over 30 years ago as part of the so-called "peace dividend" after the collapse of the USSR. We got a few token closures of bases in North America. Big whoop. All lies.
Despite all the rhetoric, I don't see the Pentagon's global police force being dismantled or even significantly reduced any time soon. there's just too much $ at stake and too many weapons corporation lobbyists with too much time in service to just be swept away by a new regime, no matter how many of Trump's campaign pledges have been or will be implemented.
Where did the money go? Certainly hasn't been to fix the country or beef up anything for The People. Politicians & their Families have all managed to become multimillionaires, despite the fact they have never been able to balance a budget.
I assume the reason older folks were involved in the protests is that they belong to a generation of people who fancy themselves "the good people," enlightened people who know and care more than anyone else, and they get their "news" from legacy media. They are unwilling to consider that they have been duped. This is my age group, and virtually to a person, they tenaciously cling to the Dem party label and won't even consider the possibility that today's Dem party does not stand for the things they once believed in. My older brother, who is also in this cohort, was bused to a hands-off rally (not in VA), so I doubt those rallies were organic.
Organization is not a crime, yet - applauding your brother- I am politically unaffiliated and a free thinker with an ability to engage in critical thinking as are msny of my cohorts.
So, who wrote this? Ford Fischer or Greg Collard? Never mind, it doesn't matter. It was sophomoric and uninformative. Surprised it's got the Racket name on it.
Of course there were a lot of old people, when protestors are hired, old people on social security desperately need money, and since they're not working anymore they have plenty of time to show up during the day to get a little extra money by protesting. They probably don't give a rats a** about the issue, they just need the money to pay for their prescriptions.
Since these comments reflect people's opinions, I have no need to prove anything to you. If you disagree with my opinions, you have the right to your own opinions. If my opinions come from my "ass", so do yours. Can you "prove" they're not paid?
No, you don’t have to prove it. Of course, your assertion looks weak when you can’t or decline to offer proof, that’s all. It’s easy to libel people in place of an actual argument, but only the people who can back up provocative statements deserve to be taken seriously. If you’re not concerned with being taken seriously, then rock on.
I’m 69 years old and I don’t go to protests because I work and when I’m not working I do things for my family. But my message to those who do protest is hands off my money and hands off my property.
I’m going to wager that a large majority of the gray-haired have not cut cable. Their fears are stoked by the media that Trump is stealing their SS check after he evicts grandma from her house and starved the orphans.
Speaking of the hands off protest, this past Monday I saw this on X:
X
A bit long but good:
"Credit to Denise Cattoni (via Fb) for summing it up quite nicely.
To all the "Hands Off" Protesters (Democrats):
We are currently at a critical juncture with a national debt of $36.5 trillion, increasing by $2 trillion each year. This is a critical issue, and most experts are warning us that we have relatively few years left to take decisive action before America faces a financial crisis that would have catastrophic consequences for this country and the world.
Amid all your protests, the burning of Teslas, and your petulant vitriol, one crucial element is glaringly missing: any plan to cut government spending. Instead, your goal appears to be to spend even more.
We finally have leaders in President Trump and Elon Musk who are courageous enough to finally focus on sustainable spending practices that are critical to avoid risking our economic future. Time is of the essence—instead of being in the way, let’s act together before it’s too late.
If not...
HANDS OFF - my tax dollars, which were not intended for your pet projects and the corrupt, virtue-signaling Socialists who spew the garbage you all take as gospel. It’s not a slush fund and a money laundering operation through left-wing NGO's to make politicians rich.
HANDS OFF - my child at school. Teach them the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. They are not there to be indoctrinated into your Marxist ideologies.
HANDS OFF - trying to force American women and girls to compete against biological men and then adding insult to injury, forcing them to change and shower in front of them. Stop forcing your fu@ked up theories on the rest of us.
HANDS OFF - all the property you destroy in the name of whatever cause you’re supporting that given week. Other people’s vehicles are not yours to destroy. Neither are statues or all the other s#it you light on fire.
HANDS OFF - our college campuses. Decent kids are there to learn. Free speech is protected. Violence, intimidation, and taking over buildings are not. By the way, if your cause is so just, take off the masks and show yourself. Cowards one and all.
HANDS OFF - our president, who was duly elected to clean up the mess y’all created. We sat by and watched as you supported a puppet who was practically dead. It damn near destroyed the nation. Financially, from a security standpoint, and morally.
HANDS OFF - to all the federal district judges. Your power does not supersede the executive branch. And, stop using Lawfare by going after your political opponents.
HANDS OFF - our ICE Agents, who are taking violent gang bangers out of our country and forcing people who want to come here to do so legally. It should be the only way. Period. End of story.
HANDS OFF - our Free Speech rights. For years, you have used the process of cancelling people who simply wanted to express their own ideas. In your world, you think free speech can only be allowed if it agrees with your screwed up ideologies.
HANDS OFF - the American family. You have done everything possible to destabilize the concept of families because you believe that our ultimate allegiance should be to the government.
HANDS OFF - from imposing your Marxist views of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the methods you’ve used to implement them through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Most Americans are compassionate individuals who believe in judging people based on their character rather than the color of their skin.
These principles are what the vast majority of Americans voted for.
You don’t like it, be like that slob Rosie O'Donnell and move to Europe, which is being taken over by radical Islam.
So, to borrow your stupid little slogan…. Hands Off... "
It's like- Idiots trying to fix the radio in the boat, when the boat is sinking.
If the boat sinks it doesn't matter if the freaking radio is working.
As for the longstanding, out-of-control government spending, Conservative Contrarian's comments seem a little odd, given that the President has just proposed a Defense Department of a trillion dollars--by far the highest ever. I have grave doubts as to his and DOGE's ability, or even willingness, to raise tax rates to pay for this increase. I also suspect that if they were to try to make budget cuts substantial enough to actually reduce the national debt, there would be serious rioting in the streets which would make the recent protests look pretty tame--which in fact they were. Both political parties have been living in Budgetary Fantasyland for generations.
Yes they have. No one is excused from complicity but finally someone is trying to do something about it and all they get is a ration of shit. How bout some help from the infants.
I am totally opposed to any increases to the Pentagon. It needs to be put on a crash diet! The MIC isn't Popeye and money isn't spinach.
Same goes for the rest of government, including DOE!
The Pentagon’s problem is mismanagement and bad choices, the stupid spending of a bottomless purse. Maybe they need to do more with what they have.
The Pentagon gets MORE than it asks for, and the corruption among contractors is notorious. I guess that, like the lottery, DOGE is popular among people who can’t do math.
Is contractor corruption notorious? I didn't know that. What I do know is that contractors will charge what the government will bear. The whole process is a scandal, but it starts with Uncle Sam.
Clearly. We the People need good advocates and we don't have any. If we did they would reign in the colossal graft attendant with not just our military budget but all the other ways in which a spell in Congress or the Senate is little more than a get rich quick scheme.
Frankly, I,m not sure how to correct that short of voter head transplants. And then there's the problem of party politics and good candidates, not to mention a free and honest press.
Yes, it’s likely that DoD and their contractors are both rampantly corrupt. We won’t know the exact parties and to what extent until a DoD audit is performed, completed and transparently communicated. Outside (non-government) auditors are needed. The DoD has not been / completed an audit in over a decade, perhaps longer (what I read some where else, perhaps from DOGE or Open The Books staff).
Yes, and see where it's got us. It has to stop, don.t you think?
“I have grave doubts as to his and DOGE's ability, or even willingness, to raise tax rates to pay for this increase.” You should have doubts. Trump has been adamant he has no desire or intention to raise taxes.
...which means our National Debt will continue to expand. At some point our overextended chickens will come home to roost.
04/12/25: Perfect. One change in verb tense is suggested: "You don’t like it ... move to Europe, which HAS BEEN taken over by radical Islam."
Thanks for reposting this. I wholeheartedly agree!!
It is well thought-out; my pleasure.
The solution is to raise taxes to confiscatory levels on billionaires. Eliminating billionaires entirely will solve almost every social problem we have. As for the rest of it, she’s a fucking idiot like every other MAGAt.
Sure, what will you do two months later when their money is gone? BRW, billionaires exist because of wasteful government spending. 37 trillion had to go somewhere.
"Everywhere is freaks and hairies
Dykes and fairies, tell me where is sanity?
Tax the rich, feed the poor
'Til there are no rich no more
I'd love to change the world
But I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you"
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qUGE8Y07-2k&pp=0gcJCdgAo7VqN5tD
I started playing that on the guitar for the first time in decades the other day and thought to myself “Well, there’s a great song you probably couldn’t perform without some serious angst from the blue haired virtue brigade.
It's a classic for sure. I have a live version that's very good but I didn't see a link to it so I added the remastered.
Yes, all the “confiscate the billionaire $$$” idiots don’t seem to realize that trying to confiscate stock value is fundamentally idiotic-it will vanish if Pelosi or Marjorie Taylor Green try to grab it.
It takes a true idiot to think that throwing good money after bad will improve the outcome.
You don’t math do you
Yes indeed - we need more money, less thought!
There is no evidence that Elon Musk thinks at all. He buys things and takes credit for others’ work, just like every other billionaire. He’s a particularly virulent parasite killing his host.
Speaking of parasites and hosts, which are you? Just curious.
Host. Elon Musk is destroying me and the nation I love and you are a fucking dimwit if you think anything else. Anyone who admires the Nazi Nepo Baby is also a Nazi parasite.
I understand it is now progressive fashion to use a lot of swear words. I think we can tell by the content which side you're on. You can swear all you want but no one believes you guys are tough.
Haha - you're a lawyer, right?
How is the country you love being destroyed by Musk?
HOW (if I might ask) is Elon destroying you.
On the family point, I strongly desire to see the end of the patriarchal male-headed family. No male has the right to obedience ànd no woman should ever defer to any male.
I forgot to ask, have you registered for the draft? If not, you really should you know.
I’m too old ànd women weren’t allowed to when I was the appropriate age. More specifically, the draft is not even remotely equal to the demands males place on women. First, women don’t send men into combat; other men so that. Second, only à tiny number of men ever face combat. Third, women die in wars as much as men do, the difference is that we never get to find back. We just get raped ànd bombed ànd starved because of MEN.
Good!
🔥
Your screed is carefully constructed to support Republican politics, where key items are missing (Pentagon) or misrepresented (you can’t call for free speech and deny that to students). Just like the Hands Off was/is a Democratic Party action, staying away from topics uncomfortable for their donors.
You lost me with the Pentagon reference. If the Hands Off ngo was trying to cut Pentagon spending it would be a good thing. Do they make any mention of Biden's wars? As for free speech, what students are being denied free speech, and who is denying said free speech, the institutions?
You mean legal visitors as opposed to citizens, correct?
It seems we’re in agreement on Pentagon spending, not addressed by the Trump administration, almost all Republicans and most Democrats,which is a sign of the corruption of the system. Legal residents are being deported by the federal government for their speech, particularly condemning Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. Most faculty are afraid to speak out for fear of being fired, but universities are not yet forbidding it for students. They are under pressure from Jewish supremacists to do so.
Miss me with this shit. What happened to digging for the truth? Like the truth that no one is going to cut social security, Medicare and Medicaid?
Reducing fraud may be the thing that saves the viability of Social Security and Medicare. Unfortunately the art and science of propaganda has been perfected over decades by Madison Avenue and the intelligence apparatus. I vacillate between amusement and sympathy for its victims. Have you seen the people still wearing surgical masks in their cars and in the parks? It’s a freaking tragedy.
Speaking to medicare, in addition to outright fraud there is plenty of waste built into the rules. Too much input from too many lobbyists. Lobbyists are rarely helpful to anyone but their own industries. And too much input from "experts" and politicians licking boots.
Social security investment too should be hands-off to congressional "borrowing" (no invasion of funds.) Maybe privatize by choice according to income level.
Ask your local congressperson what they are going to go to fix this....crickets
These activism uncensored protests are intended to capture what’s happening on the ground in real time and have covered both pro and anti Trump events.
Ah. How do I turn them off? I already get news headlines about this shit from this perspective from NYT, Wapo, Axios, and Politico. I don’t need another one.
For old folks like me (age wise) it is AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) headquartered in D.C., a quasi-government 501(c)(4) organization formed in 1958 by a female retired educator and principal from California and Leonard Davis who then founded Colonial Penn’s insurance companies. By 2018 its magazine and bulletin were the two largest-circulation publications in the US.
Originally it met a need, eventually ensuring seniors could get health insurance but over many decades its hardline stances on SS and medical assistance and insurance coverage, while using its base of tens of millions, has thwarted Congressional policies for the better, making the programs sustainable.
It has millions of volunteer activists and offices in every state, including Washington D.C. magnifying its reached and effect on policy. In the 21 century most of the members are hippies and revolutionaries from the ‘50s and ‘60s.
So, yes, the older generations (50+) certainly have been brainwashed to understand that they are owed and no policy changes are allowed – they are truly brainwashed regardless of political leaning and Congress members and Presidents have always known this. Stuck with Obamacare for good.
“ It’s also not surprising since concerns over the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid were among the reasons for the “Hands Off” events.”
WTF are they talking about?
Charlie Kirk doesn't need me to defend him, but those people in their 60s and 70s with walkers and wheelchairs aren't EVER going to vote for a candidate of Kirk's choice. I don't think we can assume that ALL people in those demographics are as anti-Trump.
A lot of those protesters are those who do this as an avocation. Million Whatever marches, BLM, abortion rights, anti-Musk, it's the same usual suspects.
Yes, you cannot assume. I’m 76. Last democrat I voted for was in 2020. I won’t be voting for them anytime soon. I voted for what President Trump is doing.
"concerns over the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid were among the reasons for the “Hands Off” events."
-So, now you are protesting THINGS THAT ARE NOT HAPPENING?
Literally nothing is happening to Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid. And the administration has said over and over again that they are not on the table and will not be touched.
Funding for Social Security is in fact being cut: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/social-security-cuts-doge-customer-service-91f96e00?mod=article_inline
Fears for imminent cuts in Medicaid at least appear to be reasonable: https://www.newsweek.com/what-republican-budget-that-passed-house-means-medicare-snap-2058256
Cutting Social Security STAFF- not touching SS itself.
Newsweek conveniently fails to mention that the Budget Framework doesn't use the word MEDICAID even once. Because its not in there. They are SPECULATING.
Dems always behave like Henny Penny..
"Cutting staff and restricting services" says the WSJ subhead in front of the paywall. They're getting a good start by identifying SS payments to dead people and people over 100-years-old, adding up to billions in waste. DOGE is saving SS and Medicare, not gutting them.
I don't assume you are one of them, but I just can't understand why there are so many people opposed to DOGE and its mission and Musk. They are doing what we voted for when we elected Trump, and they even have a website that publishes their findings and actions. You cannot be more transparent than that.
I can't help but conclude that the resistance to DOGE is just a sort of juvenile foot-stamping because we elected "literally Hitler." This was driven home to me when I saw Democratic Congressmen holding up their idiotic little signs during Trump's address and that dork with the cane who had to be bounced from the room. The stupidity and vengefulness is beyond belief.
Ah, to quote Mike Malice 'facts but not truth'. Your error is in the first sentence:
'Funding for Social Security is in fact being cut'
No, the correct wording should be 'Funding for [the] Social Security [Administration] is in fact being cut'
That's the truth.
Well, I guess it's nice to see what ever happened to "those kids" after we all graduated from high school... You know - the ones who sat in the cafeteria after school, coloring signs and talking to the kind of weird, young history teacher with the long hair who listened earnestly but ended up on page 8 of the local newspaper in some article about his kiddie viddies...
Knowing the Left and its tactics, I'm betting the walkers and wheelchairs were props, or their operators specifically sought out and recruited for the street drama. The Left just fibs, that's all. They think they're the only virtuous people and therefore it's OK. Dollars to donuts a fair number of these old-timers were veterans of the campus protests of the 60s. Red diaper oldsters, in other words. Literally, one imagines. (I'm their age, so it's OK.)
Come on Matt, did you see the 1970 Moratorium against the Vietnam War down Boston Common redux? Meaning last Saturday, right down to the open toed Birkenstocks and the 5 gallon plastic buckets they used for drums. Same crowd as 55 years ago. Ya know “1,2,3,4 we don’t want to go to war!” Same worn out rich kids now worn out old rich kids who live on Beacon Hill, Comm Ave, and around Harvard Square. Hey what is it from Harvard Square to Government Center on the Red Line? Couple of stops and a a few bong hits and you’re there! WOW! What hero’s! Let’s recount their goodness. Sat in at Harvard College. Shaved the lamb chop side burns and went to the B School. Got on to Wall Street and strip mined the nation and now in their dotage upset because Orangeman Bad is calling them out. What is really funny is the coupon clippers still haven’t figured out that the 3 Card Monty game up by the corner of the Common that is under the watchful eyes of the Golden Dome of the Massachusetts General Court, is being run by the grand kids of the Bulgers, and they are still fooling the 10 generation losers that haven’t figured out where their money comes from or where the pea under the walnuts really is hiding. what a bunch of frauds. Not enough bad stuff can happen to this lot. They left middle America to rot and die. Now there is a slim possibility that we can save the middle class and these spoiled rotten jerks want to just steal and rob more, because up to now they can. Well we will see. People pick up torches and pitch forks when they lose hope, we either help them regain their footing, or we face pitch forks and torches.
Goodness gracious. I can only imagine what your life is like but it must be absolute hell.
“Some people spend their entire lives wondering if they have made a difference in the world…Marines don’t have that problem.” President Ronald Reagan. When one hears their country calling they go, if lucky they become US Marine Corps Infantry Officers, who are granted the privilege of leading the finest men in the world.
For anyone with a brain, those Hands Off protests are about the midterm election, the Democrats engaging voters in order to take over the Congress. Those protests are neither non-partisan nor grassroot, the organizers being progressive nonprofits, which include not only charities, but lobbyists (401(c)(4) ) and PACs. There are more older people, perhaps, because of how and where the event was advertised. Plus, seniors experience more isolation and lack of social life.
Obviously I can't say for certain but maybe Turning Point's point "But even if every person was, in the words of Turning Point USA, in “their 60 to 70s and are using walkers and wheelchairs,..." is the fact a vast majority of people using walkers and wheelchairs are the types of people who are bleeding Social Security dry. Social Security wasn't created to support people and their real and imagined ailments, it's a basic retirement supplement.
Families are supposed to do that.
Those people paid into the system and supported those who were drawing benefits before them. Also, just for your future information, Social Security doesn't pay a dime for anyone's "ailments."
Wish that were true. Biden's Social Security "Fairness" Act gave government workers lump sum windfalls for the time they were NOT paying into FICA/ Social Security. In Biden's case that was from when he was elected in 1972 until government workers were forced to pay FICA taxes in 1983 (when the government also started taxing Social Security benefit payments). This was clearly just a partisan move to solidify support among the DC bureaucracy, mostly Democrats. Buying votes whenever possible.
That has nothing to do with ailments or paying for them.
Social Security manages substantial elements of Medicare and Social Security runs a huge disability program. You are correct that these benefits were taxed out of the recipients income but it is just not accurate to claim "Social Security doesn't pay a dime for anyone's "ailments."
You seem to be ill-informed.
As you are as well. We saved knowing social security is not enough. Most of those I know did the same. We paid cash for stuff. Our house in 10 years. Paid off credit cards every month. Lived well within our means and didn’t feel had to go into debt to have stuff—something I don’t see as much of now in younger generations. Had jobs. Took care of our health. We drove our last car 16 years. We paid all our working lives. That is the system we dealt with. Not my fault it’s a f’ing mess and I’m not bleeding anyone.
I have done the same financially, so how am I ill-informed?
Many boomers (and I am one) seem defensive about SS and Medicare. They see a realistic assessment of these Ponzi schemes as somehow denigrating their work and contributions. Yes, we all know you worked and contributed. That doesn’t make the programs viable.
It’s a shame so many were led to believe they were saving for their own retirement, when in truth they were paying for their parents to live independently in Florida instead of with their kids.
Yes, but the reason it is going broke, is because Politicians have been stealing the money.
I'm not defensive about either. I don't even have Medicare by choice. I'm one of those "deadbeat" career federal employees who spent 30 years in public service, whether the looneys want to call it that or not. I didn't write the laws, I just followed them. There seems to be a lot of envy/jealousy of boomers because we got the best of things. We built a lot of the best of things too.
Housing and college are infinitely more expensive now than they were 40 and 50 years ago.
Well they do directly take the Medicare payment out of the SS checks.
"Families are supposed to do that." -- In today's fractured and frequently impoverished society, a great many people don't have any family they can rely on for support. This country has more than enough money to enable its citizens to enjoy a decent standard of living, but our "leaders" habitually put their priorities elsewhere.
37 trillion debt and this country has more than enough money. Brilliant!
Let me guess, you stole that babble from a Seinfeld rerun, didn't you? Who said it, George, Newman or Kramer?
Money is like water, it falls from the sky and everyone is rich. Of course most don't work, aka provide necessities of life, because money is like water and everyone is rich.
That's hilarious, a great laugh to be sure!
FWIW, I may be one of the few people, at least in this country, who never watched Seinfeld at all. The point of my little aphorism is that there are (probably) enough resources in the world to support decent lives for most humans. For a variety of reasons, however, those resources are distributed very disproportionately.
Some people are smarter, luckier, and work harder than others. Not sure how you'd manage to equalize that.
I'm not suggesting that resources need to be apportioned equally. But I do believe it is within our power, if we so chose, to provide almost everyone a decent **minimum** standard of living, which would be a big step up for millions of people.
That's good to know, because I only started watching Seinfeld in it's last, new year. I enjoyed reruns for a couple of years but after that there came a point when I had seen enough. There were some great episodes so like a few other classic shows, those episodes are rememberable.
Again we agree, I believe there are enough resources to support us, but humans are prideful, we have a need to control that which we can't control. It's an awareness of that fact, and the fact that as much as we try to ruin it, this planet is an amazing place to live. I live in the country and every day I'm witness to a creation that fascinates me. My faith in God grows every day because of His magnificence!
Money is like water: there is plenty of both of them in the world; they're just not fairly distributed.
And then there's the story of the old bank robber, Willie Sutton. When asked why he robbed banks, he replied, "That's where the money is." Writ large, too much of our money is in the hands of the plutocrats. Higher income taxes on them (with fewer loopholes), and perhaps a "wealth tax," could go a long ways towards helping reduce our annual budget deficits.
Closing some, or many, of our 800 military bases around the world would save not just billions but cut carbon emissions substantially. But then we’d have to slow down on our obsession with making enemies, and we all know how much profit there is in that…
That was supposed to happen over 30 years ago as part of the so-called "peace dividend" after the collapse of the USSR. We got a few token closures of bases in North America. Big whoop. All lies.
Despite all the rhetoric, I don't see the Pentagon's global police force being dismantled or even significantly reduced any time soon. there's just too much $ at stake and too many weapons corporation lobbyists with too much time in service to just be swept away by a new regime, no matter how many of Trump's campaign pledges have been or will be implemented.
Where did the money go? Certainly hasn't been to fix the country or beef up anything for The People. Politicians & their Families have all managed to become multimillionaires, despite the fact they have never been able to balance a budget.
Absolutely true! The best single word to describe the system is Kleptocracy.
I assume the reason older folks were involved in the protests is that they belong to a generation of people who fancy themselves "the good people," enlightened people who know and care more than anyone else, and they get their "news" from legacy media. They are unwilling to consider that they have been duped. This is my age group, and virtually to a person, they tenaciously cling to the Dem party label and won't even consider the possibility that today's Dem party does not stand for the things they once believed in. My older brother, who is also in this cohort, was bused to a hands-off rally (not in VA), so I doubt those rallies were organic.
Organization is not a crime, yet - applauding your brother- I am politically unaffiliated and a free thinker with an ability to engage in critical thinking as are msny of my cohorts.
No one said it was a crime. You sound like someone who is filled with hate.
Mostly peaceful is next.
So, who wrote this? Ford Fischer or Greg Collard? Never mind, it doesn't matter. It was sophomoric and uninformative. Surprised it's got the Racket name on it.
I did, Steve. Ford did the video.
Please have Ford show distance shots and/or give attendance figures for each of the protests he films
I second the distance shots suggestion. Perspective is invaluable. Pun intended.
Of course there were a lot of old people, when protestors are hired, old people on social security desperately need money, and since they're not working anymore they have plenty of time to show up during the day to get a little extra money by protesting. They probably don't give a rats a** about the issue, they just need the money to pay for their prescriptions.
And who is hiring them and do you have proof? I assume you do since who would pull such a statement out of their ass, right?
It is weird how they clam up when asked who paid them to show up.
Since these comments reflect people's opinions, I have no need to prove anything to you. If you disagree with my opinions, you have the right to your own opinions. If my opinions come from my "ass", so do yours. Can you "prove" they're not paid?
No, you don’t have to prove it. Of course, your assertion looks weak when you can’t or decline to offer proof, that’s all. It’s easy to libel people in place of an actual argument, but only the people who can back up provocative statements deserve to be taken seriously. If you’re not concerned with being taken seriously, then rock on.
I’m 69 years old and I don’t go to protests because I work and when I’m not working I do things for my family. But my message to those who do protest is hands off my money and hands off my property.
I’m going to wager that a large majority of the gray-haired have not cut cable. Their fears are stoked by the media that Trump is stealing their SS check after he evicts grandma from her house and starved the orphans.