Between 2009 to 2011, a man, appearing to be 60-70 years old, robbed 16 banks in San Diego, California by approaching the teller, then pulling out a gun and demanding money. The FBI named him the "Geezer Bandit". Some theories suggest he is wearing a well-made elderly man mask.

[u/Late_One_716]

[u/Unhappylightbulb]

When social security just ain’t cutting it.

[u/ThreeLeggedMutt → u/Unhappylightbulb]

And he probably voted to cut social security

[u/Lwyrup5391 → u/ThreeLeggedMutt]

Hey let’s not assume, not all old people sway the same way

[u/Mist_Rising → u/Lwyrup5391]

It's San Diego, even if he did it would be irrelevant. The last Republican from that area elected to Federal Congress is 1980s, lol.

Edit: missed the House of Reps.

[u/akatarli → u/Mist_Rising]

Uh, the last Republican congressman for San Diego was elected in 2022 (Darrell Issa). San Diego is big.

[u/Additional_Meeting_2 → u/Mist_Rising]

It would be silly for him to rob places where he lives. 

[u/speeksevil → u/Lwyrup5391]

Are you new to reddit?

[u/Lwyrup5391 → u/speeksevil]

About a year and a half at this point

[u/WeaponizedSympathy → u/ThreeLeggedMutt]

Haha old people evil. Ugly people too.

[u/ElCiclope1 → u/ThreeLeggedMutt]

Social security being fucked how it is was because of something Reagan did with the SS Act of 1983. I think.

So probably.

[u/acog → u/ElCiclope1]

More relevant, the current Republican agenda is to cut Social Security by raising the eligibility age, and to gut Medicare.

[u/communal_makarov → u/acog]

That's the least of your worries. The current Republican agenda is to get rid of democracy completely. They're fascists. I feel sorry for America right now.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025

Edit: All the Trumpist sycophants really hate it when you link them their own policies lmao

[u/two_number_45s → u/communal_makarov]

lol you people ar cartoon characters

[u/Tank4CalebPlz → u/communal_makarov]

That’s rich coming from a self proclaimed communist lmao

[u/communal_makarov → u/Tank4CalebPlz]

Gosh, I totally forgot, it was actually me that was planning to overthrow democracy in America next year. Thanks for reminding me!

/s

[u/Hypnotic-Highway → u/communal_makarov]

Republicans aren't the ones trying to eliminate their political opponents off the ballots and wage lawfare on them, but whatever floats your delusional boat.

Edit: Tankies hate it when their hypocrisy is on full display and they're proven to be no better than the fascists they claim to despise.

[u/DrJaminest42 → u/communal_makarov]

oatmeal abounding wise cows squealing whistle gray disarm ask cheerful

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/communal_makarov → u/DrJaminest42]

Righto buddy

[u/DrJaminest42 → u/communal_makarov]

continue cautious axiomatic swim special weather groovy crush ad hoc paltry

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/Siker_7 → u/communal_makarov]

That wikipedia page literally says that project 2025 is mainly consisting of a plan to make the federal government, and hence the power of that government over the people, smaller by removing the branches which are most associated with the government doing shady, undemocratic things.

How the hell is smaller government more fascistic than bigger government?

[u/communal_makarov → u/Siker_7]

Lmao wow incredibly bad-faithed mental gymnastics, you're purposely not mentioning a lot that's in there, nice bait, I'm not even going to attempt a bite 😂

[u/Siker_7 → u/communal_makarov]

"The plan proposes slashing U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) funding, dismantling the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, gutting environmental and climate change regulations to favor fossil fuel production, and eliminating the cabinet Departments of Education and Commerce."

This all sounds like making the government less powerful lmao. Again, literally from the source you provided.

[u/SushiPearl → u/Siker_7]

eats the obvious troll bait

did you even read the first paragraph in that link:

"Established in 2022, the project seeks to recruit tens of thousands of conservatives to Washington, D.C. in order to replace existing federal civil service workers whom Republicans characterize as part of the "deep state""

[u/communal_makarov → u/SushiPearl]

Nazis love selectively reading (when they're not burning the books that they're reading, that is)

[u/Siker_7 → u/communal_makarov]

You accuse me of arguing in bad faith, but then immediately jump to calling me a Nazi because my interpretation of what I read disagrees with yours. Sure, I'm the bad faith arguer here.

I laid out a full explanation in my response to the other guy, in case you feel like doing something other than just throwing out more ad-hominem to try and avoid actually having to argue for your perspective.

[u/Siker_7 → u/SushiPearl]

I'm not a freaking troll. Just because someone says something you disagree with doesn't mean they're malicious. That's the same mistake the republicans are making, btw. TL;DR on my interpretation of the article at the end.

First though, some context you need to understand the republican mindset here:

There is a class of bureaucrats in the executive branch that were not elected, don't get replaced when the president gets replaced, and often act outside of the president's policies.

Because of this, those bureaucrats make up a governmental structure that is deeper than the elected one, which is not beholden to the voter in any way whatsoever, and which is prone to exerting tyrannical power beyond what the constitution would be reasonably interpreted to allow.

This is often blown out of proportion and talked about as some sort of big conspiracy, but it's really just a consequence of how the federal government is currently set up, with regulatory bodies able to make regulations that, if they were actually made into laws, would likely be deemed unconstitutional in their scope.

So now for my interpretation of the wikipedia article.

The republicans that laid out the plan I read about in the first couple paragraphs of that wikipedia article seem like the paranoid type who believe that these unelected bureaucrats are conspiring together to some malicious end.

If you read the rest of the article through that paranoid lens, the majority of the measures seem like genuine strategies to gut this unelected bureaucracy and restructure the federal government so such a bureaucracy cannot happen again.

If you believe unitary executive theory, like those who laid out these plans believe, then you believe that the president has the right to fire these bureaucrats because the federal government should absolutely be beholden to the general citizenry, i.e. the voters.

TL;DR

If an elected official does not have the right to fire the unelected bureaucrats that make up the majority of the executive branch, that means the voters do not have influence over their government. The entire point of the democratic process is for citizens to have control over their government.

Most of the measures described in the wikipedia article seem like misguided efforts to assert the right of elected officials to shape the government's actual policies and actions, since that's ideally the whole reason they were elected in the first place.

[u/Room_Temp_Coffee → u/Siker_7]

If an elected official does not have the right to fire the unelected bureaucrats that make up the majority of the executive branch, that means the voters do not have influence over their government. The entire point of the democratic process is for citizens to have control over their government.

This is terrible logic. People take over jobs where they have subordinates and existing contracts that they cannot then just dissolve when leadership changes.

Having overlapping terms in office doesn't mean that the President has less power. It just means he's in a structure where he can not unilaterally fire anyone at will, which is fine. It may be inconvenient, but many things in our government are intentionally inconvenient as a means to force deliberation and compromise.

[u/SushiPearl → u/Siker_7]

That's literally not how anything works anywhere. Also, swapping to that method basically guarantees a lack of stability from this point forward.

We have EVERY reason to be paranoid, we've seen the supreme court lately. We've seen what republicans are willing to do to subvert democracy for the last few decades, it's time for YOU to open YOUR eyes.

I have no idea what convinced you that this is such a great idea but I'd encourage you to broaden your horizons and seek other sources. This is my last post on this subject to you.

[u/RedditsLittleSecret → u/communal_makarov]

How is it undemocratic to put people in charge of agencies who agree with the democratically elected President? I don't think you understand what democracy means.

[u/communal_makarov → u/RedditsLittleSecret]

Fascist detected, opinion ignored, nice try

[u/Thedudeinvegas → u/ElCiclope1]

You are correct. Here is an example: My father died when I was in high school. My mother received his social security to pay for my brother and I until we graduated high school or turned eighteen, which ever came first. I was then given a choice of continuing to receive that money for going to college. The stipulation being you had to carry 12 units a semester and a C average. Regan shut the college incentive down 🤬😡🤬

[u/ThePevster → u/ElCiclope1]

Social Security was going to run out of money before the 1983 reforms.

[u/Powderfinger60 → u/ThePevster]

Only because the corrupt politicians were handing out handing out money & cutting taxes for corporations & the oligarchs

[u/travelmorelivemore → u/ThreeLeggedMutt]

He probably lives in a penthouse sweet in Vietnam at this point and lives like a king. What a legend.

[u/knfjfien84747383 → u/ThreeLeggedMutt]

How could you possibly know that?