One Big Beautiful Bill Act / Act should not have been passed

Position: Act should not have been passed

This position addresses the topic One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

For this position

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Then there’s Medicaid, the nation’s largest insurer, which provides health care coverage to some 71.3 million people, or roughly 20% of all Americans. Over the next decade, the budget office estimates Medicaid gets cut by some $1 trillion under the bill. This will cause anywhere from 10.3 million to 17 million folks to lose health coverage, the vast majority of whom work.

From Trump's big, ugly tax legislation will scar many Americans, by Ralph Martire (Chicago Sun-Times, September 10, 2025) (view)

The trick is remarkably bold. When the Trump tax cuts passed in 2017, most were set to expire in 2025 to reduce their projected 10-year cost. Now, Republicans have made the expiring tax cuts permanent — but instead of acknowledging they would expire unless extended, they’re pretending the cuts are already permanent. That allows them to claim the extension is free. Imagine signing up for a one-month Netflix trial. When the month ends, you extend the subscription indefinitely — but insist it’s free because you already paid once. That’s the bizarre logic behind this scam.

From Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill is a $4 trillion tax charade, by Thomas Kahn (Chicago Tribune, July 8, 2025) (view)

Unlike other senators, I wasn’t looking for earmarks or handouts. I wasn’t interested in horse-trading. All I wanted was a real debate on our national debt levels. They could have had my vote and saved money but instead chose more spending and tax and welfare changes targeted at Alaska at the cost of the fiscal sanity of our country.

From Why I voted against Trump's 'Big, Not-So-Beautiful Bill', by Rand Paul (The Courier-Journal, July 3, 2025) (view)

You cannot make this up: Even Saudi Arabia is doubling down on solar power to meet the needs of the A.I. data centers it wants to recruit from the West, while President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” actually does just the opposite. It quickly phases out tax credits enjoyed by utility-scale solar and wind — as well as electric vehicle tax credits. This virtually guarantees that China will own the future of solar energy, wind power and electric cars and trucks, as well as autonomous vehicles.

From How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again, by Thomas Friedman (The New York Times, July 3, 2025) (view)

The price will be staggering: $1tn in cuts to Medicaid; throwing 17 million people off health coverage closing rural hospitals and women’s health clinics; battering food assistance for families, children and veterans; the virtual destruction of US solar and wind energy manufacturing; limiting access to financial aid for college; and, according to the Yale Budget Lab, adding $3tn to the national debt over the next decade, inexorably leading to raised interest rates, which will depress the housing market. These are the harsh, brutal and undeniable realities of Trumpism in the glare of day as opposed to his carnival act about how he will never touch such benefits.

From Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ is the ultimate betrayal of his base, by Sidney Blumenthal (The Guardian, July 11, 2025) (view)

That’s the measure that will take health care coverage and food assistance away from hundreds of thousands of people in Utah alone. That will siphon money not just from the most vulnerable, but from our state’s economy overall. It will also take many millions of funding away from scientific and medical research, in Utah and elsewhere, projects that promised to improve the lives and health of all of us. And, despite some defensive efforts by Utah Sen. John Curtis, federal support for renewable energy projects — which have great promise for Utah’s environment and economy — will be slashed.

From Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ doesn’t help Utah take care of its own, by The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board (The Salt Lake Tribune, July 11, 2025) (view)

Vance didn't mention that the ability to avoid taxes on up to $12,500 in overtime pay will expire in less than three and a half years. He also left out that the ability to avoid taxes on up to $25,000 in tipped income will also expire on Dec. 31, 2028. And he certainly didn't point out that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, in an Aug. 11 letter, said the wealthiest 10% of Americans will see their resources increase annually by about $13,600 - while American households at the other end of the income spectrum will see resources cut by about $1,200 per year.

From JD Vance's job is to sell the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' that Americans don't want, by Chris Brennan (USA Today, August 24, 2025) (view)

Against this position

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The first myth is that the One Big Beautiful Bill is a tax break for the rich. That is false. In fact, it protects millions of working-class families and small businesses from what would have been the largest tax hike in U.S. history. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was one of the hallmarks of the first Trump administration — the first major reform to the federal tax code in over 30 years, which lowered taxes across the board for individuals at every income level, for small businesses and family farms, and for estate and retirement planning. Most of these tax cuts would have expired at the end of 2025 — an outcome that would have been catastrophic for all of us. West Tennessee families would have seen their yearly taxes go up 26 percent on average.

From Don’t believe the myths — the ‘one big, beautiful bill’ is a big win, by David Kustoff (The Hill, September 18, 2025) (view)

Several provisions President Trump campaigned on were codified: no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, a new tax deduction for senior citizens, and tax benefits similar to those in my bill, the USA CAR Act, to promote Americans buying American-made vehicles. This is merely a snapshot of the monumental tax wins in the One Big Beautiful Bill that will increase the take-home pay for the average Ohio family, cut taxes for the more than 800,000 small businesses in Ohio, and save over 200,000 jobs in the state.

From The One Big Beautiful Bill is a win for America's working families and seniors, by Dave Taylor (The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 16, 2025) (view)

The bill prevents a $4.5 trillion tax hike on the American people. This will allow the average worker to keep an additional $4,000 to $7,200 in annual real wages and allow the average family of four to keep an additional $7,600 to $10,900 in take-home pay. Add to this the president’s ambitious deregulation agenda, which could save the average family of four an additional $10,000. For millions of Americans, these savings are the difference between being able to make a mortgage payment, buy a car, or send a child to college.

From President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' will unleash parallel prosperity, by Scott Bessent (Fox News, July 4, 2025) (view)

This is the kind of serious entitlement reform that has been long necessary. Medicaid spending was about $880 billion in fiscal year 2023, with $606 billion coming from federal contributions and the rest from the states. That is unsustainable. The new work requirements will reduce spending by $326 billion over 10 years. Preserving the program for the disabled, elderly and other vulnerable populations who truly need it is essential, and the reforms make that possible.

From "Big, Beautiful Bill" finally tackles entitlement reform, by The Detroit News editorial board (The Detroit News, July 12, 2025) (view)

Mixed on this position

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Republicans talk a good game on spending cuts. For example, the Republican Study Committee budget proposal from last year would have cut spending by $17 trillion over the next ten years. The vast majority of House Republicans are RSC members. But when it came time to actually vote on the budget resolution earlier this year, they instructed the committees to cut spending by only $1.5 trillion. The $17 trillion was always unrealistic, but they couldn’t even manage 10 percent of that?

From Trump’s New Budget Law: Very Big, Sometimes Beautiful, by National Review editorial board (National Review, July 3, 2025) (view)