I'm conservative and I agree with Elon Musk. Trump's big bill is a big mess.

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2 days ago

I'm old enough to remember when Republicans believed passing thousand-page bills in the middle of the night was unacceptable. But that's exactly how the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" passed the United States House of Representatives.
Once again, those of us who believe in limited government and fiscal sanity are expected to "compromise" as Washington sends the clear message that it has no intention of taxing and spending in any coherent fashion.
The measure heading for the U.S. Senate isn't without positives. Tax stabilization is excellent policy. When our leaders whipsaw the tax code back and forth, lobbyists and special interests win. American families lose. To that end, extending the 2017 individual tax cuts makes sense. Americans should keep more of their hard-earned money.
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I could even understand Republicans caving on state and local tax (SALT) provisions that essentially reward liberal states for their burdensome tax regimes. If the price for extending broad-based tax cuts is giving New York and California a win, I might be able to hold my nose and push it through.
But Republicans have yet again ignored what those tax cuts must mean for spending. More specifically, they shouldn't spend what they don't have.
Nowhere is the future blueprint for American indebtedness more apparent than at the literal end of this legislative monstrosity. The last four words of the bill are 'is increased by $4,000,000,000,000.'
The debt limit, that is.
Why on earth would Republicans need to up the debt limit by that much if they didn't intend to use it? Maybe it's a coincidence that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the Big Beautiful Budget Buster will add about $3 trillion to the national debt.
The truth is, it's actually worse than that.
As a former Capitol Hill attorney, I'll let you in on a little secret: Washington politicians lie with something called 'the budget window.' Typically, CBO estimates the financial impacts of legislation over 10 years. Politicians load spending and tax cuts in the near-term and push the savings to the out years.
According to the CBO, House Republicans have done exactly that … again.
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The legislation contains "enhancements" – a classic D.C. euphemism for "more of your money" – across the board. Title II, for instance, throws billions at the Department of Defense for everything from "improving the quality of life for military personnel" (Sec. 20001), to shipbuilding (Sec. 20002) and air superiority (Sec. 20007). We've even got $75 million to buy anti-lock brakes for Army wheeled transport vehicles (Sec. 20010).
While a strong defense is paramount, the lack of serious discussion about offsetting any of these new spending items is, as usual, deafening.
Then there's Title VII with significant outlays for "Border barrier system construction" (Sec. 60001) and a surge in U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel (Sec. 60002).
Title VII, under the Committee on the Judiciary, earmarks funds for increased "Adult alien detention capacity" (Sec. 70101) and the hiring of more U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel (Sec. 70103). Border security is critical, no doubt. But the price tag attached in this bill seems to balloon without any corresponding fiscal trade-offs.
And some of it is just weird.
The legislation provides $813 million for 'the lease or acquisition of additional marked [Customs and Border Protection vehicles] (Section 60002(d)). Let's assume these are exceptionally nice vehicles at $100,000 each. That's 8,130 vehicles over the next several years. Are we trying to build the wall out of squad cars?
Now, let's dig a little deeper into the tax provisions in Title XI, charmingly subtitled "The One, Big, Beautiful Bill" within the larger "One Big Beautiful Bill.' The House Ways and Means Committee folks clearly want to let us know where the real action happens. The tax sections include, among other goodies of limited application, an "Enhanced deduction for seniors" (Sec. 110103), a provision for "No tax on car loan interest" (Sec. 110104), 'No tax on tips' (Sec. 110101) and 'MAGA Accounts' (Sec. 110115, Sec. 110116), which have been renamed 'Trump Accounts.'
Remember when Republicans used to say the government had no business picking economic winners and losers? We've clearly moved past that sentiment. Carving out tax exceptions creates an uneven playing field and complicates an already labyrinthine tax code.
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It also raises questions about fairness. Why should tip income be treated differently than wages earned by someone in a non-tipped profession?
The Trump Accounts are tax-deferred investment accounts with the federal government seeding $1,000 into accounts for a small cohort of newborns. I'm all for kids learning to save and invest, but I thought we were done handing out random government checks after the COVID-19 pandemic.
I wish I could tell you that Republicans are putting us on a different fiscal trajectory, but the best they've done is something akin to Democrat Light – all the debt on half the spending.
The "One Big Beautiful Bill" certainly lives up to its name in one respect: It is, indeed, big. Whether it's beautiful depends on whether you're the one left holding the bill.
For those of us who believe that generational theft via national debt is wrong, this is simply the next unfortunate chapter in America's unrelenting addiction to spending beyond its means.
USA TODAY Network Tennessee Columnist Cameron Smith is a Memphis-born, Brentwood-raised recovering political attorney raising four boys in Nolensville, Tennessee, with his particularly patient wife, Justine. Direct outrage or agreement to [e-mail] or @DCameronSmith on Twitter. Agree or disagree? Send a letter to the editor to [e-mail]
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Musk on Big Beautiful Bill is right. Trump's plan sucks | Opinion