That Big Fat Bill on Capitol Hill

Thank you USA Today and Schoolhouse Rock

It is rare that I sit down without a precise plan on what I am about to write.

All I know is that the United States Congress has let the Nation down again.

I don’t blame Donald Trump for the so called Big Beautiful Bill. I know who he is. He told me in his first term and throughout the campaign. He tells me every day.

He is defined by his greed, his complete lack of empathy, and his cynicism about our country, our Constitution, and our history. The bill is just a reflection of the man.

So, there were no surprises in H.R. 1.

It should have simply been called the Anti-Robin Hood Act. Take from the poor and give to the rich. The only similarity between Trump and Robin Hood is that both are outlaws, ignoring the common law to do as they please. As to the nobility of the cause, Robin’s redistribution of wealth wins hands down.

Larry Summers said, "This law made me ashamed of my country."

The Economist pointed out that it shows the "hollowness of Trumponomics."

Another columnist said that the bill would "sacrifice the least of us to the almighty dollar."

The York Dispatch said that it "rewards the rich, punishes the poor, and burdens us all."

And never forget. This atrocity was brought to you by the Republican Party and completely misrepresented by Trump State TV, Fox News. Oh, and it was passed by the tie-breaking vote of J.D. Vance.

I will not recite for you the pearl-clutching quotes from Senators Josh Hawley, Ron Johnson, Ted Cruz, and Lisa Murkowski about the immorality of taking health care from the poor. And while we can give some credit to Tillis, Collins, and Paul for voting no on this abomination, they are the Senators whose votes assured the confirmation of the Clown Car Cabinet that crafted and lobbied in favor of this law.

In the case of Lisa Murkowski, (the Senator from the state that receives more federal money per capita than any other), she and Majority Leader John Thune sold us all down the river. Let the poor, the disabled, the elderly, and the children from the other 49 states suffer, but spare the Alaskans and you've got Lisa's vote. Her one vote could have stopped this evil train, but she jumped aboard at the last second. Pathetic.

Then there is the House Freedom Caucus, whose members Chip Roy and Keith Self of Texas, Andy Harris of Maryland, and Ralph Norman of South Carolina were outspoken opponents of the bill until the final vote. Only Tom Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania joined the Democrats in casting a "no" vote at the end of the day. The 2025 Republican “Profiles in Courage” could be written on the back of an envelope. If it were a movie, it would be a short.

There once was a time when our Congress was made up of citizen legislators. Its members were doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, priests, and farmers whose vocations were only partially defined by their service in Washington. If they stood up for principle and were defeated, they’d pack their wagon and ride back home to continue their primary livelihood.

But today, the job is so tied up with ego, power, and money, that we have professional legislators who can be bought, sold, and frightened into submission. If they lose their seat, they lose their livelihood, their power, and their position in the community. Yes, many have those law degrees, but they couldn’t file a simple motion or write a brief. It’s been just too long.

The facts about this bill are clear.

• It will explode the national debt

• It will strip health care from the most vulnerable

• It will take food from children

• It will sustain large tax breaks for people and corporations that don’t need them.

Some of you will doubtless argue about the last bullet. My only question is, if you support the tax breaks, at what cost?

The people who put this legislation together, are cruel but not stupid. The tax breaks are immediate, but the most painful cuts will not occur until after the midterm elections. This calendar will put pressure on us to sustain our outrage. And it will require a message that ties new Congressional majorities in the House and Senate to definable outcomes for the working class.

One of the many disappointments about this Lex Horrenda was it's passage on the eve of Independence Day. Our putrid president wanted to make its signing a symbol of his promises made, promises kept. Never mind the fact that the promises made by our Founders to establish justice, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity, were ignored in this law. The promises made by FDR in the New Deal, John F. Kennedy in the New Frontier, and Lyndon Johnson in the Great Society, were trampled in the dirt by the Trump promise of take from the poor to help the rich.

I truly love the Fourth of July. It was my favorite holiday growing up and oh how I looked forward to the hometown parade, backyard crab feasts, and massive fireworks each year. During the majority of my career at the National Archives, I had the opportunity to work on Independence Day. You've heard me say it before. If you work at the Vatican, you never have Christmas Eve off. If you work at the home of the Declaration of Independence, you work on the Fourth of July.

But we were in mourning in our household on July 4, 2025. The Spirit of '76 was nowhere to be found.

I am happy to report that the sun came up on July 5th and when I opened my eyes, I thought of my Uncle Charles. It would have been his 101st birthday.

Charles enlisted in the United States Army in March of 1943 and with his brave comrades stormed the beach at Normandy on June 6, 1944. He went on to fight in the Battle of the Bulge and was among the forces that liberated the German concentration camps. He fought to fulfill the promises of America, not a wanna be tyrant. It is in his honor that I bounced back from a dreary July 4th with a razor focus on the future.

It is in his honor that I am resolved to maintain the drum beat. It is in his honor that I will continue to tell the story of this defining piece of legislation. It is in his honor that I will help many of you ensure that the Big Beautiful Bill is a big beautiful anchor that will take the Republican Party to the bottom in 2026, 2028 and beyond.

You can't ignore something this big.