Bette Midler tweet: Trump told Fox News he was going to cut entitlements last night

[iluvtennis]

Bette Midler@BetteMidler·2h
#Trump told Fox News he was going to cut entitlements last night.

By entitlements, he means medicare & social security like regular people have, not entitlements like his family gets, including the right to shoot elephants & shit on gold toilets.

Link to tweet

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The Divine Miss M is always spot on.

[Rorey]

1. The sick part is, some of his MAGAts receive those "entitlements"

And like blind sheep, they'll continue to support him.

[iluvtennis]

2. Indeed. nt

[central scrutinizer]

3. They're willing to suffer

As long as they believe brown people are suffering more

[JHB]

7. Exactly. Because thanks to conservative shell-games with definitions...

...when they hear "entitlements", they think "welfare for lazy shiftless […] living off my tax dollars", not what they get.

And after it happens, they'll blame "government" and not the government they put in place and blindly supported.

[Traildogbob]

12. Welfare for lazy shiftless, living off my tax dollars????

Does that not describe "every single" tRump? He don't even pay for Barron, we do. Hunting trips, jet skiing, golf, world travel, jetting around the country for KKKlan Jamborees, while never lifting a finger to do any work.

[CaptYossarian]

24. Does that offensive term come from Reagan and Lee Atwater?

It sounds like the same drivel as the Chicago Welfare queen (black, of course) who bought a car with food stamps.

Republican voters were stupid racists back then too.

[JHB]

32. Not necessarily them, but from the same conservative spin crowd

Last edited Fri Mar 6, 2020, 08:42 PM - Edit history (1)

I can't recall specifics, but back in the 80s conservative think tanks and other organizations would send people around on talking tours. They'd throw out big scary numbers about how much of the Federal budget went to entitlements, and then talk about welfare, with no mention that the by-far lion's share of those numbers was Social Security and Medicare.

Much as how the Bushies implied Saddam had a hand in 9/11 by interweaving mentions of him and the attack (but never directly connecting them), they implied that a huge part of the budget went to welfare cases. And stupid racism helped the audience swallow that unquestioningly.

It was a subtler, more sophisticated propaganda technique than the "Welfare Queen" talk, but that made it all the more effective. Look at how often you have people here distinguishing between "earned benefits" and "entitlements".

[CaptYossarian]

38. Agreed.

[maddiemom]

47. They'll blame OBAMA'S administration...

because of something Trump says Obama did (or didn't) do that Trump has now put right.

[bullwinkle428]

13. Chump is going to dog-whistle the shit out of "entitlements" -

"THAT'S WHAT 'THOSE PEOPLE' GET, LAYING AROUND WHILE YOU HARD-WORKING PEOPLE ARE PAYING YOUR TAXES!!1!"

Mark my words.

[leftstreet]

15. +1

And they'll fall for it

They really do believe he means 'other' people, not them

[iluvtennis]

19. + 2. nt

[uponit7771]

17. Trump's the axe and MAGATs are the trees, they like him cause he's part wood

[CaptYossarian]

26. Just not the right part anymore.

[Rebl2]

40. I'm guessing

the majority of them do

[calimary]

4. They don't call her Divine for nothing!

[llmart]

5. I love Bette Midler.

She doesn't mince any words.

[shanti]

6. I believe it

When he loses, we are going to be punished. Watch those 2 months before his ass is out for good.

[SunSeeker]

8. K & R & Retweeted!

[coti]

9. In the minds of Trump's collaborators, "entitlements" are only used by people with brown skin nt

[AllaN01Bear]

10. first off we need to quit calling them intitlements .

these are paid for benifits . and there are a lot of rs who feel that they are imune and i got a lot of them in my apartment complx that i live and they go oh i wont get hurt , u will. hope u have backups . if u want to see lots more homeless , esp rs , go right ahead .

[Locrian]

18. YES #1

Before even debating it we need to destroy that "frame" of entitlements.
Debating w/o doing that is falling right into the trap because all anyone hears is "entitlements"

That is the gop and trumps top ten playbook moves: its doesn't matter what the facts are if you attach a "label" that sounds bad. He does it with his nicknames for people, he does it with policy. And it works if we fall for staying in that frame.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

37. "Earned benefits"

Calling Social Security and Medicare "entitlements" is like calling the estate tax the "death tax." They are the Big Lie the Repugs keep repeating until it becomes reality.

And the MAGAts can't wrap their pea-sized brains around the idea that a vote of a Republican is a vote against the interests of themselves, their families, and their grandchildren.

[wnylib]

11. Well damn! My pension is already

in the toilet with the market's reaction to covid 19. SS and Medicare are all I have left.

[Brother Mythos]

14. They sure didn't feel like "entitlements" when money was being taken out of my paychecks.

[geardaddy]

22. That's exactly why they are called entitlements

You're entitled to them because you paid taxes to support them.

[Zambero]

27. The false narrative has been to portray recipients as being "entitled" parasites

...when in fact they have invested in those programs during their entire working lives. It is also a projection tactic against the real money grubbers who get billions in tax breaks while the rest of us get crumbs.

[Brother Mythos]

48. You nailed it!

[whathehell]

45. They're Earned Benefits, which is what we should.call them. n/t

[leftyladyfrommo]

16. Bette is pure gold. nt

[geardaddy]

20. I love The Divine Miss M!

[not_the_one]

21. LOVE IT when we receive DIVINE messages from the goddess!!!

Bette helps us to stay grounded. Too bad our politicians don't follow her lead.

All anyone has to do is compare Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, you know, the assistance REAL salt of the earth people get, to all the "emoluments" he has received while pResident... WITH dollar amounts...

golfing

tax payer funded trips abroad for the turd's entire Klan, though NONE of them do any work

staying at the turd's properties, which require his entire entourage, plus all the Secret Service agents to pay up to $650 A NIGHT, which goes straight from the tax payers pockets, to HIS pockets

all the corrupt republican gatherings, fund raisers, at his Trump Hotel in DC, which goes directly into the turd's pockets (plus he vetoed a move of the FBI headquarters because a hotel would be built on the site, which would compete with his hotel)

all the foreign country dignataries staying at the turd's properties to garner favors, with those room rental $$$ going directly into his pockets

the turd instructing the military to stay at his resorts, so tax payer monies go directly into his pockets

But the American people are so stupid and ignorant that we can't wrap our little brains around "the emoluments clause", bless our hearts....

I call BULLSHIT.

Americans understand scams and con artists. And we HATE them. Once again we allow THEM to control the narrative.

The turd's run for presidency was nothing but a scam to MAKE MONEY OFF OF THE PRESIDENCY. You know, EXACTLY what the emoluments clause was to address.

He didn't expect to win, but immediately starting making money off of his run. Then he HIT THE JACKPOT.

But we can't understand it enough to toss his ass out of OUR White House? Again, I call bullshit.

[Karadeniz]

23. Thanks, Bette!❤

[DallasNE]

25. Even Worse

For seniors like me he is talking about cutting both medical care and the income to pay for what the reduced Medicare doesn't pay, hitting us twice.

[CaptYossarian]

29. He most likely is going after poor people who can't afford to give to his campaign.

I learned that from watching Scott Walker, when he screwed nurses, teachers, and fire fighters. Those unions donated to Tom Barrett.

Trump's tax "cut" only helped the 1%. Average folks like us have to pick up their tab.

Quid pro quo didn't start with Ukraine.

(If he truly was a billionaire, like Steyer and Bloomberg, he wouldn't need any help in his campaign. You can't file bankruptcy unless you can prove your liabilities outweigh your assets. With all his high-rises, golf courses, and other properties, how can he have more than $1 billion in losses? He's one piss-poor businessman if that's true.)

We absolutely MUST get those 1040s.

[homegirl]

28. Social Security and Medicare

are

EARNED BENEFITS

Thanks for the effort Ms. Midler but next time get it right!

[CaptYossarian]

30. She unfortunately used the GOP slur that's been shoved down

our throats for 40 years.

Hard to believe Ebenezer Scrooge was anyone's idol.

[demosincebirth]

31. Medicare, Social Security? The dumb shit doesn't know who's paying for them...we are!!

Those aren't entitlements.

[Initech]

33. All for me, none for ye!

[Oppaloopa]

34. My neice just got her food stamps for her 3 kids droped to 15 dollars per month.

The same thing happened to several of her friends She lives in Florida.

[iluvtennis]

35. $15 dollars a month for food for 3 kids - that's absurd.

[notinkansas]

36. He's really going to run on this?

A definite loser proposition.

I think this tells us we can expect republican election cheating in as yet unseen degrees. Why else admit something like cutting social programs before an election?

[Permanut]

39. I'll ask my right wing relatives what they think..

about cutting Social Security for their 90 year old mother. On second thought, maybe I won't.

[Skittles]

41. how I love The Divine Miss M

yes INDEED

[lordsummerisle]

42. He can't do any major cuts on these programs

without Congress...

[Beartracks]

43. ... nor the tax cuts that corporations feel THEY are entitled to. n/t

[captain queeg]

44. How about all the money for "farmers" he hands out to offset his trade war with China

And by farmers I mean the large corporate ones. They are getting most of it.