Post by Eric Blair / Redsky

"In many ways, this bill is truly revolutionary. There has never been this kind of assault on the safety net, and the damage will be so great that it will take [us] years or even decades to undo the damage—if we can manage it at all." We must commit to that now. 1/ @paulwaldman.bsky.social:

They despise Medicaid and have contempt for everyone who uses it. The same goes for SNAP, aka food stamps. They desperately want to cut taxes for the wealthy, and always have. They don’t just want to roll back Biden-era climate policies, they want to destroy the entire green energy and manufacturing sectors of the economy. Their hearts flutter excitedly at the sight of a gang of masked thugs pummeling a landscaper or arresting a 6-year-old with leukemia; the thought of spending $150 billion so ICE can seize millions of immigrants and cart them off to a network of brutal detention centers fills them with joy. That’s just part of what’s in the bill, but the point is that this is the fulfillment of their fondest policy wishes. If it costs them their House majority and maybe even their Senate majority as well (a long shot, but not impossible), they’re willing to do it. Because they believe in it. While we think of politicians as cynical operators who care only about reelection, that isn’t always true. In this case, Republicans have decided that they have an opportunity they may not have again for a long time, and if they’re going to suffer politically anyway, they might as well get as much policy change out of it as they can. In many ways, this bill is truly revolutionary. There has never been this kind of assault on the safety net, and the damage will be so great that it will take Democrats years or even decades to undo the damage — if they can manage it at all. The same goes for what Republicans have done to the executive branch: Whether it was illegal to fire tens of thousands of employees and dismantle one agency after another, the damage is done. If Democrats want to try to rebuild America’s capacity for, for instance, providing foreign aid, they can try, but it won’t be easy. They can try to restore Medicaid after what this bill does to it, but that won’t be easy either. So if Democrats win back control in the midterms and the 2028 presidential election, they w…

jul 3, 2025, 5:31 pm • 95 46

Replies

They are doing it because they hate American values. They hate freedom and equality, they hate giving everyone an equal shot at life, they hate helping the poor, they hate democracy and they worship the tyranny of billionaires. Excellent piece, link: 2/

jul 3, 2025, 5:31 pm • 124 24 • view

"With every immigrant parent torn from their children’s arms, every family that loses their health coverage, every young person who decides to forego college, every rural health clinic that shuts down, every research grant that gets revoked,..."

jul 3, 2025, 5:33 pm • 20 4 • view

"every solar energy project that gets dismantled, they can sit back, smile, and say, “This is why we came to Washington. No matter what happens tomorrow, it was worth it.”

jul 3, 2025, 5:33 pm • 18 2 • view

How do we fix this? We need fighters to lead. Who will fight? The most important fight now is probably criminal prosecutions. We must commit to putting all the criminals in jail. The DOGE people, Russell Vought, Stephen Miller, Trump donors who broke the law: Prosecute. Imprison.

jul 3, 2025, 5:33 pm • 39 10 • view

We have limited traction with Republican politicians. But we can influence Democratic leaders. @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social and @schumer.senate.gov did not fight with every tool they had to stop this bill. We need more forward-thinking leaders.

jul 3, 2025, 5:34 pm • 19 3 • view

They didn't when they had the chance in 2021-24 and they won't again.

jul 3, 2025, 11:28 pm • 0 0 • view

EXACTLY. Historian @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social has repeatedly said that one of the ONLY methods that has proven effective at thwarting strongmen is CRIMINAL prosecutions. This is why I railed & railed & railed in vain for 4 yrs. about Garland.

jul 5, 2025, 7:34 pm • 5 1 • view

They came to Washington to inflict death and poverty.🙄

jul 3, 2025, 11:27 pm • 0 0 • view

They are doing it because this is American values

jul 3, 2025, 6:53 pm • 1 0 • view

Soviet "values" in fact

jul 4, 2025, 5:56 am • 0 0 • view

📌

jul 3, 2025, 7:10 pm • 0 0 • view

4-6 years, tops to fix it. We have a lot of work to do, but it is doable.

jul 3, 2025, 6:37 pm • 0 0 • view

I'll spread around some optimism: a lot of the institutions being torn down are liberal ones that were not good at their job, and weren't designed to be. With them gone, it is easier to argue for a replacement that actually helps everyone. Trump will not be here forever. Medicaid is one of those.

jul 3, 2025, 6:05 pm • 0 0 • view

All of this.

jul 3, 2025, 6:04 pm • 1 0 • view