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Matthew Yglesias
@mattyglesias
I think this is the correct take — they are going after a politically soft target (foreign aid) in a lawless way in order to set up the option of taking down the hard targets like health care and Social Security checks.
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Acyn
@Acyn
McBride: If they can get away with this, with USAID, they can do it anywhere. And that means that no part of the federal government, including programs like medicare and social security, will be safe from this administration. Keilar: I will say they do seem sensitive to making
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David Watson 🥑
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Mistake not...
@mnmcsofgp
Honest question: especially with demographic trends, SS and Medicare are a huge problem. Do you think anything needs to be done? What do you want done?
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Pacheco the Ghost
@PMtalking
No - those are unlikely targets. He said he won't go after entitlements. If you want my guess, and I am very excited about this, HUD and HHS are going to get a very close look.
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NC Man
@NCMan2020
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Rapid Response 47
@RapidResponse47
USAID has been unaccountable to taxpayers for decades — funneling money to ridiculous (and in many cases, malicious) pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats with zero oversight.   🧵 Here are only a few examples of the WASTE and ABUSE:
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Patrick Wrightson
@promethurious
Nahh, I agree with Glenn:
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Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
The fact that Democrats finally found a cause worth fighting for -- defending a corrupted monument to waste, coups and imperialism called USAID -- is as pathetic as it is unsurprising. Can't wait until the next Dem march in defense of CIA.✊ x.com/DemocraticWins…
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Travis Cole
@kelp
To what end though? Yeah conservatives have been whining about entitlements for decades. But why do Elon and Trump care about that? I feel like those two care about power more than anything else. Maybe amassing power is the end in itself.
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Mark Poling
@markpoling
"Politically soft target" = Stuff that's going to enrage voters when they see what was going into the sausage.
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Try harder
@spend_guy
It's past time to stop thinking about the dollar level of Medicare/Health Care spending vs the quality and quantity of health care being provided.
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Harrison Bergeron
@BigLawNoMaw
Doesn't the logic run the opposite way? Even if they "get away with it" on a politically soft target that doesn't show whether it would work on a politically hard target.
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Larry Stevens
@lfstevens
He's said over and over that Medicare and SS are off the table. He has not said that about Medicaid, especially the eligibility expansion, which I think is the ultimate target. USAID is an exercise in testing which things in the DOGE toolbox work and which ones are dead ends.
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Wayne of the Wastes
@WayneOWastes
Wrong. This is about doing a root canal on the post FDR liberal soft power structure. This is about ruining their influence for a generation. When it comes to bean counting, I'd expect DOD changes before SS or Healthcare. What do you think getting EU to pay more into nato was?
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Apullio
@Gem_Digging
My God I hope they dismantle Social Security. Everyone would be so rich if a third of their paycheck did not get robbed for their entire lives so the government can give them peanuts back when they retire. I don't even care if I don't get back what I already paid in.
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PhotobombingCow
@PhotobombingC
1. Not "lawless" in any way. 2. DOGE will not go anywhere near Medicare & SS. Musk is far too smart politically. He's ripping down the low-hanging fruit, and will likely move on to the Dept of Education next. Get the popcorn.
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Christiaan Stoudt
@cstoudt
So any concern about the actual corruption Matthew? Why are there so many people like you that care less about it and only focus on "danger to democracy" crap.
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JKash 🍊MAGA Queen
@JKash000
After Elon’s recent post about only 10% of USAID going to its intended recipients, I found this shocking video released by PBS on January 5 in a new series Agents for Change that actually looks more deeply at this issue.
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Andrei Miclea
@DreMiclea
It's hard to take you seriously as a journalist when you still believe the current administration's intention is to gut social security, medicare, and medicaid, a decision which is so glaringly unpopular at face value that only an ideologue could take it, or the risk of it
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Adam Barr
@RevAdamTBarr
It’s entertaining to read your hot takes and know you will be proven wrong. But… you’ll just keep churning them out. Thanks for the grins.
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Yo😐🦋🌮🍊⚖️
@TheSpinDr7
I’ve been shocked at the thoughtless waste at USAID. Our country is TRILLIONS in debt. TRILLIONS. We are taxed to death to send $$ overseas for unaccountable wasteful spending. Shut it all down. Let State review this black hole.
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PriceMyAC.com
@PriceMyAC
Mmmmm no you need to think bigger. The entire govt corporate from act of 1871. That’s what’s going to be eliminated.
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I’m Fancy
@GarbageLiberty
🤣🤣🤣🤣 You’re retarded. We are well past the point where media jackasses can simply label something as “lawless” and expect to be believed. So tell us, EXACTLY how what has been done at USAID is “lawless”? Which laws were broken? Which specific acts were illegal?
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🫵✋🫵
@p0intblockp0int
As someone who desperately hopes Social Security and government healthcare will be gutted, I can promise you it won’t happen. This new brand of Republican has completely bought into their necessity.
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Publius
@Publius_7_1776
Usaid doesn't do what you think it does. But you probably knew that which means you are just dishonest.
Image
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Miss Norma Jeane 🗽🇺🇸 🏴‍☠️💋🐾
@rosanthony3
Yep No offense to Keillor (who is far from the worst member of the media) but why the HELL are they taking this Admin at its word? Besides Trump being a pathological liar, Kash Patel & Tulsi Gabbard egregiously lied under oath & they’re OBVIOUSLY implementing Project 2025…
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Your Own Gravity 🇺🇸🇺🇦
@yourowngravity
Yep, makes sense. They are trialing this, tuning it for bigger government targets, and noting any pushback/support to see how it’s going to play out.
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bruceymonkey
@bruceymonkey
The market's not gonna like them going after either. These days, healthcare and Silly Valley are deeply entangled. You go after one, you go after
@elonmusk
. Going after social security just means
@elonmusk
will have to spend (charity care) to provide the service and not govt
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Jay Bookman
@jaysbookman
Their declaration of an "emergency" to justify presidential tariffs might also be a test run on domestic use of military.
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AHeintz
@Kimsuesmom
It’s an abhorrent example, cutting off funding to those in need, but I see your point. Cruel and inhumane.
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This_Guy
@this_guy_2024
They're not touching boomer security (it's the only action that would actually make a dent in the deficit though).
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jchanks
@jchanks190776
Here comes the fear mongering, what if they just cut waist? Everyone talks about it, both sides, no one ever does it. You gotta start somewhere, DEI proframs in Burma sounds good.
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mчndkrчm
@mynd_krym
Fear is the only messaging that Democrats currently have. No vision, no hope, no future…..only fear.
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Dan Goldstein
@dangoldss
Hell of gamble if they do that. They would lose a big piece of their base, who has been adamant about having their benefits protected. I would think they’d be more likely to use this playbook to go after other areas like Education or Unemployment.
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Lamar Hall
@johnlamarhall
The reality is we have a missive and unsustainable debt issue. If we can’t get to a balanced budget in the next few years, America will no longer exist as a power in 20-30 years if not sooner. And a balanced budget includes paying of the debt.
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crcounts.eth
@crcounts
How many citizens knew what USAID was or its function? If we are going to cut waste as many of us voted for this is the perfect apparatus to dismantle. Not as a precursor but as an end in itself
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Recovering Woke
@dnvr_is_burning
It's intellectually dishonest to say anything about SS and Medicare without noting that these programs wouldn't be a mess if the government hadnt mismanaged them for decades... how is it legal for the gov to "borrow" from SS?
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Steve Bartin
@stevebartin
Matt Yglesias: when Biden wrote off $400 billion in student loan debt I never imagined another president would be "inspired" by such an act...
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clanp
@clanp007
Good. The majority wants this mess burned to the ground. This is what draining the swamp means.
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Safetythird
@TuffStuffMcGruf
The correct take is that nearly all of government is a criminal laundering organization operating under the guise of "public good". It's all a gigantic bilk
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Mark Gordon, 🇮🇱🇺🇦🇺🇸
@MarkGor3455
Trying to imagine the blowback from millions of Trump supporters if they stopped paying SS benefits….would any republican survive that?
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John
@buffguy716
There is no foreign aid. It was money laundering. Less than 10% actually aided anyone.
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RockTire
@RocklandTire
Get rid of all the USAID crap and the like, and miraculously there's plenty of money for Social Security and health care.
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Mark Zelunka
@RabbiRabbz
To prevent unhinged takes like this, for every prediction/suggested motivation, "journalists" need to put money down as a bet. It's for your own good!
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