On May 14th there was an op-ed in The New York Times written by four members of Trump’s cabinet, who are all millionaires or billionaires, that may finally tip the scale. It was so wrong, on so many levels, about so many things, that even Trump’s most devout followers may develop a doubt.
“IF YOU WANT WELFARE AND CAN WORK, YOU MUST.”—by Robert Kennedy, Mehmet Oz, Brooke Rollins, and Scott Turner, New York Times, Opinions, May 14, 2025. (Picture above is a screen shot from the New York Times.)
First, there was the assumption that being disabled or elderly isn’t work. I’m 73 years old, and I beg to differ with this assumption. Elderly and/or disabled people are busy—they’re busy falling apart.
Second, there was the assumption that the time grandparents spend filling in for working parents on short notice or during school vacations isn’t work. For Pete’s sake, it’s already so expensive to live in this country that both parents need to work. Now these uber-wealthy men, who can afford to hire all the help they need, tell us that grandparents should be working away from home during the day, too? What the f—k?
Third, there was that hateful underlying right-wing assumption that nobody but them deserves a break. That all the rest of us should be willing to scrimp and slave and work til we die to prove that we deserve health care, so that huge tax cuts which will only benefit themselves and their descendants can go to people making more than $500,000 a year. (The Atlantic called this idea, “The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in American History.”) That everyone else is out to cheat the government, when of course the real government cheats are grinning back from their mirrors. You’ve heard of projection, right? Denial, projection and blame are how people who think like this fend off suicide. It’s always the guys milking the government the most who accuse elderly and disabled people—or underpaid federal workers who inspect meat or conduct research or care for our national forests—of being the budgetary problem. But we know better. We can see who’s getting big government contracts and ginormous tax breaks and favorable regulations. We can see who’s getting obscenely rich in the USA, and it sure ain’t the elderly or the disabled or the teachers or the scientists or the USAID workers.
Fourth, there was the illustration which accompanied this revealing article. It showed a hand punching a time clock. A time clock. Now there’s a moldy old idea. The Big-Brother-Is-Watching idea that unless you make other people literally punch into and out of a time clock they’re gonna cheat you blind. Hhmmm… have you ever seen a time clock in the Cabinet room? Maybe installing a time clock in the Cabinet room would remind these millionaires to stop diverting all the goodies their way while the rest of us struggle to make our mortgage payments and the mentally ill wander the streets. The evil that they dwell on, the evil that right-wing thinkers so long to punish, is coming from within. They suspect others constantly because they are so suspect themselves.
Fifth, there was the statement that “millions of jobs” are available. And, unfortunately, this one may be about to come true. So we could have the elderly and the disabled start picking fruit, pruning trees, slaughtering animals, planting and harvesting vegetables—in short, we could have them do all the back breaking work that it takes to feed this country—once we’ve deported all the people who are doing it now.
Sixth, there was the word “MUST.” The assumption that people will not do the right thing unless some Conservative Over Lord tells them that they must. “IF YOU WANT WELFARE AND CAN WORK, YOU MUST” is not a call for cooperation. It is not an attempt to inspire. It is not John F Kennedy saying,“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” It’s an attempt to bully and coerce, to cower and threaten. (The picture springs to mind of Trump and Vance shaking their forefingers and shouting at Zelensky in the Oval Office. The draft dodger and the opportunist, trying to bully a true hero. I’m still not over that shameful spectacle.) We all know that social security and medicare could use some reform. What system couldn’t, after a few decades? We don’t have to be bullied and cowed into supporting it. We don’t have to have welfare reform shoved down our throats like a dire, looming threat. These guys all profess to be Christians. Do they realize there’s a New Testament now? Jesus did not go around saying ‘slay every man, woman or child in the enemy camp,’ or ‘send those horrible people straight to hell.’ (That was the Old Testament.) Jesus went around inspiring others to be kind, to help and love one another. But those who are stained themselves, those who are absolutely dripping with the gore involved in amassing fabulous personal wealth, have to accuse others of being greedy. It’s egoic-self-preservation. It’s denial, projection and blame.
Seventh, there was the galling irony—if only there were a stronger word—of people enriching themselves as fast as they can, like Roman nobility gorging themselves at an all-day banquet, while telling the rest of us to stop whining and make do with their leftovers. Surely I don’t need to enumerate the numerous ways in which the Trump administration is enriching itself and all its friends and dependents while in office. Surely we can admit by now that Trump is a crook, and that he hires other crooks to do his dirty work. Surely we can see that Elon Musk is playing the lead in an absurd farce when he calls social security a “pyramid scheme” while raking in billions of dollars in government contracts.
MUST we go on? The whole Trump administration is absurd. They’re following an absurd man. They make absurd statements. They do absurd things.
Please wake up, USA.