Elon Musk can’t do arithmetic
Kevin Drum over at jabberwocking.com watched the Trump spectacle over at Madison Square Garden so we didn’t have to. He zeros in on Elon Musk:
“Elon used to be smart enough to do simple addition, but he thinks we can cut “at least” $2 trillion from federal spending—which amounted to $6.1 trillion last year, not $6.5 trillion.
The arithmetic here is simple. If you add up Social Security + Medicare + defense + veterans pensions + interest on the debt you get $3.9 trillion. There’s only $2.2 trillion left.
“So Elon is claiming we should literally zero out the entire rest of the federal budget. Everything. The FBI, national parks, food stamps, Medicaid, education, NASA, the EPA, farm support, the NIH, all federal R&D grants, embassies worldwide, the FAA, the Department of Justice, the VA, the weather service, the border patrol, etc. etc. Everything.”
Note here that Trump promised not to cut Medicare and Social Security. He promised to increase defense spending. And interest payments on the debt are legally obligated.
Who believes this stuff? Most Americans are innumerate, so they have no interest in checking Musk’s fairy tales. But what caused Elon to trade his brand as savvy technocrat for the smug ignorance of the Trumpenproletariat?
Might be the ketamine talking here. Or maybe somebody told Musk that if he didn’t support Trump, he’d be denationalized and deported. Either way, he’s unmoored from reality now.
Elon Musk is losing it
“Elon used to be smart enough to do simple addition, but he thinks we can cut “at least” $2 trillion from federal spending—which amounted to $6.1 trillion last year, not $6.5 trillion.
The arithmetic here is simple. If you add up Social Security + Medicare + defense + veterans pensions + interest on the debt you get $3.9 trillion. There’s only $2.2 trillion left.
“So Elon is claiming we should literally zero out the entire rest of the federal budget. Everything. The FBI, national parks, food stamps, Medicaid, education, NASA, the EPA, farm support, the NIH, all federal R&D grants, embassies worldwide, the FAA, the Department of Justice, the VA, the weather service, the border patrol, etc. etc. Everything.”
Note here that Trump promised not to cut Medicare and Social Security. He promised to increase defense spending. And interest payments on the debt are legally obligated.
Who believes this stuff? Most Americans are innumerate, so they have no interest in checking Musk’s fairy tales. But what caused Elon to trade his brand as savvy technocrat for the smug ignorance of the Trumpenproletariat?
Might be the ketamine talking here. Or maybe somebody told Musk that if he didn’t support Trump, he’d be denationalized and deported. Either way, he’s unmoored from reality now.
Elon Musk is losing it
And they threw in Trump wearing Proud Boy colors and a “comedian” dissing Puerto Ricans.
and i guess also cut air force one too. so i guess Trump and Vance fly economy and no secret service protection, and no money for Home Land Security which also means no Border Patrol.
so will Trump and Vance have to pay their own ways to wherever they need to go? and hire their own security too? and pay for their own calls? and how do they ‘seal’ the border without the Border Patrol? no FAA means no commercial airline service (might make getting to places slow…and dangerous…a lot slower never mind arriving as no FAA). and roads will get even worse, as there is DOT to help fund national roads (think interstate and federal highways) and state and local will have to pay for all their transportation needs themselves. an ay states budget will be hit hard (biggest hits will be red states with a few blue one thrown in for good measure). well Trump seems to want to go back to 19th century, so i guess wont need anything that postdates the 19th century. no need for medicine, your own you own, we think we have food problems, with no watch dogs, there disease and sickness will be common (will reduce US population pretty quick)
The quaint believe that Trump won’t cut Social Security and Medicare (does your Medicare number include or exclude Medicaid, by the way) just because he said that one time, after he tried to do it frequently during his four years in office is interesting.
@Ken,
The best way to confirm your Medicaid coverage is to apply through your state’s website or contact them directly to check your eligibility.
As for whether Trump will or won’t cut SS and/or Medicare, he can’t just do this on his own. It will require Congress. I have a feeling there will be enough Republican Congressmen who will join Democrats in preventing this.