About that ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

by Dana Henricks, Florence

By any chance, are you reading this issue of the Bitterroot Star at the Frontier Café in Stevensville? If so, hold onto your pancakes: The US Senate just passed the No Tax on Tips Act.

My first-ever job was as a server at a Corner Pocket pool hall, and I remember being shocked when I found out two things: first, that I would be paid less than minimum wage, and second, that I would have to pay taxes on my tips. Neither of these made sense to me because I didn’t make that much in tips, mainly because I was a really bad server. So, yay! No taxes on tips for today’s servers. This act was passed unanimously in the Senate by both Republicans and Democrats, during normal, daylight hours.

However, on May 21, at 1:00 a.m. in the morning, under the cloak of darkness, Representative Ryan Zinke and the other US House Republicans voted to pass Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” that gives billions of dollars in tax cuts to billionaires and millionaires. What does it say about this bill that they were too ashamed to vote for it in the light of day? Well, I will tell you.

This “budget” bill will add $3.5 TRILLION to the US debt and will kick millions of people off their health insurance. You might be thinking, “That last part is good! They’re kicking those lazy bums off Medicaid!” That’s exactly how the Republicans are selling this budget bill to us Americans to make us think that it’s a good thing.

No one wants able-bodied people sitting at home scamming Medicaid when they could go out and get a job. But did you know that most people on Medicaid are low-income seniors, low-income kids, and low-income WORKERS, maybe even the lovely person here at the Frontier who brought you your pancakes (for $2.17 an hour, far less than minimum wage; tip your server well!)?

And it’s not just Medicaid that will be cut by the tax-cuts-for-billionaires Republicans. Do you know what happens when the US debt goes up by that much? If the Republicans’ bill is passed, it will trigger $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare!

This is because of the Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, which was created by Democrats to make both parties shy away from adding to the US debt. But Republicans in Congress don’t care. The “fiscally conservative” Republicans, in their “Big Beautiful Bill,” have just voted to raise the US debt ceiling by $4 trillion dollars!

Republicans in Congress see adding trillions to the debt as a three-fer: (1) They get to give billions in tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, themselves included; (2) They get to cripple Medicare, the first step in their scheme to make everyone have to sign up for a “Medicare Take Advantage of You” plan, which is nothing but health insurance that takes your money and then denies you medical care; and (3) They get to do all these things and play their favorite game: Pin the Blame on the Donkey, when it is the Republicans who are increasing our national debt

by trillions of dollars, NOT the Democrats.

Please call Ryan Zinke at 1 (202) 225-5628 and ask him to explain why he voted for the “Big, Beautiful Bill” that makes him and the billionaires richer and the rest of us sicker and poorer.