In a devastating blow to the everyday American, Congress passed President Trump’s extensive domestic policy bill, One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), by a razor-thin 218-214 majority on Thursday. The bill encompasses every part of the oppressive ideas brought on by the Trump administration, from abolishing healthcare for millions of Americans, to tax cuts for the billionaire class and an exponential increase of the already widespread deportation efforts brought on by the administration. It may seem incomprehensible, but when wealthy citizens are elected to public office and outnumber the genuine lawmakers who fought for where they are today, the decision comes as no surprise to me.
Medicaid, one of the federally, tax-funded programs on track to be the victim of severe funding cuts, is a healthcare program that provides health coverage to over 77.9 million Americans, including children, pregnant women, parents, seniors and individuals with disabilities.
Within the bill, states are granted the choice to adopt the use of and availability of Medicaid in their counties. Although the bill’s restrictions and planned drawbacks of taxes that currently fund Medicaid would not apply to Americans in 10 largely GOP-led states that have not expanded the healthcare resource to their citizens, it would affect the rural communities in 40 other states that are dependent on it, communities already devastated by the shortcomings of federally funded resources. According to the CDC, rural health is already not provided the assets it needs to properly care for its people. The passing of the “Big Beautiful Bill” would cause many rural hospitals and over 500 nursing homes nationwide to close. Closures of these facilities would also lead to half a million job losses across the nation. Trump promised job growth, not job cuts.
The basic idea of healthcare relates to hospitals and similar facilities, but the umbrella of healthcare ranges far and wide. An organization under this umbrella that will be detrimentally affected by OBBBA is Planned Parenthood. The organization focuses on women’s healthcare and reproductive rights, providing safe abortions where it’s legal and emergency contraceptives to those over 18. Planned Parenthood is one of the federally funded non-profit organizations under Medicaid that will face extreme budget cuts in the coming years as a result of this bill. According to U.S. News, OBBBA includes a one-year block on Medicaid reimbursements to nonprofit abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.
Although abortion access, which is restricted in many American states, is what Planned Parenthood is known for, the organization is also a key player in women’s overall healthcare. Ranging from sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, cancer screenings and birth control, the group is essential to easy access care for women nationally. The retraction of critical federal funding through the drawbacks of Medicaid is ruinous to women’s healthcare, shining another bright light on the stage of how careless the Trump administration is towards underrepresented parts of the nation.
A blow to medical care that is so important is the opposite of what a president should push for when they have pledged to care for the everyday American citizen. The Oath of Office taken by the president states that they “will bear true faith and allegiance” to the country and its people. In what way is true allegiance possible when a president pushes for a piece of legislation that will detrimentally affect more than 12 million of some of the lowest-income and most vulnerable people across the country? Some of the most at-risk Americans will be affected even after President Trump has repeatedly said that they will not be. According to ABC News, on Jan. 31 in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that his administration would “love and cherish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.” Trump said, “We’re not going to do anything with that, other than if we can find some abuse or waste, we’ll do something, but the people won’t be affected. It will only be more effective and better.” Guaranteeing the nation that his administration would not touch federal funds that benefit the most jeopardized parts of the population and then continuing to push for a bill that directly affects the literal health of those people is unimaginably shameful.
Another blow to lower-income Americans from OBBBA is vast cuts of federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Once known as food stamps, SNAP is a benefit provided by the government and provides nearly 40 million Americans assistance in purchasing groceries. Over the next 10 years, an estimated $230 billion will be cut from the program. Current SNAP eligibility will also change. According to ABC News, “the bill would tighten eligibility, raising the work requirement age from 54 to 64 and forcing parents with children older than six to meet the work requirements. Parents with dependent children at home are currently exempt from these requirements.” Making it harder for everyday Americans to receive the essential money they may need to buy food for their families is disgusting. In what way is it ethical not to provide an American citizen with basic nutritional needs, especially the most disenfranchised people in the population?
When the Trump administration started, they promised lower grocery prices, but the inverse has occurred. Prices of groceries have risen. According to the Pew Research Center, the prices of eggs have increased 116.1% while traditionally affordable products like canned vegetables have increased 35.5%. Imagine being a low-income American who is already dealing with how to budget their groceries while using their SNAP benefits, and now those benefits have been ripped away from you. Higher grocery prices, lower incomes and more distrust. It rings out across the country. This bill helps no one except the wealthiest 1% of the population. Families won’t be able to afford the basic necessities of baby formula, food and the ability to feel relief knowing that they will be able to feed their own children. Malnourishment numbers are bound to increase in cities, and food deserts will continue to dry up. Funding given to families under the SNAP program is essential. American legislators are putting the newest American children at more risk than ever just to fund the elite, continue corruption and blatantly ignore the real issues at hand.
President Trump has traditionally rallied for tax cuts for the top 1% of Americans. The proposed tax cuts in the OBBBA are no different. According to CNBC, “taxpayers earning $1 million or more are expected to see a boost in after-tax income of about 3% in the Senate version of Trump’s bill, according to the Tax Policy Center. That compares with the nationwide average of about 2.5%. In dollar terms, millionaire earners will see an average after-tax income increase of $75,000 in 2026, according to the Tax Policy Center.” The incomes of Americans in the highest tax bracket should be taxed to provide resources to lower-income communities. As part of the bill that was passed, the opposite will occur. Larger sums of money will be returned to the wealthiest taxpayers while marginalized communities will continue to be underfunded and disrespected by their country, which is supposed to care for every citizen.
The tax bracket you and your family sit in should have no impact on the resources and opportunities that are available to you. That should be the beauty of this country: fair and equal opportunity for all. The opposite of this continues to occur under the control of President Trump. The “Big Beautiful Bill” is no different. Instead of increasing the income of the lowest bracket, who earn less than $18,000 a year, their income will be decreased by $165. Take a step back and compare the increase for taxpayers who bring in over $1 million a year to the workers making under $18,000. A loss of a vital $165 to an American making $18,000 to $75,000 gained by millionaires. The income gained by the tax breaks to millionaires is four times the annual income of the lowest earners. The inequality is unfathomable and will continue to divide the country more than it already has.
In the past, most Republicans, and Trump himself, have been strong opponents to any form of clean, renewable energy, and OBBBA is no different. The drawbacks of tax breaks for companies in the industry emphasizes how much they don’t believe in the sustainable development of energy sources. In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act for clean energy created numerous tax incentives for the industry, and as part of the bill, those incentives would end. Terminating these tax benefits would decline an industry that’s experiencing large growth, with wind and solar being the two fastest-growing electricity sources in the nation. The decline of this industry would cause a loss of American jobs, similar to the effects that will be felt in the healthcare industry. Again, this is an example of Trump not following through on the job growth he promised Americans while on the campaign trail this past fall.
Along with the promise of job growth that the Trump administration told the people of our country, if promised an increase in manufacturing on American soil. According to the New York Times, the retractions of federal funding and tax cuts in the renewable energy sector will cause materials needed for the growth of clean energy to be imported from China. This indicates that the administration, which backed American manufacturing by passing a bill that causes one of the fastest-growing industries in the country to import materials from one of their biggest competitors, is quite hypocritical. Why deny the growth of a new sector that helps the environment to increase production in industries that increase pollution, climate change and use up natural resources, which are already running out? There is nothing logical about it. OBBBA is stuck in the past, and every part of it diminishes America’s place on the international stage in terms of growth in areas ranging from innovation to basic rights.
On the topic of basic rights, over the first six months of the Trump administration, there have been widespread and public shows of force by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) across the country. From brutal public arrests in California to immigrants being detained at Home Depots in North Austin, the presence of ICE is everywhere throughout the U.S. That presence is causing widespread tension, leading to protests and backlash. ICE is kidnapping innocent people off the street in broad daylight. As part of OBBBA, Trump plans to further the attack on innocent immigrants and Americans under the guise of providing safety to the public by allocating $170 billion to ICE to carry out deportations and detainments.
That $170 billion breaks down into six different categories that are supposed to protect Americans when, in reality, the public atmosphere will continue to become increasingly heightened with every passing day. $45 billion will go to the expansion of detainment centers across the country, and $30 billion will go to personnel, facility and transportation expansions. $46.5 billion will go to completing the completely unnecessary border wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, $5 billion will go towards Customs and Border Protection facilities, $10 billion for border security and $13.5 billion is put toward reimbursing states and local governments engaging in immigration and border-related enforcement.
The common belief throughout the GOP and people that are part of the Trump administration is the idea that all immigrants are illegal, don’t deserve to be in the country and bring harm to anyone in America. Something that is rarely taken into consideration within this group of individuals is the idea that immigrants are the backbone of our nation. Frequently, immigrants cross the Rio Grande River at the Mexican border to find a better life for their families. Many find employment in the fields of California, farming vegetables, which I guarantee the president eats at dinner. Immigrants are the reason that so many Americans can flow through each day of their lives with such ease. They build the houses that their oppressors call home. Immigrants cross the border with a mindset to work and find a better life for their families. Consider how smoothly our country runs. Now think about the people who make it happen backstage, out of the spotlight. Just take a second to think.
Furthering the criminalization of immigration based on the country of origin that a person comes from, their skin tone and even attempted escape from past oppression is completely revolting. The Trump administration has the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the American economy, increase manufacturing and agriculture. Instead, they are utilizing the OBBBA to promote racism and the creation of Nazi-style concentration camps on American soil.
It may feel, at this time at least, that Democratic hope is distinguished. Waking up to new details of legislation and brutal attacks on basic rights every day is exhausting. Waking up to the news of OBBBA and its implications is harrowing. Prominent New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said it best when she took the House floor on Wednesday during deliberation of the bill and announced, “This bill is a deal with the devil.” Truer words may never have been spoken. It’s a deal between President Trump and big corporations, money and power. Although it may feel as if the light of democracy is flickering, sending an SOS signal under the fist of Donald Trump and his appointees, now is not the time to ignore that signal. Now is the time to fight back. Lady Liberty is crying out for help, and we Americans have the duty to find justice and equality in the fractured union we find ourselves in.
