BY MATT BERG & CROOKED MEDIA |
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I feel like I'm in a hip hop studio right now."
— House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, breaking the record for longest speech on the House floor while bashing Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” |
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Even Donald Trump has little idea what’s in his “big, beautiful bill.” Many Americans are likewise just now eyeing the details — and hate what they see.
- President Donald Trump stunned a gang of House Republicans this week with a display of ignorance about the bill he was urging them to support. The one thing they must keep in mind, he reportedly told them, was not to touch the big three social benefits: Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. A House Republican spoke up: “But we’re touching Medicaid in this bill….”
- Oh well! Republicans slammed the bill through the House this afternoon by a razor-thin margin. Whatever’s in there is about to become the law of the land. The president will get his Fourth of July signing ceremony, hours before fireworks explode over the White House. That appears to be all he ever really wanted: A big win, with roman candles. Details be damned.
- And these details are damning. The thing is, Trump’s hardly the only one who doesn’t know what’s in there. Many Americans haven’t followed this super-confusing legislative sausage-making. Those who do know are mostly alarmed… and rightly so.
- “I’m pissed, but mostly I’m just sad for the millions of people who will suffer because of what Republicans did today. Many, if not most, are Trump voters. And most probably have no idea what this law will actually mean for them,” Crooked’s Jon Favreau tweeted. “It should enrage all of us, but it should also motivate us to beat the everliving hell out of every last Republican politician in ‘26 and again ‘28.”
This bill takes food and healthcare from the poor, hands billions to the rich, slams clean energy, and adds trillions to the deficit.
- Medicaid: The bill cuts more than $1 trillion in funding for Medicaid, a public health insurance program for low-income Americans, according to estimates from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. At least 17 million people are expected to lose their health insurance under this plan, and rural hospitals that disproportionately rely on federal funding could struggle.
- Food assistance: The bill slashes funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the federally funded program once known as food stamps. It’s designed to help people — 42 million Americans across 22 million households — buy food if they can’t afford it. States would assume some of the costs of SNAP, which would be more difficult to qualify for.
- Clean energy: The bill scraps tax incentives for wind, solar and other renewable energies. One example: A 30 percent tax credit for rooftop residential solar panels will be phased out by the end of the year. Democrats and environmental groups warn that these changes will cause home energy prices to spike, devastate the clean energy industry, and lead to major job losses.
- Tax cuts for the rich: The bill further stuffs the pockets of the ultra-wealthy by implementing new tax breaks and making many of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent. For example, millionaires will receive an additional $75,000 after taxes next year, according to the Tax Policy Center. Rich people are also happy about the “death tax” change, which would exempt everyone with estates under $15 million ($30 million for couples) from paying taxes when they transfer the goods to their spoiled grandkids.
This is, unfortunately, one more uncheerful reminder that elections have serious consequences. Let's hope next year’s Independence Day is more joyful than this one.
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American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in the Gaza Strip have been shooting live ammunition and throwing stun grenades while hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to the Associated Press. “There are innocent people being hurt. Badly. Needlessly,” one contractor told the outlet.
Iran doesn’t plan to retaliate against the United States, but it will continue enriching uranium under its nuclear program, according to the country’s deputy foreign minister. Donald Trump struck Iran to stop it from enriching uranium… so I'm not super psyched about how this might play out!
Kilmar Abrego Garcia experienced “severe beatings” and “psychological torture” in the notorious megaprison in El Salvador where the Trump administration mistakenly deported him, according to a new court filing. He was also so malnourished that he lost 31 pounds while imprisoned, the filing says.
ICE agents arrested Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. for allegedly lying on his green card application and allowing his visa to expire, the Department of Homeland Security announced, describing him as a “public safety threat.” The arrest comes days after he lost a boxing match to influencer Jake Paul.
The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to deport eight men who have been held in a makeshift detention center in Djibouti (for more than a month!) to South Sudan. The U.S. and South Sudan haven’t explained what will happen to the men once they’re sent to the war-torn country. Only one of the men is from South Sudan.
The Justice Department is looking into using criminal charges against election officials if the Trump administration determines that they haven’t properly protected their computer systems, the New York Times reports. Even talking about jailing election officials for doing stuff the White House doesn’t like… seems very, very bad!
European leaders have been so distraught by Trump’s actions that they’re seeking out Joe Biden’s counsel, the former president told a crowd of human resource professionals in San Diego yesterday. He also warned that Trump is undoing his accomplishments: “Many of the things I worked so damn hard, that I thought I changed in the country, are changing so rapidly.” I have one burning question: Why is he speaking at an event for HR professionals???
Trump’s White House is a damn weird place, NBC News reports. Vice President JD Vance often sits by the Keurig machine near the Oval Office, munching cookies. Trump points guests to the “Monica Lewinsky Room.” Trump holds freewheeling phone calls with his buddies, including Fox News Godfather Rupert Murdoch, whom he recently asked for advice on the Israel-Iran conflict. |
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THERE'S MORE IN STORE
Hey, Pod Save America has new merch! We’ve got ‘America: While Supplies Last’ t-shirts and koozies – perfect for summer. Because yes, we’re living in the worst timeline for democracy, and we’re all going to need some ice-cold beverages if we want to do anything about it. We also have ‘Roll The Clip,’ mugs. Show some love for the show and shop the exclusive Pod Save America collection at crooked.com/shop.
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The U.S. economy added 147,000 jobs last month while unemployment dipped to 4.1 percent, defying economists’ bleak expectations. Those numbers bolster Federal Reserve Chair Jermome Powell’s argument against slashing interest rates at Donald Trump’s command, which is a good reminder of why we leave this stuff to the experts!
A comet that came from outside our solar system has been soaring around the planets, mystifying astronomers. It could be between 12-25 miles long, according to scientists, and is currently some 420 million miles away in Jupiter’s orbit. Don’t worry, it’s not going to hit earth… but it’ll pass by Mars in October. Can I hitch a ride, please? This planet is starting to get a little meh.
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