When I was growing up, Social Security used to be called “the third rail of American politics,” because it threatened to kill the career of any politician who dared touch it.

Not, it seems, any longer.

Senators are seriously considering trying to arrange for the cutting — or gutting — of Social Security under cover of the coronavirus pandemic. This is an attack on multiple fronts. It includes proposals to suspend, or even eliminate, the payroll tax on which Social Security depends, and arranging a secret — yes, indeed — conference on Capitol Hill to find ways to “save” Social Security. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants this secret conference to be a condition of agreeing any further economic rescue package. He’s already on record calling for Social Security benefits to be, er, “adjusted.” Suspending the payroll tax as a “crisis” measure won’t help people out of work. But it will apparently make it even more needed to cut benefits down the road. Oops!

It will surprise no one that this attempt to violate commitments made to American savers and future retirees is apparently to be called the “Trust Act.” And my British friends always say we Americans “have no sense of irony.”

...

There is no Social Security “crisis.” It is completely made up. There is no financial “crisis.” There is no economic “crisis.” The only Social Security “crisis” is the crisis of people believing there is a Social Security crisis.

[emphasis original]

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/the-assault-on-social-security-is-under-way-2020-08-28

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Democrats on Tuesday against scrapping the legislative filibuster.

“I think the important thing for our Democratic friends to remember is that you might not be in total control in the future,” the Kentucky Republican said. “Any time you start fiddling around with the rules of the Senate, I think you always need to put yourself in the other fellow’s shoes and just imagine what might happen when the winds shift.”

McConnell added that he has resisted pressure from President Donald Trump to nix the legislative filibuster.

1/ There's a reason that Barr issued an edict forbidding every type of federal investigation that could uncover wrongdoing in the Trump reelection campaign—particularly campaign finance issues—and then opened his door to any evidence that Giuliani might offer him about Joe Biden.

2/ William Barr is a conspirator—alongside his longtime associates Rudy Giuliani, Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova—in facilitating foreign aid to Trump's campaign. There's a reason for all of the actions he has taken. There's a reason he's lying about Bolton's accurate account.

3/ The evidence is overwhelming—and I've compiled it. Nearly all those who want to illegally aid Trump's campaign have cases Barr can move. Firtash has an extradition case. Kolomoisky has one. Erdogan wants the Halkbank case over. China, ZTE. Barr's fingers are in *all* the pies.

4/ Bolton accurately described his expressions of concern to Barr about precisely these cases and Trump's efforts to impact them. At the time Barr said he agreed, now he's lying and saying that those conversations never happened. Why? Because ultimately they will implicate *him*.

....

8/ For the moment—as it takes a book to lay out all the evidence—I'll say this: if you see Barr's deeds through the lens of him being an *active co-conspirator* in the crimes prosecutors are investigating, you're going to have a *much* easier time understanding what's happening. [emphasis mine]

....

PS2/ But if you sense real anxiety in my tweeting, understand that it's *not* because I'm just some average dude who doesn't like the look of what he's seeing on his TV. No—I researched and wrote a 1,000-page book on this subject and *know* what's going on and it's terrifying me. [emphasis mine]

PS3/ Here's the very simplest way to understand it: Berman's SDNY is investigating a man who says Barr is a co-conspirator with Trump and Giuliani in laundering foreign money for the 2020 election. SDNY has the power to cut a deal with this man. Now Barr is trying to fire Berman. [emphasis mine]

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jill Karofsky has unseated Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly in a key race that will narrow the court’s conservative majority in this crucial swing state. The victory also sets progressives up to take control of the court when its next member is up for election.