Seniors Back DOGE | Rebecca Weber on The Daily Signal with Tyler O’Neil

Transcript:

Tyler O’Neil: This is Tyler O’Neill, senior editor at the Daily Signal. I am honored to be joined by Rebecca Weber, who is the president and CEO for AMAC, the Association for Mature American Citizens.

Rebecca, it’s so great to have you with us.

Rebecca Weber: Tyler, thank you so much for having me on.

Tyler O’Neil: So I want to just let our listeners know, what is AMAC? Why does it exist? A lot of, a lot of Americans have heard about AARP, but I think AARP is not, representative of where a lot of seniors actually are these days.

Rebecca Weber: Really good point. AMAC is the Association of Mature American Citizens, and we were formed in 2007 by actually my father, the late and great Dan Weber. Dan Weber was a, average, middle income American, and he was a member of AARP. And Tyler, he saw how AARP, had really made a massive shift or a turn to the left.

They weren’t representing the views of, Dan Weber and so many other, millions of Americans across the U. S. So it was my father and I who, we began to poll people locally right here on Long Island, New York, and we found that people, yes, they said we, we want an alternative. I mean in America, you, usually have competition, AARP had no competition and their goals were really on, They were backing, all kinds of celebrities that were, really anti American, it seemed.

And so Dan said, I think that there’s a great opportunity for us to do right by Americans. And I’m so proud. We’re 15 years later now, over 2 million members strong and we’re growing. So it’s great that you’re having me on. More people need to know about AMAC.

Tyler O’Neil: So I think You know, right now, we’re, everybody is talking about DOJ cutting waste and abuse from the federal government. You hear a lot about people saying, seniors are concerned that their, social security, that their benefits are going to get cut. But what are you hearing from AMAC members about these issues?

Rebecca Weber: Well, AMAC members just voted. Donald J. Trump is their man of the year for 2024. They stand in huge support of Donald Trump.

Let’s be clear. President Trump has repeatedly both during the 2024 campaign and really since taking office that he promises not to go after one penny of legal social security and Medicare payments. We saw that just last week on Sean Hannity show President Trump. He was right there with Elon Musk. and he said social security won’t be touched unless there are fraudulent payments going on.

So what we’re really witnessing now, Tyler, from Democrats and many in the establishment media is an intentional effort to cause chaos and confusion, this is what they do, about what Doge and the Trump administration are doing. We know that Doge and the Trump admin are going after fraud and abuse. That’s what they’re doing.

They’re going after fraud and abuse in the social security system, and that’s it. And we saw Elon Musk post that as well. while Democrats are going to claim that this is threatening seniors benefits, that’s simply not the case. It’s the entire opposite. it’s funny. I think it was Elon Musk also who said the people who scream the loudest are usually the fraudsters.

He said that when he was working with PayPal, and he also said that his goal is to stop extreme levels of fraud. So I do trust both Donald Trump and Elon Musk. first of all, Tyler, this is so urgently important because we know that the Social Security Trust Fund is going to go insolvent eventually unless things change.

So really starting here, looking at the fraud and the abuse is an important place to start. but we know that the Social Security Trust Fund is on pace to go bankrupt. they’re saying roughly 2033 with Medicare, perhaps earlier in 2031. So if we don’t stop fraud, it will absolutely threaten seniors benefits, and we think that this is a wonderful thing that is coming from the Trump administration.

Specifically on AMAC members, we recently polled them, and we run a poll on our website every Saturday. and, we had almost 70%, I think it was 68 percent of the AMAC members who said, I would rather forego a refund check, or a dividend check, or a tax credit, or any of that, if fraud and abuse is found, I want that money to stay with the government, to pay down the national debt, or to go into the Social Security Trust Fund.

In other words, what they’re saying is, we need to eliminate fraud and abuse, and we need to reduce our national debt, and shore up Social Security so that it’s here for current generations and future generations. And I think that’s a testament to the, commitment that AMAC members have to this great country.

They understand the original intent of the Social Security, program, and that was an anti poverty program to keep seniors out of poverty, and, to prevent what we saw during the Great Depression. I, again, I trust, Donald J. Trump, but we know that, mainstream media is getting it all wrong and they want to fearmonger, and let people, believe that in fact that something will happen to their social security.

We here at AMAC, we see the exact opposite.

Tyler O’Neil: How do AMAC members see the DOJ effort in general? Do you have, internal polling on this? Have you talked with many of your members and, and how much trust do they put in this effort?

Rebecca Weber: Yeah, that’s a great question. Absolutely trust Doge. Elon Musk came in second behind Donald Trump when we gave a list of over a dozen folks to, measure and who should be man or woman of the year.

They’re a huge supporter because they understand basic common sense. I mean if you think about it this way there’s all this outrage about Doge, and, employees having access to Americans personal data. But AMAC members said, I trust Elon Musk and Donald Trump over some faceless bureaucrat who currently has my information, right?

So they, they say to me, at least I know that they’re looking to stop improper payments and to protect benefits that so many American seniors have worked decades to earn. and when you think about the numbers, so Elon Musk reported that literally millions of people, have ages listed at more than 120 years old.

So to me, that’s a scandal. That the Democrats want us to just ignore. they literally are saying, Oh, some non citizens use fake social security numbers to get their benefits. So in other words, to me, that’s, a scandal that Democrats claim didn’t exist. Yeah. And now they’re openly admitting, that illegal aliens are defrauding Americans stealing from the Social Security Trust Fund.

I had written an op ed about this last year, about the threat that illegal aliens pose to Social Security and to Medicare, and now we’re seeing it play out in real time. So we know, and AMAC members know, that the Democrats and the deep state bureaucrats are really actively trying to cover up fraud. and I want to point out one other case, there was a case of this gentleman, Leland, if I’m saying the name correctly, Leland Dudek, he was fired by upper management at the Social Security Administration for helping Doge find fraud. And what did, Trump do? He, fired the person who fired Leland and gave, him his job. So this is something that anyone who cares about government transparency and accountability should be celebrating. not protesting outside federal buildings.

Tyler O’Neil: So where would you say are the major issues where your, AMAC members fall on the other side of a RP, a RP?

How, woke are they and the parlance of the ter of the day and how, what issues really resonate with AMAC members?

Rebecca Weber: That is a terrific, really great question. AMAC members believe in the values, the fundamental, very traditional values that our nation was built on. So they believe in individuality, and they do believe in natural rights.

And that resonates very greatly among over 2 million AMAC members. And you can be any age to be an AMAC member, but certain benefits are geared at people 50 and older. so essentially, they, believe, in, in our inalienable rights. and what’s, amazing is they don’t buy what they hear from the left when they say, Oh, our democracy is under threat and Donald Trump is a dictator.

They see the exact, opposite. They believe in smaller government. They’re very fiscally responsible. As I noted, over 70 percent of AMAC members said, send them, keep government, keep the money. don’t give it back to me in any way, shape or form or share it with the American public. They were against Obamacare. When we formed in 07, it was before Obamacare was around. In 2009, AMAC members stood out quite loudly and said, this Medicare for all and this federal takeover of our health insurance is going to destroy health coverage, especially for older seniors, They were worried about Obama’s death panels, which if you look back, you say, you know what, that would have been a real possibility, could have been a real possibility, whereby somebody. For example, my, my grandmother who at age 90 had surgery, for car, some issues in her neck that, she was building plaque and, her doctor said, you’re, healthy enough for the surgery, which had some risk, but under federal takeover, we don’t know how certain health care could be rationed.

AARP stood in support of Obamacare. Fast forward, they stood in support of Medicare for All. They’ve been really an extension of the Democrat arm. They were entirely behind the Inflation Reduction Act. And quite frankly, Tyler, I don’t know where they are on the Social Security front. AMAC has solutions that we think, we’re excited to speak with the administration and engage to discuss the solutions that we think have a, there’s a lot of common sense behind our solutions. I don’t know where AARP is, but we saw what the Inflation Reduction Act did. it was a lot of funding for their green scam, their green new scam. it hurts seniors. they’ve hurt Medicare. And this is what AMAC members most recently are saying. And I do speak to members directly. I speak to a handful of members each week. And members are saying, it’s funny how the Democrats have this, outcry over government efficiency, attacking fraud and abuse. But where was their outcry during Joe Biden’s presidency when the border was overrun?

Where was their outcry when American soldiers were killed overseas? So with President Trump at the helm, going after fraud and abuse, they are thrilled. They recognize that AARP is the, it’s the David versus Goliath story. They have over 30 million members. They’ve been around for over 50 years.

But everything I look to, I say they are, they’ve gone far to the right. While they put Robert De Niro on the cover of their magazine, we’ve got Donald J. Trump and other great heroes on the cover of our magazine. So there’s a clear difference. And, it’s why I so appreciate being here.

Just to share because one of the biggest things that AMAC does, I think, and the greatest reason why people are joining, sure they love the benefits and the discounts, but average everyday Americans don’t feel like their voice is being heard. Through AMAC, we take your voice to Capitol Hill, but also on the state level, on the very local level, we are engaged and we’re the fastest growing grassroots organization.

In America, so there’s a lot of ways people can get involved without leaving the home, but they can participate in virtual webinars through calls to action on they can learn about the issues on a Mac dot us. So it’s been. It’s been a thrill, being a part of making America great again.

Tyler O’Neil: thank you.

Do you have anything else to add on DOJ, on Social Security, on where seniors or, AMAC members see America going in this new administration?

Rebecca Weber: thank you for that. And I would just say that there is, we know that there is a certain level of fraud going on. AMAC members applaud the president and his administration to identify and stop it.

I love, the Daily Signal. I think people need to tune in more to your show to get the truth and to, to learn more. So I thank you so much for being a part of this messaging and, just check out AMAC, let your friends and family know and don’t, spend your money, with, organizations that are, actively working against your values.

Tyler O’Neil: I think that’s a really important message. Thank you so much for joining us, Rebecca.

Rebecca Weber: Thank you, Tyler.

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