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Congress’ passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” on the eve of the most patriotic day in America is a fascinating look into the guts of America, Americans, and, if Methow Valley News is an indicator, our local community.
I spent the 4th of July in the parking lot of a previously unbeknownst to me local schmuck, whose name I won’t disclose because it’s not worth my time prolonging the experience. I was in a dire situation and needed his help. I escaped the con’s tricks but lost half my day which, in light of the festivities, mattered.
“Remember this when people talk about community,” I said to my daughter, who witnessed the ordeal.
The same day, the United States was being conned by an even bigger schmuck. The current president signed his touted “One Big Beautiful Bill,” (OBBB) a motto that could reliably have come from George Orwell’s 1984. Officially, the bill’s title is similarly but perhaps accidentally egotistical H.R. 1.
“It depends on who you listen to,” a woman interjected matter of factly when I asked someone about the bill.
Frankly, I wasn’t looking for commentary in the media. I wanted to know what was inside this bill.
Deals were made behind closed doors faster than the public knew what was inside the bill. It’s hard to write about something that could be obsolete the following day. The stage show was another rendition of how sausage is made. Push something through and the public will not only fail to keep up but not be able to do anything about it. Once passed, they will push it out of their collective consciousness. That’s exactly what the New York Times did three days later, pushing the sweeping BBB bill off their home page entirely.
The law makes the president’s 2017 tax deductions permanent. It provides a $6,000 tax deduction on Social Security and other income for people over 65. It throws working class people a bone by eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay.
How is this paid for? It decimates tax breaks for wind and solar power while promoting fossil fuel. It cuts food aid to low income Americans by $186 billion through 2034. The biggest cut, however, is $841 billion from Medicaid. As of January 2025, 71.4 million people were enrolled in Medicaid, almost 36% of whom were children.
According to USA Facts, the OBBB will increase the number of uninsured people by 16 million by 2034. It institutes work, volunteer, or education requirements in the amount of 80 hours per month for able-bodied adults, including parents of children aged 14 and older. Many people on Medicaid are already working. While the president’s team says the law doesn’t technically remove anyone eligible for Medicaid, in reality, instituting bureaucratic paperwork requirements, reducing the window for open enrollment and ceasing automatic renewals for those in the ACA marketplace will reduce the amount of people that are medically insured.
Rep. Dan Newhouse, it his weekly email following passage of the bill, wrote the following:
For weeks, activist groups have been paid to distribute misinformation about what these work requirements entail. Sections 10102 and 71119 of H.R. 1 exempts caretakers of dependents [under age 14- editor’s note], disabled individuals, those with serious or complex medical conditions, individuals with substance abuse disorder, disabling mental disorder, pregnant women, women entitled to postpartum coverage and Native Americans from complying with work requirements.
I have long found it odd that we have a caste system when it comes to access to healthcare. I find it odd that a huge swath of the population has to earn their right to affordable healthcare and not lose their homes and savings in the process. I am probably not the only American that would personally choose death over bankruptcy for my family.
For some reason, most people in the Republican Party think they are saving money by denying access to affordable healthcare. Mortality, morbidity, or morality in delaying medical care doesn’t seem to be a factor in their calculation. It’s dismissed as melodrama, not an actual drama affecting millions of Americans.
The bloke that carried concrete mix up a ladder to build a chimney on his roof, spraining his arm in the process, can’t afford physical therapy. Not only is he in pain and unable to use one of his arms, he’s at risk of missing his rent payment if he doesn’t address this soon.
But here’s what really matters- he isn’t able to pay taxes and contribute to the economy. As a result, the Republican Party will pat themselves on the back for saving money and eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse,” which, while it no doubt exists, rings as hollow for this man as “diversity, equity and inclusion.”
There might be a way out. The law can’t deny healthcare for people in prison under the Eighth Amendment of the Consitution. This could create a kafkaesque scenario where, if you have a curable disease, you’re better off committing a crime to access healthcare than bankrupting your family.
Or, if you’re popular, your friends could put on a fundraiser or start a GoFund Me Page.
If you’re not well liked or don’t have friends, you’re SOL.
I remember opponents of universal healthcare chanting slogans about government “death panels” determing whether people receive medical care or not.
Well, now we’ll have Medicaid determining whether you’re living the correct lifestyle to receive medical care.
Most valley residents can breathe a sigh of relief that OBBB doesn’t touch Medicare or Medicaid for people over age 65. If you read the Methow Valley News, the main story isn’t that a good chunk of our neighbors will forego treatment or live with pain. The banner headline in MVN this week is that our national parks have been spared, at least this go around.
Don’t get me wrong, I support protecting national parks. I don’t believe people need to be everywhere. In fact, some places are better that way. However, I find it telling that the front page picture this week isn’t about saving lives.
It’s about saving trees.
Except for one letter from Three Rivers Hospital warning about the cuts, letters to save the parks outnumbered letters to save people by 3:1.
Remember this when people talk about community.
I suspect more than one Medicare recipient will receive a call from their child or grandchild who is unable to pay for healthcare. This draconian law will have far reaching implications.
You would think these cuts would decrease the national debt or at least leave it neutral, but they don’t. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which the White House, on its official webpage, calls the Crooked Budget Office, the bill adds $3.4 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. It raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. After Elon Musk’s highly scrutinized work at DOGE, this is pretty much a slap in the face.
All but two Republicans in the House and three Republicans in the Senate voted for the bill. Trump has vowed to fund challengers to Republicans who voted against the bill. Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican Senator from North Carolina, said he would not seek reelection rather than battle a Trump-funded challenger.
Let it be noted that it is the Republicans, the ones who blame Democrats for excessive spending, that once again failed to reign in the deficit and pass a balanced budget.
Trump’s OBBB attacks illegal immigration through border security and building detention facilities for 100,000 people, but it also attacks American citizens. The president didn’t do this by himself. We the people that collectively elected our representatives did this to ourselves. This is what we really think about one another.
To emphasize the point, the president signed the bill on a holiday celebrating everything great about America. This is how America will be great again, the way some presidents have done it before- on the backs of poor Americans.
