Episode 42
They're Lying to Grandma And Counting on Us to Stay Quiet
Today's discourse centers on the insidious nature of government propaganda directed at our senior citizenry, encapsulated within the episode titled "They're Lying to Grandma and Counting on Us to Stay Quiet." We elucidate the recent communication disseminated by the Social Security Administration, which misleadingly commends the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a legislative measure that will precipitate significant detriment to the very populace it purports to celebrate. This episode elucidates the stark contrast between the official narrative and the grim realities faced by seniors, including impending cuts to Medicare, reductions in food assistance, and the dismantling of essential support systems. We delve into the systemic exploitation of cognitive vulnerabilities within the aging community, highlighting how the government manipulates trust to perpetuate its agenda. Ultimately, we call upon our listeners to recognize this egregious breach of the social contract between government and citizenry, urging them to resist and advocate for transparency and truth in our democratic institutions.
Click to Access Sources and Episode Materials
Takeaways:
- The Social Security Administration disseminated misleading information to seniors celebrating harmful legislation.
- Legislation under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will severely impact seniors' health care and financial security.
- Approximately 85 to 95% of seniors will suffer from cuts in their essential benefits and services.
- Government propaganda has been weaponized to manipulate vulnerable populations into supporting damaging policies.
- The exploitation of cognitive decline among seniors highlights a serious breach of trust by the government.
- We must resist such manipulation by holding representatives accountable and demanding honesty in communications.
Transcript
Welcome to Democracy Spark Rapid Response Updates where headlines meet history.
Speaker A:I'm Bonnie Ross with Democracy Spark.
Speaker A:We break down the events that don't just make news.
Speaker A:They challenge democratic norms and connect them to the authoritarian patterns outlined in On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder.
Speaker A:Today we are focusing on government propaganda targeting seniors.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:The message, sent from a legitimate government email address, applauded the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Speaker A:It thanked seniors for their patience while assuring them that Social Security had secured their financial future.
Speaker A:There was just one the legislation being celebrated will devastate the very people receiving the message.
Speaker A:The One Big Beautiful Bill act, which passed Congress along strict party lines this week, does include a modest tax deduction for some seniors.
Speaker A:The same legislation also contains a comprehensive dismantling of the health care, nutrition and social support Systems that America's 73 million seniors depend on to survive.
Speaker A:Here's the reality the Social Security Administration didn't mention only 50% of seniors actually benefit from the tax deduction being celebrated, and only modestly, because the other half don't earn enough to owe significant federal taxes.
Speaker A:100% of Medicare beneficiaries will face automatic payment cuts that could reduce access to care as doctors and hospitals limit Medicare patients.
Speaker A:1.3 million Medicare enrollees will lose their Medicaid coverage that helps pay their Medicare premiums and medical costs.
Speaker A:This forces them to choose between health care and other basic needs.
Speaker A:18% of seniors will lose food assistance through massive SNAP program cuts, increasing hunger and malnutrition among older Americans.
Speaker A:Nearly half of rural hospitals already operate at a loss and face closure due to Medicaid funding cuts.
Speaker A:This eliminates healthcare access for entire communities.
Speaker A: d insolvency accelerates from: Speaker A:Between 85 and 95% of America's seniors will be harmed by this legislation.
Speaker A:Fewer than 50% receive any meaningful benefit from the tax provision being celebrated.
Speaker A:Yet seniors were told to celebrate.
Speaker A:The message came from the Social Security Administration, now led by Frank Bisignano, a Wall street executive who describes himself as fundamentally a Doge person.
Speaker A:This refers to Elon Musk's cost cutting Department of Government Efficiency before his confirmation.
Speaker A:Whistleblowers alleged that Bisignano had secretly coordinated the placement of DOGE operatives within Social Security.
Speaker A:This happened despite his denials under oath to Congress.
Speaker A:His reputation in the private sector was built on what colleagues called a slash and burn approach to workforce reduction.
Speaker A:And to this I say, oh, hell no.
Speaker A:Let's be clear about what happened here.
Speaker A:They looked at America's most vulnerable population.
Speaker A:These are seniors who built this country, who trusted their government, who depend on the programs they paid into their whole lives.
Speaker A:And they decided to lie to them.
Speaker A:Not mislead, not spin.
Speaker A:Lie.
Speaker A:They sent official government communications celebrating legislation that will gut the healthcare, food assistance and financial security of the very people receiving the message.
Speaker A:They used the trusted voice of the Social Security Administration to manipulate seniors into supporting their own destruction.
Speaker A:They targeted people experiencing cognitive decline, knowing they would be more susceptible to official looking deception.
Speaker A:This isn't politics.
Speaker A:This isn't policy disagreement.
Speaker A:This is predatory behavior by our own government.
Speaker A:Think about this.
Speaker A:Your grandmother gets a message from Social Security telling her to celebrate historic tax relief.
Speaker A:She believes it because why wouldn't she?
Speaker A:It's from the government agency that sends her monthly benefits.
Speaker A:Meanwhile, that same legislation is about to cut her Medicare payments.
Speaker A:It will close the rural hospital where she gets care.
Speaker A:It will reduce her food assistance and accelerate cut cuts to her Social Security benefits.
Speaker A:That's not governance, that's fraud.
Speaker A:When your own government commits fraud against you, using your tax dollars and official channels to deceive you about policies that harm you, that's not democracy.
Speaker A:That's tyranny.
Speaker A:With a smile and a press release.
Speaker A:They're counting on us being too polite to call this what it is.
Speaker A:They're counting on us being distracted by the holiday and still spinning from the bill's passage.
Speaker A:Instead of recognizing the fundamental violation this represents, they're counting on us accepting that this is just how things work now.
Speaker A:And to this I say, oh, hell no.
Speaker A:Here's what they don't want us to focus on.
Speaker A:The Social Security Administration is using its official communication channels to send propaganda disguised as a service announcement.
Speaker A:The message, distributed through the agency's legitimate subscription service, paints the newly passed legislation as a triumph for senior citizens.
Speaker A:It completely omits the devastating cuts that affect the vast majority of them.
Speaker A:The timing is deliberate.
Speaker A:Sent on July 4th, when Americans are celebrating, the message hijacks a day of national pride to build support for legislation that devastates the very people receiving it.
Speaker A:This is government propaganda, pure and simple.
Speaker A:The agency's leadership knows exactly what the legislation contains.
Speaker A:They know that roughly half of all seniors won't benefit from the modest tax deduction because their incomes are too low to owe significant federal taxes.
Speaker A:They know that between 85 and 95% of seniors will face direct harm through Medicare payment reductions, Medicaid cuts, hospital closures, reduced food assistance or accelerated Social Security benefit cuts.
Speaker A:The message exploits well documented vulnerabilities in the senior population.
Speaker A:Research shows that adults over 70 experience declining analytical thinking that reduces their ability to detect false information.
Speaker A:Mild cognitive decline actually increases susceptibility to scams.
Speaker A:The agency leverages its position of trust using official government communications infrastructure to deliver coordinated disinformation to America's most vulnerable citizens.
Speaker A:What we deserve when the Social Security Administration sends us an email, we deserve the truth about what legislation actually does to our benefits.
Speaker A:Not celebration of a tax break that helps only half of us while hiding Medicare cuts that hurt all of us.
Speaker A:Not propaganda disguised as a service announcement.
Speaker A:When we pay Frank Bisignano's salary to run Social Security, we deserve him to protect our interests.
Speaker A:We don't deserve him to coordinate with DOGE operatives to gut our programs while sending us messages about historic tax relief.
Speaker A:His job is to serve Social Security beneficiaries, not manipulate them on behalf of politicians.
Speaker A:When Social Security employees take an oath to faithfully discharge their duties, that means honest communication about policies affecting our benefits.
Speaker A:It doesn't mean using official government channels to trick 73 million seniors into celebrating legislation that devastates most of them.
Speaker A:That's not faithful service, that's fraud.
Speaker A:When Congress passes a 900 page bill affecting every aspect of senior welfare, we deserve to know what's actually in it before being told to celebrate.
Speaker A:Not selective celebration of minor benefits while massive cuts are hidden.
Speaker A:We deserve the full truth about what our representatives are doing to us in our name and what we got instead.
Speaker A:We got deliberate deception from the agency that's supposed to protect Social Security beneficiaries.
Speaker A:Official government communications celebrating legislation that will devastate the very people receiving the message.
Speaker A:We got Frank Bisignano running Social Security, a Wall street executive who describes himself as fundamentally a DOGE person while coordinating the systematic dismantling of programs seniors depend on, all while sending them messages about historic tax relief.
Speaker A:We got federal employees violating their oath to faithfully serve the public.
Speaker A:They're using taxpayer funded infrastructure to manipulate taxpayers into supporting policies that harm them.
Speaker A:We got propaganda designed for maximum impact timed for July 4th when Americans are celebrating using a day of national pride to build support for legislation that attacks the nation's most vulnerable citizens.
Speaker A:We got a government that views 73 million seniors not as citizens to serve but as targets to manipulate.
Speaker A:They see cognitive vulnerabilities in older adults and exploit them.
Speaker A:They see trust in Social Security and weaponize it for political gain.
Speaker A:This represents a fundamental breach of the social contract between government and citizen.
Speaker A:When agencies abandon their duty to inform and instead choose to deceive, democracy itself becomes impossible.
Speaker A:Lessons from history historian Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny offers 20 lessons from the 20th century about how ordinary people can resist authoritarian takeover.
Speaker A:Several are particularly crucial for this moment.
Speaker A:Note that resistance is always guided by lesson 20 be as courageous as you can.
Speaker A:We are not all positioned to take each of these actions, but consider what of these you can, given your circumstances.
Speaker A:Know that for every action of resistance you engage in, you are also representing those who are not able to stand up due to vulnerability, ability, or means.
Speaker A:Lesson 1 Do not obey in advance the Social Security Administration is counting on us to accept their propaganda as normal institutional communication.
Speaker A:When we treat government lies as acceptable, we teach them that lying works.
Speaker A:How to resist this Call your representatives offices and say you received propaganda from Social Security and it's unacceptable.
Speaker A:Contact local news outlets about this story.
Speaker A:Post on social media that this isn't normal and you won't accept it.
Speaker A:Defend institution Social Security Medicare and Medicaid aren't just government programs.
Speaker A:They're institutions that protect human dignity.
Speaker A:Frank Bisignano is corrupting these institutions from within.
Speaker A:How to resist this?
Speaker A:Join advocacy groups like Social Security Works or AARP that defend these programs.
Speaker A:Attend town halls and demand your representatives protect the integrity of Social Security communications.
Speaker A:Volunteer with organizations that help seniors understand their real benefits.
Speaker A:Lesson 6 Beware militaries.
Speaker A:DOGE operatives placed throughout government agencies represent exactly this threat.
Speaker A:Unofficial actors with official power accountable to political loyalty rather than constitutional duty.
Speaker A:How to resist this File FOIA requests asking which DOGE personnel have access to Social Security systems.
Speaker A:Support whistleblowers who expose this coordination.
Speaker A:Contact the Social Security Inspector General to report.
Speaker A:Propaganda misuse of agency resources.
Speaker A:Stand out when everyone else is staying quiet about government propaganda, someone has to speak up.
Speaker A:How to resist this?
Speaker A:Write letters to editors of local newspapers.
Speaker A:Speak up at community meetings when people mention the tax relief.
Speaker A:Wear a button or shirt that says I read the fine print.
Speaker A:Be the person willing to say this isn't normal.
Speaker A:Be kind to our language.
Speaker A:This isn't political messaging.
Speaker A:It's propaganda.
Speaker A:It's not government efficiency.
Speaker A:It's systematic destruction of programs.
Speaker A:Seniors depend on how to resist this.
Speaker A:Use accurate words when talking about this.
Speaker A:Correct.
Speaker A:People who call it communication or outreach insist on calling it propaganda.
Speaker A:Language shapes how we think about what's acceptable.
Speaker A:Be a patriot.
Speaker A:Real patriots don't let their government lie to vulnerable citizens.
Speaker A:Real patriots protect the social contract between government and the people.
Speaker A:How to resist this?
Speaker A:Frame your opposition as defending American values.
Speaker A:This isn't partisan.
Speaker A:It's about whether government serves citizens or manipulates them.
Speaker A:Use July 4th as a reminder of what government should be, not what it's become.
Speaker A:Most importantly, check in on the vulnerable people in your life and the vulnerable neighbor who is alone.
Speaker A:They need our love, support and presence more than ever.
Speaker A:For your action resources, check out the description of this audio.
Speaker A:You'll find a link to our cited sources that includes a copy of the email that the Social Security Office sent to seniors and and how to subscribe to our Democracy Action tools.
Speaker A:When you subscribe, you get Truth Telling Tuesdays.
Speaker A:That's weekly advocacy templates you can copy, paste and send to your representatives in 30 seconds.
Speaker A:Plus audio versions of all the week's analysis so you can catch up while walking or commuting.
Speaker A:And good News Friday Democracy wins and Resistance Victories delivered to your inbox to keep you going.
Speaker A:Remember, we read the primary sources so you don't have to wade through all the noise.
Speaker A:It's $8 a month for that kind of transparency.
Speaker A:Democracy Spark makes it quick and easy to stand up for democracy.
Speaker A:Literally just minutes of your time to help those in this fight.
Speaker A:Our efforts are inspired by Lesson eight from On Tyranny.
Speaker A:Stand out.
Speaker A:The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken and others will follow.
Speaker A:This is Bonnie, the founder of Democracy Spark, and I invite you to stay loud and stay kind.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening.
