It is difficult to conceive of a result more politically dangerous to anyone – Democrat, Republican, Maoist, whatever, than hiring the world’s richest man to go about cutting the federal government such that said richest man is terminating park rangers in Yellowstone, Air Traffic Control in Dallas, VA RNs for vets, among other mischief – only to then have the $300 billion man cut the Social Security Administration such that for the first time in history, Social Security checks fail to go out – as predicted may happen next month by Martin O’Malley, former chief of the S.S.A. True, it’s unlikely that impeachment will be on the table, not at first (though there would likely be calls for it), and yet it sure would seem that everything short would have to be on the table. Again, such a scenario would be devastating enough with just the missed checks. Missed checks due to a rich guy who most people think is a dick anyway, thus hurting the elderly and disabled… Wow.
To be sure, there have been any number of occasions over the years during which we predicted Trump’s support would crater. But not one of those ever involved missed checks supporting retired and disadvantaged Americans. And it all may soon happen. Per a report by CNBC:
Social Security has never missed a benefit payment since the program first began sending individuals monthly benefits more than eight decades ago.
But the recent actions by Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE are putting monthly benefit checks for more than 72.5 million Americans at risk, former commissioner and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley told CNBC.com.
Grok tells me that about 20% of Americans receive some form of SSI, whether it comes in the form of retirement benefits or disability payments of some kind. Gather up five random Americans, one is going to be counting on a check that month, and it is likely that two others know and care about the person needing that money. Grok also estimates that – due to demographics, Trump supporters disproportionately rely on Social Security more than the average American. Grok believes that about 25% to 30% of Trump supporters are reliant on SSI. It is impossible for me to envision a scenario where Trump loses 25% of his supporters “enthusiasm” for the new administration, and simply putters along as is – and that isn’t even counting the families of the 25% that see their family member struggling, perhaps having to pick up the slack. It is possible that half of Trump’s total voter base suffers serious consequences to their lives and has only one administration to blame…
Additionally, to the extent that this is all on the horizon, it is fast approaching. It won’t take long according to O’Malley:
“Ultimately, you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits,” O’Malley said. “I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days.” Ahead of any interruption in benefits, “people should start saving now,” O’Malley said.
How about this possible story arc? In a matter of only 120 days, the Trump administration manages to do something unprecedented, something no other president accomplished, the administration that first manages to miss a promised payment to the most vulnerable Americans, the elderly and disabled. Roughly 25% of Americans – perhaps an even bigger percentage of Trump supporters, will suddenly somehow scramble to come up with extra money per month (Or not), including a significant number for whom that check is their only income.
The political mushroom cloud should be considered a side story compared to the pain that one in four Americans experiences, perhaps raw hunger and housing worry, along with the greater damage to the economy as a whole. Throw in the positive feedback loop that pops up when other Americans see so many suffer in the midst of very bad economic fears, and the entire country, economy and all, weaken. Just as an aside, this will all occur as the government imposes 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico (Have fun buying a Ford F150 in July) along with 10% on goods from China (aka “Everything else”).
It is worth asking whether $300 billion is enough money to suffer the consequences Musk would face – being the object of raw hatred by so many. He may, however – actually get his wish and finally make it to Mars. He just likely never imagined doing so as a result of being jettisoned by this planet. We do know that, as concerns Musk and Trump, which one will likely have to bow out of “public service.”
But both will be blamed.
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What planet is O’Malley living on? I fear he’s correct about payments not going out, and that it could start as soon as next month. It’s the ‘save now’ part that stuck out. I don’t know how many tens of millions of retirees are mostly or entirely dependent on their monthly Social Security but it’s probably 30-40 million. Just how the fuck are we supposed to ‘save up’ when we barely can cover expenses from month to month and are pretty much screwed if hit with a major expense. My car has been sitting in my apt. building’s parking lot for almost two years now because I can’t afford to fix it. It’s been sitting so long it will probably never run again. So now Mister O’Malley how am I supposed to ‘save up’ to pay my rent, or buy groceries or pay my electric bill? Or for internet access?
When you ain’t got nothing…you’ve got nothing to lose. Bob Dylan
Rubio had the look of a man mentally composing his resignation letter during the Zelensky fiasco. I think he will be the first to resign, followed in due course by the entire cabinet, because no one will want to be around when this massive load hits the fans. The oligarchs that put trump in the oval office may be forced to take him out, so impeachment may magically appear on the table soon.
Amendment 25 long before impeachment?
Start saving? Are you fscking sh*tting me?
How are people living check-to-check supposed to save anything?
Best download your pay history from the SS website before some DOGE deletes it and you have to prove you paid into it.