President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" appears designed to cause the maximum amount of damage to Republicans possible, wrote Philip Elliott for Time Magazine in an analysis published on Thursday — and contrary to Democrats' rhetoric that the GOP is oblivious to how bad it's going to be for them, they know it.
"Once again, President Donald Trump seems not to understand the plank he’s asking his rank-and-file friends in the Republican Party to walk. Or maybe he just doesn’t care," wrote Elliott.
In addition to ripping health insurance from 8.6 million people with hundreds of billions in cuts to Medicaid, "the 1,100-page measure would add so much red ink to the federal ledger that it may also trigger massive cuts to Medicare, the enormously popular program that covers older Americans. And the bill would also add trillions to the national debt."
"In crass terms, Trump demanded exhausted Republicans vote for a package that will easily be weaponized against them without even bothering to come up with a decent argument for why it’s worth potentially making life worse for millions of aging, unemployed, working-poor, or disabled Americans," wrote Elliott. Even despite that, though, the GOP lacked the political will to push back, with just two lawmakers opposing its passage.
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After Trump spent all his energy browbeating holdouts from all sides into backing the measure, he wrote, "Even the most enthusiastic Trumpists were worn down after having to come back to the Capitol for the final vote before dawn," and all of them "feel a little cheated."
"High-tax states had sought relief in the form of exemptions for state and local taxes, which did see a boost in the cap but drew little sympathy because those places are typically deep-blue places like California and the Northeast," Elliott continued. "Some workers may land a tangible win with the proposed elimination of taxes on overtime and tips, but it’s not clear those savings will dampen the anger from folks booted from health care rolls. And deficit hawks may be happy to cut back on green-energy projects and rural-hospital funding pots of money, but that won’t ease the sting of this bill’s overall price tag."
All this adds up to a bill that, no matter what happens next, is an endless parade of political liabilities for the GOP in the midterms next fall, he wrote.
As the bill now hits the Senate, Republicans are already vowing to rewrite the bill, taking out some of the harsher cuts. However, Elliott concluded, "this fact remains: Republicans may be delivering Trump his One Big Beautiful Bill Act — yes, it is actually named that — while drafting their own opposition file. Voters may like the extension of the first-term Trump tax cuts, but they will certainly feel the squeeze if they lose their health coverage, their elder neighbors risk losing access to worthwhile social-safety programs, and scores of hospitals find a critical pot of federal dollars empty."
