MAGA Slumlords Try Friction Theory on Americans
Thomas Jefferson referred to the U.S. government as a "common house" that provided the people protection and stability. Donald Trump is trying to evict Americans from that comfy home by making it hard to get benefits that should be thought of as a right.
Witness the slashing of basic government services in the name of deficit reduction, or more accurately, paying for tax cuts. Elon Musk's rash firings are about more than saving taxpayers money on salaries and office rent. It's about frustrating Americans trying to obtain benefits to the point that they give up.
In economics, "friction theory" describes how governments (or other institutions) put into place unnecessary complexity, bureaucratic hurdles, or inefficiencies to discourage the public from accessing services. This can take the form of complex paperwork, or limited hours of operation to reduce demand.
It's no accident that Musk is cannibalizing the workforces that administer such benefits as Social Security and Medicaid. These are people we sometimes must talk to.
Trump started applying the friction theory in his first term to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Its purpose was to steer away the younger and healthy beneficiaries needed for a stable insurance pool.
He shortened the annual ACA enrollment period and slashed its advertising budget by 90%. He cut funding for the navigators who helped folks understand the ACA program and how to enroll in it.
He employed other means to dismantle the program. The tax cut legislation effectively repealed the "individual mandate" requiring most Americans to have health coverage or pay a penalty. By removing the penalty, fewer healthy people bought coverage. The result was higher ACA marketplace premiums to cover a riskier pool of beneficiaries.
Trump also expanded access to short-term plans that didn't have to meet basic ACA requirements, such as covering preexisting conditions. Many people opted for these cheaper plans, again leaving the ACA marketplaces burdened with a sicker population.
Unable to bankrupt the ACA, Trump then tried to kill the program outright and almost succeeded. Time to try again.
The ACA expanded access to Medicaid. Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint for a second Trump term, calls for stricter eligibility standards to decrease enrollment in Medicaid and place limits on lifetime benefits. What Project 2025 wants, Project 2025 seems to be getting.
As for the Social Security Administration, Musk's mass layoffs insert friction into the process of getting information about benefits or fixing problems. That has resulted in limited phone-based services and the shutting of local offices providing in-person assistance. The Social Security website has crashed four times in 10 days this month so far.
The MAGA slumlords now portray Social Security not as the earned benefit it is but as some kind of racket. Consider Musk's fake claims about armies of long-dead Americans still collecting benefits. And he calls Social Security a "Ponzi scheme."
Social Security faces financing challenges, but the benefits come out of taxes paid by the workers and their employers. What's not distributed to beneficiaries gets invested in securities backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
Our commerce secretary broke new ground in portraying those claiming a missed Social Security check or incorrect payment as likely criminals. I quote Howard Lutnick:
"A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining. ... The easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen, because whoever screams is the one stealing."
Face it. The knives are out to destroy Americans' confidence in the government services that made their national house feel like home. The goal of the MAGA slumlords is to get the public to curse the program and, most importantly, go away. Frustration is their weapon.
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Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.
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