The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
Congressional Republicans and Trump want a stacked deck: more hardship for the many, fewer rights and opportunities for the middle and working classes. The GOP-led House passage of the “One Big Beautiful Act” cuts food aid for millions, including nearly 90,000 Wisconsinites, and cuts health care coverage (Medicaid and Affordable Care Act private insurance) for 13.7 million, including 228,659 Wisconsinites. Cruelty and meanness personified. The GOP message: the hungry and sick must suffer.
Moreover, tucked away in the bill, passed in the early morning hours, are unacknowledged and less noticed measures. Taken together they put America on a pathway to authoritarianism, tailored for the well heeled with far fewer opportunities for the middle and working classes. The frenzied passage with little debate or transparency means that Republicans want a stacked deck economically and politically.
One odious provision in the bill was probably inserted by Ohio GOP Representative Jim Jordan (attended UW-Madison), chair of the Judiciary Committee. The unpublicized measure threatens our independent judiciary and system of checks and balances: “No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security (bond) was given when the injunction or order was issued … .” The NYT reported that it “would apply retroactively to court orders that were made before it was enacted, including ongoing cases … .” But Trump is not a king. Instead, the Constitution is paramount.
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The bill also makes the well heeled richer: “One of the most expensive provisions in the bill is a (larger) deduction to the owners of ‘pass-through’ businesses. These are companies that, rather than paying corporate taxes, pass their profits to their owners, who then pay individual income taxes on their earnings” (NYT).
Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson held up Senate passage of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts until the pass-through tax break was expanded. He claims that this tax break is primarily for small businesses. However, this deduction “is heavily tilted to the wealthy and big business. 61 percent of its benefits go to the top 1 percent …” (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities). Was a larger pass-through tax break provision included in the “One Big Beautiful Act” to later get Johnson’s vote in the Senate?
Finally, the bill limits higher education opportunities for the middle and working classes: “The legislation includes significant provisions with deep, negative, and lasting impacts on students, colleges and universities nationwide. … The legislation proposes to limit eligibility for Pell Grants, eliminate subsidized loans and Grad Plus loans, and require most colleges and universities to make annual risk-sharing payments to the federal government. These measures would significantly reduce aid for low-income students and increase barriers to enrollment and degree completion” (American Council on Education). Note: “70,000 low and moderate-income students seeking higher education in Wisconsin receive a Pell Grant” (UW System press release).
Congressional Republicans have lost their backbone and common decency. Their America is not for most of us. Beyond shame.
– Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
