Saturday, June 28, 2025

Mad King Watch (Take VII): Last Chance To Stop Trump's "Big Ugly Mess?"

 

<But they'll just "get over it," right?
Just about sums it up...>


The scramble is in full swing on Capitol Hill this weekend, if you haven't already been paying attention. Every imaginable deal is being brokered, and every possible elbow is being twisted, as Republicans bow and scrape on behalf of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" (BBB)*, or, as I call it, the "Big Ugly Mess" (BUM), to get the waverers on board -- such as Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who's suddenly a "yes," after weeks of airing public concern about the potential impact of Medicaid cuts on rural hospitals in his state.

Now that his Republican patrons promise a $25 billion fund to help states offset the anticipated devastation of $863.4 million in Medicaid cuts, Hawley seems to have made his peace with the resulting wreckage, it seems. 

Never mind that he wrote an eloquent op-ed for the New York Times arguing against such notions, because of their potential to harm so many, and his party getting permanently tarred with that brush. Never mind that the $25 billion will never be nearly enough to keep up with the tidal wave of need. It's all about appearances, and for Hawley, that will do, apparently. We'll see how fast the others fall in line.

It brings to mind the Biblical phrase, "selling your birthright for a mess of pottage," doesn't it? A lyric from Ian Curtis also springs to mind: "People who change for no reason at all/It's happening all of the time." All I can say is, I hope that Hawley can explain his chameleonic conversion to the constituents who won't be able to count on the government-funded healthcare and benefits that he's fortunate enough to enjoy.

Nevertheless -- given the Republicans' barreling toward some type of vote or other this weekend, there is still at least one more major opportunity to make our voices heard, and let them know, we don't want them doing this. And if they do, there will be consequences -- as in, the ending of their political careers, such as they are, however they care to define it.

For those who still need a snapshot of what's at stake, this friendly reminder from Team AFL-CIO should suffice (see below). Meanwhile, let's make the phone lines ring, sing and buzz like never before!  We have a long, long way to go, for sure, but you know the drill. --The Reckoner




AFL-CIO:
URGENT: $5 trillion gift
to billionaires at workers’ expense

The Senate is scrambling to finalize the anti-worker budget reconciliation bill and ram it through before anyone has a chance to read it.  

Senators have one final chance to stop these cuts to Medicaid, SNAP food assistance, federal workers’ paychecks and AI safety protections—and keep working families from paying for yet another big tax giveaway to billionaires and big corporations. We urge senators to reject this bill and stand up for working people before it’s too late.

While the text of the bill keeps changing, one thing is clear: This budget bill absolutely would harm working people. Here are some of the ways how:

  • Would rip health care away from some 16 million people through Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts, and would eliminate 600,000 care jobs in 2026 alone—forcing more than 330 rural hospitals to close their doors.

  • Would spike health care costs for people with insurance through work by nearly $500 per person per year and nearly $2,000 annually for a family of four.

  • Would destroy hundreds of thousands of good energy jobs and raise energy costs at a moment when working-class households are already struggling.

  • Would slash food assistance for 2.9 million Americans, and slash at least 140,000 jobs in food processing facilities, school cafeterias, grocery stores, and farms by cutting $186 billion in SNAP funding.

  • Would hand Big Tech a 10-year free pass to violate workers’ rights and jeopardize their safety by banning the enforcement of all existing or to-be-passed state and local AI laws for the next decade.

  • Would punish federal workers with a 10% penalty on union dues in an attempt to silence workers who fight for transparency, fair contracts and provide essential public services.

  • Would force federal workers to pay 15.6% of their salary into the Federal Employees Retirement System—while benefits for members of Congress would be untouched. 

  • Would add $155 billion in funding for President Trump’s mass deportation agenda to increase raids that target immigrant workers, throw members of our communities in detention and rip families apart.

  • Would replace the SAVE student loan plan with a repayment scheme that would raise costs for every borrower, making it harder for working-class students to attend college or trade school and stay there.

  • Would stop us from creating the next generation of teachers, nurses and mental health workers by stopping anyone who isn’t projected to take home a Wall Street salary from taking out a federal student loan. 

We need you to speak out today. Tell the Senate this budget would be a disaster for working families and for our nation.

Call your senators at 231-400-0602 to tell them, “No cuts that hurt working families”!

In solidarity, 

 

Team AFL-CIO


<Republican Empathy 101: Need we say more?>


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