S004: Beautiful Liar
An Interlude: Republican Reconciliation Bill Lowlights
I know I spent the last post discussing why State governments are so important, and they are. But on July 3, Congress passed such an abominable bill that we need to discuss it. Many of us have seen lots of coverage of the large cuts to both Medicaid and to the federal taxes the wealthy must pay, but there was a lot of other stuff in this disaster of a bill. Let’s look at some of the other things it does, though this really is just scratching the surface.
Militarizing and Coarsening Immigration Policy
Makes ICE the largest federal law enforcement agency (more than the FBI!)
$45 billion for new detention centers
$14 billion for deportation operations
Makes it much more difficult for non-wealthy immigrants to gain entry into or stay in the United States
Hikes up immigration fees for those seeking Temporary Protected Status ($550) or asylum ($100).
Shoots the cost of an appeal of an immigration judge’s decision up to $900.
Screwing Over Students
Eliminating the Saving on a Value Education (SAVE) plan for student loan repayments, which will increase the cost of monthly payments.
Weakening Emergency Preparedness
Eliminates a $150m fund to “accelerate advances and improvements in research, observation systems, modeling, forecasting, assessments, and dissemination of information to the public” around weather forecasting. Thus making disasters like the flooding in Texas harder to see coming.
Also eliminates $50m in grants to study climate-related impacts on oceans, weather systems and coastal ecosystems was also removed.
Making Clean Energy More Expensive
Phases out Inflation Reduction Act tax credits 5 years early.
Now, solar and wind projects placed in service after Dec. 31, 2027, are not eligible for the credits that were eligible through 2032.
Eliminates the IRA’s 30% residential solar and home energy efficiency upgrade tax credit, making projects ineligible if they are not placed in service by the end of this year. This will make solar less competitive with the fossil fuels destroying our planet.
Pauses the EPA methane emissions fee for 10 years. The fee would have started at $900 per ton of methane in 2024, gradually ramping to $1500 per ton in 2026.
And of course:
Slashes Safety Net Benefits and Gives the “Savings” to the Wealthy
11.8 million Americans will become uninsured by 2034 due to Medicaid cuts and 3 million more would not qualify for food stamps, also known as SNAP benefits.
In New York alone, 1.5 million people are likely to lose their health insurance.
Bars any Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood for family planning services for one year. (This ban has been paused by a federal judge for now).
Makes the 2017 Trump Tax cuts, which disproportionately benefitted the wealthy, permanent.
State governments (if they are willing and able) will be left to clean up after this wreckage. It is worth noting here that while Medicaid is a federal program implemented to provide health insurance to low income people jointly funded by the federal government and each state, the program itself is administered by the states. These states will now have a lot less money to ensure that their residents have health care. New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s Budget Director Blake Washington said last week that New York State will lose $3 billion in funding due to this bill and it will cause New York’s health care system to be “destabilized” in the coming years.
Bill me later,
Marty
P.S.
Because I’m fair, there is one good thing in this disaster of a bill:
The law provides $12.5 billion to overhaul air-traffic control technology. Obviously this comes after DOGE made large cuts to transportation funding thus increasing this problem and this is still less than ICE is getting to build prison camps, but it is something.
Devastating.