Musk hints at cutting $500 billion from ‘entitlements’ like Social Security and Medicare

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include a statement from Social Security Works.Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — whose net worth is just shy of $400 billion — just dropped a hint that he may be eyeing significant cuts to earned benefits programs like Social Security and Medicare in the future.During his Thursday appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Musk was asked about his “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE (which is not yet an official federal agency authorized by Congress) project, and about the scope of spending cuts he aimed to implement. The South African centibillionaire asserted to NewsMax anchor Rob Schmitt — who interviewed him on stage — that “waste” was “pretty much everywhere.””People ask how can you find waste in D.C., it’s like being in a room and the wall, the roof and the floors are all targets,” he said. “You can shoot in any direction. You can’t miss.”READ MORE: ‘Time to think of Plan B’: Musk ripped after forcing out Social Security chiefSchmitt then asked Musk specifically about his plans for the Social Security Administration, which DOGE representatives have already reportedly accessed. Schmitt referenced “$72 billion in waste in seven years,” while Musk seemingly alluded to hundreds of billions of dollars in supposedly wasteful spending.”I think that the rough estimate from the Government Accountability Office is over $500 billion a year. $500 billion. With a B. Per year,” Musk said.”On Social Security?” Schmitt asked.”On all entitlements. All entitlements, yeah,” Musk responded, using a catch-all term to describe mandatory spending like Medicare and veterans’ benefits.READ MORE: Top Treasury official quits as Musk allies seek to control Social Security, Medicare paymentsMusk insisted during the interview that millions of dead Americans are still getting Social Security payments, including Americans who are allegedly hundreds of years old. ABC 7 New York debunked that claim, and pointed out that Musk was misreading Social Security Administration data. One of the agency’s databases includes every American who has ever been issued a Social Security number, and no date of death has been listed for many of those Americans as they died before electronic records were established. ABC 7 reported that of the roughly 67 million Americans currently receiving Social Security benefits, only 0.1% of them are over 100 years old. And while there are occasional fraudulent payments, that accounts for less than 1% of total spending and is usually in the form of overpayments to living beneficiaries. “When Donald Trump ran for president, he blanketed swing states in flyers pledging to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Now, Trump has empowered Elon Musk to slash $500 billion a year from these vital benefits,” Social Security Works communications director Linda Benesch told AlterNet. “But Congress has the power to stop him. We urge everyone to call their members of Congress and demand that they pledge one penny in cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.”According to figures from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the federal government had approximately $3.8 trillion in mandatory spending obligations in Fiscal Year 2023, which included $1.3 trillion for Social Security and $839 billion for Medicare. Beneficiaries of those programs have their eligibility and benefit formulas set by federal statute, meaning it would take an act of Congress to change it.READ MORE: ‘Allow some of this to be privatized’: GOP gov admits goal of DOGE is to gut Social SecurityWatch the segment of Musk’s comments below, or by clicking this link.

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