Republicans moving ahead with Trump’s ‘big’ bill of tax breaks (1 Viewer)

[zztop]

Republicans moving ahead with Trump's 'big' bill of tax breaks and spending cuts amid tariff uproar

After a long wait, the Senate is launching action on President Donald Trump’s ”“big, beautiful bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts.

apnews.com

More than a month after House Republicans surprised Washington by advancing their framework for Trump’s $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts, Senate Republicans voted Thursday to start working on their version. The largely party-line vote, 52-48, sets the stage for a potential Senate all-nighter Friday spilling into the weekend.

 

[zztop]

The pitchforks are coming.

I thought this was what 'occupy wallstreet' was about?

 

[LA 2 L.A.]

I thought this was what 'occupy wallstreet' was about?

That was just the beginning of fear and pain driven anger and resentment that builds up pressure over time. Protests actually allow for a little pressure to be released.

Trump, Republicans, and the corrupt billionaires who back them are about to push that pressure past the blow out point.

 

[zztop]

That was just the beginning of fear and pain driven anger and resentment that builds up pressure over time. Protests actually allow for a little pressure to be released.

Trump, Republicans, and the corrupt billionaires who back them are about to push that pressure past the blow out point.

Occupy wallstreet was over a decade ago though, and I'm not optimistic as you. Maybe a lot of people have just given up that there will be no real change thats going to happen (at least in their lifetime)

 

[LA 2 L.A.]

Occupy wallstreet was over a decade ago though, and I'm not optimistic as you. Maybe a lot of people have just given up that there will be no real change thats going to happen (at least in their lifetime)

Trump, Republicans, and their billionaire masters have just launched the beginning of a "let them eat cake" period. Historically, that leads to some kind of significant backlash. I hope the backlash is at the ballot box and not people's front doors.

The murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare was a backlash against them brutally putting maximum profits before people's lives. The metaphorical pitchfork in that case was unfortunately a gun.

 

[MT15]

This is the way they have always felt.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Americans at risk of losing their Medicaidgovernment health coverage because of new work requirements signed into law by the Trump administration should find employment on U.S. farms, according to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

“We have way too many people that are taking government program that are able to work,” Rollins said in an interview on Fox Business on Tuesday. “This is not children. These are not disabled [people]. These are not senior citizens. These are able-bodied Americans who are taking government handouts.”…..

Rollins has suggested that Medicaid recipients should head to the fields in the past.

In July, in the face of concern that the administration’s mass deportations would decimate the country’s immigrant-heavy farm labor force, Rollins argued that “more automation” and a “100 percent American workforce” could make up the losses.

“There are 34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program,” he said. “There are plenty of workers in America.”

The Congressional Budget Office found that there were about 34 million working-age, non-disabled Medicaid enrollees in 2024, though analysts suggest Rollins is overstating the degree to which participants in the health program are unemployed and skimming from the government.

An analysis from health policy group KFF found that there are about 26 million Medicaid-covered adults between the ages of 19 and 64 who don’t receive disability benefits, and that nearly two-thirds of this group were working either full or part-time.

Among the remaining portion, 12 percent said they were not working because they were caregiving, while 10 percent listed illness or disability and seven percent said school attendance kept them from working.

Another study, from University of Massachusetts Boston researchers, found that among able-bodied, unemployed Medicaid recipients, almost 80 percent are female, their average age is 41, and their median individual income is $0.

"It's clear based on their prior work history and family size/income that they are exceptionally poor and have likely left the workforce to care for adult children or older adults," researcher Jane Tavares told PolitiFact. "Even if these individuals could work, they would have very few job opportunities and it would come at the cost of the people they are providing care for."……….

Trump’s farm secretary says people should work in fields to avoid losing Medicaid

Comments come after Secretary of Agriculture suggested last month that Medicaid recipients and automation would replace undocumented farm workers facing mass deportation

www.independent.co.uk

 

[MT15]

There are 34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program,” he said. “There are plenty of workers in America.”

The Congressional Budget Office found that there were about 34 million working-age, non-disabled Medicaid enrollees in 2024, though analysts suggest Rollins is overstating the degree to which participants in the health program are unemployed and skimming from the government.

An analysis from health policy group KFF found that there are about 26 million Medicaid-covered adults between the ages of 19 and 64 who don’t receive disability benefits, and that nearly two-thirds of this group were working either full or part-time.

Among the remaining portion, 12 percent said they were not working because they were caregiving, while 10 percent listed illness or disability and seven percent said school attendance kept them from working.

So, he’s lying about it. 26 million, of which 2/3 (about 17 million) are already employed. Now we’re down to 9 million. Of those 9 million, 12% are full time caregivers, 10% say they are disabled or ill, and 7% are in school full time. That’s 29% more subtracted, leaving around 6 million people to “work the fields”. Except that isn’t the only industry which relies on foreign workers. We would need to fill all the openings in meat packing plants, hospitality - hotels, motels and resorts, food services, etc.

There are approximately 29 million foreign born workers in the US. The labor force participation of people born elsewhere in the US is higher than native born citizens as a percentage of the population.

 

[Dragon]

Secretary Rollins's claim that Medicaid recipients should "go work the fields" ignores economic and social realities—and risks putting vulnerable children in harm's way.

Immigrant labor is the backbone of industries like agriculture, meatpacking, and hospitality. Forcing Medicaid recipients—many of whom are already working, caregiving, or studying—into those roles won't fill the gap. Even if every non-disabled, unemployed Medicaid adult took a job, it wouldn’t come close to replacing the 29 million foreign-born workers the U.S. economy relies on.

As low-cost labor dries up, red states like Arkansas are already targeting a new source: children.

In 2023, Arkansas eliminated work permit requirements for kids under 16. Since then, child labor violations have skyrocketed. Teens are turning up in dangerous jobs—from slaughterhouses to factories—often without parental consent or oversight. Other Republican-led states are now considering similar rollbacks.

This isn’t about encouraging work—it’s about deregulating child labor to sustain an economy that depends on exploitation. If adults won't or can't be forced into these jobs, kids from poor families will be next in line

And the consequences are devastating: children pushed into labor often miss out on education, trapping them in a cycle of low-paying, manual jobs for life. They're also exposed to serious dangers — from injury to death — especially in industries like agriculture and meatpacking, where even adults face high risk. Instead of building a future, these children are being fed into a system that sacrifices their safety, health, and opportunities for the sake of cheap labor.

 

[Optimus Prime]

And the consequences are devastating: children pushed into labor often miss out on education, trapping them in a cycle of low-paying, manual jobs for life. They're also exposed to serious dangers — from injury to death — especially in industries like agriculture and meatpacking, where even adults face high risk. Instead of building a future, these children are being fed into a system that sacrifices their safety, health, and opportunities for the sake of cheap labor.

GOP: "Consequences? Sounds like pros to us"