maizeman

Archaeologist, anthropologist, paleoethnobotanist, and I have cats

[NowThis Impact @nowthisimpact]

They always cry ‘fraud’ when they lose.

[Jared Ryan Sears @JaredRyanSears]

Social Security does not add to the national debt. It is even prohibited by law from borrowing money.

Politicians who talk about cutting or changing Social Security to address the debt are lying to you.

Here is how Social Security funding works:

Social Security is funded by payroll taxes. When more money comes in from payroll taxes than benefits that need to be paid out, Social Security is obligated to invest the surplus in Treasuries.

Treasuries are bonds. Governments and corporations issue bonds to generate money. A bond is a loan from the purchaser to the issuer.

A bond has a principal, a maturity date, and an interest rate. The principal is the value of the bond. When you buy a bond, you pay the principal. When the bond reaches its maturity date, the issuer is required to pay the principal back to the holder. The interest rate is the amount the issuer pays to the bondholder.

It is similar to how, when you take out a 30-year mortgage, you agree to a repayment schedule and to pay interest until the loan is repaid.

As Treasuries mature, if Social Security doesn't need that extra money, it rolls them over by buying new Treasuries.
When Social Security needs more money to cover benefits, it cashes out Treasuries.

The federal government has had a deficit for the past 25 years. This means that when it has to meet its obligations, it needs to borrow money.

This is how people claim that Social Security adds to the debt. That is ridiculous.

Companies and countries buy US Treasuries. You and I can buy them. Anyone holding a Treasury when it matures isn't increasing the debt. The government’s unbalanced budget is causing the debt.

Cutting Social Security will do nothing to get the US out of debt, but it would create hardship for millions of Americans.

Social Security currently has a shortfall, primarily because people are living longer and the large Boomer generation is retiring. In 1960, there were 5.1 people paying into Social Security. Today, there are only 2.7. The trust fund from past surpluses is keeping it afloat, but it is running out.

The easiest way to address the shortfall is to remove the tax cap on Social Security. Benefits do not have to be increased to do this. This is exactly what was done for Medicare in 1993. The tax cap was removed, and benefits weren't increased to better fund the program.

[Power to the People ☭🕊 @ProudSocialist]

New video explaining how capitalism is maintained through imperialism and the theft of resources from third world countries.

This is why the U.S. is always at war and has over 800 military bases worldwide to ensure corporations can keep extracting resources from these countries.

[MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch]

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) faked a phone call for roughly 90 seconds after being asked about Speaker Mike Johnson’s comments regarding potential Social Security cuts.

The phone's screen remained visible, with his cheek inadvertently tapping different parts of the display.

[Jo @JoJoFromJerz]

Now THIS is a fucking scandal.

[Acyn @Acyn]

Trump has a meltdown and ends the interview

Welker: Just to be very clear, there's no evidence of what you're saying.

Trump: There’s a lot of evidence. There’s tremendous evidence. There’s nothing but evidence. The election was rigged. And it’s happening again in California. They’re cheating.

Welker: Do you have evidence?

Trump: All I have to do is look.

Welker: That’s not evidence. The local officials acknowledge they are slow

Trump: They’re crooked. Just like you’re crooked. You’re either crooked or stupid.

[Meidas_Charise Lee @charise_lee]

This moderator is GOLDEN‼️
We need to do this to TRUMP‼️

[Jo @JoJoFromJerz]

Perfect cartoon.

[Nick Kapur @nick_kapur]

Compelling essay by sci-fi writer Ted Chiang on why LLMs are nowhere near consciousness, but why it serves the interests of LLM companies to constantly suggest that they might be.

I've pulled one quote below, but the whole article is worth reading.

[Blue Georgia @BlueGeorgia]

Today, Jon Ossoff offered an amendment to stop insurance companies from denying or delaying medically necessary care.

Republicans blocked it.

[Seth Abramson @SethAbramson]

This cartoon isn't an exaggeration—not even 1% an exaggeration.

Weeks ago it seemed this far-right Supreme Court would still block any map intentionally authored to be racist.

We just learned that that's no longer true.

We have reentered Jim Crow, and it's a national disgrace.

[Headquarters @HQNewsNow]

The New World Screwworm, a grave parasitic threat, has just been detected in US cattle for the first time since it was eradicated in 1966.

The parasite's revival comes after Trump and DOGE slashed funding for Screwworm monitoring programs.

[Fred Wellman @FPWellman]

Oh for F’s sake! It’s insurance! Healthy people don’t need it…UNTIL THEY DO! That doesn’t make them not legit. These goons have never lived in the real world.

[ProPublica @propublica]

The DOJ has dropped 23,000 criminal cases — including hundreds of investigations into terrorism, white-collar crime and drugs — while prosecuting 32,000 new immigration cases in just the first six months of Trump’s second term.
https://t.co/F92hGp0SSO

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

DEAN: You're under oath. When will you comply with the law and release all the Epstein files?

BLANCHE: We have complied with the law

DEAN: There are 3 million more documents. And you know what you said to me? 'They include another guy named Epstein.' Nobody is buying it

*the time of the gentlelady has expired*

DEAN: I beg your pardon? How do I get cut off 2 minutes into this? What is true is that the president has lied about being on Epstein's plane, and the unredacted files prove that. There's a lot in here. It's all covered up.

[Headquarters @HQNewsNow]

Sen. @JeffMerkley to Rubio: You have expressed that no one died as a result of the shutdown of USAID. I want to note that it's estimated that over 500,000 children have died from that shutdown. I hope you ponder that as we strive to rebuild programs related to malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS, HIV, nutrition, and Ebola.

[Brian Allen @allenanalysis]

🚨 WOW.

Trump’s financial disclosure forms reportedly show he bought between $1 MILLION and $5 MILLION in Dell stock earlier this year.

Then THIS WEEK…

the Pentagon awarded Dell a contract worth MORE THAN $9 BILLION.

Read that again slowly.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Sen. Andy Kim: "It's a choice. Delaney Hall is run by GEO Group. GEO Group is getting a nearly $1 billion contract to run Delaney Hall. They tell me there is one full-time doctor for 800 detainees. They could have more doctors if they wanted to, but that's cutting into their profits."