All behemoth bills put politics ahead of policy. My hope (please Please PLEASE) is that this bill does it a little (a lot) less than others and gets us closer to a balanced budget in the end. I’m no economist and certainly not a financial wizard. I always appreciate your candor and insights. And your ability to paint a picture of fairness when discussing policy issues. And on this issue, I hope you’re a little bit wrong ;).
When it comes to matters like this, if I end up being wrong, I will not be saddened in the least.
There is a possibility that we will see deficits get so large that Congress will be compelled to balance the budget and confine spending to available tax revenues. That would not put the Congress fully back within its Constitutional confines but would get us quite a bit closer to that ultimate objective.
I'd hate to think that is what is needed to pry Congress' collective head out of its collective ass.
The BBB could be good, could be bad, could great, could be disastrous, it’s too soon to tell. As with all the legislative crap passed in DC, no one’s read the whole thing, the projections will all be revised at some point, and partisans on both sides will focus on what drives their agenda.
To reiterate a key point: the One Big Beautiful Bill puts politics ahead of policy.
When partisan agendas outweigh sober discussion about how legislation will actually impact the country, it is a fair bet the overall outcome will be less than desirable.
The One Big Beautiful Bill is a clear political win for President Trump. Unfortunately, that is ultimately all that it is: a triumph of politics and not policy.
I mentioned your point about Trump not being an Authoritarian and examples in your article, and my husband said Trump is not negotiating and persuading but threatening, “if you don’t vote my way your political career will be over and your life a living hell” and “he has made statements that are naked threats and his tone and words are always intimidations “ which led into a rant about Trump’s rape conviction, exploiting judges, and bankruptcies..ugh there is no reasoning, I thought it was a brilliant point on authoritarianism.
I am concerned about the economy and how this bill will affect everything. I love libraries and funding was cut, I need to go on ACA so I’m not sure what that looks like now, etc.
From what I have seen over the years, big behemoth legislation tends to do far more economic harm to the country than good. My biggest criticism of the One Big Beautiful Bill is that it is...well...big.
Bigger is not always better, and that is especially true for legislation.
I tried mentioning to him “isn’t that all just politics?” He did say Putin specializes in “defenestration”
Husband and son have irrational hatred of Trump, Republicans and somehow now they are conflating Republicans and Christians who are all “white ethno nationalist fascists” - oy- I’m a Christian with lots of opportunities to put my faith into practice;-)
We still don’t know the details of what’s in the bill. I’m looking forward to reading your comments on the particulars, as they become known, Peter. There will be some good stuff and disastrous stuff in the bill, and you’re the man to analyze their probable effects!
Trump is proving to be a particular writing challenge for me....every other day he's doing something big and consequential, then hopping over to something else.
I don't think the man has any understanding of what his frenetic pace does to my writing schedule!
(Yes, I know, as a data journalist I'm supposed to consider that to be one of those "good" kind of problems, but still!)
All behemoth bills put politics ahead of policy. My hope (please Please PLEASE) is that this bill does it a little (a lot) less than others and gets us closer to a balanced budget in the end. I’m no economist and certainly not a financial wizard. I always appreciate your candor and insights. And your ability to paint a picture of fairness when discussing policy issues. And on this issue, I hope you’re a little bit wrong ;).
When it comes to matters like this, if I end up being wrong, I will not be saddened in the least.
There is a possibility that we will see deficits get so large that Congress will be compelled to balance the budget and confine spending to available tax revenues. That would not put the Congress fully back within its Constitutional confines but would get us quite a bit closer to that ultimate objective.
I'd hate to think that is what is needed to pry Congress' collective head out of its collective ass.
I don’t completely agree, but that last line made me laugh out loud.
The BBB could be good, could be bad, could great, could be disastrous, it’s too soon to tell. As with all the legislative crap passed in DC, no one’s read the whole thing, the projections will all be revised at some point, and partisans on both sides will focus on what drives their agenda.
To reiterate a key point: the One Big Beautiful Bill puts politics ahead of policy.
When partisan agendas outweigh sober discussion about how legislation will actually impact the country, it is a fair bet the overall outcome will be less than desirable.
The One Big Beautiful Bill is a clear political win for President Trump. Unfortunately, that is ultimately all that it is: a triumph of politics and not policy.
I mentioned your point about Trump not being an Authoritarian and examples in your article, and my husband said Trump is not negotiating and persuading but threatening, “if you don’t vote my way your political career will be over and your life a living hell” and “he has made statements that are naked threats and his tone and words are always intimidations “ which led into a rant about Trump’s rape conviction, exploiting judges, and bankruptcies..ugh there is no reasoning, I thought it was a brilliant point on authoritarianism.
I am concerned about the economy and how this bill will affect everything. I love libraries and funding was cut, I need to go on ACA so I’m not sure what that looks like now, etc.
From what I have seen over the years, big behemoth legislation tends to do far more economic harm to the country than good. My biggest criticism of the One Big Beautiful Bill is that it is...well...big.
Bigger is not always better, and that is especially true for legislation.
No disrespect to your husband, but he might want to read up on how Lyndon Johnson "negotiated". It was politely known as "arm twisting".
LBJ had his faults as President, but the man knew how to get legislation through Congress.
It's a little bit before my time but I don't recall reading how corporate media viewed LBJ as a dangerous authoritarian.
I tried mentioning to him “isn’t that all just politics?” He did say Putin specializes in “defenestration”
Husband and son have irrational hatred of Trump, Republicans and somehow now they are conflating Republicans and Christians who are all “white ethno nationalist fascists” - oy- I’m a Christian with lots of opportunities to put my faith into practice;-)
We still don’t know the details of what’s in the bill. I’m looking forward to reading your comments on the particulars, as they become known, Peter. There will be some good stuff and disastrous stuff in the bill, and you’re the man to analyze their probable effects!
Trump is proving to be a particular writing challenge for me....every other day he's doing something big and consequential, then hopping over to something else.
I don't think the man has any understanding of what his frenetic pace does to my writing schedule!
(Yes, I know, as a data journalist I'm supposed to consider that to be one of those "good" kind of problems, but still!)