US budget bill
The US Senate narrowly passed President Trump's comically named 'One Big Beautiful Bill', moving the US a step closer to one of the greatest wealth redistributions in global history. But while American capitalists have always vehemently opposed wealth redistribution, they are fine with this bill, because it takes money out of the pockets of the poor and gives it to billionaires. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill increases the deficit by almost $4 billion, even though Trump had promised to end deficit spending.
The deficit is entirely due to tax cuts that disproportionately favour the rich. Poor people will also get some tax benefits, but over $1 trillion in social service cuts mean they are mostly losing money and essential services.
The richest 0.1% stand to gain an average of $296,160 annually, while the bottom 20% of households will receive a paltry $160 per year. Meanwhile, about $1 trillion in funding cuts come from Medicaid — government-subsidised health insurance for the poorest Americans — and a programme that provides free food to the poor, children and pregnant women. Some 600,000 low-income households could lose an average of $100 monthly in food aid. The health cuts could bankrupt rural hospitals and lead to over 51,000 extra deaths per year.
But the billionaire handout programme's worst impact will be abroad. OBBB eviscerates US foreign aid, slashing billions in funding, and is already causing crises in several aid-dependent countries and health programmes. Independent estimates say as many as 14 million people will die over the next five years due to the cuts to USAID programmes.
Many visitors to the US are surprised at the level of poverty in the world's most powerful country. The reason, according to the nonpartisan RAND Corporation, is straightforward — nearly $80 trillion in wealth in the US has been redistributed from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1% over the past 50 years. Legislation such as this, coming from pseudo-populists who actually only serve their own elite interests, is how this happens.
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