Yet Another Dark Day For America

The Big Beautiful Bill is a Big Beautiful Disaster for America's Future. Plus a look at the political fallout and a confession on why I find it increasingly difficult to care.

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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

I’m not sure what else to say about the passage of the GOP’s tax cut bill in the Senate earlier today that isn’t captured by my MSNBC column on this legislative atrocity.

If China’s leaders were sitting around plotting ways to undermine America’s long-term economic competitiveness and gave Chinese companies a leg up in developing the technologies of the 21st century, it’s quite possible — even likely — they would do precisely what Senate Republicans voted to do Tuesday.

Ever since Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has taken a sledgehammer to America’s global competitive edge, but as the details continue to be hammered out for the president’s “big, beautiful bill,” the GOP-controlled Congress is on the verge of committing national suicide.

….As bad as you might have heard the bill is, in reality, it’s worse. Americans will die needlessly, millions of others will see their quality of life crater, and their children will face a future of needless suffering and diminished opportunities.

… It’s not often a great power chooses to willingly shoot itself and do untold damage to its future. But this is precisely what is happening on Capitol Hill right now.

On Jan. 19, 2025, Americans could squint and still see their nation as a great and innovative power well-positioned to compete in the global economy of the 21st century. If the “big, beautiful bill” passes the House of Representatives — and most likely, it will — no one will see a great power when they look at America.

The bill blows a $5 trillion hole in the deficit by giving trillions in tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. According to one estimate, the top 0.1% of American households will receive an annual tax break of $296,160. The 20 percent of Americans at the bottom rungs of the economic ladder will receive a tax cut of $160.

The bill will kick nearly $12 million people off of Medicaid (a number that could grow to 17 million when changes to Obamacare are factored in). Rural hospitals and nursing homes are likely to close. Millions will lose access to a primary care doctor, go without essential medication, and miss preventive health care screenings. According to researchers at Yale, an estimated 51,000 people could die because of the changes to Medicaid in the legislation.

The bill also cuts millions in SNAP payments, which will affect tens of millions of recipients, including 8 million children. By one estimate, 16 million kids could lose access to school lunch programs.

But this legislation is not just immoral, it’s also incredibly stupid.

As I noted in my MSNBC piece.

In recent years, clean energy technology has been one of the fastest-growing manufacturing sectors of the U.S. economy. The GOP bill would cripple it. Hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts in solar and wind subsidies would devastate both industries. The Senate phased out a tax credit for electric vehicles, which would do untold damage to the industry (with the phase-out happening on September 30, drivers have only a few months to buy an EV before the subsidy expires) … ver the long term, clean energy companies, as well as manufacturers of batteries and wind turbines, makers of computer chips, parts for electric cars and other components of the clean energy economy, could either cancel new investments or relocate overseas.

Since 90 percent of new home energy comes from renewables, the devastation to these clean energy programs will also lead to higher energy costs for consumers.

If you’re holding out hope that House Republicans will somehow block it from becoming law … keep dreaming. Individual members will throw public tantrums and complain about various measures, but, in the end, they’ll cave, as they always do.

There’s no way to sugarcoat this legislation. It’s a fucking diaster for America.

Simply put, a country that refuses to invest in its labor force, reduces access to health care, food benefits, and higher education, closes off the opportunity for upward mobility, and undercuts some of its most innovative emerging industries is a country that is shooting itself in the foot. This bill will undercut economic growth, lower our productivity, cripple our workforce, and push America into a spiral of decline.

When you combine the bill’s noxious provisions with the Trump administration's assault on higher education, evisceration of scientific research, and its war against undocumented immigrants, it’s hard to see how America comes back from this. Piece by piece, Republicans in Congress are chipping away at the policies, institutions, and values that not only have defined America but also have allowed it to become the world’s economic powerhouse.

The Political Fallout

The Big, Beautiful Bill is one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation in recent history. It cuts taxes for the rich and takes health care coverage and food away from poor people. Ebeneezer Scrooge would blanche at such a bill. So why were so many Republicans willing to vote for it?