Letters: Nothing great about MAGA; GOP policy bill hurts ordinary Americans
Nothing great about MAGA
Trump MAGA Republican extreme cuts to programs that support Americans will never make America great.
We are a great nation.
We were a very, very great nation before Musk’s DOGE chainsaw, Trump’s awful bill, and the Republican Party kowtow to Trump decimated most of our very successful federal programs.
Disaster relief (FEMA), accurate weather reports, food programs for children, health care for the elderly (think Grandma and Grandpa), and so many other programs have been axed willy nilly.
If anyone thinks tax cuts that transfer wealth to the top 1% and leave token crumbs to the rest of us is a benefit ... well good luck.
Wake up America.
MAGA is not great and is wrecking our nation.
GOP policy bill hurts ordinary Americans
Republicans have no idea how ordinary Americans live, and they don’t care.
Look no further than their wildly regressive domestic policy bill — signed into law on, of all days, Independence Day.
The crux of the hugely unpopular bill is tax cuts for the rich. Throwing money at the uber-rich, of course, requires some offsets. Republicans chose to cut services for ordinary folks.
The richest 1% of Americans will receive about $117 billion in tax cuts in 2026. Struggling households, meanwhile, will see incomes drop by 2.9%!
Almost $1 trillion was cut from federal health programs that many Americans rely on — way beyond waste, fraud and abuse. Long-term health care will be hard to find and afford, so families will become caregivers for ill, aging parents. SNAP benefits will disappear for 7 million people, including more than 2 million children.
Republicans apparently have no problem with taking away insurance from almost 15 million Americans, but they know voters care. That’s why spending cuts don’t kick in until after the midterms (but tax cuts start right away)!
The bill creates many other harms. For example, clean-energy industries lose funding, eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs, increasing energy costs, and damaging the environment.
Giving money to billionaires while cutting care for ordinary Americans is Robin Hood in reverse! The rich get richer while most Americans struggle to get by.
Biblical principles are incompatible with the biggest wealth transfer from the poor to the rich in United States history!
Gaslit again
Like many Americans, I received a controversial email from the Social Security Administration that “applauded” and “celebrated” Trump’s recently passed budget bill. (It showed up in spam, where it belonged.)
It made several claims: the “historic” bill eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries, provides an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older, and “reaffirms President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security.”
Not even close. Looking past the blatantly partisan nature of the email, it’s riddled with falsehoods.
First, nothing in the bill eliminates or even reduces taxes on Social Security benefits. Instead, there’s a separate annual deduction for some middle-income seniors.
Second, the deduction benefits few people because it’s tied to income and most seniors already pay no taxes on their Social Security payments. And it’s short-lived, expiring in 2028 (after the next presidential election).
Third, the bill weakens Social Security because taxes are used to shore up social security, so reduced tax revenue means accelerated insolvency of the system — in about seven years.
Shockingly, then, all claims in the email are inaccurate: no reduced taxes, grossly exaggerated benefits of the deduction, and failure to protect Social Security.
The errors become magnified in light of the email’s last statement: “Social Security remains committed to providing timely, accurate information — and (ensuring that) beneficiaries understand how this legislation may affect them.”
The agency apparently provided a partially corrected press release — clarifying that tax relief comes through the separate (and temporary) deduction. I’m still awaiting a corrected email.
New slogan needed
MAKA — Make America Kind Again
(No other words are needed.)