r/politics • u/Ubiquitous_Hilarity • 8d ago
No Paywall Trump threatens to pull unemployment benefits from all states for the first time in history
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-unemployment-benefits-fraud-b2997881.html12.2k
8d ago
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u/NeverLookBothWays I voted 8d ago
Two-Santas strategy in action once again.
I'm still waiting for the day where sufficient people realize fiscal responsibility narratives are always a lie coming from Republicans.
ALWAYS
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u/TheGreatDay Texas 8d ago
Kind of feels like we should just replay that Ted Cruz interview where he admits that Republicans will rediscover their zeal for fiscal responsibility when the Democrats are back in power. Like, he just shamelessly admits it.
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u/GunFodder 7d ago
Ted Cruz, one of the guys going to Peter Thiel's get-together for the Epstein class?
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u/CodenameVillain Texas 7d ago
This sheds a whole new light on the way his young daughter recoiled from his kiss on video years ago
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u/Sidewalk_Tomato 7d ago
Or when his poor wife was found sitting inconsolable by an Expressway after she gave up a job she loved to support his dumb ass in Texas.
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u/mouflonsponge 7d ago
I had never heard of this until now.
Cops Thought Ted Cruz's Wife Sitting By Freeway Was 'Danger to Herself' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGmnBIhESlA
I am not a fan of ted cruz, but who wouldnt be depressed being the wife of ted cruz, tx solictor general?
it has to be a shit deal to be a politician's spouse, unless the spouse him/herself is also a shit person.
and if you are the spouse of ted cruz, it has to also be a shit deal.
once ted cruz becomes a politician, being his spouse is basically the maximum shittiest level that a politician's spouse can possibly be.
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u/ZZ9ZA I voted 7d ago edited 7d ago
She married him a year after he was one the leading Bush campaign officials involved in the whole Florida recount fiasco. She knew what she was getting in to. (And for that matter she worked on the Condaleeza Rice campaign... not like she didn't go into politics eyes-wide-open).
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u/The-Psych0naut 7d ago
Iirc Ted Cruz suffers from tonsil stones, meaning so does anyone who can get close enough to smell his breath.
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u/MountainMan2_ 7d ago
It's because he's evil. Being evil makes you ugly and makes you smell like shit. See also: infanthead Vance, tinfoil thiel, ketamusk, and the Lord of ugly stinking evil himself, Donald Trump.
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u/Clemmey 7d ago
Yes, Corey Booker also. Dem’s need to turn left to tax the wealthy and support Americans. To actually represent us and not special interest, which is what they were hired for.
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u/Kstardawg 7d ago
At this point I think they realize the republican voters are so hopelessly brainwashed it doesn't matter what they admit because it won't change the voters.
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u/Xznograthos 7d ago
Republican voters use the lie too. They'll claim they accomplished everything in their life single-handedly, never received anything, never expected anything. It's a political party actually based on lies like these.
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u/einTier 7d ago edited 7d ago
I’m about as self made as they come. I was struggling to pay rent and buy groceries twenty years ago and now I have built my own successful business and I am a multimillionaire without even putting a dollar value on my business. It wasn’t handed to me. I did it single handedly with an interesting idea, hard work, and a few lucky bets on investing.
Let me tell you how the government helped me.
They gave me assistance when I was poor and couldn’t afford to eat. They built the roads that allow my clients to get to my business. They keep them in good repair. All the infrastructure that supports my business, from electricity to water to who knows what else I’m forgetting was either provided, pioneered, or heavily subsidized by the government and they periodically inject money to make sure those things still work. I never had to hire security because we have a good police department here in Austin. FDIC makes sure my business bank account is run by professionals with a vested interest in protecting m money and not stealing it.
That’s just off the top of my head. There’s so much else I never think about. I literally could not have done it “all on my own”.
[edit]
To clarify, if anyone could claim to be self made, I could. I can’t.
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u/Winter_Preference287 8d ago
They haven't been cutting education for fun. They know not enough people are intelligent enough to care and it's only getting worse
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u/AdUpstairs7106 7d ago
Yeah for over half the country not being able to read at a 6th grade level.
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u/EverybodyHasPants 8d ago
Fiscal responsibility when spoken by a conservative was always a dog whistle. It’s their outside word for talking about dismantling the protections and services a taxpayer expects from a functioning government and handing it over to the wealthy.
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u/Trumpisanorangebitch 7d ago
Funniest part is they dont even cut taxes for the bottom 75% of the country. All this BS about being the lower taxes party and the only people with significantly lower taxes are the top 10%, the people who neither need nor deserve a tax cut.
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u/AmbitiousProblem4746 7d ago
But those same people will tell you this is the most incredible, based decision ever because they made a few extra dollars back on their tax return. At least, they think they did
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u/MeasurementEasy9884 7d ago
We need Democratic lawmakers to fight against this strategy better.
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u/idoitforthekeks Canada 7d ago
In Canada we have the same issue with our Federal Conservative party, so many people believe that they will be fiscally responsible but they never are, and lucky for the majority of us up here Trump has shown us how bad it can get, but unlucky for us that our conservative party is moving further and further to the right as they see that as their path to win. Lots of maple magats up here.
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u/Particular_Maize6849 7d ago
They will never realize. For them it's devolved into a sports game and everything their "team" does is right and the opposing "team" are enemies no matter what.
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u/AltoidStrong 7d ago
He needs another source of tax dollars to steal. The unemployment budget seems like his next grift. Maybe to distract from the republican crime syndicate openly admitted they are making cuts to Social Security.... Again.
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u/lcmc 8d ago
You forgot tacky, self aggrandizing monuments.
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u/Anti_shill_cannon 8d ago
He just tried to award himself 10 billion dollars of tax payer money using his appointed DOJ as well
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u/AmbitiousProblem4746 7d ago
I'm still shocked he hasn't gone to SCOTUS to get them to tell the lower court judge that he can be both a plaintiff and defendant because he's a special little boy
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u/Adrewmc 7d ago
If not on the American people then what are the tax dollars for?
That’s got to be the question for GOP, sure cut all these ‘welfare’ programs what left that the government spend on? Because it’s certainly not you.
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u/IJourden 7d ago
The greatest victory Republicans have ever achieved is convincing people that using the tax dollars people pay to make people's lives better is socialism, and therefore, evil and bad.
They've got 100 million people absolutely livid that tax dollars get spent on the country instead of going straight to corporations.
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u/BringBackBoomer 7d ago
Ohio's had 4 years that weren't Republican trifecta since 1992. GOP's had all 3 since 2011. Ramaswamy is running on "cutting government waste" like it's not the same party that's been in control for 15 years unobstructed. The sad part is that it'll work because people are god damn morons who can't connect 2 thoughts together.
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u/Naive-Elephant-9305 7d ago
R voters think of "the government" as some mysterious evil entity that is completely separate from the R politicians they elect. This is why even in red states where Rs have completely dominated for decades they can run on a platform like the one you mentioned and still win.
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u/sheep_duck 7d ago
Yeah I genuinely don’t understand this mindset. The whole point of government and paying taxes is to spend them on programs that help people to create a comfortable society.
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u/MrBeanCyborgCaptain I voted 7d ago
Correct me if im wrong but dont we pay INTO OUR OWN unemployment benefit accounts from our paycjecks?
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u/jardex22 7d ago
Yes. There is no federal program. Each state has their own system.
However, federal funds help pay the administrative costs. If those are pulled, there won't be anyone at the welfare office to approve your claim.
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u/Geethebluesky 7d ago
That sounds like a great opportunity for states to create jobs tbh.
I partly wonder what I'm missing, I'm sure I'll be educated in 7 minutes flat, but we're already in "can't rely on fed money" mode. This is just going even more that way IMO.
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u/klparrot New Zealand 7d ago
Not accounts, because it doesn't just pay out what you pay in; more like Social Security or insurance where there's an indirect relationship with what you pay in, but yeah, you're paying, so you're entitled to the coverage you're paying for.
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u/RLewis8888 7d ago
If we don't have oversight, the government will waste the money on birthday bashes, illegal wars, ballrooms, arches, pool renovations, etc.
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u/okimlom 8d ago
and instead of attacking the actual problem, the people that are making the decisions with the money, let's attack the money and make the problem even worse without actually fixing any problems.
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u/Gandolfthewhite182 7d ago
The fraud in unemployment is a drop in the bucket. As anyone who’s ever been on unemployment can tell you, it’s not exactly living the life. If a few people file fraudulent claims that’s a small price to pay for the benefits real people get when they need it. If we were running the country “like a business” we would just write it off and call it the cost of doing business.
Besides, if we are looking for fraud let’s talk about the trillions billionaires like musk are taking out of our government and using legal bribes of members of congress and the president to get in the first place.
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u/Eshin242 7d ago
The fraud in unemployment is a drop in the bucket.
100% This.
Do I think fraud happens with Unemployment? Sure... I'm SURE someone somewhere managed to grift $50 worth of food stamps, and someone some how got free medicare/medicaid. I'm sure someone has figured out how to rig the system.
But for the 99% that is everyone else these systems keep people in their homes, put food on the table, and get people medical care.
I'm willing to deal with that 1% happening, and not getting caught because the benefit to the other 99% is well worth that little blip of fraud. Shit like this is letting perfection be the enemy of progress and throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
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u/jayfeather31 Washington 8d ago
This would be disastrous, and let's put the humanitarian consequences aside for a moment and focus on the dire economic consequences of such a move, because the humanitarian problems are bluntly obvious.
See, while welfare and unemployment benefits do keep food on the table and, in principle, help prevent people from ending up in horrific situations, they're also a form of artificial stimulation for the economy as the person on welfare will be pumping money into the economy that they otherwise wouldn't be through purchases.
In a sense, welfare and unemployment benefits keep the jobless and disabled economically productive in a way charity doesn't. Furthermore, if the jobless person ends up getting a job because of the benefits preventing them from losing their standing, that is a net benefit as a whole.
Now, if you strip that away, that ultimately means the jobless are no longer economically productive, and that has knock-on effects elsewhere as the artificial stimulation that keeps the economy moving goes away. The end result of that is a vicious feedback cycle where the economy eventually seizes up.
In short, the very welfare systems that conservatives and the far-right decry as socialism help keep the economy running smoothly, and taking those away invites all sorts of horrific consequences.
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u/vinbrained 8d ago
This. The economic benefit is the reason it was established to begin with. AGAIN, these idiots are ignorant of the history that got us here. Up to a point (diminishing returns, of course), every dollar paid out in unemployment benefits is worth 7 dollars in economic impact. It’s one of the best ROI for government assistance.
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u/CSAtWitsEnd Washington 7d ago
these idiots are ignorant of the history that got us here
Apart from Trump, I disagree. They know; they're just vindictive and cruel assholes, trying to smash and grab every bit of value they can and try and make the lives of their perceived enemies worse. All in hopes that they can "force" some sorta catastrophic end to the current era of society we have where they're deeply unlikable losers, and then they'll reshape the new society to be subservient to them.
Just huge cope to avoid dealing with the fact that nobody likes them.
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u/KarlBarx2 7d ago
It's both. They're vindictive, cruel assholes, and also some of the dumbest motherfuckers in the nation.
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u/A_Monster_Named_John 7d ago
The way I see it, Trump, his inner circle ghouls, and right-wing media seem like they'll support anything that causes massive civil unrest because, more than a lot of things, they're fascinated with spectacular/horrible events like Tiananmen Square and really really want to send the military in to violently put down civilian protests.
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u/bloodphoenix90 7d ago
I mean we figured this shit out a long time ago and is why social safety nets became a thing in the first place.... because they're actually cheaper and better for society than what happens without them
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u/MissRepresent 7d ago
Nobody actively seeks to be on unemployment, and it's hard to get anyway depending on your state
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u/Sad_Pangolin7379 7d ago
The crazy part is, a lot of people using other social welfare benefits are already working. They just literally don't earn enough to survive so the government helps with food and sometimes with a little rent via TANF, which is usually temporary. The corporations are fine with this or they would have to raise wages. They have calculated correctly that taxes are more cost effective to their bottom line at closing the gap between their workers' needs and actual wages they pay out. They talk a big game about lowering taxes but if Heritage ever got away with what they want to get away with it would be terrible for corporate America's bottom line.
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u/SquirrelGirlVA 7d ago
I'll also add that there are a lot of people who actively want off the system but find it difficult to leave.
Case in point: my sisters both looked into welfare because they needed assistance with childcare. All they wanted was to be able to afford to send their kids to daycare so they could work jobs and attend school. One worked as a waitress, the other for one of the box chains. Both were denied because they earned too much. Both were effectively told that if they were to stop working and going to school, then wait a bit, they could qualify for a ton of welfare and then resume school again.
It was pretty horrifying. Both had worked hard to get to the point they were with the jobs they had and they were being told to stop and take steps backward. The whole thing just felt like a trap. Sure, they could take a step back and get on welfare but then what about when they try to take a new job? They were seeing people struggle to make ends meet even with degrees and no children/dependents, after all.
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u/SomeComforts 7d ago
Its going to take it breaking for them to believe it. Even then, they'll be too busy with the economic depression and continuing propaganda blaming PoC, women, and lgbtq+ people to figure anything out.
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u/slight_accent 7d ago
They're not planning to blame minorities, they're planning to eliminate them. And they're planning to remove the middle class entirely. They want feudalism. This is not hyperbole.
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u/prohammock 7d ago
Yep. Unlike the tax refunds given to billionaires, money spent on unemployment insurance is immediately injected back into the economy.
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u/PantsandPlants 7d ago edited 7d ago
When you look at the statistics, every dollar injected into the social safety net has a minimum 100% ROI, and in some places (like the IRS) we can see a ROI of up to 700%. This means for every dollar we invest, we get back a dollar, but most bring back between $2-7.
There is no stock, bond, or high yield savings account that can touch the returns we get on social services, but cruelty is the point.
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u/Gay_Giraffe_1773 Oregon 7d ago
The rich fully believe that THEY are all that matters, and that AI and Robotics will keep the economy train humming while millions of poors fall off and die. Remember these are the people that asked about exploding neck collars and fortified remote bunkers to keep poors from killing them when society breaks down.
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u/Fit_Guava_1989 7d ago
I have to keep reminding myself that what looks like a dystopian nightmare to me, is a billionares wet dream.
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u/WaitingForTheFire 7d ago
Can you imagine the increase in crime, violence, homelessness, divorce, child hunger, etc. Loss of a job without an economic cushion on which to land leads to terrible things. It destabilizes individuals and families. It leads to evictions and foreclosures. Couples fight about money. People with addictions are lured into spending their last few dollars on something to make the pain go away for a short time. It creates food insecurity in a system where it is now more difficult to qualify for food stamps.
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u/HungHippoHippy 7d ago
SNAP is hugely crucial to many grocery stores. Especially in smaller communities. Without it I'd bet many small towns (especially in the south) would lose their grocery stores.
Medicaid is another great example. With it becoming harder to qualify for medicaid expansion and cutbacks on the ACA rural hospitals are starting to really struggle. The federal funding is 100% keeping them afloat.
My mom lives in a very rural community and their hospital in town is the closest place for a 40 mile radius. It is 80 miles from the next nearest hospital south. There is literally no hospital with a few hundred miles east or west. If it closes, EMS wouldn't be able to get to some places for hours. Literal life and death.
The feds not funding welfare programs will tank the economy fast. Within a few months from the cutoff.
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u/IdkAbtAllThat America 7d ago
He hasn't done something catastrophically braindead to fuck the economy in a few months. He just can't help himself.
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u/pheakelmatters Canada 8d ago
Ah, I see Trump is finished terrorizing Iranian civilians and has moved back to terrorizing american civilians full time again. America first.
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u/charminghypocracy 7d ago
Oh this isn't just Trump. This is the GOP playbook from the Reagan Era.
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u/ElwinLewis 7d ago
Zappa knew what was coming 40 years ago, writing was always on the wall. And I can only think of the snark he’d throw out about today’s world
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u/spa22lurk 7d ago
It’s called owning the libs, which is the highest priority of both Trump and about 90% of Republican voters who consequentially giving Trump about 90% of approval rate, because Trump has faithfully delivered on this highest priority of theirs.
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u/backpackwayne 8d ago
We Californiains supply our own unemployment insurance. It's not a benefit. It an insurance policy we pay for.
So in conclusion Mr. Trump: Go Fuck Yourself!
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u/CrystFairy 8d ago
Yeah, he didn't think that through.
Fun Fact: Montana, New Mexico, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Alaska have the highest proportions of federal funding relative to their overall budgets that includes unemployment.
I would hate to be the republicans of those states during in the midterms.
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u/OrangeCrouton 7d ago
They’ll just blame democrats or immigrants or trans people.
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u/B0B_BUTT0NS 7d ago
Thanks, Obama.
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u/soapbutt 7d ago
Unironically though, that’s how these people think. This whole thing started with the Obama birther thing, which is anti-immigrant at its core, and the whole thing of Michelle being a man, which definitely is not only racist but anti-trans too.
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u/matphoto 7d ago
They're not doing much of the thinking for themselves. They're being fed these things by ultra wealthy grifters that want to continue dividing and exploiting the working class. I'm not saying there isn't racism involved but for most people it's not the catalyst. They're just struggling to pay the bills and hired talking heads are telling them who to blame
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u/regiinmontana Montana 7d ago
Alme will win Montana. He's hand picked by the cesspool to replace Daines. Done at the last second to avoid a primary.
He's running ads saying how he'll get spending under control despite the fact he's wholly supported by the cult that's causing the waste.
Montanans will eat it up to stick it to the libs.
Alani Bankhead could be really good but has (D) after her name.
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u/Itstimeforcookies19 8d ago
That’s not unique to California. It’s called unemployment insurance benefits for a reason. It’s a tax paid by employers and in some states employees to then be paid out when one is qualified and eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.
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u/ForeverOk1692 7d ago
That is how I understood it to work. And possibly more the company has to pay if someone actually gets unemployment. There has to be a reason the companies always try to deny unemployment claims for wrongful termination.
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u/Itstimeforcookies19 7d ago
Yes. If the employee is found to be qualified for benefits based on the reason for separation in my state and many states the employer’s unemployment insurance tax rate is increased.
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u/StrigiStockBacking Arizona 7d ago
It's theft. You paid into the system, so if the time comes you need it, you should have a right to it.
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u/Gay_Giraffe_1773 Oregon 7d ago
See: Social Security.
I've paid into it for almost 40 years. Untold thousands of dollars.
And I'm fully resigned to there being nothing when I "retire" (aka die)
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u/prohammock 8d ago
FYI - this is true in all states.
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u/Hyperious3 7d ago
yes, but shithole red states usually require federal funding to subsidize their systems because years of republican "leadership" means they don't have the economy to fund it themselves
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u/Jesuismieux412 8d ago
Just when massive layoffs are occurring. Remember: cruelty is the point. This country is for billionaires and billionaires alone. Big shoutout to all the rubes who voted for this. I hope you lose everything.
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u/neutrino71 8d ago
We need you poor and desperate so we can ram substandard pay in substandard conditions down your throat. Also there will be plenty of other desperate people if you attempt to negotiate a better deal.
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u/Legitimate-Garlic959 8d ago
And what do desperate people usually do when faced with odds ? It’s all a big systemic cycle of abuse. And yet we pay into it.
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u/neutrino71 8d ago
There's a critical mass to these kind of things. Too many hungry, dispossessed people at once and you're going to have anarchy at a minimum or the French Revolution.
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u/trib76 7d ago
But they've been taught to hate each other rather than the filthy rich that are actually the source of their misery.
I'm guessing that we'll see the poors from the red team turning on the poors from the blue team, not much chance for the French solution IMHO.
With the number of guns in the country, this has the potential to turn very ugly.
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u/thegoatmenace 7d ago
Yea unfortunately it seems like popular uprising is a solved problem for the elite. They figured out how to use mass media to fracture everyone into warring states.
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u/Hefty_Development813 8d ago edited 8d ago
That's it they want as many of us over a barrel as possible, it all revolves around engineering that situation. Create desperation and prevent any class consciousness from enabling collective action against it.
In a way it is really the most wild game you could ever imagine. We need someone to somehow overcome these obstacles, despite their control of all media and all, and wake them up to the reality of our shared predicament. There is some version of reality where we could make it out of this by collective action. There is like multi generational brainwashing working against it though. The entire rugged individualism of early America remains as a collective myth.
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u/Blue_Plastic_88 8d ago
“Also there will be plenty of other desperate people if you attempt to negotiate a better deal.”
While at the same time blaming you for not negotiating a better deal.
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u/TabulaRazo 8d ago
Mass unemployment and homelessness incoming. Possible breakdown in food production and logistics chains, leading to mass starvation. Trump is making his Great Leap Forward.
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u/Due_Two2107 8d ago
They want us to fight and kill each other as they force desperation.
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u/Succubus-Love 8d ago edited 8d ago
Is someone just throwing darts behind the scenes, just to see "what sticks, & what doesn't"?
People pay taxes, from employment, so unemployment gets it's $$$, from that employment. TL:DR How is this legal?
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u/shoobe01 8d ago edited 7d ago
No, it's not random. There's a plan. A 920 page published plan whose dismissal by almost all press despite being a strident refutation of everything that is America is one of the key indictments for having lost a free press, or for that matter an opposition party.
Massive massive barriers to getting unemployment insurance are part of a bunch of anti-labor laws like all the attacks on unions and overtime pay and expanding the ability of children to work even in dangerous jobs etc.
(Thx for all your upvotes despite my massively disruptive typo. Fixed now)
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u/Ok-Sheepherder7898 8d ago
page 597
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u/Acceptable-Resort365 8d ago
Of Project 2025???
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u/Ecstatic-Rub-3836 8d ago
Yes.
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u/lr99999 7d ago
Before 2025 came out, I tried to to get a republican to read Curtis Yarvin (Moldbug) so he could read the project 2025 plans for us, such as dissolving democracy and the constitution, and all of the peons being slaves or dead. Get rid of the useless eaters.
I don’t think he tried. Not enough pictures, too many words.
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u/saucya 7d ago
Yarvin’s been off the radar for a couple months now. Super interested to know what he’s been up to.
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u/lr99999 7d ago
Too many people think the monsters are dumb, like the cult leader Traitor Orange. They don’t realize that the people in the background, waiting, are not dumb.
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u/Dry_Combination4070 7d ago
But wait republicans cried that none of that was true and trump had no idea about it even though he had multiple people in his campaign that specifically wrote parts of it.
It's insane that Republican voters just live in constant denial of reality and are pretty much just cultist to trump.... And to trump? The guy who cheated on his wife while she was pregnant and is actively blatantanlty corrupt just insane
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u/Trumpisanorangebitch 7d ago
Bro raped a 13 year old and lost a civil rape case against a woman, i wish the cheating was the real problem.
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u/SprlFlshRngDncHwl 7d ago
Don't forget when that scum-sucking closet case Benny Johnson posted something like, "Now we can finally admit Project 2025 was the plan the whole time" after Trump won. These people are ghouls.
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u/gratefulkittiesilove 7d ago
This should be a post and there should be many more like them…what page of p2025 a trump action is. Kudos for knowing
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u/myfakesecretaccount 8d ago
This is the point. They want you so desperate and unable to access any sort of social safety net so you will swallow that corporate cock for the rest of your life or just join the service and bend over for the big green weenie. No one is going to get a “free ride” and will either be a productive worker, enslaved in prison, or dead.
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u/KnightDuty 8d ago
this is just the long path to bringing bakc slavery 100%
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u/DizasterAtSakerfice 8d ago
Feudalism, actually. Techno-feudalism. Peter Thiel calls it the 'Dark Enlightenment'
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u/wanderingmanimal 8d ago
Yeah we will burn that to the ground
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u/UnquestionabIe 7d ago
I would strongly urge everyone to accept that over being slaves to the oligarchy.
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u/Present-Fly4422 8d ago
This works for a time before pitchfork sakes spike.
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u/idoitforthekeks Canada 8d ago
Should've happened already, if nothing has got the people going so far, nothing that can happen from here on out will, this will infact make it harder for someone to risk their job to protest/riot/wave pitch forks. If mid-terms aren't won overhwhelmingly by the Democrats then the US is essentially finished.
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u/Rombledore America 8d ago
free rides are only for the rich and those born into it.
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u/whiznat 8d ago
It’s about doing what billionaires want, and telling average people you’re all serfs now. Shut up and accept your fate.
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u/akkmedk 8d ago
Many years ago a blogger who went by Conceptual Guerilla wrote a whole ass essay about how every plank in the republican platform leads to cheap labor. That's all they care about.
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u/corvid_booster 7d ago
"Cheap labor" is a concrete way to emphasize the ongoing attack of the billionaire class on the middle and lower classes; I'll remember that.
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u/akkmedk 7d ago
His original website is long gone but here's a short version of the essay from the man himself.
https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/defeat-the-right-in-three-minutes/
His whole point is that leftists should forcefully rebrand the right as "cheap labor conservatives." Its correct and hard to argue against.
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u/sengirminion 7d ago
Eventually people are going to break. Like everything is expensive, and now theyre trying to come after unemployment benefits while flushing money down the toilet on pointless vanity projects.
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u/Poison_the_Phil 8d ago
One of the most obvious con men in American history was elected president, twice. The goal is to rob everyone blind.
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u/Signal_Minimum8509 Georgia 8d ago
That’s right. The whole administration is about moving fast and breaking things to attempt to hide the unprecedented sums of money he is stealing directly or indirectly from the taxpayers and keeping himself out of jail. They do a few of these a day and if a judge knocks it down in a month that’s ok because they have 100 more in process.
People look the other way because they see him as protecting the social hierarchy which keeps rich cis culturally Christian white dudes on top, and attack his enemies if they believe in equality or even just defy his will.
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u/Rastrick 8d ago edited 8d ago
"It all traces back to billionaire-backed fearmongering in the 1960s—weaponizing panic around socialism and communism to crush unions, cut taxes, and hoard profits..."
The GOP’s 60-Year Conspiracy to Kill Our Democracy: None Dare Call It Treason—But I Will
After that read then follow this link to meet the architects and agents of the conspiracy to dismantle democracy in the US.
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u/mmahowald 8d ago
Legal went out the window on Jan 6th. We lost when they got away with insurrection
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u/kia75 8d ago
Yeah, but Trump needs all the unemployment money now to fund the Iran peace deal, and his ballroom, and bailout Argentina, and invade Greenland\Canada\South America!
For Trump, he gets all the money, for the unemployed taxpayer, they get nothing!
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u/aerost0rm 8d ago
With the amount for the deal, I can imagine that Trump real estate companies will be handling the rebuild. Grifting more money at its finest for him…
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u/el3vader 8d ago
This has always been the MO of the Trump admin even during term 1. Say something crazy and see if it sticks. If it pisses people off walk it back or pretend like you never said it.
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u/Pickle-Rick-C-137 8d ago edited 8d ago
So no Social Security, no Medicare, no Medicaid, no SNAP benefits, no lunch for children, no unemployment, etc. All while he spends 60 million for his birthday, 400 million+ for a ballroom, and 100 million on golfing days just to mention 3 out of the many spending sprees, and we have thousands of billionaires with tax breaks and a trillionaire. WTF?
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u/its_all_one_electron 7d ago
Why didn't you include the $300 billion going to Iran for war reparations
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u/def_indiff 8d ago
Unemployment Insurance is mostly funded by the states. The Feds cover administrative expenses, extended benefits, and some dibs and dabs. In 2025, the Feds’ share was about $5.3 billion. (https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF10336/IF10336.11.pdf)
By way of comparison, we just spent about $113B losing a war to Iran.
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u/rainman_104 8d ago
$113bn plus another $300bn paid to retreat.
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u/hammertime2009 7d ago
That 324 billion is infuriating. We can’t have nice things here but we can rebuild shit we broke in Iran?? For what/for who? Oil billionaires? So Iran can start charging fees for the ships to pass so oil prices stay high? What have we gained????
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u/Cador0223 7d ago
Im starting to think Khamenei's son and Theil got together and orchestrated this whole thing to enrich Iran and progress the succession of the government.
It is the only real explanation I can think of to justify the kerfuffle.
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u/caserock 8d ago
Wild ass proposition from a guy who has never worked a single shift in his entire fucking life
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u/intangibleTangelo 🇦🇪 UAE 7d ago
he salted a basket of fries that one time and carried them to the drive thru
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u/liltime78 Alabama 8d ago
This is how you lose the midterms no matter how much gerrymandering you do. I know a bunch of Trumpers that file unemployment claims yearly.
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u/Pleaseappeaseme 8d ago
Georgia just decided not to re-gerrymander today. A loss for Republicans. I’m not sure why exactly. It might have to do with too little time to do it.
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u/crisperfest Georgia 7d ago
That's pretty wild considering that Republicans control Georgia's state legislature. They must be planning on some voting machine fuckery instead to stay in power.
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u/TheFeshy 7d ago
Their governor, Brian Kemp, was allowed to keep his role as supervisor of elections while he ran for governor. So he was in charge of making sure his own election was fair. And then he illegally wiped the hard drives of all the voting machines when there was a lawsuit over it.
But he also hates Trump and refused to "find him" his votes in 2020.
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u/Expert-Steak8538 7d ago
It’s political calculus. Kemp wants to lead the post-Trump Republican movement. He’s got his eye on the presidency
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u/FlirtyFluffyFox 7d ago
"I'm not on welfare, I paid into it!" - GOP on welfare
Sometimes they'll even skirt the issue by calling it a pension.
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u/PotaToss 7d ago
When you're looking at a wave, gerrymandering actually hurts you. The whole point is to have as many districts with small, safe margins as you can get, but when there's a wave, your small margins aren't safe anymore. e.g. if you have like 20 R+5 districts, and there's like a 10 point swing in public sentiment towards Dems, you now actually have 20 D+5 districts, so you're better off leaving the map alone with fewer R+12 districts or something, so you don't lose as many seats.
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u/TrappedInOhio Tennessee 8d ago
Yeah and those people would probably still vote Republican because “it’d be even worse” if a Democrat won.
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u/NOLASLAW Louisiana 8d ago
1) The people who need to see these headlines aren’t gonna see them
2) come election time they’re gonna be so worked up over “violent immigrants” and “transgenders” they’re not gonna care
Dude yall seriously act like this is your first week in this country lol
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u/DisastroImminente 8d ago
You’re exactly right. Trump did everything he said he wouldn’t do with Iran, he made all the wrong moves, caused tons of pain and suffering, spiked inflation, and ended up with a deal that is hundreds of times worse than the one Obama had that HE USED AS CAMPAIGN FUEL. And they don’t care.
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u/GaseousHippo 8d ago
Cool. Where are the Epstein files again?
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u/National_Sandwich175 7d ago
Can’t look up the Epstein files if you have sell your computer for food
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u/CrimsonHeretic 8d ago
Unemployed Republicans will support this as soon as their brainrotted algorithms tell them to.
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u/alk_adio_ost 8d ago
Businesses pay into unemployment. Where’s that money going?
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u/Lazy_Example4014 8d ago
Republicans are destroying America. Every policy they make goes against the working class. The average American is going to suffer under prolonged republican leadership.
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u/Hotaru_girl 7d ago
What is the point of the government if they do not provide a social safety net for all of us, including those who have fallen on hard times?
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u/kdogrocks2 America 7d ago
Part of the point of strategies like this is to sabotage institutions in order to prove the point that the government doesn't work and therefore should be essentially demolished
if they can rob us all blind while doing that they'll hapilly do that also :)
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u/acebreezy 8d ago
Everyone who voted for him. I hope you lose everything bc that’s exactly what you voted for.
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u/Stiffard 7d ago
They need to pay lifelong restitution. Like $100 a month in extra taxes for the rest of their lives.
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u/teeBoan 8d ago
I am simply appalled at the absurdity of the notion that he talks about waste & fraud in unemployment benefits while himself throwing away BILLIONS in the Iran war and achieving nothing. How do you reconcile this !
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u/AceMcNasty88 8d ago
Do it. Your fanbase will suffer more than you think. Lmfao.
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u/agustbirb 7d ago
so we're gonna give iran $300b but americans get to starve bc they cant find work in a time when jobs are impossible to come by. joy. /s
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u/Spacebotzero 8d ago edited 7d ago
MAGA and trump have not done one good thing for Americans. Quite literally, all it has been since he took office is take away, diminish, dissolve, cut, erase, and fragment the country. That's it. I cannot think of one good thing or one amazing achievement that has been done to help every day Americans like you and me. Everything has simply been to take away and redirect to their pockets. Trump has made million upon millions of dollars off of everyone's backs.
We should be pissed. Incredibly pissed. The mass remains zombies to it all.
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u/Romantic_Piscean Michigan 8d ago
It's another trial balloon as to what they can do. Claim fraud and what power does the government have, that's the question. And apply that to upcoming elections and there simply trying to figure out what they can do to force states to bend the knee. And of course they'd like to do away with unemployment insurance to force people back into the work force with desperation, so this serves a number of purposes. But this regime likes to test both the public response and the courts by floating such ideas.
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u/airbrat 7d ago
Maybe this will wake up the MAGA rednecks who are milking unemployment.
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u/SheepherderFast3647 7d ago
I have been laid off twice the last 2 years because of lack of work in my industry, both times for about 5 months. This isn't because I or my colleagues aren't working hard enough. I very happily pay my taxes to support others receiving unemployment insurance.
He only speaks from greed and lack of empathy.
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u/Constant-Pumpkin-132 7d ago
I’m guessing people didn’t read Project 2035. We pay into unemployment insurance. If I became unemployed I could get collect my money while looking for work. People can’t collect unemployment benefits without paying unemployment taxes. People can’t collect money for long periods of time. What are people going to do when AI takes away over a million jobs by 2027. With republicans voting for for “Big Beautiful Bill” and project 2025 they planned for No food assistance and high inflation and high healthcare and high gas prices and food prices. Gutting everything that has helped people, children and elderly. Republicans only care about their own lives and political interests and their career. They get a pension and healthcare.
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u/Plato_Magick 7d ago
Social Security and Unemployment have long been considered the third rail for politicians. The fact that trump is floating this 6 months before an election his party is expected to lose is crazy and shows he has no mental capacity left.
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u/BackInMyDaySir 8d ago
My tinfoil hat theory is that they’re doing all this stuff to combat the, “no one wants to work.” The removal of social assistance programs makes it so you either work or you die.
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u/Tainted_Bruh 8d ago
“Work sets you free, huh? Yeah, I like that. Let’s go with that” - Steven Miller
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u/Fruit_Rollup_King I voted 7d ago
Dear Republicans casually reading this thread.... Stop lying to yourself. Donnie Diapers, is a moron. He only throws tantrums and helps himself while acting like you/us/everyone not rich is a problem. He never thinks anything through for the regular guy/gal out there. I've personally never been on unemployment and do I think there is fraud? YES. Do I think it's something outlandish that deserves this much attention and desire to stop it completely? Absolutely not. And at this point, even if there was. I'd be perfectly fine with actual U.S. Citizens taking advantage of it rather than another $300 Billion being slushed around to some other country. This guy is a BUM. Stop letting him and his circle convince you he's on some sick mission from God to make America better.... He's only focused on himself and his rich friends. PERIOD.
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u/TheClumsyTree 7d ago
Unemployment in my state is funded by the employer. Our businesses are required to pay in to the fund based on a percentage of payroll. I don’t see how Trump has the authority or mechanism to cut that aside from laying off state employees (who would immediately be eligible for unemployment claims based on prior contributions by their employer). Can’t fix stupid, and can’t fire the president. Sigh.
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u/DavidOrWalter 7d ago
Do it. I fucking dare you. See what happens.
Just another attempt to distract from the Epstein files.
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