I’m certain you’ll receive numerous letters extolling the virtues of Mr Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ passed by the House. Well, it’s big, can’t deny that, and it’s a bill, which we’ll all end up paying, but as for beautiful, that’s in the eye of the beholder.
Let’s start with Medicaid, which needs more funding rather than less, at this moment when the administration is doing its best to make the lives of poor, disabled, and elderly people miserable. This bill is a frank handout to billionaires, and it’s squarely on the backs of middle and working-class people, to add insult to injury.
Give money to billionaires—take it from rural hospitals, kids’ school lunches, seniors in nursing homes, and people who need medical care the most. I retired from running a clinic that provided free care to previously hospitalized Medicaid recipients, among others, and I’m sickened to think what will happen to them.
And my Congressman, Mr Harris? He voted ‘present’ because, from his antediluvian point of view, the bill didn’t go far enough in taking from the neediest. He doesn’t like the $2.3 trillion, with a T, the bill will add to our deficit over the next decade, but his solution would be to take more from people who have nothing.
To give to billionaires? Oh, please.
Richard Bearman
Cambridge
0 Responses
Agreed! It is an ugly, ugly bill that takes away much needed resources and rewards the ultra rich buddies of DJT. Hidden in the bill are all kinds of things designed to further erode the Democracy we enjoy and gives more power to the executive. It is shameful that Andy and his ilk are silently letting this happen to this country and its people.
I don’t know Richard, but I am Registered Independent that would gladly associate myself with his remarks. To those who have much, much is expected.
Trump lining his pockets while cutting off U.S. Aid to Sudan and other countries where women and children are dying for the lack of peanut paste that sustains them for about $1. But, hey that’s a $1 more for the King of Chaos. He needs it for his multi million dollar rounds of golf. Disgusting.
How many organizations has Trump bankrupted or forced to go out of business?! More than 12, if you please! This will be his biggest; and, worst! Fasten your seatbelts, Ladies & Gents!!
The bill disproportionately harms those on the lowest rung of the income scale to lavish the wealthiest among us with more cash.
On average: Americans making between about $17,000 – $51,000 will lose about $700 of tax benefits a year. Those with incomes $1,000/yr. The top 0.1% of earners will gain nearly $390,000/yr.
Most of the talk of the bill is about cuts to MEDICAID (btw: 60% of nursing home stays are subsidized by Medicaid) and food assistance (including meals on wheels programs). Because the massive debt increase in the measure triggers a 2010 law requiring offsets, this means cuts to MEDICARE as well, by an estimated $500 billion.
Some might call it Reverse Robinhood-ism (they wouldn’t be wrong). Perhaps this is why this 1,116 page bill (with 42 amendments) was scheduled for a vote in the dead of night?
Could be. But my guess is Mike Johnson was trying to hide several awful non-budgetary provisions, including one that removes the judiciary’s capacity to hold officials in contempt. It would apply retroactively to rulings already in place (like those requiring Trump and his admin to follow the Constitution in deportation actions). This strikes at the heart of American’s system of checks and balances – essentially defanging the Courts.
Or maybe it’s the hidden tech clause, forbidding state and local governments from regulating AI developments for the next 10 years – a timeframe akin to infinity when it comes to AI. Don’t forget, AI isn’t just words, its imagery – real and imagined. And if your data and likeness isn’t protected at the federal level, for whatever reason, your state, employer or local jurisdiction can’t do anything to save you.
Severe cuts affecting the most vulnerable among us is reason enough to kill this bill. The ballooning deficit (this bill adds $3.3+ Trillion) is another. But recognize, whichever side of the economic argument you’re on, that this bill has much more long-enduring fundamental issues baked in. If we care about the rule of law, and the privacy, use and integrity of our personal data, we’ll do all we can to ensure this bill as written never sees the light of day.
Thank you, Trudy Wonder, for fleshing out my letter and adding the even more damning Project 2025 elements that make the big, beautiful bill much more than an economic monster, indeed, a true threat to our long established way of life. And thank you to all the other commentators for your thoughtful additions. I’m hoping that by fall, 2026, we’ll see enough pushback against Mr Trump’s cruel and damaging administration that a successful challenge can be launched to rid us of our non-representative, Mr Harris. In the meantime, keep highlighting the effects this administration is having on our neighbors and the community. Eventually, even the most hardened Trump cultists must start feeling the pain.
Richard- I fully agree with all of your comments and I ask an obvious question to other readers. How do we organize and start by removing our local representative (Andy Harris)? All of the ideas presented point to negative consequences for many of his voters in his district. How do we convey this information to them? I have neighbors who probably benefit from programs that will be eliminated or cut by the “big …bill”. But they’re still flying Trump flags and sporting Trump bumper stickers. It’s a big climb…maybe when reality sets in?
Thank you Richard and Trudy for listing the facts concerning this awful bill. Fitting as it drafted to please the most corrupt ethically bankrupt dumbest President in American hhisory. And, of course, his local toady, Andy Harris, only voted “Present” because it does not hurt enough people who need health care.
If only people knew the details of this bill. It contains so many more damaging provisions – like reductions in EPA regulations that prevent dumping toxic waste into our air, water and soil. We the people can’t let this pass as written!
As for Andy Harris… he claims the bill doesn’t go far enough with cuts, yet he prefers to take food out of more children’s and senior’s mouths and see them bankrupted by medical expenses rather than forego giving additional tax cuts and breaks to the wealthiest taxpayers in the nation (which, by the way, also reduces tax revenue – hitting our wallet twice). That tells you everything you need to know about the man and his commitment to his Eastern Shore constituents.
Trump is destroying our country. Everybody knows it. Few people will admit it.
Y’all, please keep in mind Trump couldn’t begin to perpetrate this barrage of socioeconomic brutality against the vast majority of Americans without the support of virtually every Republican in both Houses of Congress.
And lest we forget, the millions of average white Republican voters who blindly supported Trump remain virtually comatose to the catastrophic impact DOGE/MAGA economics on themselves. In all candor, I have to believe Republicans in both Houses would be shuddering if their Republican constituents would awaken from their comas and demanded assurances for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and so many other programs that keep their heads above water in society as most live from paycheck to paycheck. Talk about zombies!