Trump signed his "Big Beautiful Bill." In the days leading up to Independence Day, the bill passed both the Senate and the House along strict party lines, with Republicans voting in favor.
The White House website, which posted dozens of short articles pushing for the bill before its passage, was silent both when it was passed and on the date Trump actually signed it. This silence has meaning. When the Congressional Budget Office and other organizations did the math, they found that over ten million adults would be cut from Medicaid. Millions would also be cut from the SNAP program. Furthermore, tens of millions of the poorest Americans will see an increase in their taxes (or a decrease in the tax returns they depend on to make ends meet).
Despite the propaganda in which conservative lawmakers lie about the poor, and paint them as lazy, good-for-nothing "Democrats," there are poor people on both sides of the aisle. For example, more Trump voters than non-Trump voters depend on the Affordable Care Act for health insurance. Polling shows that over 70% of Americans are worried that Medicaid cuts will greatly impact their well-being or the well-being of their communities.
I suspect this is the reason the administration made no written press release on the White House website when Trump signed the OBBB.
On his personal social media website, Truth Social, Trump wrote, "The One Big Beautiful Bill will deliver the strongest border on Earth, the strongest economy on Earth, the strongest military on Earth, & ensure the United States of America will remain the strongest country anywhere on this beautiful planet of ours." His celebratory posts there are mostly celebrating the funding of his anti-immigration initiatives, and defense spending. He made no attempt to assuage the concerns of Americans.
The bill includes a few carrots for regular folks. No taxes on tips or overtime through tax year 2028 for most Americans. But these conveniently expire starting January 2029, when Trump leaves office. For businesses, large and small, capital expenses can now be deducted immediately, instead of using depreciation calculations over a period of years. Certain other types of accounting changes are generally considered positive for anyone able to use them.
In perhaps the biggest slap in the face to fiscal conservative voters, the bill increases the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. It is anticipated to add several trillion to the national debt, and is not a fiscally conservative bill.
I believe the White House staff are aware of the concerns and complaints from Trump's own voters and that is why the White House press releases are dead silent on the topic since the bill passed. I also believe this is why Trump is silent about almost everything except for the defense and immigration aspects of the bill. If they can keep MAGA voters excited about hauling away Hispanic people and blowing things up, then they can keep all the support they need to continue doing whatever the Administration feels like doing to anyone.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text
https://www.kff.org/medicaid/poll-finding/kff-health-tracking-poll-the-publics-views-of-funding-reductions-to-medicaid/#:~:text=A%20Majority%20of%20the%20Public,who%20are%20%E2%80%9Csomewhat%20worried.%E2%80%9D
https://taxfoundation.org/blog/one-big-beautiful-bill-pros-cons/
https://usafacts.org/articles/whats-in-the-one-big-beautiful-bill/
Comments
Post a Comment