Editor’s note: As this story is being published, the House of Representatives passed Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” in a 215-214 vote. “The package includes measures that would deeply cut into two of the nation’s key safety net programs – Medicaid and food stamps – while making permanent essentially all of the trillions of dollars of individual income tax breaks contained in the GOP’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act…Funding for Medicaid would be slashed by nearly $700 billion, according to CBO, though that figure will likely grow even larger once CBO factors in the late-night update. The food stamps program would see a cut of $267 billion in federal support.” (Washington Post)
___
Trump and his team, as usual, hide behind a facade of searching for waste and fraud as they plan yet another heist on the American people. His Big Beautiful Budget is a tax break for his billionaire buddies, robbing the poor, elderly, sick, and disabled. Don’t worry, Musk, you won’t find any empathy in Trump’s Big, Beautiful Budget, but you will encounter cruelty, inhumanity, and death.
This all began when Elon Musk spent nearly $300 million to install Donald Trump in the White House. After that, he took a chainsaw to almost two dozen key government agencies while amassing vast amounts of Americans’ personal data. All of this was executed in secrecy with virtually no public oversight.
The Trump-Musk-devastated agencies examined in this report include Medicaid and Medicare.
The great American healthcare heist centers around a massive misallocation of federal government funds thanks to Musk, Trump, and the obedient cult-like Republican Party.
The Congressional Budget Office says the bill will result in more than half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts, in addition to sweeping cuts to Medicaid and Obamacare. The budget bill gives massive tax breaks to the rich while slashing spending for Medicaid, nutritional assistance, and subsidies for clean energy. One estimate shows nearly 14 million people could lose health coverage under the plan. Without healthcare, many of these citizens will die.
When the budget committee began this process approximately three months ago, President Trump committed that this legislation would not include Medicare cuts, but that was another Trump lie.
“We’re hearing about $500 billion in cuts to Medicare, which affects individuals 65 and older. We’re talking about children suffering from life-threatening kidney disease and people who won’t receive the necessary care. Studies show that for every million people denied health care, around 2,500 individuals may die. We are in a time when 800 people are already dying every day due to the effects of poverty and lack of wages. This bill is profoundly destructive and must be resisted everywhere: in places of power, our pulpits, and the streets. We must pray and put our bodies on the line because what’s at stake is that 13.7 million people could lose Medicare, Medicaid, and their health insurance,” Rev. William Barber, Founding Director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School—also, National Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, said on Democracy Now.
Democracy Now is one of the few news outlets Trump has not threatened, censored, or fired all the investigative reporters.
If this bill goes forward, more rural and inner-city hospitals will close, funding will be cut, and more hospitals will be unable to carry out their duties to care for people. Fewer hospitals but more uninsured people will overwhelm hospitals trying to get help, and millions will die without healthcare. The United States will become a third-world country run by a dictator. This could still be avoided if Republicans have the courage to say NO to Trump’s delusional and extreme demands.
“We need to start discussing this budget as a form of social and political murder. The reason I use the term “murder” is that they know it will lead to death. Studies show the consequences of continually cutting health care, yet they persist in moving forward. They do so in the middle of the night, avoiding this debate during the day when people are awake and can observe what’s happening. They’re doing it at night because this is a big, ugly, destructive, deadly bill, and we must start addressing it in those terms. It’s not just about tax cuts for the wealthy; it’s about death and destruction for the poor, elderly, and youth of our country, regardless of their color,” Rev. Barber said on Democracy Now.
Julie Farrar, an activist with the Adaptive Disability Rights group, joined 90 others in disrupting the congressional hearing over Trump’s new proposed budget bill. You may have seen this on the news when the police were removing disabled people in wheelchairs from the budget hearing who were protesting Trump’s budget.
“We’re putting our bodies on the line because our bodies are at risk with cuts to Medicaid. The American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) fights for affordable, accessible housing, fully funded Medicaid services, and livable wages for home care workers. All of these are under attack right now,” Farrar said on Democracy Now.
“It’s appalling that they are literally stealing money from the pockets of poor people to fund a billionaire’s rockets, and Elon Musk is the largest recipient of welfare,” Farrar said.
The State of Health Care in Georgia held a press conference at Liberty Plaza, also available on Zoom. About 15 minutes into the Zoom meeting, it was hacked. Maybe bad actors did not want the public to know about the Big Bad, Deadly Policy Bill, which steals from the poor and gives to the rich. Here are a few statistics from that hacked Zoom meeting.
Georgia is one of only ten states that has not yet expanded Medicaid. Georgia continues to have the highest rates of uninsured people in the country, with 1.7 million Georgians across our state; veterans, farmers, charitable workers, small business owners, and older adults who are not yet eligible for Medicare are struggling without access to the health care they need.
More uninsured Georgians mean higher property taxes, as local governments rely on them to sustain struggling community hospitals. When people cannot access healthcare and become debilitated and unable to work, a less productive workforce will also result. The adverse effects of dropping people off of Medicare and Medicaid are numerous.
Last night, the bill passed the House and now goes to the Senate, where it is hoped it will be revised to be fairer and more equitable.
A few highlights from the bill include raising the estate tax exemption to $15 million. The bill would jeopardize access to health coverage and food assistance for constituents while giving TRILLIONS in tax cuts to wealthy citizens who don’t need the money.
Writer Gloria Tatum publishes Streets of Atlanta Blog.
