Criticism of Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” is widespread at the ESSENCE Festival
NEW ORLEANS — President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” passed Thursday afternoon after late-night sessions in the House and Senate. The President signed the bill into law Friday, the Fourth of July.
According to the Associated Press, the Congressional Budget Office estimates $3.3 trillion will be added to the deficit over the next decade. Additionally, at least 11.8 million more people will go without health coverage.
The Republicans promise the bill will root out waste, fraud, and abuse.
Meanwhile, the Democrats believe this will have severe impacts for those reliant on Medicare and Medicaid. For example, 70% of seniors in nursing homes are on Medicaid in the State of Georgia. Plus, 40% of Georgia children are also participants in the medical assistance program. 50% of all births in the state are covered, at least in part, by Medicaid.
“The bill that Congress passed today is nothing less than an all-out assault on Medicaid, grocery assistance, and clean energy manufacturing jobs,” said current candidate for Georgia Governor, Keisha Lance Bottoms. “It will mean that 17 million Americans – and nearly 700,000 Georgians – will lose health coverage, and our rural hospitals are at risk of more closures.”
The Big Bill is discussed during the ESSENCE Festival of Culture
Meanwhile, during the Global Black Economic Forum’s Business Summit, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker descbried the passage of Trump’s spending package as a defining moment for both parties.
“Every Republican voted for this thing, and every Democrat voted against it,” said Pritzker. “And anybody who believes that we ought to have universal health care, or if you just believe that we ought to do the best we can for the most vulnerable people in our society. You can’t help but take note that there’s one party that’s standing up for people’s ability to survive and thrive, and another party that’s trying to take those things away.
The American public, I think sees through this. Look at the polls. This bill is highly unpopular. For those of us who think it ought to be reversed, we’re going to have to make sure that people understand and connect that what happened today is the Republican Party’s platform. That is the takeaway: its reverse Robin Hood. It’s take away from the poorest, most vulnerable people and give it to the wealthy.”
A Moment of Clarity
“Some are saying there’s no clarity in Washington, no leadership. Yes, there is, and to me, there’s a lot of clarity and a lot of leadership. They’ve told you what they were going to do, okay?”, said the 56th Mayor of Dallas, Texas, Ron Kirk.
“And what I’ve heard from friends over and over again, ‘oh, I can’t believe this happened.’ I was like now you can tell me you’re disappointed. You cannot tell me you’re surprised, because I don’t blame don’t answer that right? Donald Trump told you who he was, he told you what he wanted to do. He told you what his priorities were. They told you they were going to attack women’s basic reproductive rights. They were going to attack access to the ballot. And they were going to throw people out of this country. And I think part of what we are seeing is a lot of Americans who, for whatever reason, created a fiction or got comfortable.”
The tug of war between Business and Labor continues over Trump’s BBB
Meanwhile, SEIU International President April Verrett stressed the idea that forces that don’t see the value in labor, they would like power and wealth concentrated with a very, very small group of people. That prevailing mindset she says will lead to the erosion of democracy, of our rights, and induce greater economic inequality.
“I believe that we get the legislative results we got today, when business and labor are pitted against one another,” said Verrett. “When we allow forces that don’t see the value in most of us, that want power and wealth concentrated with a very, very small group of people. You get the erosion of our democracy, of our rights, [and] more economic inequality than we’ve ever seen.
You get what we got today, which is the destruction of a health care system. Not just for the 18 million people that will lose their insurance because of the cuts. Or just the 5 million children that will go hungry because of the cuts. But a sweeping piece of legislation that will see premium increases for Every single person in this room that will see every single municipal and state and county budget in this country impacted because of the cuts that they had today. I don’t think that’s American. I don’t think that’s democratic. And I don’t think it’s good business.”
The cuts will not kick in right away. Most cuts to the social safety net are scheduled to begin in 2027. The new work requirements will begin in 2026.
This post, Criticism of Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” is widespread at the ESSENCE Festival, originally appeared in The Atlanta Voice https://nnpaworldnews3.com/criticism-of-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill-is-widespread-at-the-essence-festival/.
