Politically, things suck.
It is the era of the rich, looking out for the rich, with big business extended tax cuts currently in the mix. In an awkward way of balancing the books and appearing to care about the national debt, something has to give. In the case of the Republican "Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill", it is food stamps and medical coverage for those who can least afford it and denying such things as climate change.
After all the whoopla, the legislation for Trump’s agenda on taxes, health care, immigration, energy and more would ADD $3.3 trillion to the deficit over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But, hey, it’s good on false talking points and outright fallacies - amazingly, the hierarchy of the rich, including Trump’s own and family holdings.
In a ‘hurry-up’ vote on Tuesday, the Republican-dominated Senate narrowly passed Trump’s tax bill, sending it to House for final passage. Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote for the measure, which would extend trillions of dollars in tax cuts from Trump’s first term and implement new campaign promises — such as eliminating some income taxes on tips and overtime wages — while spending hundreds of billions of dollars on immigration enforcement and defense.
To offset the cost, the legislation would cut about $1 trillion from Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for low-income individuals and people with disabilities, and other health care programs. It would also cut SNAP, the anti-hunger Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.
12 million people will lose health care coverage if the bill becomes law, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
In her statement New York Senator Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement after Senate passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: This destructive bill is a big, beautiful betrayal of the American people. President Trump and Senate Republicans are cutting health care and food assistance for working families in order to give massive tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. Just as bad, this bill will raise the cost of living for working families by thousands of dollars. It’s outrageous and I will continue fighting to defeat it.”
Trump and Republican whinnies state that there simply is too much fraud in the Medicaid and food stamp/welfare programs costing the Make America Great Again formula billions of dollars annually.
No doubt about it, there are some slime on the lower end of society that take advantage on the public dole.
But Wait! When the previous administration noted that there are billions upon billions of dollars in tax fraud by large corporations and the ultra rich, it was proposed to add thousands of IRA inspectors and agents to root out the higher end of the slime bucket.
Guess what? Those increases in IRA watchdogs was almost immediately slashed. Obviously those billions and billions outrank the billions reportedly squandered by the not-so-fortunate.
Almost daily we here about programs for the elderly being cut and such programs as Meals on Wheels delivering lunches to the elderly disappearing.
Locally, seniors with years in safe surroundings are now told to move, find other places to live as care facilities go broke. Don’t fret, that $200 business lunch bill is tax deductible. It took years, decades to ensure programs such as support to societies supposed ‘bottom feeders".
The House voted 219-213 overnight Wednesday, after hours of delay, to advance President Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" for debate before a final vote. GOP leaders had to overcome pushback over changes the Senate made to the legislation. The latest vote began at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and wrapped up at about 3:20 a.m. as GOP holdouts were pressured to vote "yes." What’s next? So much for Republican caring, Republican backbone. When and where will it stop?
