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?>

A Rising Tide Swamps All Ships: Michigan Kills The Earned Income Tax Credit

Trickle down economics is a scam, plain and sample. Like so many pet projects pushed by the ultra-right and its shadowy denizens -- the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and other Orwellian-sounding entities like them -- the premise never adds up. Over and over, we're told that if the upper classes were left to stash away as much as they wish, that money will float back down to those on the bottom...which is where you hear those same tired slogans, over and over. A rising tide lifts all boats. Not a hand out, but a hand up. And so on, and so forth.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

For the most part, the jobs never materialize, and those that do are typically of the low-wage, no-benefit, no-future variety. The tax breaks handed out left and right to businesses wind up as great going-away presents -- either when the management takes the enterprise offshore, or simply goes belly up, leaving the taxpayers stuck with the what-do-we-with-that-big-empty-white-elephant-now tab. And so on, and so forth. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Then again, it's not really about results, it's about shoving an ideology down everybody else's throat -- common sense be damned, objective review be damned, public opinion be damned. What else explains the Republican drive in Michigan to kill off the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) -- and justify it as part of a road funding package?  That's what happened earlier this month, when the Republican-led Senate put the icing -- or, should I say, the mayonnaise -- on top of the cake. And so on, and so forth. Wash, rinse, repeat.

The Senate version also includes a 15-cent increase in the gas tax, another regressive tax that those with modest means don't get to vote on -- and, in a commuter state where driving extended distances to work is the norm, will hit their pockets hard, too. Not to worry, though, because the Senate version includes a state income tax -- although only if the percentage increase from the previous fiscal year's general fund revenues exceeds a positive inflation rate. This "shift and shaft" approach is the hallmark of the Snyder era: "Businesses pay less, you pay more." And so on, and so forth. Wash, rinse repeat.

As the Detroit Free Press noted in its editorial (see below), one interesting aspect of the drive against the EITC is that its prime movers -- such as State Representative Jeff Farrington, for instance, of Macomb County, where 17.9 percent of its children still live in poverty. You can ead the nitty-gritty details for yourself below -- instead of me rehashing them here -- but, as the Free Press rightly suggests, whatever logic motivates these votes, "it's not concern for the constituents whose interests they're meant to represent. It's the noxious partisan principle that poverty is deserved, and that the impoverished require neither a hand up nor much compassion."  And so on, and so forth. Wash, rinse, repeat.

And, like most bills that Governor Rick Synder's zealous cohorts pass left and right, it's fair to say the average person isn't paying attention right now. The sticker shock will land next year with a hollow thud on the kitchen table, when folks realize that -- all of a sudden -- they'll owe  the state more than they're used to paying. In fairness, I'll note that Michigan's version of the EITC was much smaller than Uncle Sam's -- but, for people who are struggling, every little bit helps...until, of course, someone yanks the rug from under your feet. And so on, and so forth. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Don't think they'll return any money that you might accidentally leave on their table, either. At one time, The Squawker and I owed two years of state taxes, plus three years of federal -- until we were able to sign up for a voluntary tax preparer's help through the United Way, and learned (to our chagrin) that we could get a renter's credit to make Michigan's IOUs go away. It'll be interesting to see what happens next year, but you can bet on one other thing...with 40 percent of Michigan's residents still living in poverty, or stuck in jobs that don't cover basic needs, you won't hear a peep about this subject from the Republican zealots...or ALEC...or the Mackinac Center...or any of their shadowy ilk.

Like Erich Honecker in his twilight years, they'll shake their fists and chant, "Stay the course! Stay the course!" Only, instead of Honecker's fuzzy-minded brand of "consumer socialism" --one that required massive loans from the West to prop up his so-called German Democratic Republic -- we'll get served something far more insidious: socialism for Big Business. But, if you feel like calling them out, it might be fun to ask, "Where are the results?" Then wait for the sounds of crickets.  And so on, and so forth. Wash, rinse, repeat. --The Reckoner

Links To Go (Hurry, Before Your Tax Tab Skyrockets):
Detroit Free Press
Mich. Senate Road Plan May Be Worse Than You Think:
http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/editorials/2015/07/01/michigan-roads-plan/29543977/


MLive.com:
Michigan Can Improve The Economy
By Cutting Taxes For 95% For The People:
http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2015/05/graduated_income_tax_michigan.html

Snap. Crackle, Pop...There Goes Your Food Budget

Once again, this Evil Science Experiment called "Life" rears its ugly head. Our food stamp allowance has been cut by two-thirds, from roughly $357 to $80, due to a household expense deduction that was erroneously given...whoops, we made a mistake, now it's you who's gotta pay! Heads, you lose, tails you lose.

Of course, considering the opaque language that often characterizes these notices, it's hard to decipher the rationale, so -- like any good citizen -- you contact the agency, and hope that someone can explain it in English. So I guess I should reserve judgment until I hear it. That's the rational response, right?

The other side is a lot tougher to negotiate, obviously, because it means scrambling to fill the gap. On one hand, it's not the end of the world yet, since I can pick up an extra gig or two to paper over the cracks. On the other hand, though...it's hardly a welcome development, since Squawker and I experienced a couple years -- relatively speaking -- of stability on that front.

For awhile, we could (wonder of wonders) actually plan out a good portion of the month. As any nutritionist knows, you'll eat healthier if you're not always fending off hunger, since you can get the appropriate ingredients, and work out meals around them. That's less likely to happen, however, if slim resources get pushed -- then snapped -- past the breaking point.

I only have to look at our grocery store for further reference: I can count the number of sales on the "better/premium" lunch meat, versus the high-fat, high-salt, high-risk-of-clogged-artery varieties...on which you always see deals, rain or shine. What's my conclusion? Only yuppie careerists, apparently, are entitled to good nutrition. Sound extreme?  Now you know what kind of day I've had.

What's especially galling about this particular shoe drop, of course, is that it comes with little or no warning. The same thing happened last fall, when our apartment complex's management suddenly informed us that we were going to pay a monthly water, sewer and trash bill. At this writing, that means seeing roughly $240 fly out the window every year that we could certainly better spend at the dinner table.

Such arrangements are part and parcel of the way America operates, however. As the above examples illustrate, the relationship is an Occupier-Occupant one. As the Occupant, you're summoned for whatever nonsense that the Occupier -- be it your boss, caseworker, landlord, or political hack -- can't wait to cram down your throat.

Naturally, you have no voice in the matter, although the decision will cause varying degrees of chaos and disruption. Your interests be damned: The Occupier's needs always come first, and that's that. No further discussion required. I got the same vibe this week in reading Days Of Rage, a fascinating look at America's largely forgotten history of violent '60s, '70s and '80s-era radicalism. 

I don't want to write a review -- that's better left for another post -- but you can draw striking parallels between today's society and the early '70s turf that much of this book inhabits. Then and now, you had a stagnant economy; a growing underclass cast permanently adrift (don't forget that Orwellian term, "benign neglect," coined during this era); electronic snooping that went unacknowledged, until a public outcry forced the issue; and an arrogant, unresponsive government that worked hard to stifle dissent wherever it could.

On a surface level, at least, it looks (and smells) like "deja vu all over again," though I won't have a lot of time to ponder the implications, personally...after all, I've got a crack to paper over. So it goes: wash, rinse, repeat. --The Reckoner

Socialist Capitalists

Actually, the capitalists have become socialists too, but for THEMSELVES--Bail-outs were basically mega-welfare...--The Squawker