Hello and welcome to background briefing, available 24-7 at background briefing.

I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the appointment of the discredited Hunter Biden whistleblower

to be the latest acting commissioner of the IRS,

as Trump and Musk destroy two pillars of the American government,

the Social Security Administration and the IRS.

While it has long been the dream of the far right to privatize Social Security and get

rid of the IRS and substitute the income tax with a consumption tax, both are happening

with speed and determination in spite of denials and lies from Trump, that he is protecting

Social Security.

Joining us is Edward McCaffrey, the Robert C. Packard trustee chair in law

and a professor of law, economics and political science at the University of Southern California.

He's the author of Fair Not Flat, How to Make the Tax System Better and Simpler,

and founder of the People's Tax Page.

Then we'll look into the deliberate destruction of the Social Security Administration

as Musk steals its data and fires its workers, closes its office and shuts down its

phone service to make it dysfunctional so that Trump will eventually tell desperate retirees

that the system is not working and they'll

just have to privatize it. Joining us is Nancy Altman, the president of Social Security Works and chair

of the Strengthened Social Security Coalition. With a 50-year background in the areas of Social

Security, Medicare, private pensions, and related programs.

She serves on the Social Security Advisory Board, a bipartisan independent federal government agency

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