Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

WaPo reports on why Musk is having such a hard time finding fraud in the Social Security system. Spoiler alert: it's because the nonpartisan lifetime employees who ran it until recently were good at their job.

Musk’s intense focus on Social Security appears central to his promise to slash $2 trillion from the federal budget. The agency distributes $1.6 trillion in benefit payments each year, making up about 20 percent of all federal spending.

But less than 1 percent of Social Security’s payments in recent years were determined to be improper — often the result of an accidental oversight or change in benefit status, according to a report last year by the agency’s inspector general. That works out to about $9 billion a year, and more than two-thirds of the mistaken payments were eventually clawed back. Another agency audit, which looked only at payments to retired workers, survivors and people with disabilities, found fraud was listed as the cause behind just 3 percent of improper benefit payments.

Despite the flood of money flowing through it, Social Security didn’t make a 2024 list by the Government Accountability Office, the legislative branch’s nonpartisan watchdog, detailing the 16 agencies with improper payment rates of at least 10 percent. That report further found that 80 percent of all improper payments were due to just five government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid — but not Social Security.

“The wild claims they are making — I’ve never seen anything like this,” Kathleen Romig, a former analyst and senior adviser at the agency, said of DOGE and Musk.

Social Security is among the most scrutinized and audited agencies in government, with frequent probes by its 500-person Office of Inspector General.

Um...didn't Musk fire the IG?

It pays outside auditors to examine its books. Congress grills agency officials. Last year, a major focus in congressional hearings led by the GOP wasn’t waste or fraud — it was about Social Security being too aggressive in clawing back accidental benefit overpayments.

Criminal investigators with Social Security’s IG office typically investigate cases tied to disability fraud or covering up a relative’s death to continue receiving benefits. The IG also monitors seemingly minor issues, such as potential misuse of government credit cards. Last month, it reported that the risk for problems was low because of strict internal controls.

That's right. Hunting fraud and waste at Social Security was going very well, until Musk took over with conspiracy theories about 150+ year old people collecting benefits. None of whom have been found, just wild claims based on Musk's misunderstanding of the completely functioning system.

A reminder: neither $9 billion nor $3 billion are all that much when you need $2 trillion to pay $5,000 per taxpayer. And while $3 billion is a lot of money (it's about $3 billion more than Trump has in actual assets that aren't memes) it's a very small proportion of the SS budget and/or federal budget.

Everyone saw this coming, probably Musk. Trump is senile and retarded, but Musk should have been smart enough to know there wasn't that kind of massive fraud. If so, then what he's doing to get into the SS system would, itself, be fraud. And I'm pretty sure he still doesn't work for the WH. Court documents continue to insist he's not part of OPM, meaning Executive Privilege wouldn't apply. Could be a reason why Trump is still hanging onto Musk, despite Musk giving the opposite of results. Just car advertisements and failures.

[PACOX]

It's a who's who list of exactly who should know to not do exactly what they all did.

A civilian with a clearance would be threatened with prison time even if it was an honest mistake. They wouldnt hear the end of it and would definitely have no hopes of keeping their jobs, nor the next.

[s_bushido]

Musk should have been smart enough to know there wasn't that kind of massive fraud.

I can't think of a single thing that would lead someone to believe he's "smart enough" to do much of anything other than take credit for the work of others.

[Jastall]

I can't think of a single thing that would lead someone to believe he's "smart enough" to do much of anything other than take credit for the work of others.

To add to this, the point isn't to find the fraud. It's to loudly proclaim you'll find the fraud, then loudly proclaim you found the fraud, then loudly proclaim you've fixed the fraud, bask in the (carefully selected) praise that ensues, and finally blame any further issues on someone else.

I had feared Musk was truly a man with an agenda, and the will and power to act upon it. But nah, turns out, the world's richest man is a walking example of Dunning-Krueger syndrome wrapped in the persona of a narcissistic asshole. Birds of a feather with the President, I suppose.

[Xath]

A civilian with a clearance would be threatened with prison time even if it was an honest mistake. They wouldnt hear the end of it and would definitely have no hopes of keeping their jobs, nor the next.

They wouldn't be threatened they would be jailed. There are literally people who have been jailed for taking a picture at their desk without realizing there was other stuff behind them.

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WaPo reports on why Musk is having such a hard time finding fraud in the Social Security system. Spoiler alert: it's because the nonpartisan lifetime employees who ran it until recently were good at their job.



Um...didn't Musk fire the IG?



That's right. Hunting fraud and waste at Social Security was going very well, until Musk took over with conspiracy theories about 150+ year old people collecting benefits. None of whom have been found, just wild claims based on Musk's misunderstanding of the completely functioning system.

A reminder: neither $9 billion nor $3 billion are all that much when you need $2 trillion to pay $5,000 per taxpayer. And while $3 billion is a lot of money (it's about $3 billion more than Trump has in actual assets that aren't memes) it's a very small proportion of the SS budget and/or federal budget.

Everyone saw this coming, probably Musk. Trump is senile and retarded, but Musk should have been smart enough to know there wasn't that kind of massive fraud. If so, then what he's doing to get into the SS system would, itself, be fraud. And I'm pretty sure he still doesn't work for the WH. Court documents continue to insist he's not part of OPM, meaning Executive Privilege wouldn't apply. Could be a reason why Trump is still hanging onto Musk, despite Musk giving the opposite of results. Just car advertisements and failures.

The entire point is to dismantle and privatize the government to try to force their company town bullshit they aren't looking for fraud they are bullshiting

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To add to this, the point isn't to find the fraud. It's to loudly proclaim you'll find the fraud, then loudly proclaim you found the fraud, then loudly proclaim you've fixed the fraud, bask in the (carefully selected) praise that ensues, and finally blame any further issues on someone else.

I had feared Musk was truly a man with an agenda, and the will and power to act upon it. But nah, turns out, the world's richest man is a walking example of Dunning-Krueger syndrome wrapped in the persona of a narcissistic asshole. Birds of a feather with the President, I suppose.

The thing is they absolutely do have an agenda

https://www.wired.com/story/startup-...p-legislation/

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/17/the...s-destruction/

[Corvus]

Knowing this administration, the only one going to be charged from this will be the journalist.

[Doomcookie]

A civilian with a clearance would be threatened with prison time even if it was an honest mistake. They wouldnt hear the end of it and would definitely have no hopes of keeping their jobs, nor the next.

They would be in handcuffs.

Sadly, these people probably won't even get fired.

[Draco-Onis]

To add to this, the point isn't to find the fraud. It's to loudly proclaim you'll find the fraud, then loudly proclaim you found the fraud, then loudly proclaim you've fixed the fraud, bask in the (carefully selected) praise that ensues, and finally blame any further issues on someone else.

I had feared Musk was truly a man with an agenda, and the will and power to act upon it. But nah, turns out, the world's richest man is a walking example of Dunning-Krueger syndrome wrapped in the persona of a narcissistic asshole. Birds of a feather with the President, I suppose.

The point is to discredit social security, raid it then hand it over to themselves or wall street so they can drown seniors in fees while they rob them blind. Because the government is doing such an awful job with social security you see only "geniuses" like Elon Musk can properly steal I mean manage your social security fund.

[Edge-]

WaPo reports on why Musk is having such a hard time finding fraud in the Social Security system. Spoiler alert: it's because the nonpartisan lifetime employees who ran it until recently were good at their job.



Um...didn't Musk fire the IG?



That's right. Hunting fraud and waste at Social Security was going very well, until Musk took over with conspiracy theories about 150+ year old people collecting benefits. None of whom have been found, just wild claims based on Musk's misunderstanding of the completely functioning system.

A reminder: neither $9 billion nor $3 billion are all that much when you need $2 trillion to pay $5,000 per taxpayer. And while $3 billion is a lot of money (it's about $3 billion more than Trump has in actual assets that aren't memes) it's a very small proportion of the SS budget and/or federal budget.

Everyone saw this coming, probably Musk. Trump is senile and retarded, but Musk should have been smart enough to know there wasn't that kind of massive fraud. If so, then what he's doing to get into the SS system would, itself, be fraud. And I'm pretty sure he still doesn't work for the WH. Court documents continue to insist he's not part of OPM, meaning Executive Privilege wouldn't apply. Could be a reason why Trump is still hanging onto Musk, despite Musk giving the opposite of results. Just car advertisements and failures.

Breccia, would you say there's less fraud in Social Security than there appears to be within Tesla? You know, given the Canadian rebate scandal and the Financial Times "Where'd the $1.4B in assets go?" investigation and all.

[Elder Millennial]

A civilian with a clearance would be threatened with prison time even if it was an honest mistake. They wouldnt hear the end of it and would definitely have no hopes of keeping their jobs, nor the next.

Not just a civilian. Anyone with a security clearance. Especially if ...god forbid, they were a whistleblower.

Again, these are the very people who spent a decade+ SCREECHING about Hillary's fucking emails.

If this was a Democrat administration, the Republicans and the MAGA loons would be screaming for treason trials and for televised public executions.

[Breccia]

Breccia, would you say there's less fraud in Social Security than there appears to be within Tesla?

I would, considering the article I posted suggested 3% of Social Security's lost money is due to actual provable criminal fraud and not like "Grandpa died and we didn't drop everything and tell Social Security within 15 minutes".

[fwc577]

Not gonna read anything from that cesspool, but I wouldn't be surprised if plenty of them are just saying this because they think it's expected of them. You know...after spending how many years bitching about Buttery Males.

In a nutshell, there are either three types of posts.

1 -- This is bad. I'm pissed. People need to be fired.
--Which often gets the response of 2

2 -- TDS! TDS! TDS!

Then there is 3

3 -- r/politics Is BrIgAdInG uS111!!1!!1!111

[Liftbrul]

[Bwgmon]

[img]

"Now we just look like utter buffoons."

[tehdang]

He absolutely is a hamas lover. There is video of him celebrating Oct 7 and distributing pamphlets with Hamas propaganda. That is however, protected speech. Hes had zero contact with Hamas or at least the government hasnt been able to provide evidence of it so the terrorism charges do not apply here

Update on Mahmoud Khalil:

https://x.com/camiloreports/status/1904187896271130911 (CBS)
He's being accused of fraud on the Permanent Resident registration/status change form. Failing to disclose UNRWA for past employment, failure to disclose ongoing employment for the UK embassy in Beirut, and failure to disclose current membership in CUAD. A fraudulent application for a green card is a reason to lose it. It also helps to explain how he became a green card holder.

[Gestopft]

Update on Mahmoud Khalil:

https://x.com/camiloreports/status/1904187896271130911 (CBS)
He's being accused of fraud on the Permanent Resident registration/status change form. Failing to disclose UNRWA for past employment, failure to disclose ongoing employment for the UK embassy in Beirut, and failure to disclose current membership in CUAD. A fraudulent application for a green card is a reason to lose it. It also helps to explain how he became a green card holder.

"Ignoring due process and violating rights is OK as long as you can justify it post hoc"

[Mayhem]

"Ignoring due process and violating rights is OK as long as you can justify it post hoc"

Lock up first, fabricate evidence later, the "German 1933" version of due process.

[Xath]

Update on Mahmoud Khalil:

https://x.com/camiloreports/status/1904187896271130911 (CBS)
He's being accused of fraud on the Permanent Resident registration/status change form. Failing to disclose UNRWA for past employment, failure to disclose ongoing employment for the UK embassy in Beirut, and failure to disclose current membership in CUAD. A fraudulent application for a green card is a reason to lose it. It also helps to explain how he became a green card holder.

Literally none of that would have stopped him from becoming a green card holder just say you are cool with nazis and stop dancing around it.

[tehdang]

"Ignoring due process and violating rights is OK as long as you can justify it post hoc"

”I have accused you of violating due process. Therefore, you stand guilty. How dare you speak, criticize, or differ!”

It’s a news story, calm down. You can still slay the hated evil Nazis from your white horse to the cheers of the crowd and remark that you always had the best vision, or whatever. If that’s what this is.

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Literally none of that would have stopped him from becoming a green card holder just say you are cool with nazis and stop dancing around it.

That’s a weird view. You wish to tell immigration officers that you’re only concealing things on your application that wouldn’t change their admission/status decision if you had actually been forthcoming?

Since the news has frequently crossed into the judicial realm, we should try on “Your honor, I only perjured myself in things that that you wouldn’t have a problem with had I told you the truth!”

[Mazza]

”I have accused you of violating due process. Therefore, you stand guilty. How dare you speak, criticize, or differ!”

It’s a news story, calm down. You can still slay the hated evil Nazis from your white horse to the cheers of the crowd and remark that you always had the best vision, or whatever. If that’s what this is.

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That’s a weird view. You wish to tell immigration officers that you’re only concealing things on your application that wouldn’t change their admission/status decision if you had actually been forthcoming?

Since the news has frequently crossed into the judicial realm, we should try on “Your honor, I only perjured myself in things that that you wouldn’t have a problem with had I told you the truth!”

Regardless of potential fraud on his application form, it still is jarring that they arrested him on bogus reasons. In case you forgot the stated reason for his arrest was that his student visa had been retracted. When corrected, they decided ad hoc that his green card was retracted something the execution branch has no right to do as it is up to the courts to decide on that.

This reeks of "arrest him and we will eventually find something that will hopefully stick in court", imo. We'll see if it does and if the claim is even legit.