Elon Musk asks voters to brace for economic 'hardship,' deep spending cuts in potential Trump Cabinet role

This is in the same vein as "I want Trump because he will destroy the "system" so we can rebuild from the ground up."

All that really happened is Trump sucking out as much money for himself that he could.

And with this egomaniac Elmo being in charge of budget cuts, you can rest assured he and his family and cronies will not be involved in any of these said "hardships."

Hardships are for everybody else, not St. Elmo.

I loathe using the word 'retard' to describe anyone but...

MAGAts are fine with it. They are fine with their own kids being gunned down in school. They are fine with their own kids dying from preventable diseases. All they care about is owning the libs. That's it. And they are fine with losing everything they own, as long as they think they're doing that.

The biggest problem with these "efficiency efforts" is that the main point is to help pay for tax cuts for the rich.

Plus administration after administration talks about efficiency and cutting costs--but then they realize government functioning less than 10% of the budget. So even if it were totally efficient, the government would save much.

The three most dominant parts of the federal budget are Military spending, Medicare, and Social Security. Each has such strong and powerful defenders that administrations can't do much without alienating so many voters. So they keep pretending that "cutting the size of government" is the main solution.

R5 here-- meant to say government functioning is less than 10% of the budget. So even it if were totally efficient, government would not save much.

Sick! Kamala needs to respond to this!!!

Are they trying to lose?

If austerity is coming in response to the debt problem, he’ll need to spell out what the hardships will be.

[quote] The three most dominant parts of the federal budget are Military spending, Medicare, and Social Security.

Social Security and Medicare have their own funding vehicle. The government will need to tweak the funding and/or programs to get them back to being self-sufficient. After that, they can look at all the spending paid for by other taxes and debt, like Medicaid, SNAP, etc.

Yes, economic hardship is exactly what voters want to hear about less than a week before a FUCKING ELECTION. 🙄

Social Security is completely self-sufficient--what goes in, goes out. With boomers becoming elderly now, it's put pressure on the financing. All it takes is an increase in the amount of income that is taxed to fix it for another 50 years (currently SS taxes income up to $170K only).

SS doesn't add a penny to the deficit and any politician who says so is lying.

Medicare should become Medicare for all--We could provide better, cheaper healthcare for all--just like most developed countries have proven

So we're all supposed to go into constant hysterics at the slightest level of inflation, but we're supposed to just calmly accept massive cuts to social security and medicare without the slightest objection.

Thanks, no thanks.

Biden has given us a booming economy and Harris will do the same per the majority of economists. And THIS is Trump's closing arguement along with insulting the largest identified segment of Hispanic voters? Genius!

Hardship except, of course, for the rich, who will get tax cuts.

The GOP will find a way to blame the economic hardship on Dems

[quote] Medicare should become Medicare for all

We can’t even fully cover the cost of Medicare for 65+, so extending it is patently ludicrous.

Well, define "we" r17. Right now "we" are covering healthcare through insurance premiums and the whole stupid fucked up nonsense that is employee "benefits." This would of course replace all that.

Interest on the Federal Debt will be somewhere around $1.4 Trillion next year. Let's run it up some more by reducing taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

[quote]Yes, economic hardship is exactly what voters want to hear about less than a week before a FUCKING ELECTION. 🙄

Actually it is, for MAGA, they think it will only effect "the libs" because all libs are elites in Hollywood and make millions of dollars enjoying the California weather so they deserve it.

Overdose can’t come quickly enough.

JFC.

All 1st world countries like Canada, Spain, Italy, UK, France, Denmark, are laughing at R17

[quote] Interest on the Federal Debt will be somewhere around $1.4 Trillion next year.

I’ve always figured that someday it will be the interest on the debt that is the one thing that forces the government to cut spending. It will feed itself, as more debt is required to pay the interest and interest rates increase to chase more cash from around the world.

[quote] We can’t even fully cover the cost of Medicare for 65+, so extending it is patently ludicrous.

We're already paying for Medicare for All--but 1/3rd of what we're paying is going to private company profits.

If we directed just 2/3rds of what we're paying for private insurance to a Medicare for All program, everyone would be covered.

Or raise taxes on the rich r24. I know people in government, especially Republicans, are weirdly allergic to that, but it is always an option. In fact, since most of those interest payments go to the already wealthy, there is a nice symmetry in taxing the rich to pay it down.

America ALWAYS does the right thing...

After it's tried everything else.

Send this thing back to South Africa. When Kamala gets in, they need to investigate how he bought his citizenship.

A number of countries rehauled their health care systems in the last 20 -30 years (for example, Japan and the Iron Curtain countries). They all looked around the world for viable models.

They all came to the conclusion that America's system was utterly ridiculous.

Even we know it's ridiculous r29, we just have a political system that finds it hard to admit that.

[quote]Actually it is, for MAGA, they think it will only effect "the libs" because all libs are elites in Hollywood and make millions of dollars enjoying the California weather so they deserve it.

To clarify, I was referring to voters who haven't yet made up their mind. Trump's inaugural speech in 2017 was focused on "American carnage," so I expect this shit from him, but Elon Musk? And after Harris's speech at the Ellipse last night? Yikes.

Elon is so rich he's actually more out of touch than Trump about how average people feel about destroying the economy to build it back up again. This is classic behavior for guys on the spectrum, they cant process other peoples feeling or put themselves in their place. Watch Trump try and shove this stuff under the carpet.

How about he give up his $271 Billion dollars, keep a couple billion kicking around for himself, fix the entitlements the country has & fully fund public education and healthcare systems, then fall off the face of the earth never to be heard from again?

No? He's not willing to?

Then he can kiss all of our poor asses b/c if he's not in hardship why should we be.

Hey Elon: you want hardship? How 'bout you paying back all the local, state and federal subsidies you and your various and assorted businesses have pocketed over the last 20 years?

He has so many cheerleaders on X. I hope some people eventually notice they're never going to get to be someone like him. He's a billionaire and not their friend. Some of his political emergence is clearly his own business interest in deregulation. He took to anti-immigrant stuff pretty quick too.

Hopefully Elon dies of an overdose.

[quote]The biggest problem with these "efficiency efforts" is that the main point is to help pay for tax cuts for the rich.

It's also about ending regulations so rich corporations don't have "waste" money on practices that protect employees and consumers, minimize harm to the environment, etc.

He was so obviously on mdna at that Nazi rally. These trashy people aren't serious.

So much winning! I am sick of winning!

by the way, why is it an economic downturn occurs when pukkkes are in charge. I thought you hos are good for business.

R33, most of the collections of assholes we've had to deal with in recent years are NOT looking at a great future, even if Trump wins. Musk's only worth that much money because his cult of personality rivals even Trump's, but Tesla is farcically overvalued, with less & less of a connection to the reality-based world. (See, e.g., Elon's "Cybercab" that he delusionally thinks will be "production-ready" next year.)

Tesla has no new product in the pipeline, or at least no *viable* new product. The "Cybercab" isn't happening, and the same is true of the "Cybervan." Worse still, his flagship car is now nearly 15 years old, and he has no replacement even close for it – a problem given that the other automakers have now caught up with Tesla in terms of battery range.

The vast majority of his wealth is based on Tesla's stock price. If it crashes, it'll take a lot down with it, though Musk admittedly still has SpaceX & Starlink regardless.

Economic hardship for thee, and no tax increases for me… we see you, Elmo. You know what would help? Billionaires not hoarding money and paying more taxes.

Thanks R28 - I find it interesting that with all the sensitivity that I see on here to being told what do do by “foreigners” or with “foreigners” such as Rupert Murdoch interfering in the election (even though Rupert is a US citizen) that there has been so little blowback about Musk’s South African origins.

I admit to my own personal bias here - I’m usually uncomfortable with white South Africans who came of age during the apartheid regime as they, for better or for worse, benefited from apartheid’s inequities. Musk being an example.

Gawd, the fucking ego on this moron. He’s not in charge of anything.

Even if hell froze over and Trump did win, even if Trump did give him a role in his administration, it would just be chaos. We know that from the first administration. Trump only remembers what the last person he spoke to said, etc. it’s all in-fighting.

Elon does not want a job in the Government, he just wants a direct line to the President to tell him what to do. Basically a private citizen working as a shadow President. I want this AI thing to happen, I want Billions for my rockets, I want my competitors to be taxed out of business. I want all of my companies to be tax free.

There was a time, not so long ago, when I would have called r4 misguided.

Not today.

When MAGAs speak of “foreign” they don’t mean whites.

I want Elon to survive a grease fire. Let him live in a burn ward for a long long time.

Why does this drug addled retard think he rules the US? Deport this asshole now!

Quite possibly, R46 - but when I see “foreigner” on the DL, which I do a lot, I read it as “not American”, and as a pejorative.

I mean come on. This shit is hysterical.

The richest man in the world warns us that austerity is coming. It's like a Kurt Vonnegut novel come to life.

These trash maggots don’t take this shit seriously. It’s all a big joke to them to “own the libs”.

Some of them need several very hard kicks to the cuntbone AND the head.

All of the maturity of this motherfucking prick and all of the intelligence of that goddamn traitor.

[quote] Actually it is, for MAGA, they think it will only effect "the libs" because all libs are elites in Hollywood and make millions of dollars enjoying the California weather so they deserve it.

MAGA is dumb but not that dumb. Millionaires don't experience 'economic hardship.' Why would anyone think Elon's promise of 'economic hardship' would impact anyone other than the middle and working classes?

Looks like he's on Ozempic but he has an Oprah head that doesn't shrink.

MAGAts will never hear of the Trump/Musk plan to inflict economic hardship because it will never be reported on Fox News and the rest of the right-wing mediasphere.

It will come as a total surprise to them when it all falls apart. And they'll blame Joe Biden for it, of course.

The Economist endorses Kamala. Guess they don't buy into the Trump/Musk economic plan:

“It is hard to imagine Ms. Harris being a stellar president, though people can surprise you. But you cannot imagine her bringing about a catastrophe,” The Economist writes, in an essay addressed at reluctant, Economist-reading Trump supporters who are “deluding themselves” about the economic and national security dangers of a Trump presidency.

“Presidents do not have to be saints and we hope a second Trump presidency would avoid disaster. But Mr. Trump poses an unacceptable risk to America and the world.”

[quote] when I see “foreigner” on the DL, which I do a lot, I read it as “not American”, and as a pejorative.

That’s true that in this context, “foreigner” would mean someone who is not American. However, I never see it used as a pejorative on DL. Some attribute of foreigners may be criticized or mocked, but just using the word to refer to a person or persons who are not American is not pejorative.

Not to you, perhaps, R56.

Yeah, if I have any advice to give, it’s don’t listen to a billionaire telling people they’ll have to tighten their belts and endure austerity measures. In a period of economic rebound, it’s not really a good idea to throw people out of work, which is all Elon does or knows to do. Austerity will strangle current growth.

[quote] Austerity will strangle current growth.

How long can we keep kicking austerity down the road? It can’t be postponed forever.

[quote]Elon Musk asks voters to brace for economic 'hardship,' deep spending cuts

And the Datalounge asks Elone Musk to brace for a good, hard kick to the cuntbone.

I have a hard time believing he does molly and K. He seems more like a coke type, aka asshole.

He's a fat druggie, like Trump.

[quote]though Musk admittedly still has SpaceX & Starlink regardless.

Not when the full investigation into his connections and contacts with Putin come out and the US Government privatizes these vital military assets as they evict him form his illigally-bought citizenship.

Rich people can never be rich enough. They are driven by greed.

Anyone still driving a Tesla at this point might as well be wearing a MAGA hat.

It's probably hard to unload those. Lots of people bought them in CA when Elon was pro-environment and not transparent about his political leanings.