Heather Cox Richardson on the Republican budget bill

[erronis]

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-30-2025

Powerful statements by some of the Democrats in the Senate. Extracts:

"This is the most deeply immoral piece of legislation I have ever voted on in my entire time in Congress,” said Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT).

“[W]e're debating a bill that’s going to cut healthcare for 16 million people. It's going to give a tax break to…massively wealthy people who don't need any more money. There are going to be kids who go hungry because of this bill. This is the biggest reduction in…nutrition benefits for kids in the history of the country.” Murphy continued: “We're obviously gonna continue to offer these amendments to try to make it better. So far not a single one of our amendments…has passed, but we'll be here all day, probably all night, giving Republicans the chance over and over and over again to slim down the tax cuts for the corporations or to make life a little bit…less miserable for hungry kids or maybe don't throw as many people off of healthcare. Maybe don't close so many rural hospitals. It's gonna be a long day and a long night.”

“This bill is a farce,” said Senator Angus King (I-ME). “Imagine a bunch of guys sitting around a table, saying, ‘I've got a great idea. Let's give $32,000 worth of tax breaks to a millionaire and we’ll pay for it by taking health insurance away from lower-income and middle-income people. And to top it off, how about we cut food stamps, we cut SNAP, we cut food aid to people?’... I've been in this business of public policy now for 20 years, eight years as governor, 12 years in the United States Senate. I have never seen a bill this bad. I have never seen a bill that is this irresponsible, regressive, and downright cruel.”

. . .

The Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill takes wealth from the American people to give it to the very wealthy and corporations, and Democrats are calling their colleagues out.

“This place feels to me, today, like a crime scene,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said on the floor of the Senate. “Get some of that yellow tape and put it around this chamber. This piece of legislation is corrupt. This piece of legislation is crooked. This piece of legislation is a rotten racket. This bill cooked up in back rooms, dropped at midnight, cloaked in fake numbers with huge handouts to big Republican donors. It loots our country for some of the least deserving people you could imagine. When I first got here, this chamber filled me with awe and wonderment. Today, I feel disgust.”

[Henry203]

1. Republican's believe in the poor house

They like to punish poor people. They feel if you can’t afford health insurance then you should die.

[erronis]

3. Otherwise stated: If you can't pay my insurance buddies lots of $$$s for premiums, you should die.

[Henry203]

4. Even if you can the insurance is terrible

I bought insurance for 20 years. It is terrible. My friend is now in that position. As he states " i pay 20,000 a year and I am barely covered."

[sop]

2. It's no coincidence Trump is stepping up ICE raids, detentions and deportations right now.

it's the only thing keeping his bloodthirsty MAGA lunatics happy and distracted. Without all those dramatic videos of ICE goons brutalizing immigrants on FOX News every night, his moronic base might have to focus on how Republicans are fucking them over.