(C) Common Dreams
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The GOP’s Budget Reconciliation Bill Is Policy Violence [1]

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Date: 2025-06-30 14:52:31+00:00

Earlier this year, we released a report with the faith-based anti-poverty group Repairers of the Breach and the Economic Policy Institute on how the GOP budget bill and other Trump administration policies are harming ordinary people. We’re updating it periodically with new fact sheets like this one. Read the original report and see the other fact sheets here.

The GOP’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” represents the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich since chattel slavery. The slashing of vital services would cause a surge of economic insecurity and preventable deaths while massive hikes in military and deportation funding would perpetuate endless wars and the senseless destruction of immigrant families and their communities.

The Largest Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP Food Assistance in History

Tax Giveaways to the Wealthy and Large Corporations

Wipeout for the poor: The House and Senate tax plans would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest households and biggest corporations. Cuts to health care, student loans, and other vital services would wipe out the minor tax benefits for working families. A CBO analysis of the House bill’s combined tax and spending policies finds that the poorest 10% of households would suffer a net loss of $1,600 per year on average.

The House and Senate tax plans would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest households and biggest corporations. Cuts to health care, student loans, and other vital services would wipe out the minor tax benefits for working families. A CBO analysis of the House bill’s combined tax and spending policies finds that the poorest 10% of households would suffer a net loss of $1,600 per year on average. Tax cuts for the top: Under both the House and the Senate bills, the richest 5% of Americans would receive 45% of net tax cuts. For the richest 1%, the average net tax cut would total more than $61,000.

Under both the House and the Senate bills, the richest 5% of Americans would receive 45% of net tax cuts. For the richest 1%, the average net tax cut would total more than $61,000. Estate tax: Both bills would raise the amount of wealth exempted from the estate tax to $30 million per couple, up from $14 million before the 2017 tax reform. Wealthy heirs would enjoy a one-time tax savings of $6.4 million while 99.8% of American families would not get a single penny from this tax cut.

Both bills would raise the amount of wealth exempted from the estate tax to $30 million per couple, up from $14 million before the 2017 tax reform. Wealthy heirs would enjoy a one-time tax savings of $6.4 million while 99.8% of American families would not get a single penny from this tax cut. Corporate taxes: Both bills keep the corporate tax rate at 21%, a drastic reduction from the 35% pre-2018 rate – despite the fact that ordinary workers have not benefited from this rate reduction. The Senate bill also includes more than $1 billion in new tax breaks and subsidies for the fossil fuel industry – on top of existing subsidies for the industry that accelerate climate change while costing taxpayers an estimated $17 billion per year.

Both bills keep the corporate tax rate at 21%, a drastic reduction from the 35% pre-2018 rate – despite the fact that ordinary workers have not benefited from this rate reduction. The Senate bill also includes more than $1 billion in new tax breaks and subsidies for the fossil fuel industry – on top of existing subsidies for the industry that accelerate climate change while costing taxpayers an estimated $17 billion per year. Child Tax Credit: Despite modest increases in the maximum CTC, the bills would still deny benefits to an estimated 17 million children whose parents earn too little to receive the full credit. The House bill would require both parents to have Social Security numbers to qualify, leaving out an additional 4.5 million children who are U.S. citizens or lawful residents. The Senate version would require at least one parent to have a Social Security number, stripping this benefit from an estimated 2 million children.

Billions More for the Bloated Pentagon Budget

President Trump is requesting a record-high $1.011 trillion for the Pentagon and war for FY 2026. Because regular appropriations bills require a 60-vote Senate majority, the administration is maneuvering to push $119 billion of this Pentagon budget through the reconciliation bill, which requires only a straight majority.

One component of the Pentagon funding in the reconciliation bill is $25 billion to begin building the “Golden Dome,” a missile defense system that is economically and physically impossible and would only drain more money from social programs to enrich wealthy Pentagon contractors, including Elon Musk.

Mass Deportations and Detentions

The reconciliation bill provides roughly another $150 billion to arrest, detain, and deport immigrants, and for a border wall and militarization in the next few years.

That includes $45 billion for building new immigration detention centers, including family detention facilities — a 364% increase on an annual basis that would primarily benefit private companies contracted to build and run detention facilities. It also includes $51.6 billion for border wall construction.

A Moral Budget Versus Policy Violence

Instead of inflicting policy violence on the most vulnerable, Congress should harness America’s abundant wealth to create a moral economy that works for all of us. By fairly taxing the wealthy and big corporations, reducing our bloated military budget, and de-militarizing immigration policy, we could free up more than enough public funds to ensure we can all survive and thrive. As our country approaches its 250th anniversary, we have no excuse for not investing our national resources in ways that reflect our Constitutional values: to establish justice, domestic tranquility, real security, and the general welfare for all.

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[1] Url: https://ips-dc.org/the-high-moral-stakes-of-the-policy-battles-raging-in-washington-budget-reconciliation/

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