FACE OUR FEARS: Howard Lutnick is trying to normalize Social Security checks not coming on time.
Did you know that if you don’t get your social security check and called to complain, then you must be a fraudster? Well, that’s according to billionaire Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Check out his appearance on this conservative podcast where he said this:
“Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month. 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. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.”
Let’s be real. If his mother-in-law didn’t get her check, I doubt it matters…her son in law is a billionaire. But for millions of Americans who rely on those checks to pay their rent or mortgage, for basic necessities like food or utilities – they won’t have that luxury of “waiting until next month” to receive it. And the idea that anyone who would call and complain could be labeled as un-American or a fraudster is insulting and dangerous.
It feels like a veiled threat. Are they taking note of who is calling to complain? What was his reasoning for framing it so aggressively in that way?
He goes on to say this about disability and “real America”: “We don’t have to take one penny from someone who deserves social security. Not one penny from someone who deserves medicaid and medicare. What we have to do is stop sending money to someone who is not hurt. Who’s on disability for fifty years. It’s ridiculous.”
What’s ridiculous is a billionaire deciding which Americans “deserve” social security or healthcare – entitlements that WE pay into. Furthermore, according to the Office of the Inspector General, between fiscal years 2015 and 2022, the SSA sent out almost $71.8 billion in improper payments, which is less than 1% of the total benefits paid out. Less than 1%.
REALITY CHECK: This is no longer about the political left or right.
This administration does not care about us. They don’t care about anything except making more money for the billionaire class who helped buy Trump this election. We do not have a democracy. We are living in an oligarchy where the one percent is telling us we should be satisfied with the crumbs that they can sweep away at any moment.
Enough is enough.
And some of the Democrats are finally figuring that out. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been on an anti-oligarchy tour. They have been drawing in tens of thousands of people from all over the country – having to move into bigger venues because there is so much interest — demanding that we take back this country from the one percenters who are trying to hoard more wealth for themselves in what Lutnick said himself: “The richest country on earth.”
An authoritarian government run by the billionaire class that benefits only the billionaire class is not sustainable. It’s madness. We have to fight the war we are in, and not the one we think we are.
“This isn’t just about Republicans, either. We need a Democratic party that fights harder for us, too,” Ocasio-Cortez said in Arizona, drawing some of the loudest, most sustained applause of the evening. She urged the crowd to help elect candidates “with the courage to brawl for the working class,” reported The Guardian.
This is no longer about conservatives versus liberals. This is not about independents or moderates waiting for others to “come back to the middle.” There is no middle because there is no floor. We are in total free fall.
The only way to win against the people holding the money and the power is to band together in solidarity. We have them beat in sheer size so let’s fight for the things that will improve the quality of our lives and grow our economy.
Here are a few things we could achieve if we worked together instead of attacking one another over race, gender, sexual identity or religion:
Quality healthcare for all. Medical debt should not exist.
A living wage that allows you to purchase a home and raise a family. *Yes this can be done and yes we did this in the past.*
Paid leave for all.
A national retirement fund beyond just relying on social security.
Robust clean public transit.
Free quality education for all — including college.
Affordable housing.
Protection of civil rights including (but certainly not limited to) racial and gender-based discrimination that can’t be taken away by future authoritarian regimes looking to usurp and concentrate power.
Publicly funded campaigns (local all the way to national and an end to Citizens United) and meaningful voter protections.
Real investments in infrastructure and green energy centering people, plant and animal health through clean air and clean water initiatives.
What else is possible?
None of us should be working multiple jobs to make ends meet or have to put off dental surgery or never knowing the dream of purchasing a home so we can start families because we can’t make the rent. You should never be choosing between your electric bill or putting food on the table.
When do we get to see the fruits of our labor?
This is a nation of hardworking people, where the vast majority are not millionaires or billionaires who clearly need to get a grip on reality. And a side of empathy wouldn’t hurt either.
Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.
- In solidarity, Natalie
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