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Trump’s ‘one big, beautiful bill’ set to screw over millions of Americans

On Monday 30 June, US Senators held an overnight voting session to decide the fate of Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’. So far, the session has lasted 22 hours and is still ongoing.

The 940-page bill would make sweeping cuts to healthcare and food programmes, whilst increasing spending on border security, defence, and energy production.

The Congressional Budget Office is estimating that the bills’ sweeping tax and spending cuts will increase US debt by $3.3 trillion.

Over the weekend, Senators passed a procedural vote (59-49) to advance the huge tax and immigration bill.

Now, a megavote is underway on proposed amendments to the bill. If it passes in the Senate, it will go back to the House, for them to consider the changes.

Trump: what does the bill include?

The main focus of the Republicans’ debate so far has been how much to cut welfare programs.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan federal agency, the proposed cuts would strip nearly 12m Americans of their health insurance.

According to the BBC, the Democrats, who have criticised the cuts, have proposed several amendments to the bill. One of these included deleting provisions which would force rural hospitals to either limit their services or completely close down.

As it stands, the Republicans are struggling to get the 50 votes needed for their bill to pass. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told the BBC this was because it is a “moral monstrosity”.

Republicans are also trying to permanently extend the tax rates that Trump signed into law in 2017. They are set to expire at the end of the year. These tax cuts had one clear objective – making the rich, richer.

The White House claims:

MYTH: The One Big Beautiful Bill is “just a tax break for billionaires.”
FACT: The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers the largest middle- and working-class tax cut in U.S. history. The President’s legislation will put more than $10,000 a year back in the pockets of typical hardworking families. This is the most pro-growth, pro-worker, pro-family legislation ever crafted.

The government provided households in the top 1% with average tax cuts of more than $60,000, compared to less than $500 for households in the bottom 60%. It also failed to deliver any of the economic benefits that Trump promised.

According to NBC News, the bill will give Customs and Border Patrol $46.5bn to build their border wall, $2bn for the Department of Homeland Security, and $29.9bn for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The government would provide another $25bn for a “Golden Dome” missile defence system, $29bn for shipbuilding and $15bn for nuclear deterrence.

Welfare, not warfare

Just like the UK government, the US is taking from the poorest to make the rich richer, whilst also propping up their colonial and genocidal extra-curricular activities.

To fund their tax cuts for the rich and ICE agents who are too afraid to show their faces, Republicans will be cutting Medicaid by nearly a trillion dollars over the next ten years. This will include forcing people to work at least 80 hours per month in order to be eligible for Medicaid, to complex changes to financing the program. 

They are also aiming to save $52m by defunding Planned Parenthood or other organisations that provide abortions.

Defending the indefensible

Trump has one objective: stirring up racism and hatred towards immigrants, while making his billionaire pals even richer. Some Republicans have even had enough of Trump’s BS.

The Whitehouse Press Secretary claims Trump is a “businessman first”. Yet he went bankrupt six times, and the US economy isn’t exactly in the best of health.

What more is there to say? Trump – a moral, upstanding member of the community.  A great guy. A really great guy. A fantastic businessman. The best. Only has the people’s interests at heart.

Feature image via the Canary

By HG

This post was originally published on Canary.