Sen. John Kennedy (R) of Louisiana (of all people) said the quiet part out loud when he implied Trump is lying through his store-bought teeth. He openly admitted the Trump Administration is adrift, victim of the currents of uncertainty and fear it itself initiated, and all the world economies put in jeopardy by the arrogance of one fool.

Some say it is just a rash gamble, but it is so much more.

This jackass with a golf ball where his brain should be, has turned our allies against us -- they can never trust us again as long as we give dictatorial power to a green card holder and blithering incompetent! Our industries are staggering under uncertainty, our 401(k)s are bleeding our retirement dreams, and rampant unemployment will soon lead to a blinding recession if congress doesn't act.

But the Republican congress as uncaring as Kennedy about the deaths of children in Texas from measles, and while are economy is shuddering in disbelief, they are passing a bill to give 4 1/2 trillion-dollar tax cuts to the already filthy rich -- money that will go into stock portfolios and never see the light of day.

Read this:

'We're All Dead': GOP Senator Reacts to Trump Tariffs.

Story by Marco Margaritoff • 3h •

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) wasn’t concerned enough about President Donald Trump’s steep international tariffs to vote against them Wednesday — like some of his GOP colleagues — but did scold staunch supporters of the policy with a dire warning to multiple outlets.

“In the long run, we’re all dead,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju on Capitol Hill for “The Lead with Jake Tapper” on Wednesday. “Short run matters, too. Nobody knows what the impact of these tariffs is going to be on the economy.”

Trump dubbed April 2 “Liberation Day” and announced a sweeping 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the U.S., with levies on dozens of countries set even higher. He repeated his false claim Wednesday that foreign nations, rather than Americans, will shoulder the costs. Only four Republican senators Wednesday — Rand Paul (Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Susan Collins (Maine) — joined Democrats in voting against the emergency powers Trump is using to impose a 25% tariff against Canada.

Kennedy did not, but reiterated his concerns in a Newsmax interview later that day.

“What the president is saying is, if you want to sell stuff to Americans, move your business to America and hire Americans and contribute to our economy, don’t just sell stuff,” he told anchor Rob Schmitt. “In the long run, he’s right. But in the long run, we’re all dead.”

The Louisiana senator added that he’s heard both favorable and disastrous assessments on the tariffs from economists in Washington, D.C. but said even “late-night psychic hotlines” are more accurate in their predictions — and slammed blind supporters of the policy.

“It may not [lead to inflation] this time,” Kennedy added. “Am I predicting that it will or won’t? No. I’m going to say it again. We’re in uncharted waters and we don’t know. And anybody who tries to tell you that they know what the short-term impact is going to be is just lying.”

“Either that or they’re selling deep stupid,” he concluded.

Trump’s tariffs are a ‘negotiating tool’ and won’t be in effect ‘long term’: Republican lawmaker said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/we-re-all-dead-gop-senator-reacts-to-trump-tariffs/ar-AA1CfjLa

An administration in turmoil and lives are at stake.

It is a common misconception that because vitamins are generally good for you, large doses can't harm you. The thing is there are two forms of vitamins, fat soluble and water-soluble. The water-soluble vitamins are usually flushed from the body anywhere from 24 to 72 hours after ingestion. However, any excessive fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the liver until needed. If you ingest more than your body requires the vitamins will accumulate in greater and greater numbers until bodily functions become compromised and toxic reactions can be too numerous to record here.

Vitamin A is one of those fat-soluble vitamins and overdoses can be lethal!

Bobby Kennedy is beyond doubt the most inept of all Trumps incompetent appointees. He has no medical knowledge -- none, zilch -- yet with the arrogance of a zealot and the ignorance of a dullard -- he relies on anecdotes and old wife's tales while giving no consideration to the harm he will inflict.

Trump in now in the doldrums of his own inabilities and unwarranted confidence. He is watching as the economy he vowed to protect slips into recession as 401k's crater and the stock market trembles in fear of what Monday morning might bring.

Perhaps we all should have read the Trump/Musk Manifesto, Project 2025; it was all foretold there.

Read this:

RFK Jr.'s measles 'cure' sickens Texas kids amid outbreaks

Story by Jon Shelton • 2h • 3 min rea

Covenant Children's Hospital says it has treated several children suffering from hypervitaminosis A — or vitamin A toxicity

© Mary Conlon/picture alliance

This article may be potentially distressing to parents with children.

West Texas has been gripped by a measles outbreak for the past several weeks and as a result of misinformation passed on by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., it now faces a second, related health problem: Vitamin A toxicity — or hypervitaminosis A — in infants and children. The situation appears to be the direct result of bogus medical information pedaled by the vaccine-skeptic secretary himself. Kennedy recently said that although the measles vaccine is the best defense against the highly contagious and potentially fatal infection, he emphasized that getting inoculated was a "personal choice."

Kennedy, whom President Donald Trump appointed to be the nation's top health advisor, suggested, "vitamin A can dramatically reduce measles mortality," or even prevent measles infections.

Kennedy recently directed the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to update measles guidance to promote vitamin A use in fighting the infection. In early March, the CDC's top communications officer, Thomas Corry, cited Kennedy's slow response to the West Texas outbreak and his embrace of so-called "alternative measles treatment," as the reason for his resignation. Numerous other CDC and HHS officials have resigned since Kennedy took over, more health workers still —so far at least 10,000 — have also fallen prey to Elon Musk's cost-cutting measures.

In all, HHS has lost a quarter of its workforce.

Though Kennedy and the CDC suggest vitamin A should only be taken under doctor's supervision, West Texas parents are apparently giving their children so much of it that they are now being admitted to hospital emergency rooms. Among other remedies, Kennedy has claimed that cod liver oil, which is rich in vitamins A and D, "works" as a treatment against measles.

Although vitamin A may be given to measles patients who suffer malnutrition-related vitamin A deficiencies, there is no evidence suggesting that it is effective in preventing measles.

And even though it is known that excessive cod liver oil consumption can have serious negative health consequences, demand for it has exploded in West Texas, with pharmacies saying, "it's flying off the shelf."

Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, has said it has treated "fewer than 10 cases" of vitamin A toxicity over the past couple of weeks. Administrators say the children were initially admitted with measles symptoms but later determined to have had abnormally functioning livers as a result of vitamin A toxicity.

Doctors at Covenant are publicly warning against excessive vitamin A intake, saying that it could lead to severe side effects such as dry skin, impaired sight, bone problems and liver failure.

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) on Friday said that it had recorded 481 cases of measles since January. The number of nationwide measles cases stood at 607 as of April 4, according to the CDC. Measles — a highly contagious respiratory infection that spreads when an infected individual sneezes, coughs or speaks, as well as when people touch their eyes, nose or mouth after contact with a contaminated surface — was declared eliminated in the US in 2000 thanks to decades of sustained mass-vaccination campaigns.

According to the CDC, the only effectively proven method of preventing measles is the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine, which boasts 97% efficacy.

In February, the Texas DSHS confirmed the death of a "school-age child who was not vaccinated" and who had "tested positive for measles" when she was hospitalized.

It was the first confirmed measles death in the US since 2015.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/rfk-jr-s-measles-cure-sickens-texas-kids-amid-outbreak/ar-AA1ClULq

Rand Paul; Switching sides for political expediency, not constituent benefit.

Rand Paul on devastating tariffs.

In a rare display of honesty and true concern for the American people, Rand Paul has spoken out against the ruinous effect of Trump's tariffs. It is comforting to see an apologist supporter of the administration turn tail and run to sanity if only when his state's primary industry faces virtual destruction.

Paul is as MAGA as it gets, he is as full of hatred for his fellow man as any Proud Boy or Fox aficionado. True, because of his wealth he won't feel the devastating effects of a tanking 401k or runaway inflation tariffs will cause, and with his government salary -- unlike so many others -- secure, he is not among the majority of MAGA supporters who will struggle and fail to maintain any form of economic stability.

But any step in the right direction is a positive one, even if engendered by fear of his voters for bringing unrelenting hardship upon his constituents and the country as a whole.

See this:

Sen. Rand Paul warns Republicans that tariffs have brought down the party before.

Story by Steffie Banatvala • 3h • 2 min read

Republican Senator Rand Paul has warned his party that tariffs have “decimated politics” after he voted against President Donald Trump’s duties on Canadian imports yesterday. Sen. Paul of Kentucky told Fox News that tariffs have historically brought down his party.

“When McKinley put tariffs on in 1890, they lost 50 percent of their seats… When Smoot-Hawley put their tariffs In the early 1930s, we lost the House and Senate for 60 years,” Sen. Paul said.

“So not only bad economically, they are bad politically.”

After Trump's “Liberation Day” tariffs slapped 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports and a minimum 10 percent duty on all countries, the Kentucky senator crafted the opposition resolution with Democrat Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. Four Republicans, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Susan Collins of Maine, joined every Democratic senator in voting against Canadian duties.

In a 51-48 vote, they rejected Trump's declaration of a national emergency earlier this year to justify tariffs on Canadian imports.

In a rare move, Sen. Paul and Sen. Kaine, who ran as vice presidential candidate against Trump and Mike Pence in 2016, also made a joint appearance on Fox News to explain the impact on Americans and why their resolution is important.

“We are richer because of trade with Canada, and so is Canada,” Sen. Paul said. “There is no Canada versus the US”. The senator explained: “Whenever you trade with somebody when an individual buys somebody else’s product, it’s mutually beneficial, or you wouldn't buy it.

“The consumer wins when the price is the lowest price. Tariffs raise prices, and they’re a bad idea for the economy.”

“Trade is proportional to wealth; the last 70 years of international trade has been an exponential curve upwards, and the last 70 years of prosperity has been upwards.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/sen-rand-paul-warns-republicans-that-tariffs-have-brought-down-the-party-before/ar-AA1CdmLP

They are borrowing to enrich themselves and using your future as collateral.

There is an old wife's tale that if given enough food a horse will keep eating until it kills itself.

It is not true, seems animals are smarter than people, or in this case Republican members of congress.

If you haven't been paying attention, congress is about to pass the House tax bill. In short, it calls for 4 1/2 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy, the uber wealthy, and the already obscenely wealthy.

4 1/2 trillion equates to four thousand five hundred billion dollars, or four and a half million, million dollars.

And where is all this money coming from. you ask? I'll tell you; the House tax bill also calls for raising the debt limit by 5 trillion dollars. In other words, we will borrow the money to pay for tax relief for the rich.

Republican greed knows no bounds. They will borrow and borrow. and like the mythical horse, swill until it kills them and our economy. During his last administration Trump caused the national debt to skyrocket 33% and now will increase it another 5 % trillion dollars!

You know who will pay off this enormous debt? No one. There will be no country, and no economy left once these money hungry gluttons leave the trough.

Despite being yelled at, reviled, and shouted down by citizens fearful of what is yet to come, White House spokesman steadfastly tries to defend the radicalized actions implemented by RFKs handling of the Department of Health and Human Services.

With the arrogance of a fanatical, despotic, zealot, Calley Means made light of citizen concerns, calling them 'breathless' and stood uncompromisingly rigid in a 'I don't give a damn about your fears and concerns"!

The Trump spokesman made it very clear the citizens most endangered by RFKs lies and disinformation will have no say in their treatment, and their opinions mean nothing. Instead of information they will be fed conspiracy theories, Witch Doctor solutions, and brain worm induced fallacies instead of proper protocols by licensed medical professionals.

Like it or lump it.

Brain addled blathering instead of sound medical procedures, spells and incantations instead of legitimate medical research, and back of the hand dismissal for the terrors of gross incompetence and the total destruction of our primary healthcare system.

Is this the government you voted for? They are telling us they will do as they wish and we can all be damned!

See this report:

White House Official Booed at Conference for Defending Health Agency Cuts. The event occurred one day after the HHS began implementing a directive from RFK Jr. to dismiss 10,000 workers.

Story by Rachel Cohrs Zhang • 3h • 2 min read

The event occurred one day after the HHS began implementing a directive from RFK Jr. to dismiss 10,000 workers.

© Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Calley Means, a White House adviser working on implementing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s chronic disease agenda, was booed, shouted down and laughed at during a health conference while defending mass layoffs at the agency. Means forcefully pushed back at the unusually vocal crowd at the Politico Health Care Summit in Washington, DC, Wednesday. The event occurred one day after the HHS began implementing a directive from RFK Jr. to dismiss 10,000 workers, including senior leaders who oversaw drug reviews, tobacco products and scientific research.

“You can paint breathless stories with anecdotes all the time. Fundamentally, what Bobby has done is taken over a department that has utterly failed,” Means said, referring to RFK Jr.

Among the thousands of people cut on Tuesday, some entire divisions were gutted, including groups working on sexually transmitted diseases, environmental health, global health and birth defects, according to people familiar with the matter. Swaths of the agency’s communications and federal records teams were also laid off.

Means said that voters’ support for President Donald Trump and Kennedy means they were fed up with federal health agencies and supported upheaval at the agencies.

He also accused the National Institutes of Health of creating the Covid-19 pandemic, criticized the Food and Drug Administration approval process for being too expensive and not resulting in enough innovative medications and slammed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for being “controlled by the American Medical Association.” Means personally attacked Peter Marks, a top FDA regulator whose departure caused biotech stocks related to vaccines, and cell and gene therapies to dip on Monday. He said Marks “went against expert opinions in favor of the pharmaceutical industry” and criticized the regulator’s role in the departure of two top vaccine scientists over disagreements over Covid booster shots.

As the crowd of health policy experts, communications professionals and lobbyists loudly disagreed with Means’ on-stage comments, he criticized them, too.

“The lobbyists in this room are laughing when we have the sickest children in the developed world,” Means said.

During a later panel, Representative Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, a Democratic member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, responded to Means. Auchincloss highlighted scientific advances that led to the measles vaccine and cystic fibrosis therapies, and technology that has allowed parents to have children through in vitro fertilization.

“Science is core to who we are as Americans, and their excuse for destroying our scientific enterprise with their conspiracy and quackeries is because they’re the first ones who ever thought that chronic disease was a problem,” Auchincloss said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/white-house-official-booed-at-conference-for-defending-health-agency-cuts/ar-AA1C9Ids?

Unions hold ultimate power even if they only threaten to employ it.

The unions made this country what it is today, and Republicans are hell bent to destroy them. Regardless of lawful union contracts they are actively trying to rescind them and return workers back to the days of indentured servants.

It is time to fight back. It is time to threaten for a nationwide strike of federal employees, civil servants, and all union members across the country.

When I say threats, I mean meaningful ones. Twenty-four hours when most Tv stations are shut down. Twenty-four hours with no police security for the House or Senate. And best of all, twenty four hours with no weather forecasts' for the entire airline industry.

Twenty-four hours with draw bridges left in the open position, and twenty-four hours with all tunnels closed.

As the rappers constantly ask," Know ah'm sayin'?'

Hey, what are they going to do, fire us?

See this report:

Federal worker unions at risk: Trump's executive order and DOGE measures

Story by Andrea Arlett Nabor Herrera • 1d •

President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at weakening federal worker unions. This order aligns with the administration's ongoing efforts to curb the power of unions that challenge the president's agenda. By targeting these organizations, the administration seeks to reshape the landscape of federal employment and labor relations, potentially altering the balance of power between the government and its employees. The directive excludes approximately one million federal employees from collective bargaining rights, citing national security interests. This exclusion effectively dismantles the ability of their unions to negotiate on their behalf. The administration argues that these changes are necessary to protect the integrity of critical national security missions, preventing union actions that could disrupt operations in agencies like the FBI and CIA.

How does this impact on federal workers?

The order is expected to affect thousands of workers, stripping unions of their power to represent employees in legal disputes or negotiations. Union leaders fear this will severely impact their ability to defend workers' rights and ensure fair treatment. Without the protection of collective bargaining agreements, workers could face challenges in securing fair wages, benefits, and working conditions.

Response from union leaders

Union leaders, particularly from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), plan to challenge the executive order in court. They argue that the order represents an overreach of executive power and violates workers' rights. This legal battle highlights the tension between the administration's policies and the rights of federal employees, setting the stage for a significant legal confrontation.

Legal experts, such as Samuel R. Bagenstos from the University of Michigan, express concern over the legitimacy of the president's actions. They describe the order as a dramatic overreach of presidential authority, questioning its alignment with established legal frameworks. This perspective underscores the potential for legal challenges and the broader implications for executive power.

Syndicates fear that the cancellation of collective bargaining agreements will not only erode their negotiating power but also harm their financial stability. Many unions rely on payroll deductions to fund their activities, and the elimination of collective bargaining rights would limit their ability to collect dues, further weakening their influence. This financial strain could have long-term consequences for the sustainability of union operations.

://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/federal-worker-unions-at-risk-trump-s-executive-order-and-doge-measures/ar-AA1C18FW

Trump and the Republican weasels were forced to admit Mike Waltz included liberal journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, on the not-so-secret Signal call that could have put our military at risk. They didn't want to do it, they fumbled, lied and equivocated, they dodged, they stumbled, and mumbled a litany of 'I don't remembers', and retreated as best the could into cognitive dissonance, but in the end they 'fessed up.

Well, not all of them.

You see, during an interview on Fox (made up) News, Waltz said he didn't know Jeffrey Goldberg, never met the man (Though there are pictures of them together), and didn't even have his email address. He implied Goldberg sneaked onto the chat like Trump used to sneak into the dressing room of teenage pageant contenders.

We know this is just another of many Republicans lies to their constituents, but it raises one big question. Why did Waltz have Goldberg's contact information? Why, when asked the same question did Goldberg refuse to answer yes or no to the question? -- protecting a source, you say?

The Trump Administration is riddled with more holes than Bonnie and Clyde's car, but that is no surprise. He has appointed hundreds and hundreds of incompetent lackeys who love nothing more than a juicy story. They are happy to release anecdotes about their positions so close to the seat of power without consideration of what advantage it will give to America's enemies.

Trump says he is so concerned about leaks to the press, yet here is one of his top advisors -- privy to all Trumps secrets --, and he seems to be frolicking with the opposition.

Just sayin'.

RFK Jr. is about to hand over key vaccine data to a 'researcher' who was stripped of his medical license

Lunatics attract lunatics, and lunatics look to other lunatics for affirmation and legitimacy So it is with our head lunatic, Bobby jr. In an effort to support his whacky views and opinion, it has been reported he will appoint a man who has been exorcised from the medical community, who has lost his license to practice, and has been rejected and reviled in courtrooms all across our country.

And this is the man who Brain Worm Bobby is about to appoint to do a study on autism, although he has already decided vaccines cause autism.

This is the same man who, along with his equally crackpot son, (Who was sanctioned for practicing medicine without a license), have been accused of treating children with autism with dangerous drugs! He has instigated widespread misinformation that has actually found some purchase in the MAGA community.

Here's the thing, If appointed, every one of their nut-job utterances will gain traction because it appears the CDC authorizes and accepts them. As a consequence of that these witch doctor solutions can be considered the gold standard of treatment and where their radical treatments and dangerous drugs were once banned, they can now be considered as legitimate.

Mengele experimented on children with full authorization from the NAZI party -- will we follow suit?

See this report if you think I've exaggerated anything.

RFK Jr. is about to hand over key vaccine data to a 'researcher' who was stripped of his medical license

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is hiring a researcher to study the widely debunked claim that vaccines cause autism. And that person is reportedly one of the chief disseminators of misinformation about a purported link between vaccines and autism in America. With this hire, anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Health and Human Services Department is dealing a blow both to public faith in vaccine safety and to the credibility of the federal government’s public health guidance, by turning what should be a technical, evidence-based institution into overtly political terrain.

NBC News, citing two sources familiar with the plan, reports that the CDC is expected to hand over multiple sets of vaccine safety data to a “senior data analyst” at HHS named David Geier. NBC News reports that Geier and his father, Mark Geier, are “researchers known for their poorly designed and retracted studies using government safety data that have long fueled widespread misinformation about vaccines.” Among other things, the father-son duo claimed at an Institute of Medicine panel in 2004 that CDC data showed vaccines were linked to autism — and the claim was “refuted by scientists at the meeting and in scores of published studies since,” NBC reported. NBC News said that neither HHS nor Geier responded to requests for comment.

Though Mark Geier has testified in scores of court cases involving vaccines, his testimony has consistently been rejected as irrelevant in legal settings. According to The New York Times, in 2003 a judge ruled that Geier was “a professional witness in areas for which he has no training, expertise and experience.” Other judges have called Geier’s testimony “intellectually dishonest” and “wholly unqualified,” The Times reported. Both Geiers have records of unethical behavior. Per NBC News, they have “promoted an unproven treatment for autism that cost families tens of thousands of dollars and included injections of Lupron,” and “diagnosed kids with precocious puberty without proper tests and misled parents into thinking they were signing up for an approved autism therapy.”

According to The Washington Post, the Maryland Board of Physicians suspended Mark Geier's medical license in 2011 “because he was treating autistic children with a drug considered dangerous for young people and not known to alleviate symptoms of the disorder,” and revoked it altogether the next year, saying "he had misrepresented his credentials." And David Geier — who has no medical degree — was sanctioned for practicing medicine without a license by the Maryland Board of Physicians.

I cannot be certain what David Geier will find in this dubious study, but his track record is about as damning as it gets. If I were Kennedy and I wanted to convince the country that — despite the massive record of debunking — there is still more research to be conducted on a possible link between vaccines and autism, I would hire someone with impeccable credentials, and not someone who has been tarred by a record of practicing without credentials and retracted studies. But choosing Geier gives away the game: Kennedy wants someone who will confirm his priors and, should Geier make a new set of claims about vaccines causing autism, will give them the imprimatur of the CDC.

This is a harrowing development for public health in America. The commissioning of the study alone is enough to once again put this theory in the news and intensify increasing vaccine hesitancy — which is already having serious consequences. Should Geier use this opportunity to peddle more misinformation, that will be even worse, and it’s reasonable to expect it could intensify vaccine hesitancy even further.

There’s another longer-term cost here, which is that the CDC will be seen as yet another arena for politicians to exploit to score points or push fringe ideas unsupported by evidence. The CDC is not infallible — consider the way it handled masking guidance during the first weeks of the Covid pandemic. But the CDC has corrected itself and generally held itself to high standards for evidence and rigor in scientific inquiry. Hiring noncredible anti-vaxxers should be seen as an attack on those principles — and Americans’ health.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/rfk-jr-is-about-to-hand-over-key-vaccine-data-to-a-researcher-who-was-stripped-of-his-medical-license/ar-AA1BVZ49?

When your brains are in your nether regions, everything you do stinks.

Blundering toward inevitable oblivion.

The unintended consequences of the Trump/Musk/ Republican 'Ready, Shoot, Aim' incompetence is ready to bite them on their flabby 'brain', once again. In their 'Shoot from the lip' approach to everything they are encountering problems they never even considered might arise. Day after day they fire civil servants who provide vital services, only to rehire them when systems fail, radiation levels start ringing bells, and there is no one left to answer phones.

And now Social Security is reported to be on the brink of collapse.

Remember, Social Security payments are all that keep many, many recipients from starvation. They live paycheck to paycheck, and if those funds don't arrive in a timely manner, they have no way to pay rent, buy food and lifesaving drugs, or live with some shred of dignity intact.

There are lives literally at stake, yet the dullards, incompetents, and pandering zealots couldn't care less' As one billionaire member of Trump's administration recently said, 'What's the big deal? If my grandmother missed a check, she'd just wait until the next one comes in'.

Such is the arrogance and heartlessness of the Republicans.

Is this the government you thought you were voting for, or were you duped by a cabal of plutocrats and oligarchs?

See this:

Social Security employee warns ‘people could be out of benefits for months’ as staffers who fix payment glitches exit

Story by Jason Ma • 1h •

Scott Bessent says the U.S. economy is detoxing but that doesn’t mean there will be a recession: ‘I’m not concerned about a little bit of volatility over three weeks’

President Donald Trump's efforts to slash federal staffing across agencies is also resulting in the loss of technical expertise need to help maintain critical systems, including those used to pay Social Security benefits. That means payments could be at risk if there's a glitch and the right people aren't there to fix it. Social Security employees with key expertise are reportedly heading for the exits amid President Donald Trump's drive to slash the federal workforce, raising the risk that any technical glitches could interrupt benefits.

That's as the administration looks to shrink the Social Security Administration by thousands, including via voluntary separation offers.

One Baltimore-based staffer who works on payment systems told the Washington Post that nearly a quarter of his team is gone or will soon be gone due to resignations and retirements. Those with top software skills are leaving the Social Security Administration to get high-paying jobs in the private sector, he added. As a result, several software updates and modernization processes that were supposed to be completed soon will likely miss their deadlines, and many of the experts who fix glitches that can stop payments are now exiting, the report said.

"That has to get cleaned up on a case-by-case basis, and the experts in how to do that are leaving," the Baltimore employee told the Post. "We will have cases that get stuck, and they’re not going to be able to get fixed. People could be out of benefits for months."

Former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley previously warned of a "system collapse" that could halt payments, saying changes that the Department of Government Efficiency is making to the agency have already caused IT system outages. On Friday, Wired reported that DOGE is forming a team to migrate the Social Security Administration’s computer systems off the archaic COBOL programming language in a matter of months. Meanwhile, the Trump administration also plans to phase out payments via paper checks, but that will affect nearly half a million Social Security recipients.

According to an analysis of Social Security Administration data by Axios, 0.7% of 68.2 million total recipients were still getting paper checks as of March. While that is a minuscule share, it still translates to nearly 456,000 Americans. The SSA gave instructions on how to switch to direct deposit or sign up to receive benefits through a debit card. But anyone who's not computer savvy may need to call, and phone lines have been flooded with people lately, with wait times running for hours.

To be sure, exceptions will be made for people without banking or electronic payment access as well as certain emergency payments or law enforcement activities and other special cases.

"With a resounding mandate from the American people, President Trump is moving quickly to fulfill his promise of making the federal government more efficient. He has promised to protect social security, and every recipient will continue to receive their benefits," White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told Fortune in a statement.

While Trump has maintained that he won't touch benefits, critics of DOGE have said its changes are part of a “backdoor” effort to cut payments and gut the agency. In fact, other Social Security employees told the Post that phone lines are so backed up that one field office has told people to send questions via fax. Another said online claims, which field staff must complete, are piling up, and that complicated benefits cases are falling by the wayside, the report said.

“There is just no time to breathe or get anything else done,” an employee told the Post. “We used to be efficient.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

https://fortune.com/2025/03/29/social-security-benefits-payment-systems-doge-cuts-paper-checks/

Madness, sheer madness!

There has to be an ulterior motive; there just has to be.

No one in their right mind would seek to end virtually all medical research, spit in the face of rained scientists, and risk the rise of new and maybe even more virulent pandemics all for the sake of ego.

Bobby Kennedy has no medical training, yet in his arrogance and cognitive dissonance he dares to contradict licensed medical experts based on nothing but witch doctor, voodoo beliefs and half-assed confidence in his own intellectual superiority.

There has to be an ulterior motive, and there is. Trump picked this brain-addled psychopath and gave him enormous power because he knew this demented fool would strip the entire medical establishment of needed funds, funds that could then be diverted to tax breaks for the rich.

That is why Trump is defunding everything from education to Social Security, to the military, to civil rights, to life saving aid for an endangered world, and a thousand other worthy endeavors all so he can fund the Republican bill to reduce taxes on the already obscenely wealthy and damn the consequences.

It is almost as though these jackasses don't care if their children breathe poisoned air, have no competent medical care, and have every breath carry the risk of death or frailty as long as they can count the cash.

Folks, all our lives and the lives of our children will be sacrificed on the altar of abject greed unless congress does something to stop it.

See this:

FDA’s top vaccine scientist, Dr. Peter Marks, is out

Story by Berkeley Lovelace Jr. • 11h • 2 min read

Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulator, has resigned, an official at the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.

“If Peter Marks does not want to get behind restoring science to its golden standard and promoting radical transparency, then he has no place at FDA under the strong leadership of Secretary Kennedy,” Andrew Nixon, a senior spokesperson at HHS, said.

A person familiar with the matter told NBC News that Marks was forced out of his position. In a resignation letter to acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner, Marks wrote that undermining confidence in vaccines is “irresponsible, detrimental to public health, and a clear danger to our nation’s health, safety, and security.”

He said that he had been willing to work with Kennedy to address any concerns about vaccine safety and transparency. “However, it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote.

Marks did not respond to a request for comment.

Marks has led the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, or CBER, since 2016. The division is responsible for assuring the safety and effectiveness of a number of medical products, including vaccines. Marks helped lead the nation through the Covid pandemic, playing a key role in authorizing the first Covid vaccines in late 2020, from first from Pfizer-BioNTech and then shortly after, Moderna. He helped launch Operation Warp Speed, the first Trump administration's private-public partnership to quickly develop the vaccines.

Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, has been critical of the Covid vaccines, and filed a citizens petition in 2021 requesting that the FDA revoke the authorization of the vaccines. That same year, he called described the Covid vaccine as the “deadliest vaccine ever made.” Kennedy has also worked to undermine confidence in the measles vaccine amid the largest outbreak the United States has seen since 2019. While he’s said vaccines protect children from the measles, he’s also said the decision to vaccinate is a “personal” one.

In a recent interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Kennedy said the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine “does cause deaths every year.” There have been no deaths linked to the MMR vaccine in healthy people, according to the Infectious Disease Society of America. The vaccine is not recommending for immunocompromised people. “The ongoing multistate measles outbreak that is particularly severe in Texas reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined,” Marks wrote in his resignation letter.

“Measles, which killed more than 100,000 unvaccinated children last year in Africa and Asia owing to pneumonitis and encephalitis caused by the virus, had been eliminated from our shores,” he wrote.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fdas-top-vaccine-scientist-dr-peter-marks-rcna198682

Let veterans bleed to pay for Republican tax cuts.

Of all the heartless and shameful moves Musk and his junior associate, Trump, have made, few can compare with their plan to limit veterans' healthcare in an effort to accumulate money to pay for tax cuts for those already obscenely wealthy.

How many American families have suffered the agony of losing a son, husband, or father, and now the Republicans spit on them while echoing Trump, who called them Suckers'! Aside from those who have suffered devastating physical injuries, there are hundreds of thousands of enlistees who battle demons that while aren't visibly evident, haunt their days and nights.

These heroic souls were promised aid and benefits, too. Promised by their country, America, and now America is turning her back on them

Republicans in their unrelenting lust for power, position, but mostly money, lie to you when they say they are limiting benefits to improve services. How are services improved when they are slashed to the bone, when the elderly, disabled, and those physically challenged from war wounds can't access the facilities because of an inability to travel?

What is next, the removal of ramps to further impede access?

This is no longer the America these patriots fought and bled for. This new America is one who venerates plutocrats and oligarchs, not selfless citizens who died to preserve a government that is now abandoning them.

Will we allow greed to eliminate compassion, will we allow avarice to negate responsibility, will we allow the Republican congress to abandon us?

See this report:

‘Heartless and Dangerous’: Slashing of VA call centers part of aggressive layoff plan.

Story by Brian Todd, CNN • 1h • 5 min read

The call centers that America’s military veterans rely on to schedule appointments and arrange medical care may no longer have a live voice on the other end of the line because the agents who handle the calls are set to be laid off, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans for cutbacks at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The agency is expected to move to automation, reducing the need for live agents.

President Donald Trump ordered mass layoffs across the federal government in February, telling agency heads in an executive action to submit their proposals to the Office of Management and Budget. While many of those agency proposals remain under wraps, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins acknowledged in an interview with Fox News earlier this month that laying off 80,000 VA employees was “a goal, our target.” Such a reduction would represent nearly 20% of the VA’s workforce. About 2,400 employees at the department have already been fired. The layoff plan at the VA would also affect medical and health care support staff, administrative roles including HR personnel, and regional and central office staff including those in strategic planning and procurement, according to sources in the agency and on Capitol Hill. The VA also is working with the Department of Government Efficiency to cut costs and identify contracts to cancel.

“This is heartless and dangerous,” said a Democratic congressional staffer who had been briefed by multiple VA officials about the layoff plan at the call centers. “Veterans in need of life-saving care and compassion should be met with a person who understands their needs and can provide them the information and resources they seek, not a lifeless machine,” the staffer added. The staffer also noted that the veteran population in the U.S. is comprised of many disabled and elderly people who may be discouraged from reaching out for help without a live person on the other end of the line at VA call centers.

See more here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/heartless-and-dangerous-slashing-of-va-call-centers-part-of-aggressive-layoff-plan/ar-AA1BQ2MD?

DOGE s a fraud. Instead of saving money for the government, it is losing money for the government.

As we are all aware, Trump/Musk, and DOGE are slashing the work force willy-nillly- across all government agencies. We are aware also, that because of their inconceivable incompetence they almost immediately rehire the civil servants when it becomes apparent the agencies are so understaffed the whole of government is in the doldrums and nothing is getting accomplished except chaos and mismanagement.

Ahh, but that doesn't stop our intrepid nincompoops. They keep blundering along, lying about the money they are saving while offering scant proof of any accomplishments.

And now the cherry atop this pile of Republican dung. Seems that because of the cuts to the IRS, they can no longer do their jobs with any degree of efficiency. So the bottom line (we are talking money, here) is because of these Trump/Musk made inefficiencies, the IRS will collect a half-trillion fewer dollars than they would ordinarily collect -- a half trillion, 500 billion dollars!

Trump, Musk, DOGE claim they save a few million here, maybe a billion there (mostly undocumented) while neglecting to mention they are losing a HALF TRILLION DOLLARS!

Each day we read of new bungling and botching across all facets of the Trump/Musk/ Republican regime. Each day these dullards drive us closer to the brink.

Will we survive until the midterms?

See this report:

IRS Predicts DOGE Lost Half a Trillion Dollars for the USA

Story by Josh Marshall • 16h • 1 min read

The Post reports today that the IRS’s internal projections estimate that the DOGE-driven disruptions to the IRS since the inauguration are on track to have reduced tax receipts by more than $500 billion by April 15th. This, to be clear, is not a final tally. It’s not April 15th yet. It’s a projection based on historical data, the number of people who’ve filed, paid owed amounts of tax etc. It’s worth taking a moment to put this number into some context in case half a trillion dollars doesn’t do it for you. Non-defense discretionary spending is the cost to fund the US government once you take out mandatory spending (mostly Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) and the cost of the US military. For 2023 that number was $917 billion. So that’s most of the stuff we think of as the government, apart from those payment programs and the military. In other words, in about eight weeks DOGE managed to lose the US government, more or less, more than half of what goes to all non-defense discretionary spending.

This story originally appeared on Talking Points Memo.

https://boxden.com/showthread.php?t=3438265

Trump has been in office for about two months now, and it has been a graduate course in bumbling, stumbling, and gross incompetence and mismanagement. He institutes tariffs, rescinds them, then institutes them again on a lesser scale -- then rescinds those. It's like a four-year-old who wants chocolate syrup in his sippy-cup then screams when you put chocolate syrup in his sippy-cup',

(As of this writing he has issued tariffs on all imported cars)

Truth to tell, it does seem humorous as he and his supervisor, Musk, stumble through the bureaucracy like Helen Keller and Stevie Wonder performing a trapeze act. Yes, it would be funny except for Project 2025's promise to entirely disrupt the working of our government regardless of the damage to the critical infrastructure, the threat to childhood nutrition, the elimination of medical research, the near collapse of the veterans Administration, the dismantling of the Social Security Administration, and the intentional destruction of an untold number of critical agencies whose mandate is to keep our government up and running.

Yes, their ineptness and ineptitude would be funny if it weren't for the harm they are doing.

Her is a look from behind the curtain from a report from NPR -- it wasn't reported by Fox News.

Federal workers show up to Musk-ordered office and discover it’s just a dusty storage room

Story by Falyn Stempler

Federal employees have reported that the Trump administration's return to office mandates have been extremely disorganized. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an order that effectively ended remote work for federal employees, despite pre-COVID protocols that saved the government millions of dollars. He then proceeded to dismiss workers indiscriminately, including probationary staff who a judge ruled must be reinstated. These sweeping changes have resulted in widespread confusion and chaos as federal employees report returning to offices lacking supplies and receiving unclear instructions, completely undermining efforts to save money and increase productivity. Employees from several key agencies have reported shortages of desks, computer monitors, parking spaces and even basic items like toilet paper and paper towels in their offices.

Staff at the FDA's White Oak campus continue to express concerns about the building's drinking water, following the detection of Legionella bacteria in some areas during testing last year. Despite the agency's assurances that the water is now safe ahead of this month's push to return to the office, it has not provided updated test results to support this claim, according to an internal email reviewed by NPR. Earlier this month, a Department of Agriculture employee working remotely was given a list of office locations for their mandatory return - only to discover one was actually a storage facility. Intrigued, the worker drove to the address and found a real storage unit. The facility's owner, when questioned, chuckled and confirmed that the government does lease a unit there - not for office space, but for storing a Fish and Wildlife Service boat. The unit lacks heat, power or windows.

The COVID pandemic significantly boosted remote work, but many agencies had already begun this transition years earlier in a bid to cut costs on office space and enhance recruitment and retention, as per the federal Office of Personnel Management. Prior to Trump's call, one out of every ten of the roughly 2.28 million federal workers across 24 agencies held fully remote positions, while 54% worked on-site and 46% were eligible for remote work, according to a 2024 OMB study. This shift helped federal agencies save over $230 million in the fiscal year 2023.

Several agency employees have voiced their frustration over the lack of essential equipment and basic amenities needed to perform their duties. Federal workers have also expressed their anxiety about being left in the dark regarding potential office relocations. Employees at Texas' Internal Revenue Service have reported to NPR that they've been forced to work in classrooms, auditoriums and cafeterias with unreliable Wi-Fi during their busiest season. As a result of these conditions, some IRS workers were told not to return to the office, contrary to the president's orders, to avoid further delays. n the meantime, Veterans Affairs office employees have voiced concerns about insufficient space affecting patient care. The VA has stated it is taking steps to resolve these issues.

Similarly, Social Security Administration staff have cautioned that shortages are leading to extended wait times and registration delays, sparking worries about access.

Food and Drug Administration workers in Maryland reported that their mandated return was immediately met with traffic jams and a lack of parking spaces. Some weren't even provided keys to their offices.

"There are all the small indignities of being in a facility never equipped for this many people: toilet paper and paper towels running out immediately, very long lines at the cafeteria, loud noise, people working in hallways," one FDA employee shared with NPR.

Another commented: "It has seemed like an arbitrary punishment to lower morale."

The FDA has acknowledged the problems that have surfaced since returning to the office and said it is making efforts to address them.

Several disgruntled workers have voiced suspicions that the return-to-office mandate is a sneaky strategy to encourage resignations. DOGE head Elon Musk has been known to use similar tactics at his other enterprises, including X, formerly Twitter, as part of a broader scheme to cut down his workforce and boost profits. Concerns have also been raised about a chilling speech in 2023 by the incoming Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought, who was instrumental in creating Project 2025. In his speech, he outlined his ambition to drastically shrink the influence of the federal government.

"We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected," Vought said. "When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains."

For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/federal-workers-show-up-to-musk-ordered-office-and-discover-it-s-just-a-dusty-storage-room/ar-AA1BJ5y3?

Fired federal workers targeted by secretive Chinese network.

stupid people is they can't seem to understand that they don't know what they don't know.

The Trump/Musk administration is a prime example of this aphorism. They blindly blunder into what they think is a good idea, only to find out they were dangerously wrong about something. A good example was when the fired all the experts responsible for overseeing our nuclear arsenal and then panicked when radiation levels threatened to rise. To make matters even worse, when they tried to rehire the workers, they found out since they were fired, their records had been destroyed and they didn't know who they were, or where they are.

How many times have they done that? They fire a huge group of people and then discover there is no one to man the agencies affected.

Now, they have been caught with their pants down again. They babbled and bragged about themselves on what was essentially an open line and divulged military secrets that could lead to the death of our spies on the ground in Yemen.

Seems Trump wasn't content leaving our deepest secrets in a room frequented by the public, pool boys, chauffeurs, maids with work permits, and anyone else with a camera and the address of a foreign embassy.

(There is a soldier currently awaiting sentencing for committing the same crime. Sadly for him, he didn't appoint any Supreme Court justices,)

Now, once again, the law of unintended consequences rises up to bite Trump/Musk on their flabby asses. In seems they have neglected to consider they were firing experts in all matters, experts with knowledge and expertise in every segment of government and military operations.

And these people are now broke, unemployed and angry.

Guess who is recruiting these workers for high paying jobs? Right, the Chinese! And to make matters worse still, it isn't just the fired workers who have knowledge to sell. Now just about every civil servant is looking for a job fearing the one they have now will soon be eliminated.

MAGA, Liberal, or Independent, we are all at the mercy of these fools. One can only wonder how long it will be until they make that one irreversible blunder that will bring America to her knees.

See this tidbit of incompetence:

Fired federal workers targeted by secretive Chinese network

Story by AJ Vicens • 2h • 6 min read

USA TODAY

Which federal agencies have been impacted by Trump's government layoffs?

A network of companies operated by a secretive Chinese tech firm has been trying to recruit recently laid-off U.S. government workers, according to job ads and a researcher who uncovered the campaign. Max Lesser, a senior analyst on emerging threats with the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said some companies placing recruitment ads were "part of a broader network of fake consulting and headhunting firms targeting former government employees and AI researchers." Little information is publicly available on the four consultancies and recruitment companies allegedly involved in the network, which in some cases shared overlapping websites, were hosted on the same server, or had other digital links, according to Reuters' reporting and Lesser's research.

The news agency's attempts to track down the four companies and Smiao Intelligence ran into numerous dead-ends including unanswered phone calls, phone numbers that no longer work, fake addresses, addresses that lead to empty fields, unanswered emails and deleted job listings from LinkedIn.

Lesser, who uncovered the network and shared his research with Reuters ahead of publication, said the campaign follows "well-established" techniques used by previous Chinese intelligence operations. What makes this activity significant," he said, "is that the network seeks to exploit the financial vulnerabilities of former federal workers affected by recent mass layoffs."

Reuters could not determine if the companies are linked to the Chinese government or whether any former federal workers were recruited.

Asked about the research, three intelligence analysts told Reuters the network appeared to be a prime example of how foreign-linked entities are trying to gather intelligence from staff fired or forced into retirement by President Donald Trump and billionaire tech tycoon Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Once employed by the network, federal employees could then be asked to share increasingly sensitive information about government operations or recommend additional people who might be targeted for willing or unwitting participation, the analysts said.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington told Reuters in an email that China was unaware of any of the entities allegedly involved in the campaign and Beijing respects data privacy and security.

A White House spokesperson said China was constantly trying to exploit the United States' "free and open system" through espionage and coercion. "Both active and former government employees must recognize the danger these governments pose and the importance of safeguarding government information," the spokesperson said.

See more here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/fired-federal-workers-targeted-by-secretive-chinese-network/ar-AA1BDZXg

Are Trump, Musk, and the Republican congress so dense, so heartless, that they don't understand that even a small delay in the receipt of Social Security checks can cause enormous harm, and even death in some of our elderly citizens? Those checks are vital to provide food, life saving medicine, and the dignity to which we are all entitled. Consider what you would do if you watched as your spouse slowly starving to death after going three days without eating.

You would do anything -- Anything! And you would be justified in doing anything!

Or maybe they just don't care. Has the Republican congress so rationalized their greed for donations, grants, and gifts from the plutocrats and oligarchs that they'll turn a blind eye to the suffering of our most vulnerable people, the seniors of America?

The average age of a DOGE employee is mid-twenties, with at least one being nineteen. These radicalized youngsters are making rash decisions based on nothing but inexperience and naivete. They are trying to unravel complexities in the Social Security system they can never understand. The computer system in use is COBOL, a program from the eighties they can never grasp. But does that stop them --No!

They claim they are finding errors, waste and fraud, when all they are doing is tripping over their own incompetence, and that will inevitably lead to tragedy and rioting in the streets. Any true expert will tell you the incidence those three excuses is so statistically small as to be almost non-existent. You see, the real reason for such drastic cuts is not to return the money to the treasury, the real reason is to fund the outlandish tax cuts for the wealthy the Republican House has already authorized.

Starving seniors, opulent lifestyles for the already obscenely wealthy,,,Anarchy!.

See this explanation:

Nine Meals from Anarchy

by Jeff Thomas

In 1906, Alfred Henry Lewis stated, “There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy.” Since then, his observation has been echoed by people as disparate as Robert Heinlein and Leon Trotsky.

The key here is that, unlike all other commodities, food is the one essential that cannot be postponed. If there were a shortage of, say, shoes, we could make do for months or even years. A shortage of gasoline would be worse, but we could survive it, through mass transport or even walking, if necessary.

But food is different. If there were an interruption in the supply of food, fear would set in immediately. And, if the resumption of the food supply were uncertain, the fear would become pronounced. After only nine missed meals, it’s not unlikely that we’d panic and be prepared to commit a crime to acquire food. If we were to see our neighbour with a loaf of bread, and we owned a gun, we might well say, “I’m sorry, you’re a good neighbour and we’ve been friends for years, but my children haven’t eaten today – I have to have that bread – even if I have to shoot you.”

https://internationalman.com/articles/nine-meals-from-anarchy/

Trump/Musk, and the Republicans are dismantling our government on a daily, piecemeal basis with one end in mind, to create a government ruled by oligarchs under the command of a single dictator. President Trump is conspiring with a green card holding immigrant, Elon Musk, a man with all congressional powers without being a member of congress, to suppress dissent with threats to withhold Social Security payments from the disabled, the handicapped, and the aged. With cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in the offing there is literally a reign of terror in effect.

To insure a gaggle of unconstitutional laws are protected they are eliminating every facet of government that could hold them accountable. They have turned the Justice Department and the FBI into a modern-day Gestapo, and only Beria's Moscow NKVD held such treacherous power .Each day loyal citizens are threatened with deportation from their homeland for uttering any slight against the tyrants

As with all despotic regimes their first move was to inhibit and eventually destroy the Free Press. They are calling now for journalists to be harassed, intimidated, arrested and deported. They are looking to have newspapers right to publish challenged and have threatened the licensing of broadcast news stations. They have even denied admission to presidential news conferences for those they consider political enemies. Will Reddit and other newsmagazines be next on the list?

In a move reflective of Hitler, Stalin, Kim Jung-un and all authoritarian tyrants they are now even targeting a co- equal branch of government, the judiciary. Whenever a judge stands up for the Constitution, whenever a judge reins in the way they play fast and loose with our rights, they attack, demean -- threaten even family members-- and look to deport the protectors of our laws.

Folks, our rights and freedoms are under attack by ultra right-wing fascists and white nationalist racists.

You see the truth all around you every day, they don't try to hide their intentions because they think we will sit back and submit.

Will we?

Republicans are taunting us with threats of withholding Social Security checks.

America, is this the heartless, arrogant government you voted for? Have you heard of any of your Republican representatives speaking out against these threats? Do you now realize every word Trump said during his campaign was an intentional le, with his intent to create a dictatorship of the oligarchs?

And it is not just the point that a loss of a single check could drive most seniors into abject poverty, but they fail to consider the harm the loss of 133 billion dollars removed from the monthly economy could do; it would collapse! Most seniors put those checks right back into the economy -- they live paycheck to paycheck.

Each attempt to limit our freedoms comes back on them like pissing into the wind. Every stupid, unthinking and incompetent move. comes back on them once they realize the unintended consequences of their actions and then have to rescind them like the dolts they are.

Trump, Musk, and the oligarchs are intentionally destroying the country with each and every assault on the Constitutional in their intent to create a government of plutocrats and serfs, with the common man relegated to a position of subservience and servitude .Have you noticed for all the havoc they have caused, they have not said one word against the banks who continue unabated with the pillaging of the middle and lower classes?

As long as they can threaten you by holding Social Security over your head like a cudgel they feel empowered, especially when there is no blowback from the Republicans in congress.

This will only get worse because they hold you in contempt.

See this:

Trump’s commerce secretary: "Don’t complain if we don’t send your Social Security check."

Story by Brett Arends •

Howard Lutnick only opens his mouth to change feet.

Donald Trump’s billionaire commerce secretary made another staggering statement on Friday when he suggested that only “fraudsters” and people “stealing” from the government would complain if they didn’t get their Social Security checks next month. The bizarre, almost surreal comment comes just days after Lutnick, a former Wall Street tycoon, used his position to pump stock in Elon Musk’s company Tesla even though he knew that Musk stands to make a staggering $400 million in personal gain for each $1 the stock rises.

“Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month,” Lutnick said during a YouTube interview Friday. “My mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain. She just wouldn’t. She’d think something got messed up and she’ll get it next month.”

By contrast, he said, “a fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining. … Anybody who’s been in the payment system and the process system knows the easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen. Yeah. ’Cause whoever screams is the one stealing.” The comments, coming just as Musk and his DOGE team slash the number of people working at Social Security and close branch offices, are unlikely to win friends and influence people even among Republicans, let alone anyone else.

Some 69 million Americans rely on Social Security checks every month, including 55 million retirees; 6 million widows, widowers and orphans; and 8 million people with disabilities. And while the checks may be a “nice to have” for people who are better off financially, they are an economic lifeline for millions. The Social Security Administration estimates that among people over age 65, 39% of men and 44% of women rely on their Social Security checks for more than half their monthly income, while for 12% of men and 15% of women over 65, those checks account for “90% or more of their income.”

So while the mother-in-law of a Wall Street billionaire might not worry too much if her monthly check was late, others might worry if their own goes missing.

And if they complain that their check didn’t arrive — particularly if that is the result of the latest DOGE cuts to the Social Security Administration — it may not be because they are “stealing” from the government by asking for the Social Security benefits they earned over a lifetime of work, but because they need them to live on. Republicans and MAGA Nation should note that Lutnick’s remarks do absolutely nothing to help the Trump administration cut genuine waste, fraud and abuse from federal spending without causing massive panic among all those Americans, including retirees, who are living paycheck to paycheck. Nor, for that matter, did the sight of Musk, the world’s richest man, joking about budget cuts while waving a chainsaw around on stage recently.

Lutnick’s stunning comments about Social Security “fraud” weren’t his only bizarre remarks during the interview.

“My wife always wants to renovate my house,” he complained at one point. “Every minute I’ve been alive, my wife has wanted to renovate parts of my house.”

Forbes, which recently estimated Lutnick’s personal fortune at $1.5 billion, has also referred to him as “the most hated man on Wall Street.” During the latest interview, Lutnick admitted that when Musk promised just before the election to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, he had just picked that figure at random. Lutnick and Musk had previously agreed that Musk would promise to cut $1 trillion, but Musk suddenly doubled the figure when he was interviewed on stage at Madison Square Garden. (Check out the interview, starting around the 39-minute mark, for the full details.)

Naturally, MarketWatch readers weren’t fooled by Musk’s claims, because we ran the math at the time. They also weren’t surprised when Musk abandoned the pre-election pledge after all the votes had been counted. But it’s an open question how many voters may have been fooled and might still take Musk at his word when he plucks extraordinary budget promises out of the air.

The most rational response is to believe in these savings when we actually see them.

It is one thing to make extravagant promises when the only people at serious risk of financial harm are you and others who have chosen to invest in your company. It is another to make them when you hold the finances of 65 million people in your hands, most of whom can’t afford to buy stocks and haven’t chosen to buy yours.

Meanwhile, if Social Security accidentally fails to send out checks next month, will Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick offer the beneficiaries an interest-free loan?

tps://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/trump-s-commerce-secretary-don-t-complain-if-we-don-t-send-your-social-security-check/ar-AA1BpCfw

Trump Admin Threatens to Shut Down Social Security Over DOGE Ruling

Here is the threat we all knew was coming. If we don't give in to despotism, dictatorship, and authoritarianism, Trump and Musk said they will shut down the Social Security Administration regardless of the blood chilling effect it will have on America's seniors and the American economy, in general.

Social Security pays out 133 billion dollars a month to its sixty-nine million dependent recipients and they spend almost all of it each month. Consider what will happen to our country if those checks stopped coming. Utilities would shut down their services because of lack of payment -- no heat or air-conditioning -- healthcare would be impossible to access, and indigent hordes would be roaming the street in search of food.

Within weeks our country and the entire economy would collapse!

Even just the fear of such a shutdown is enough to bring terror to the hearts of retirees, the handicapped, and disabled.

A judge told Musk he doesn't have the right to go through Social Security records under the pretext of looking for waste, fraud, and abuse because, aside from Musk's absurdity that millions and millions of Americans over the age of one hundred are still getting monthly checks from the government, it was all an absurd lie. What they were fishing for was an excuse to reduce payments so they can fund even greater tax breaks for the already disgustedly wealthy.

And in arrogance atop arrogance, Trump appointee, Lee Dudek dared the judge to interfere, threatening, "Really, I want to turn it off and let the courts figure out how to run a federal agency."

Trump/Musk are offering a Hobson's Choice, submit to tyranny or starve in the streets.

See this report and try to prepare for the worst.

Trump Admin Threatens to Shut Down Social Security Over DOGE Ruling

Story by Isabel van Brugen •

The Trump administration has threatened to shut down the Social Security Administration (SSA) over a court ruling that blocks Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the personal data of millions of Americans. President Donald Trump’s interim Social Security chief, Lee Dudek—who has been working closely with DOGE—warned that the SSA could be forced to cease operations if Musk’s team continues to be denied access to the information.

My anti-fraud team would be DOGE affiliates. My IT staff would be DOGE affiliates,” Dudek said in remarks published by Bloomberg. “As it stands, I will follow [the judge’s order] exactly and terminate access by all SSA employees to our IT systems.” He said that he planned to request an immediate clarification from the judge.

“Really, I want to turn it off and let the courts figure out how they want to run a federal agency,” he added.

The Daily Beast has contacted the SSA for comment.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday accusing DOGE of conducting a “fishing expedition” at the SSA and said it had not “identified or articulated even a single reason” it needed access to the private data of millions of Americans.

“To be sure, rooting out possible fraud, waste, and mismanagement in the SSA is in the public interest. But, that does not mean that the government can flout the law to do so,” Hollander said in halting the task force’s work.

://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-admin-threatens-to-shut-down-social-security-over-doge-ruling/