Big Beautiful Bill may be big, but really not that beautiful

Before many of us woke up the morning of May 22, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed HR.1 aka “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act” by one vote, 215-214.

If passed by the Republican-controlled Senate (presumably by a vote barely over 50 percent) and signed by Donald Trump (who won less than 50 percent of the popular vote), this bill would become the biggest wealth transfer in the history of the United States. It would permanently enrich the wealthiest 5 percent while giving the rest of us a little tax break that would expire after three or four years, while slashing benefits across nearly every aspect of our lives.

The top 5 percent of earners in the US make an average of $499,900 per year. Is this you? It sure as hell isn’t me!

I don’t know what else it could take for us to get over the culture wars of the last 10 years if this doesn’t do it.

If you voted for Trump and think giving more money to the people who already have most of it will eventually make its way to the rest of us, let me ask you: How much you think Donald Trump has given to charity since the 1980s?

The answer is $7,800,000. And some of that went to dubious recipients like $25,000 to current U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Florida campaign PAC in 2013, when she was considering joining a lawsuit against Trump University for fraud. Trump claims he’s worth $5.5 billion dollars. That $7,800,000 in charity is 0.001 percent of his wealth.

Trump has also paid almost nothing in taxes while accruing his billions.

What does that mean? Nearly every penny he makes stays in his pocket.

How much of your income stays in your pocket?

Trump also now gets world-class health insurance for free for the rest of his life. How much do you pay for health insurance? How many of you are on Medicaid or Medicare? How much will you be able to pay in the future?

How many of you can have another child to earn the $1,000 “Trump Account” deposit included in this bill? What if that account is in Trump’s cryptocurrency?

Do you plan to benefit from tax exemptions on tips? What about the third of tip workers who don’t make enough to owe income tax? What about low-income non-tip workers? What do they get?

How many of you are worried about the $3-$5 trillion this bill will add to the debt over the next 10 years?

How many of you are worried about the cuts to Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease research? Or the cuts in Veterans Administration benefits? Who do you think will pay increased insurance premiums when the elderly require more care for Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease, or when veterans need more care?

What would you do with the $180 billion dollars going to states that promise to assist Homeland Security in deporting and detaining legal residents? Or the $46 billion going to build a border wall when a vast majority of immigrants enter the U.S. through legal ports of entry? Or the $175 billion going to build a “Golden Dome” missile defense system that would be physically impossible according to science?

Would you rather have $500 billion dollars going to Medicare?

What about energy independence? Were you planning to get tax breaks or incentives on solar panels or an electric vehicle or heat pumps or any kind of renewable product that would alleviate the cost of fossil fuel now and in the future?

Are you part of the 9 percent of taxpayers who itemize their deductions and would benefit from an increase to the SALT cap? Or are you part of the 91 percent who will see no benefit at all?

What about your kids going to college? Were you hoping to pay less for tuition or student loans? Or would you rather it be harder to get and repay student loans and have university endowments taxed 21 percent more than they are now, leading to decreased spending outside of tuition?

Would you like to drink toxic water and breathe toxic air? Would you like to have our National Parks turned into private fracking fields?

I could go on, but do I need to?

What will it take for us to come together and realize that the culture wars over stolen elections, transgender athletes, gay marriage, Black Lives Matter, antifa, DEI, gun ownership, immigration, women’s rights, climate change, universal healthcare, etc. were always meant to lead to this moment?

The moment when the wealthiest people in human history tried to steal the wealth and health we, our parents and grandparents worked so hard to build for our future generations? 

In order for them to succeed, all they need is for us to stay divided and keep fighting each other instead of fighting them. This is the steal we need to stop. We cannot let them make another gilded age.

If you’re a Vermonter, I beg you to put all of that aside and call or write Bernie Sanders’ office, to give him ammo in the Senate debate of this bill.

If you’re registered to vote in another state, I beg you to put all that aside and call or write your Senator and give them hell for voting for it.

Call or write your relatives in other states and ask them to do the same. This will be our only chance to stop it. We are all in this together.