Trump doesn't know what's in his Big Beautiful Bill?

What an agony we are going through this July...

First we had the push toward Trump's big ugly bill passed on July 3, and now we're figuring out how to live with it, how to continue fighting the effects of the $79 billion given to ICE, and how to prevent the bill's many cuts to health care for Americans.

Three sources say that when Trump was negotiating with a few Republicans holding out against the bill in the House of Representatives on July 2, he said "There are three things Congress can't touch if they want to win elections: Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security."

"But we're touching Medicaid in this bill," said one Republican.

Trump mumbled something not recorded on tape. Maybe it was, "Oh, I didn't know." Or maybe it was a denial that this bill includes cuts in Medicaid--$1 trillion in health cuts total.

Jamie Raskin: "The extraordinary thing about that is that, of course, all  of these people have gotten in line despite their own misgivings because Trump is leading the way, but Trump might not even understand what's in the bill. So it's a very dangerous moment when you think about what democracy is, and it doesn't speak well for what has become of the Republican Party. 

Raskin went on to say: "Now some people think that it's just Trump's devilishly clever politics where he's already distancing himself from a bill that he knows will be a nightmare, and then he'll blame it on somebody else for not having told him what was really in there."

Chris Hayes: "My read on this is that he doesn't really care that much one way or the other." Thank you to All in with Chris Hayes for airing this report on Fourth of July weekend.

• The bill approves spending of about $4.5 trillion total.
• It includes tax cuts of about $1 trillion for billionaires & corporations.
• It cuts more than $1.1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare, and Obamacare over the next ten years.
• It will add $3.4 trillion to the deficit over the next ten years--or more depending on how you predict details.

Sources:

"House Passes Sweeping Bill..." NY Times, July 3, 2025

https://www.crfb.org/blogs/breaking-down-one-big-beautiful-bill  

        --detailed estimate as of June 4, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzmLp9RoLws

See also Senator Elizabeth Warren's post on Facebook:

Being brave in the 21st century...

 

"Grant us wisdom, grant us courage / For the facing of this hour" wrote Harry Emerson Fosdick in 1930, composing lyrics for a hymn that begins with the words "God of grace and God of glory."

He had no idea how bad the next 10-15 years would be, but he had served as a chaplain in World War I. 

Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, chose those words of Fosdick for the first page of How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith, published in 2023.

In order to counteract all the bad news around us, I'm reading this book and listening to her read it aloud via Audible.

I'm also tending the flowers in my garden and enjoying those in the streets around me as I walk my dog, Neenah.

Flowers are brave. They don't give up. Given half a chance, they bloom--rooted in the crack of a rock or in soil that has had no rain for months. 

Each one has a mission to grow, unfold, and lift a smiling face to the universe, whether there's a human around to see it or not. 

Sometimes a deer comes by and eats the flowers. If not, they fade, lose their petals, and grow seeds that ants or birds or humans eat.

Some of the seeds sprout and bring more flowers, but always they give life in one way or another.

Animals are brave too and humble. They never know what's next, but they carry on. Deer endure rain and freezing winters. Coyote venture into city streets in search of their next meal. Abandoned dogs cower in shelters but wag their tails if someone takes them out. Neenah spent time in a shelter.

May we be brave like the flowers and animals as the terrible news of bombing, starvation, and genocide assaults us daily.

May we  grow, unfold, and lift a smiling face to the One who made us all.

May we give life in one way or another and do our best to stop the killing, starvation, and disease. 

Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil, as Jesus taught us to pray.

Where there is genocide, let me sow life.