The Trump billionaire regime’s recent “megabill” is a cruel and brutal attack on the majority of people in the U.S. It continues the targeting of the most vulnerable in society and the impact touches us all.
The tax cuts are the continuation of the tax cuts put in place during Trump’s first administration. They total about $1.5 trillion over the next five years. Around $1.1 trillion will go to those with incomes over $500,000 a year. This contributes to the increase of an estimated $3.3 trillion in debt over the 10-year life of the bill, a debt that won’t be dealt with, but passed on to us by their increase of the debt limit by $5 billion. And where do the so-called budget savings come from? Cuts to programs that benefit the working class, especially to the poorest in society.
Cuts to medical care, specifically Medicaid and “Obamacare” will eliminate healthcare access to around 12 million people in the near future, and 17 million people will be without healthcare in ten years.
Food and water are the basis of life for all of us. SNAP (food stamps) and school lunches will be cut by $300 billion. This will cut about eight million people from regular access to some of their basic food needs. A work requirement is also being imposed to be eligible for the program. This can lead to a slight increase in income. That can disqualify people from the program, and so increases their food insecurity because they can’t afford decent food.
Family farmers will also be impacted, with some losing their farms, as many people will turn to processed foods to save money. And food banks that provide fresh fruits and vegetables are facing cuts.
Environmental regulations are being overturned to boost the profits of corporate polluters. This is an attack on our air and water quality, impacting our food and our health and the environment.
Education is under attack with cuts to funding for public education. Among them are voucher plans, which provide money to send children to private schools. When fewer students attend public schools, it reduces school funding. These programs tend to benefit those who can pay the rest of the tuition.
Cuts to student loans and changes to loan payment plans for college tuition will prevent many working- and middle-class students from attending colleges and universities.
The attacks on immigrants are high on the agenda. ICE, the masked storm troopers that have been terrorizing people on the streets and children in the schools, is being funded at $45 billion! That’s enough to hire 10,000 more ICE agents. It will be the largest federal law enforcement agency in the history of the U.S. The concentration camps and ICE assaults on people identified as immigrants will increase.
The threat of war is clear with the increase to the military budget by $150 billion to $1 trillion! That is not only a massive handout to the military contractors, it is a recognition of the preparation of larger wars, and more regional and genocidal wars like the one that is devastating the people of Gaza.
We can’t accept this reality. We may not be directly impacted by these cuts now. And many of us may not be identified as immigrants. But our history shows the consequence of turning away when others are targeted. We are all “others” to somebody. The attacks on those who are made vulnerable by the prejudices of society: trans people, immigrants, or people who are without regular housing, can divide and weaken us.
The Democrats are preparing for the 2026 elections. That means preparing us to place our hopes in electing them. They have chosen to play by the rules, occasionally raising their voices and voting against these attacks. If they could have provided a solution, instead of being part of the problem, we wouldn’t be in this situation.
This is our fight. The task in front of us may seem impossibly enormous. But we have the numbers and the power to carry out the changes we need. We are the ones who do the work of this society. It is people like us who have stood up and fought for what is being taken from us today.
What happens now and in the future depends on what we decide to do today.
