Though President Trump promised a “big beautiful” budget bill, what narrowly passed the House of Representatives in the early morning hours of May 22 will be anything but a big beautiful win for millions of marginalized Americans, and Medicaid beneficiaries won’t be the only ones who feel the pinch.
In fact, if passed, this legislation would destabilize the publicly insured and privately insured alike, especially in America’s many rural communities.
Trump’s budget d...
Opinion
Trump 2.0 is the final victory of the John Birch Society
In 1958, a group of prominent business leaders founded the John Birch Society. Led by Robert Welch, inheritor of a vast candy fortune, these titans of wealth believed a vast communist conspiracy had penetrated the U.S. government.
In “The Blue Book of the John Birch Society,” Welch presented an apocalyptic vision where politics was no longer a staid battle between the two political parties but a conflict “between light and darkness; between freedom and slavery;...
Trump 2.0 is the final victory of the John Birch Society
In 1958, a group of prominent business leaders founded the John Birch Society. Led by Robert Welch, inheritor of a vast candy fortune, these titans of wealth believed a vast communist conspiracy had penetrated the U.S. government.
In “The Blue Book of the John Birch Society,” Welch presented an apocalyptic vision where politics was no longer a staid battle between the two political parties but a conflict “between light and darkness; between freedom and slavery;...
Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ would sacrifice the least of us to the almighty dollar
For the last 236 years, the U.S. House of Representatives has begun each day of session with a prayer. The Senate does the same. Each body has a "nonsectarian, nonpartisan and nonpolitical" chaplain who "provides spiritual counseling and guidance" to its members.
The chaplains would do well to remind lawmakers of a truism: The moral test of any society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. President Trump has flooded the zone with failures in that regard. Congres...
States should cut the federal cord and end dependency on Washington
In most blue states at least, President Trump’s second term is creating a battle over how the states can use federal money. Many Democratic governors are suddenly defending state control and pushing back against Washington’s influence.
But the reality is that too many states resemble satellites orbiting Washington rather than sovereign governments charting their own course.
In 2022, more than half of Louisiana and Alaska’s budget came from federal funds. Twenty stat...
Trump’s gambit of withholding federal dollars will be ruled unconstitutional
Among the tools the Trump administration is using to get states, local governments, nonprofits and schools to agree with its directives is the withholding of federal dollars. Although the government can use the power of the purse to accomplish many things, the courts have also drawn lines on the limits of its use. There are, in fact, unconstitutional conditions that can be attached to spending power.
The power of the purse — or the ability to appropriate money, as located in A...
The Senate shouldn’t sacrifice its filibuster to score political points
In his very first speech as Senate majority leader in January, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said, "And one of my priorities as leader will be to ensure that the Senate stays the Senate. That means preserving the legislative filibuster — the Senate rule that today has perhaps the greatest impact in preserving the Founders’ vision of the Senate." This was a wise and prudent way to maintain the institutional strength of the nation's upper chamber.
This week, however, that strong in...
A Medicaid fix without the tricks
Republicans want to save $880 billion over 10 years in the Medicaid program. Politicians often turn to using various tricks and gimmicks to create the illusion of budgetary savings. But Medicaid is so large and has expanded so far past its original target population that Republicans can find those savings without relying on accounting gimmicks or price controls.
All they need is to implement three long-held Republican ideas.
The first is to bl...
Republicans need to grow a spine and support Trump’s agenda
That didn’t take long. After a few months of celebrating Donald Trump’s astonishing political comeback by offering the president near-unanimous support, Republicans are going squishy.
The Trump agenda is hanging by a thread. Congress, which up to now has done very little to help the White House solve our border crisis, codify DOGE spending cuts or rebalance our justice system, now has to act. They have to pass a “big beautiful” bill to extend the tax reductions in the...
The inconvenient truth about Republican Medicaid fraud claims
Few lines are more central to the congressional Republican leadership’s elevator pitch than the idea that we will get major savings by cutting Medicaid fraud, not Medicaid benefits.
This sales pitch is no small deal to this White House. A president seeking to pass his tax bill with slim congressional majorities could be tanked by a handful of Republicans afraid they’ll lose seats. Those seats could be at risk if Republicans are seen as paying for tax cuts to the...