(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Local 4 newscast minimizes pain One Big Beautiful Bill will inflict on viewers [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-05-21
While most of you in the Eastern time zone were sleeping or trying to sleep, House Republicans were trying to ram through the One Big Beautiful Bill to extend the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy and make draconian cuts to Medicaid and food stamps.
Despite their slim majority, Republicans have been having trouble getting the bill to pass because some Republicans want much crueler cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP).
Maybe I missed it because I was half-awake, but the Local 4 newscast at 6:30 a.m. in Detroit (WDIV, an NBC affiliate) completely failed to mention the cuts to safety net programs in the One Big Beautiful Bill that Donald Trump wants to sign into law.
Those who watched at 6:30 a.m. but tuned out before 7:00 a.m. might have been left with the impression that the One Big Beautiful Bill is just about tax cuts, like maybe for everyone, not just the wealthy. Which, to be clear, would be a very mistaken impression.
Then at 7:00 a.m., the national newscasters from NBC News gave a more balanced picture, with a powerful quote from Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi U. S. House District 2). The former farmer said “We may be here in the dead of night, but you do not need the light of day to smell manure.”
The website of rural radio station KNEB has a report with a longer quote from Rep. Thompson, and also this interesting tidbit I hadn’t heard anywhere else:
Overnight, several Republican members left as Democrats burned the midnight oil — introducing various amendments to the package.
Actually, the KNEB report has more quotes from Democrats.
Rep. Jim McGovern [of Massachusetts], the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, lambasted Republicans’ reconciliation bill. “I’ve got a simple question. What the hell are Republicans so afraid of? What the hell are you so scared of that you guys are holding this hearing at 1 o’clock in the morning. It’s a simple question that speaks to the heart of what’s going on here, and one that I’m going to keep on asking, if Republicans are so proud of what is in this bill, then why are you trying to ram it through in the dead of night?” McGovern said. On Wednesday morning, House Democratic leaders led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [of New York] pushed back on the bill by introducing an amendment — one of the more than 500 amendments submitted by both Democrats and Republicans to the reconciliation package — to strike all provisions that they say would “cause millions of Americans to lose healthcare and food assistance.” “Unfortunately, we are here today discussing a bill that would make that American dream harder to reach for millions by increasing costs for families, hardworking American families, and gutting the things that they need to survive and thrive,” Jeffries said, adding that the bill, if enacted, would force nearly 14 million people off health insurance. Jeffries called the megabill “one, big ugly bill” that will “hurt the American people.”
I emphasize that the One Big Beautiful Bill really is actually big and ugly. But that’s not how WDIV is reporting it. To be fair, the WDIV website, Click on Detroit, does have a report mentioning spending cuts in the first paragraph and mentioning disagreements over the spending cuts in the third paragraph.
House Republicans are getting closer to passing ... Donald Trump's tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up border security as Speaker Mike Johnson attempts to pass the package over unified Democratic opposition by Memorial Day. [...] GOP divisions have narrowed but continue as fiscal conservatives worry the bill doesn’t do enough to curb Medicaid spending, while Republicans from competitive swing districts have expressed concerns about the prospect of their constituents losing access to health coverage and food assistance for constituents.
But to get any detail on the big, ugly bill from that report, you have to scroll down quite a bit.
House Republicans would reduce spending on food aid, what is known as the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, by about $267 billion over 10 years. States would shoulder 5% of benefit costs, beginning in fiscal 2028, and 75% of the administrative costs. Currently, states pay none of the benefit and half of the administration costs. Republicans also are expanding the work requirements to receive food aid. Under current law, able-bodied adults without dependents must fulfill work requirements until they are 54, and that would change under the bill to age 64. Also, some parents are currently exempt from work requirements until their children are 18; that would change so only those caring for a dependent child under the age of 7 are exempt. [...] A focal point of the package is nearly $700 billion in reduced spending in the Medicaid program, according to CBO. To be eligible for Medicaid, there would be new “community engagement requirements” of at least 80 hours per month of work, education or service for able-bodied adults without dependents. The new requirement would not kick in until Jan. 1, 2029, after Trump leaves office. People would also have to verify their eligibility for the program twice a year, rather than just once. Republicans are looking to generate savings with new work requirements. But Democrats warn that millions of Americans will lose coverage. An estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by at least 7.6 million from the Medicaid changes, and possibly more with other changes to the Affordable Care Act.
At least those paragraphs are not all the way down on the Click on Detroit report. But wait a minute… that’s actually an Associated Press report I’ve been quoting which Click on Detroit is relaying. It’s a picture you’re not going to get if you only watch Local 4 on TV but not NBC News or other more balanced sources.
What makes this all the more galling for me is that WDIV runs sentimental ads in which on-air personalities like Jason Colthorp talk about their sense of responsibility and their commitment to be accurate. Those statements need some asterisks.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/21/2323628/-Local-4-newscast-minimizes-pain-One-Big-Beautiful-Bill-will-inflict-on-viewers?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
