Musk Calls Entitlements the 'Big One' to Cut, Countering Trump
bloomberg.com
bloomberg.com
For instance:
Means test programs that offer financial assistance for business entities the same way we means test social safety net programs.
Stop allowing private entities to exploit natural resources on public land and keep the lion's share of the profits.
I’ve heard people call in to a somewhat-right-wing local radio show to complain that the host was insulting them by (correctly, and not in any kind of judgy context) using “entitlements” to describe things they were receiving. The very-right-wing national syndicated stuff a few clicks away on the dial never would have made that mistake, and are the reason people had that reaction. Those entitlements, the ones you benefit from, aren’t entitlements.
I bet a bunch of people hearing Elon talk about cutting “entitlements” don’t realize it overlaps with—or is even mostly—some things they don’t want cut.
I've watched it. I think this is a somewhat dishonest characterization, but you can listen to the specific part at 14:35: https://youtu.be/T6DiMIJIvYw?si=1ijmgtI0kbhOWPuM&t=875
On the same topic, earlier in the interview Musk also references 20 million deceased people who apparently still receive benefits.
I'm using the numbers from the current FY to demonstrate how severe the cuts have to be right now.
https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/natio...
Current deficit (time of writing) is about $839.5 billion for the FY.
https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/feder...
$502 billion : Social Security
$368 billion : Medicare
$334 billion : Defense
$322 billion : Interest
$321 billion : Health (covers a lot, but Medicaid is a high percentage of that)
$218 billion : Income Security
$139 billion : Veterans Benefits & Services
The rest adds up to $232 billion or so
What are you going to cut if you want to save $839.5 billion from all of these categories?
If you entirely cut each of Health, Income, VA, and the rest you only get to the target (and then some) with $910 billion saved. But in the process you completely eliminated all welfare programs (outside Medicare and Social Security) and VA benefits along with a lot of other things people might revolt over.
Realistically none of those will ever see a 100% cut, let's say of all that money 50% of it can be cut (may entirely eliminate some departments, and leave others more intact like VA). You can cut $455 billion before touching Defense, Medicare, and Social Security.
You're still $384.5 billion short, and that's more than you'd get from cutting Defense entirely. You still have to touch Medicare and Social Security to hit the target of a balanced budget.
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All that said, if you're willing to raise taxes the cuts can be less severe to achieve a balanced budget. If you cut taxes, the cuts have to be more severe.