Summary
Elon Musk sparked controversy by falsely claiming entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid have “$700 billion” in fraud annually, vastly exaggerating the actual figure (~$10 billion/year).
Musk labeled Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and spread conspiracies about immigrants exploiting the system.
Critics argue Musk’s ignorance and conspiracy-mongering threaten essential public programs and data privacy, while his inflammatory rhetoric—such as calling Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and combat veteran, a “traitor”—reinforces demands for his immediate removal from government.
There will always be a billionaire somewhere out there who’d be willing to give it a go. They don’t need to be a wealthy American who doesn’t want to pay taxes to do it. They can be a Russian oligarch. We need to get to the root source.
Then perhaps we should be so ruthless against that sort of practice, that it just doesn’t look worth the gamble. Yes I agree, we need to get to the root source, but the billionaires are standing in the way of that arent they. Once upon a time they used to call social programs and such “Riot Tax” so we don’t go after them, but we’ve clearly proven we don’t even need a “riot tax” since we’ve proven to them we won’t brutally deal with them in the most humiliating and painfully scary way possible. They’re not worried about maintaining their social code because we’re not giving them the appropriate consequences, so yes, as long as we don’t sufficiently scare them another billionaire will take a crack at it.