Elon Musk, who gets more money from the government than anyone else, called social security a Ponzi scheme on a recent podcast. Nothing could be further from the truth. A Ponzi scheme assumes there are limited investors that will reap the majority of the fraudulent scheme. Social security is a benefit that every taxpayer will at some point in their life be able to use. On the other hand, what is going on is a Pyramid scheme, primarily benefiting the top 10 percent of wealthy individuals and corporations. It started with Reagan’s trickle down theory. The idea is: Let’s give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations, and they will automatically reinvest. What a crock. Tax cuts to the wealthy have been the primary driver of our national debt. Recently, I had to find myself in agreement with Steve Bannon. He is against tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. In his view, the 2017 tax cuts did not provide any economic boost. These individuals and corporations used the money to fill their own pockets, through stock buybacks and high dividends payments. So now, President Trump wants to continue this Pyramid scheme to the tune of 4 trillion dollars. No strings attached, just collect your money. And what do we get for it all? Absolutely nothing, except for cuts to Medicaid and education because we have to pay for this free handout to billionaires somehow.

Paul Pelchat

Thornton