OpEd: One big shameful bill
www.ncronline.org

... There is nothing beautiful about President Donald Trump's and the Republican House's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The House of Representatives has passed one of the most immoral pieces of legislation in recent memory. Giving this sweeping legislation a sophomoric title does not disguise its ugly nature. The vote took place after midnight on May 22, as most Americans slept, with a tally of 215 to 214, along party lines.

In reverse Robin Hood style, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act proposes nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest among us while cutting $1 trillion in vital support for the most vulnerable, including poor families with children and the elderly. ...

That brings us to the oxymoronic One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It is another fast-rolling disaster, only worse. Trump and House Republicans have passed a legislative package that seeks to permanently embed the most regressive features of the inequitable 2017 tax cut bill into the tax code while introducing a lucrative new payday for the wealthiest Americans.

To partially offset the cost of the tax cuts, the bill requires significant reductions that will inflict pain and suffering on the most vulnerable people in the country. Cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, would shift hundreds of billions in health care expenses to states and families, impose strict new work requirements on able-bodied adults (including some parents) , and create bureaucratic hurdles that will push the most vulnerable individuals off the rolls. ...

It is all disgraceful and shameful. ...

The promise of American democracy is not merely the freedom to accumulate wealth. It is the promise of mutual obligation, of building a society in which our fortunes rise or fall together.

If we allow this One Big Shameful Bill to become law, we condemn ourselves to a future where opportunity is bartered away and our social contract is ripped to shreds.

Jesus weeps over this cruelty. So do we. We must reject this heartless bargain and instead pursue policies that honor the dignity of every citizen and the collective well-being of our nation. ...

[emphasis mine]