Today the US Senate comes back into session. The first item up for consideration will be the wrecking ball that is the Republican budget bill. Because the bill is presented through the process of reconciliation, it can be passed with a simple majority vote; there are currently 53 Republican Senators in office. So let’s do the math: our illustrious VP will be ready to cast a vote in the event of a 50-50 tie, meaning a minimum of four Republicans will have to vote against the bill to keep it from passing.
Don’t hold your breath.
The ramifications of this budget are very bad – VERY bad – and once the dumpster fire starts burning its effects will be felt down to the very foundations of our country. It’s time to go dumpster diving and suss out what we’ll be losing and who will be winning.
The American Dream becomes Robin Hood in reverse
You remember this one. Any hard worker with a fierce will to succeed can find opportunity in the United States – it is, after all, the “land of opportunity,” right? Trump’s “big beautiful bill” will strip money and resources away from regular folks and funnel them into the pockets of the wealthy. According to one US Representative, Don Beyer of Virginia, "The unavoidable truth is that Republicans' core priority with this legislation was to benefit the wealthy at the expense of everyone else, and that is exactly what their bill does."
READ MORE at Common Dreams and USA Today
Families and the elderly will go hungry
The new bill makes massive cuts to SNAP benefits. For starters, under new SNAP rules children over the age of 7 will no longer qualify as dependents unless they live in a household with two married parents. The bill also requires adults without children to continue working through age 64 in order to receive benefits. Overall the budget cuts almost $300 billion from the SNAP program, affecting millions of American families.
READ MORE at The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and The New Civil Rights Movement
Health care will be harder to find and afford – again
Sweeping changes to Medicaid and huge future cuts to Medicare (as early as next year according to the Congressional Budget Office) are a big part of Trump’s big brutal bill. The healthcare marketplace will take a hit as well. And with less Medicaid money going to hospitals – especially the rural ones – we’re likely to see even more hospitals closing across the country.
READ MORE at Vox, Justice in Aging and The American Hospital Association
Don’t give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
In a country founded and built by immigrants it will now cost $1000 to apply for asylum. Additional fees will pile on for work permits and for each year an immigration case continues. Sponsoring an immigrant child held in detention will cost upwards of $8000. Any person apprehended by ICE at the border will face a fine of $5000 in addition to deportation. In the new America, money talks and compassion walks away.
READ MORE at The New Republic and Immigration Impact
Still, we have the courts to keep things in balance, right?
Nope. There’s a sneaky little paragraph in the bill that seeks to strip power away from the judiciary and hand it over to the president. This is no surprise considering the number of court cases currently filed against the unconstitutional acts of our Dear Leader.
READ MORE at the Christian Science Monitor and MSNBC
But wait – there’s more! The big brutal bill also takes an axe to:
If any of this scares you or makes you angry, raise your voice with us on Saturday, June 14 at Rotary Park in Princeton, 11 am – 1 pm. See you there!