Climate change is inadmissible in Republican political thought, such as it is, yet the Trump Administration creates new icebergs every week, hoping to distract voters. As menacing as a GOP-Berg may appear, there is far more hidden below the surface-- out of sight-- from voters.
Improbable remarks from two people not famous for honest discourse helped bring this into focus as the US Senate prepares to debate and vote on what Donald Trump, in his real estate salesman mindset, calls a Big Beautiful Budget Bill. Will a loss here mirror the Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage?
Yes, it is big and it is a budget bill, but it's beautiful only to a sociopath who wants to be president for life in a nation whose political and social life will more closely resemble China or North Korea.
The "improbables" this week are Elon Musk and Marjorie Taylor Greene, both of whom were critical of Trump, for their own reasons.
Musk wrote on his X social media platform, “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did the wrong thing. You know it. It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
Republican firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, in a rare moment of personal honesty, admitted that not only did she not read the 1,116-page spending bill before voting for it, but she would have voted against it had she read it thoroughly.
She bitched that it had provisions on page 278 that would prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence systems for a decade. The Georgia Congresswoman said, "I am adamantly OPPOSED to this and it is a violation of state rights and I would have voted NO if I had known this was in there.”
Democratic lawmakers, who all voted against the bill, noted her remarks.“You have one job: To. Read. The. Bill,” wrote Rep. Eric Swalwell. Rep while Mark Pocan said, “Read the f**king bill instead of clapping for it like a performing monkey. You should have done your job while it was written. You didn’t. You own that vote.”
Voters booed Rep. Mike Flood of Nebraska at a tense town hall last week when he admitted that a provision restricting federal judges’ ability to enforce contempt orders was “unknown” to him when he voted for the same bill. “I am not going to hide the truth: this provision was unknown to me when I voted for that bill,” Flood told the audience, prompting shouts from constituents who responded: “You voted for all of it.”
Just two nights before the bill’s markup, the AI provision was added, banning state and local governments from pursuing “any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems” for 10 years, unless the purpose is to facilitate deployment of such systems.
Consider this: it comes just as the federal government is contracting to build a "Big Brother" database of all Americans across every aspect of their lives. Facial recognition systems, generative AI, and automated decision-making tools are used in hiring, housing, and public benefits. Several states have already passed laws creating safeguards around such systems, which could become unenforceable if the bill, as is, passes the Senate. Unlikely given that several senators don't seem bothered to be on Trump's hit list
From a historical perspective, the addition of seemingly obscure language written into large budget bills is nothing new. What's different this time is that the rush by Republicans has made a careful reading of 1,000+ pages difficult. This bill is not a crime novel that captures your mind until it’s finished. The budget bill is more like reading the terms and conditions with some software you just bought. We check yes and never read it. The bill includes significant cuts to healthcare and social programs, with reductions to Medicaid affecting millions of Americans. Consistent with how the Republicans prove they are reverse Robin Hoods, taking from the poor to give to the rich.
“Reading is fundamental! Maybe if your colleagues weren’t so hellbent on jamming a bill down our throats in the dead of night, and bending the knee to Trump, you would’ve caught this, Sis!” Said Rep. Yvette Clarke. “Oh, Marjorie! If you had read the bill, you would’ve also seen that 149,705 of your constituents could lose their Medicaid," was the admonishment from Rep. Delia Ramirez.
Four months of an administration focused on creating a crisis mentality with chaos and confusion isn't going to end if this budget is killed or altered to avoid its worst excesses. If this is stopped because various oppositional forces came together, it will be a hopeful sign that the flim-flam magicians opposed to democracy have lost some of their grip on people with their faux biblical representation of an America that never existed.
By: Kenneth Tiven