San José, CA – On Friday, July 4, President Trump signed his “Big Beautiful Bill” of tax cuts for the wealthy, cuts to health insurance and food stamps for the poor, and more attacks on immigrants.

The tax cuts are so large that, despite historic cuts to Medicaid and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps), the federal government will be borrowing more than $300 billion more each year for the next ten years.

The new law cuts taxes about $450 billion a year over the next ten years, mainly benefiting higher income households. Using adjusted gross income, we can see the richer a household, the more money Trump and the Republicans’ new law gives to them.

Those in the top 20% of income, over $120,390 per year, get a $5753 tax break. The ones in the top 1%, over $649,005 per year, get a $29,585 tax break. And those in the top 0.1% highest income, over $3.3 million, get over a $100,000 tax break.

On the other hand, low-income households will actually pay more taxes and receive fewer and lower benefits from the federal government. The new law takes from the poor and gives to the rich, Robin Hood in reverse.

Those in the lowest 20% of income, under $13,350, will lose $695 by paying taxes and/or losing SNAP and Medicaid benefits. The next lowest 20%, those from $13,350 to $36,475, will pay $125 more in taxes and/or get less in government benefits.

The biggest cut to government funded health care is a $85 billion a year cut to Medicaid under the Trump/Republican Party law. More than 10 million Americans will lose their health insurance because of these cuts, and millions more will have to pay more for their health care.

Many rural hospitals that rely on Medicaid payments for their patients will fold up shop, creating more “health care deserts,” where patients have to travel an hour or more for hospital care. More than 25 million people in the United States do not have any health insurance and the cuts will make the situation even worse.

$30 billion a year will be cut from SNAP, and there are more cuts to programs supporting local food banks. Similarly, more than 40 million Americans are considered “food insecure,” meaning that they are not sure of feeding their household throughout the month, and the cuts to SNAP and aid to food banks will force more to go hungry and/or rely on unhealthy foods.

The new law also hits hard with almost $170 billion more funding to ICE and Border Patrol, meaning that they can expand their raids and terrorization of Chicano and Latino communities and workplaces in particular. At the same time, the new law limits families of immigrants, including U.S.-born citizen children, from accessing government-funded health insurance and higher education. It also makes immigrants pay more to apply for court proceedings and to send remittances home to their families.

Last but not least, the new law will require hundreds of billions of dollars more borrowing each year. The federal government budget deficit is already at $1.9 trillion this year, the largest ever outside of times of war or economic crisis. The law could lead to the deficit growing to more than $3.2 trillion a year, even assuming that there is no recession or major war for the next ten years. This will lead to higher interest rates, which will tend to slow down economic growth in the longer term.

#SanJoseCA #CA #CapitalismAndEconomy #Trump #BigBeautifulBill #ImmigrantRights #HealthInsurance #FoodStamps #SNAP #Medicaid #Feature

On December 4, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in broad daylight, right in front of the hotel where a UHC investors meeting was set to begin. What followed was a multi-million dollar manhunt that culminated in the arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione.

Since then, the ruling class media have worked overtime to paint Mangione as a villain, although he represents people’s righteous anger at a health “care” system that is killing us.

In one breath, Fox News hosts derided those who applaud Mangione as “nutbags” and claimed they had a “sickness.” Then, in the same segment, Laura Ingram said subway killer Daniel Penny was a hero. She supports individuals such as Daniel Penny because of a deeply rooted racism and white chauvinism. In Ingram’s world, the actions of Daniel Penny, the white ex-Marine found not guilty of the murder of Jordan Neely, a homeless Black person and street performer, meet with her approval precisely because she embraces keeping the oppressed oppressed.

The hypocrisy is blatant and unsurprising. Fox News is silently shouting that the life of a Black homeless man is worth less than the life of a high-powered white health insurance executive.

Right-wingers love vigilantism as long as it doesn’t target the rich and powerful. They celebrate racist killers like George Zimmerman, Kyle Rittenhouse and Daniel Penny but condemn Luigi Mangione.

It’s not just the right-wing media that is trying to persuade Americans against Mangione; liberal publications like The Daily Beast have published headlines like “Luigi Mangione Destroyed His Grandfather’s Rags-to-Riches Legacy.” The media is attempting to frame the focus away from the systemic failures Mangione’s actions highlighted and redirect it toward character assassination. The media tries to turn the public eye towards the privileged upbringing of Mangione and attempts to bury the man’s chronic suffering, which was much like the suffering of many Americans.

This isn't an issue of “left-wing lunatics” celebrating the death of a CEO. The events of the last week shine a light on the hundreds of thousands of Americans drowning in medical debt and grieving loved ones who were killed by the profit-driven healthcare industry. Sky-high premiums, along with benefits that are cut more steeply each year, are taking a toll on the people. The Peter G. Peterson Foundation found that in 2022, the average American spent significantly more on healthcare than other countries, at $13,493 per person or $4.5 trillion nationwide.

Additionally, Statista reports, “As of 2023, around 19 percent of U.S. adults were satisfied with the total healthcare cost in the United States.” According to Value Penguin, UnitedHealthcare’s claim denial rate is the highest in the industry, at 32%. Physicians for a National Health Program also found that 44,789 Americans die every year due to a lack of healthcare. The United States of America is touted as the wealthiest country in the world. Yet, it is the only developed nation that does not provide free universal healthcare to its citizens.

The American people are aware of the growing social inequality. They are aware of the ways that the wealthy 1% uses power and money to disenfranchise the masses. Therefore, the ruling class must contend with what will undoubtedly be increased hostility as the people grapple with the hypocrisies of our present society.

Luigi Mangione is not the villain – the healthcare industry is. Ultimately, Brian Thompson's death does not undo this for-profit industry's systemic failures. Individual actions like this are not the answer. Organizing is.

Donald Trump will be sworn in as president soon, and he has already promised to undo the Affordable Care Act. What the killing of Brian Thompson has shown is that the masses of the American people want something better, sooner rather than later. Now is the time to demand single-payer healthcare. The current system, which places the profits of the wealthy before the needs of the people, needs to go.

#Opinion #Commentary #Healthcare #LuigiMangione #HealthInsurance