The first hurdle for Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” was cleared last week when the House passed the legislation with only a single vote to spare.
Now, however, it appears as though the bill is likely to die in the Senate “as is,” as numerous GOP Senators have voiced their concerns about the legislation.
At the top of the list of GOP Senators who will not accept the legislation as it is currently written is Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), who has called the bill “unacceptable.”
To this point, Trump has relied on bullying anyone who does not support the bill, threatening them with a primary challenge, but Johnson has been adamant that it will not work on him. He further stated, “I couldn’t care less if he’s upset. I’m concerned about my children, my grandchildren, and the fact that we are stealing from them.
“We are stealing from our children and grandchildren. $37 trillion in debt, and we’re going to add to it as Republicans? That is unacceptable.”
Johnson is not alone, as Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has also been very critical of the cuts he sees in the bill.
He stated, “I think the cuts currently in the bill are wimpy and anemic. But I still would support the bill, even with wimpy and anemic cuts, if they weren’t going to explode the debt.
“The problem is the math doesn’t add up. They’re going to explode the debt by — the House says $4 trillion, the Senate’s actually been talking about exploding the debt $5 trillion. This year in September, when our fiscal year ends, the deficit will be about $2.2 trillion."
He later added, “People are going to wake up in about two months and say, how come the deficit’s still $2.2 trillion? Where did the savings go? People are going be very disappointed conservatives. And I’m the one ringing the alarm saying they’re not doing anything.”
These two are far from the only GOP Senators who are concerned about how much this bill will add to the national debt, with virtually no hope of being able to reduce that number before Trump leaves office.
Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John Curtis (R-UT), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) recently penned a letter to Senator Majority Leader Thune (R-S.D.), which stated, “We caution against the full-sale repeal of current credits, which could lead to significant disruptions for the American people and weaken our position as a global energy leader.”
I have to be honest… If I were in office right now, there is no way I would support this legislation as a conservative.
The party ran on reducing the national debt, and this will add to it. I think the no-tax on tips aspect of the bill is utterly ridiculous (why does someone who makes $50,000 a year in tips not get taxed while someone making $50,000 in salary does?). I also believe the Golden Dome is a complete and utter waste of money at a time when we don’t have that kind of money to spend.
There is a lot of good in that bill, but we have to figure out a way to pay for these bills without adding to the national debt because sooner or later, this house of cards we have created will collapse the value of the American dollar, and when that happens, the global economy collapses, and that is just not something I can support.
