The Republican fantasy of lower taxes and hard-to-access social safety net programs will now be a reality
For decades, Republicans have argued that the US would be better off if taxes were low, and programs to help low-income Americans were harder to access. With Donald Trump’s marquee tax and spending bill now set to become law, the country will find out what it’s like to live under that sort of system.
The massive legislation that Trump plans to sign Friday will make his campaign promises a reality by extending tax cuts enacted during his first term, and creating new deductions aimed at the working-class voters who backed his re-election.
But it will also fundamentally reorder two major social safety net programs, slashing funding and imposing new work requirements that nonpartisan estimates say will cost millions of people their benefits. The ripple effects, experts say, will be felt across the country, and not just by the poor.
I used to game with a veteran who broke his back during his last tour. He could still get around, but had enough problems that he was on disability and spent most of his time gaming. He was also a huge Trump supporter who constantly talked about “welfare queens” and immigrants destroying the country… He also sold things online and didn’t report his income from that so he could keep his disability. A perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black, and I still wouldn’t take his disability away if it meant other people that rely on theirs also had theirs taken.