Posted on 06/04/2025 6:45:00 AM PDT by Starman417
I was under the illusion that with Donald Trump back in charge and the wind at his back Washington Republicans might actually take off the gloves and say eff-it and take on the swamp. With the failures inherent in the Big Beautiful Bill, it appears I was wrong. I don’t blame Trump. This abysmal betrayal of the American people was written in the halls of Congress…
The Republicans in Congress talk a good game, but when it comes to actually doing what they say they’re going to do, it turns out they’re really snake oil salesmen. Not that this is new. Remember when they ran on killing Obamacare throughout Obama’s presidency then bungled it when Trump became president?
We’re now watching that same treachery play itself out in real-time, and it involves the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that just passed the House. This monstrosity ostensibly does a number of good things. It extends Trump’s 2017 taxes that were set to expire, it increases spending on border security and apparently, it cuts federal support for Planned Parenthood. All of these are good things… but they’re the equivalent of trying to save the Titanic by emptying water over the side one bucket at a time while a thousand gallons of water pour into the hull every second.
What this bill doesn’t do is cut spending or cut the deficit. Indeed, it puts the deficit on overdrive, just as interest rates on government debt seem to be heading upward. The president’s advisor Steven Miller (who is one of the smartest guys in Washington) pushes back, by pointing out that Reagan’s tax cuts weren’t balanced by spending cuts. True, but then Reagan didn't have, if I remember correctly, a national debt 125% the size of the GDP that needed to be serviced.
A small part of this problem has to do with the calendar. The writing of this budget began back in December after it became clear the GOP would have both houses but before they were technically in complete control. As such, this Frankenstein started being put together long before DOGE started showcasing exactly how dysfunctional the federal government is. But that’s no excuse. It’s been over 4 months since the Elon Musk managed vehicle started highlighting problems.
This One Big Beautiful Bill Act demonstrates exactly why the federal government is as screwed up as it is. They say that you can’t turn around a ship on a dime, and that’s true. But there’s a difference between turning on a dime and setting a course, full speed ahead, for the closest iceberg.
This bill literally adds $2.5 trillion to the government’s debt and runs a deficit larger than Biden’s last one! At the same time, it basically allows the government to go on, business as usual. There are no major cuts to spending. There is no elimination of departments. There is no substantial paring of regulation. There’s basically the same budget compiled by the Democrats, RINOs, and the administrative state every year with infinitesimal changes except for the taxes.
This bill doesn’t reflect the will of the people, it reflects the will of the establishment and the swamp.
If Congress really wanted to fix the budget they’d take to heart many of the recommendations and revelations from DOGE, as well as codify much of what Trump has done or tried to do via Executive Orders. Hell, it doesn’t even eliminate the Department of Education, something Trump explicitly ran on.
This bill cuts $4 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, Joe Biden’s attempt to get everything, including the kitchen sink into the budget, including green energy, social spending and taxes on the rich. Four billion sounds like a lot until you understand that the IRA is a $1.4 trillion boondoggle.
The reality is, 2/3 of the federal budget, fully $4 trillion out of $6 trillion is wealth redistribution. Even if you argue that Social Security isn’t that, which is mostly true, and remove it, you’re still looking at almost half the federal budget being wealth distribution of one sort or another. How much of that is waste, fraud and abuse?
Elon Musk had initially suggested that he thought $2 Trillion could be cut from the budget. He lowered that target to $1 Trillion and in the first 4 months of the year DOGE has done a yeoman’s job and cut $170 billion of waste. And that’s with just 100 people on staff and facing a bureaucracy of literally millions who scheme and obfuscate at every turn in order to maintain the cash pipeline. Imagine how much a DOGE team of 1,000 could do!
But more than actual cuts, DOGE recommended things like personnel cuts, cutting green energy subsidies and of course cutting regulation. But relatively little is actually being codified in law. That’s despite the fact that 67% of Americans support DOGE cuts of at least $1 trillion, 77% support looking at the entirety of the budget to find savings and 78% support cutting spending to balance the budget. Indeed, so little is being cut that Elon Musk has announced that he will be stepping back to refocus his efforts on his companies and playing a much smaller role in political spending.
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net ...
Right now GDP depends on government spending. Trump cannot afford a negative quarter of growth, even though Biden had two consecutive, because the negative outcry of the anti-Trump MSM would dominate the news cycle for the next two years.
The Left really believes they haven’t gotten their message out. I think the plan is to repeat loudly and often and wear down the voters to go against Trump and Republicans.
The problem with that observation is that Reagan tax cuts ultimate DOUBLED revenue to the Treasury.
Trump's tax cuts ultimately resulted in an increase in revenue to the Treasury.
It's a lie to assume tax cuts result in less revenue.
That being said, yes, the spending in the legislation is way too high. But, given the small majority in the House, it's going to be difficult to get a majority to cut much more.
Medical costs have to be cut big time.
Hospitals should be split into two to make hospital care price competitive.
EMTALA should only be available by handing over a functional cellphone, SNAP card or paying $200.
Adult Medicaid should have premiums starting at $2/month and rising by $2/month and by $2 for each ER use. The Adult Medicaid monthly base premium amount might be capped at the Medicare premium amount.
The DOD budget needs a haircut.
No more new big surface ships.
No more new manned combat aircraft.
We all know they have no balls or backbones. So, who is surprised?
No more refundable tax credits!
The amounts that would get refunded could be used to pay off student loans, pay Medicaid premiums and co-pays, or pay PPACA premiums.
“Now what?”
Split the hospitals up to cut Part A costs.
Split off PPACA drug coverage from PPACA service coverage.
Control drug costs by introducing PPACA drug plans that only need cover 80% of biologic, breakthrough and patented drugs.
As they work better[nearly complete coverage], allow them to be Part D plans too.
Market force competition must be brought to government programs.
I don’t blame Trump. This abysmal betrayal of the American people was written in the halls of Congress…
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I’m tired of hearing people blame Congress for Trump‘s BBB.
Sadly I must agree.
I say, TRUST TRUMP. Give Trump what he wants for now.
Wait and see what he does with it.
The country won’t end tomorrow even if what the naysayers say about it is true.
But the country WILL END tomorrow if Trump’s agenda is thwarted.
Trump has been in office just 135 days (under 20 weeks) (just over 4 months)
GIVE IT A CHANCE! There will be a new budget next year. Fight then!
Republican Congressman NEED to get reelected! We MUST hold onto the Congress and INCREASE our numbers. WHATEVER THAT TAKES!
The country is at stake. Literally.
I said before the election that our ONLY hope was a Trump win, a Republican House and a Republican Senate.
I did not have much hope. Then SHIZAMM! God delivered.
GIVE TRUMP WHAT HE WANTS (for now) and lets just see how far this baby can fly.
The article says it does.
Evidence otherwise TG ?
“The article says it does.”
Yeah. Using static models proven wrong by previous Reagan and Trump budgets.
That’s a naive argument and assumes that those individuals and corporations who pay taxes would withhold those dollars from the market. Doubtful at best.
Also, the private multiplier on expenditures for the gov’t is always 1 less than the public multiplier. The private multiplier is:
Kp = 1.0 / (1.0 - MPC) where MPC = Marginal Propensity to consume
The gov’t multiplier is:
Kg = MPC / (1.0 - MPC)
Example:
private: 1.0 / (1.0 - .9) = 10
gov’t: 0.9 / (1.0 - .9) = 9
Hence, private expenditures generate more GDP than gov’t expenditures.
“I don’t blame Trump”
Of course not. Never do. Lord and savior. Perfect as always.
Yes, always rationalizing everything Trump does, including when he praises and supports fully things they usually say are RINO.
Yes, that’s an approach. There are all kinds of approaches.
Now, try to get any of them through Congress, past powerful lobbies who stand to lose billions in revenue.
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