The Daily Signal - Seniors Back DOGE: Conservative Alternative to AARP Members Embrace Cutting Waste and Abuse

Episode Date: March 9, 2025

“AMAC members know that the Democrats and the deep state bureaucrats are really actively trying to cover up fraud,” says Rebecca Weber, CEO of the Association for Mature Americans. The Daily Signal’s Tyler O’Neil sat down with Rebecca Weber to discuss the older generation of American’s overwhelming support for DOGE and the Trump administration’s efforts to rid the federal government of fraud and waste. “While Democrats are going to claim that this is threatening seniors’ benefits, that’s simply not the case. It’s the entire opposite,” Weber explains. Fraud is the only way to prevent Social Security and Medicare from going bankrupt, Weber says. AMAC was founded in 2007 as an alternative to AARP, emphasizing its commitment to conservative values and smaller government. It represents Americans over age 50. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the stories of everyday Americans to detailed policy conversations, we are going beyond the headlines to discuss the issues and events that have and are shaping this nation. Welcome to the Daily Signal podcast Weekend Edition. I'm Tyler O'Neill, your host today. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll be right back with today's conversation. Live from Indiana syndicated nationally from the Daily Signal, it's the Tony Kinnettcast. Man, you've got me hook, light and sinker.

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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. Gailor, thank you so much for having me on. So I want to just let our listeners know what is AMAC, why does it exist? 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. Really good point. So 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, made a massive shift or 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 began to poll people locally right here on Long Island, New York, and we found that people, yes, they said we want an alternative. I mean, in America, you usually have competition. AARP had no competition, and their goals were really on bigger government. 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 AMA. So I think, you know, right now everybody is talking about Doge, cutting waste and abuse from the federal government. You hear a lot of people saying, you know, seniors are concerned that, their, you know, social security, that their benefits are going to get caught. But what are you hearing from AMAC members about these issues? 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 is 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's 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. So while Democrats are going to claim that this is threatening seniors benefits, that's simply not the case. It's the entire opposite. You know, 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 and solvent 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 2013. 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 percent, I think it was 60.

of 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 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. So, 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. How do AMAC members see the DOGE effort in general? Do you have internal polling on this? Have you talked with many of your members and how much trust do they put in this effort? Yeah, that's a great question.

They 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 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, you know, I trust Elon Musk and Donald Trump over some faceless bureaucrats. who currently has my information, right? So 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. You know, they literally are saying, oh, Well, 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

and stealing from the Social Security Trust Fund. I had written an op-ed about this last year, about the threat that illegal aliens posed 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 Democratic members know that the Democratic, 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 Dudik, 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 transparent. and accountability should be celebrating, not protesting outside federal buildings. So where would you say are the major issues where your, you know, AMAC members fall on the other side of AARP? You know, AARP, how woke are they in the parlance of the of the day? And how, you know, what issues really resonate with AMAC members?

That is a terrific, really great question. So 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 our inalienable rights. rights. And, you know, 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% of AMAC members said, send them, you know, government keep the money, don't give it back to me in any way, shape, or form, or share it with the American public. You know, they were against Obamacare. When we formed in 2007, it was before Obamacare was around. In 2009, AMAC members stood out quite loudly and said,

you know, 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. It could have been a real possibility whereby somebody, for example, my grandmother, who at age 90, had surgery for some issues in her neck that, you know, 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. So AERP 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. You know, 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 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 sort of, you know, a lot of funding for their green scam, their green news scam. It hurts seniors. They've hurt Medicare. And so, you know, 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, you know, 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 they were. 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 sort of, 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, and they can learn about the issues on amac.us. So it's been a thrill being a part of making America great again. Well, thank you. Do you have anything else to add on Doge, on Social Security, on where seniors or, you know, AMAC members see America going in this new administration?

Well, thank you for that. And I would just say that there is absolutely, 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. You know, I love the Daily Signal. I think people need to tune in more to your show to get the truth and to learn more. so I thank you so much for being a part of this messaging. And just check out Amak. Let your friends and family know and don't spend your money with organizations

that are actively working against your values. Yeah, I think that's a really important message. Thank you so much for joining us, Rebecca. Thank you, Tyler. We are going to leave it there today. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on shows from The Daily Signal. Every weekday catch top news in 10 right here in this podcast feed.

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