MAGA Newspeak: Social Security Tax Cuts Portend the Demise of Social Security

Yeah, Really

Well, this was the last thing I thought I would ever be writing about on the Fourth of July: the MAGA Newspeak in an email sent overnight to recipients of Social Security that praises the “historic tax relief” passed in the “Big Beautiful Bill.”

The press release is also found on the Social Security’s blog for those who did not receive the email: https://blog.ssa.gov/social-security-applauds-passage-of-legislation-providing-historic-tax-relief-for-seniors/

The language in this press release is pure MAGA NEWSPEAK. I wrote a Substack on how MAGA is changing the meaning of our language not just into sentences promoting their propaganda but changing the very essence of the meaning of words. Just for reference, those of us who still abide by the US Constitution especially the separation of power and checks and balances use the “Oldspeak” language.

So let’s start by looking at the opening banner of the email:

The email banner notes Social Security is applauding the legislation, linking it to “historic tax relief for seniors.” The use of “applaud” indicates excited approval. It wants the reader to get excited about the passage of “historic tax relief” for seniors.

However, the word “historic” implies that it is something that is “important or likely to be important in history.” “Tax relief” implies that the burden of taxes is removed forever.

Neither usage is true if we keep focused on the true meaning of those words, and not the MAGA Newspeak interpretation. The combination of these two words in MAGA Newspeak is very ominous because there is something behind the curtain that they don’t want voters to look at. The only sense of “historic” is that it will lead to the collapse of Social Security.

The GovFacts.org site debunks this claim of “historic” quite nicely:

“In a statement, the SSA declared the law a “historic step forward” ensuring “nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits.”

However, the legislation doesn’t actually eliminate federal income tax on Social Security benefits. Instead, it creates a new, temporary, and income-limited tax deduction specifically for taxpayers aged 65 and older. This distinction is critical to understanding the true scope and limitations of the relief provided.

So here it is for you, explained in Oldspeak:

The “historic” changes are actually temporary tax cuts that end on tax year 2028 when the cuts expire unless Congress takes future action. That date is important because, yes, it expires the year of the next presidential election—but not until after the election. When tax year 2029 hits, they will be over.

The “historic tax relief” therefore is a limited relief focused on a target audience of voters who may be bamboozled into believing that they are getting more. And, unless they’re paying close attention (as we know many voters do not), they will not realize that these tax cuts are short-term.

These tax cuts have implications for the whole viability of the Social Security Administration:

The recipients are mainly those aged 65 and older, who can receive a new deduction of $6,000 per person. There are around 33.9 million of them, whose “total income is high enough to create federal tax liability but low enough to fall below the phase-out thresholds.”

Recipients who are below the existing deduction will of course not benefit. High-income seniors will also not benefit.

Critically, those who receive SSI benefits under the age of 65, those who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or survivor benefits do not receive benefits. Their benefits will continue to be taxed.

Are you happy yet? If not, keep reading. The notice continues to push the historic and happy nature of the tax cuts through more MAGA Newspeak in the first paragraph.

“The Social Security Administration (SSA) is celebrating the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill, a landmark piece of legislation that delivers long-awaited tax relief to millions of older Americans.”

The title of the bill is, of course, classic MAGA Newspeak. You can hear the Trumpian inflections in every single word of that title. That too is a part of MAGA Newspeak: the continued repetition of phrases that become verbal carriers of the MAGA poison.

It is indeed a “landmark” bill, but a bill that portends fiscal demise for millions of Americans in the loss of their health care, food supplements, and federally supported infrastructure that will be decimated. The “landmark” bill is actually the “destructive” bill.

The MAGA Newspeak doesn’t stop there. THE NEXT IMPLICATION OF THESE “TAX BREAKS” is horrific. We receive a taste of the future in the final paragraph that is particularly ominous:

“Social Security remains committed to providing timely, accurate information to the public and will continue working closely with federal partners to ensure beneficiaries understand how this legislation may affect them.”

Yes, let’s talk about the future. These tax cuts that are limited and end in 2028 (the year of the next presidential election—repeating in case anyone forgot) also affect the long-term stability of SSI by hastening the insolvency date of Social Security. By lowering the taxes that feed directly into SSI, the bill lowers the overall taxation by $30 billion per year.

Added together, that total moves the insolvency date for SSI to 2033. So five years after the tax cuts go away (and recipients paying higher taxes again in those five years), Social Security will then be paying out more than it takes in. Under the law, it will be forced to reduce every recipient’s benefits by 24%.

GovFacts.org lays it out:

“For a retiree receiving the average monthly benefit of $1,976 in 2025, a 24% reduction would amount to a sudden and permanent loss of about $474 per month, lowering their monthly payment to just $1,502.

“This creates a direct and damaging feedback loop: a short-term, targeted tax cut for some current retirees is financed in a way that guarantees a deeper, permanent benefit cut for all future retirees, including those who received the initial tax break. A senior who is 70 years old in 2025 and benefits from the tax deduction will, upon turning 77 in 2032, be subject to the very 24% benefit cut that their own tax break helped accelerate.”

THIS IS NOT HISTORIC REFORM. It is only historic in that the Republicans have once again demonstrated their self-serving draconian purposes onto the American people: giving them short- term relief but making it worse for everyone in the future.

The middle-class recipients may be able to survive on their 24% cut in 2032 and beyond. But what about the vulnerable recipients of SSI benefits, the lower-income and those on Disability Insurance? Those cuts will be devastating to them.

MAGA Newspeak is blatantly clear about this underlying political purpose to these tax cuts in this paragraph:

“For nearly 90 years, Social Security has been a cornerstone of economic security for older Americans. By significantly reducing the tax burden on benefits, this legislation reaffirms President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security and helps ensure that seniors can better enjoy the retirement they’ve earned."

Here, the legislation is tied to the regime’s MAGA ideology linked to their savior, President Trump. As with all his “promises,” it is only self-serving.

Here’s what is behind the “promise”: Tax burdens have been reduced in a short-term Ponzi-esque scheme that will place long-term burdens on everyone who will be received Social Security benefits in the long-term.

This promise is a threat.

This promise is not protection.

This promise is bribery for the theatrics of political theatre: MAGA wants your vote for these short-term cuts.

Protection = Bribe

The bribes end in 2028. Social Security goes insolvent in 2032.

This is pure Trumpism and MAGA Newspeak.

One last thing about this notice. Let’s not forget that “Big Balls” recently came to work for the Social Security Administration as a “special government employee.” This email reeks of his style in trying to make the Social Security Administration efficient and yet cool.

We’re supposed to “celebrate” and “applaud” and get excited about future announcements because Social Security and the MAGA Trump-world is there to protect us.

Nowhere is this more clearly made than in the sign-off banner of the email. It loudly proclaims, “Join the millions and discover your benefits!” OMG. Social Security is now being marketed as a social club.

Remember the final paragraph of the email? That SSI will continue to keep us informed through “timely, accurate information to the public and will continue working closely with federal partners to ensure beneficiaries understand how this legislation may affect them.”

I’m already dreading the future communications as they will start to wind down people’s benefits, especially after the 2028 election.

If we make it that far.

Happy Fourth of July, folks. If you need a refresher course on how the Declaration of Independence provides a colonial roadmap for overthrowing a tyrant, please see my Substack on it: https://mbmatthews.substack.com/p/a-colonial-roadmap-to-overthrowing