18 Comments
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Barrett Holmes's avatar

And we have no way to hold him accountable... Sad.

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james Young's avatar

Awesome writing, I love data driven facts, and Elliot has it together.

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Jay Morris's avatar

At least we know there are two honest Republicans in the House, and three in the Senate! I find it very difficult to imagine how we are going to get out of this. I keep thinking of something a republican said after trump was elected:"It will be a peaceful transition, if the Democrats let it".

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Cyndi Merrill's avatar

I too prefer your chart, but one tiny quibble. If you are showing the impact in real dollar amounts, could you also label the X-axis in dollars? Even for the most data geeky among us it can be hard to remember what "Top 0.1%" means.

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Andrew's avatar

If this budget were actually as populist (or popular) as the GOP claims, they wouldn’t have backloaded so many of the Medicaid cuts to occur after the midterms. They know this thing is a steaming pile of shit.

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james Young's avatar

That's correct, if the republicons were so sure of themselves, and this bill, they wouldn't need to be on defense.

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L.A. Kornell's avatar

I keep thinking common sense will prevail but I forget that we are up against a culture war where people will saw off the tree branch they are perched on just to own the libs.

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Tim Bak's avatar
1dEdited

it is a movement against liberal ideas, programs and thinking. It is for power and wealth to Trump and cruelty to liberals.

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Conor Gallogly's avatar

Your chart is better. Would you post it separately so I can restack?

Share it so that I can use it in my own post?

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G. Elliott Morris's avatar

It’s posted here! https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/republicans-want-you-to-pay-more

And I don’t actually think one is better/worse. Different purposes. I was just teasing my former colleagues

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Conor Gallogly's avatar

I think it’s more effective in communicating the absurdity of the bill.

I think it would be useful for people to see it as frequently as possible over the next year. Will you update it when new estimates come out based on the final bill? I don’t know how much the different changes altered the estimates.

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Robert A Mosher (he/him)'s avatar

It’s been suggested that a further motive is to so burden any possible future democratic president with so much debt that he/she is prevented from launching any new dramatic programs.

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james Young's avatar

That's probably true. But democrats (I am a life long democrat) need to stop this promoting the idea that they will get the rich to pay more. Unless, they grow the political backbone to make that happen.

Healthcare, and higher education in Canada Europe etc is not free. It's paid for via a VAT, because at the end of the day, it's always about who will pay for those services. A d guess who always pays, the consumer. The idea that taxes are a bad thing that percolated through our society for decades. So people have been led to believe that taxes are a bad thing, and that government can't do anything.

Yet, that's so untrue, look at Medicare and Medicaid. Those are the best run government programs. Yes there are those who defraud (or try to) Medicare and Medicaid but they get caught every time. Only in America does the government loan taxpayer money to students, to be collected by a third party that skims off the top for themselves. Those third party student loan service companies risk nothing, yet are paid for not risking one single dime of their own money.

Democrats need to get out and sell their brand, their products i.e. Healthcare for all, paid for higher education. The only way that will ever be paid for, is via a VAT period. That way everyone pays, rich, poor, working class etc. We need to sell the idea of if you want access to Healthcare, you must be prepared to pay for it one way or another.

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Robert A Mosher (he/him)'s avatar

I agree with much of that but I do think we need a more progressive income tax. I don’t know as much about taxes on businesses and investments but that needs to be reviewed at the very least.

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Dr. Sara Wolfson's avatar

Your explanations are always so clear--thank you.

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Marliss Desens's avatar

Thank you for the fact-based reporting. The Trump Administration is already engaged in a full-scale propaganda initiative to try to make this brutal bill more popular. People receiving social security received a propaganda email from the Social Security Administration last night--and the bill has not yet been signed. My understanding from what I have read on various trustworthy sites is that the bill does not remove taxes on Social Security, so a lie is being circulated, and a lie can spread much faster than truth, so that concerns me. I will paste in the contents of that email into the remainder of my post here:

"Social Security Applauds Passage of Legislation Providing Historic Tax Relief for Seniors

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is celebrating the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill, a landmark piece of legislation that delivers long-awaited tax relief to millions of older Americans.

The bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits, providing meaningful and immediate relief to seniors who have spent a lifetime contributing to our nation's economy.

“This is a historic step forward for America’s seniors,” said Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano. “For nearly 90 years, Social Security has been a cornerstone of economic security for older Americans. By significantly reducing the tax burden on benefits, this legislation reaffirms President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security and helps ensure that seniors can better enjoy the retirement they’ve earned."

The new law includes a provision that eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries, providing relief to individuals and couples. Additionally, it provides an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older, ensuring that retirees can keep more of what they have earned.

Social Security remains committed to providing timely, accurate information to the public and will continue working closely with federal partners to ensure beneficiaries understand how this legislation may affect them."

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G. Elliott Morris's avatar

Dangerous that we are in a place where the SSA is spreading lies about this… Post-truth government

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DocJaniceL's avatar

I received this same Big Beautiful propaganda in my email. Spidey sense activated, i began researching. This CBS report explains the issue as well as anything. Meanwhile, many seniors believe now that “The Social Security Administration (SSA) is celebrating the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill, a landmark piece of legislation that delivers long-awaited tax relief to millions of older Americans.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/big-beautiful-bill-social-security-tax-trump/

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