- The GOP tax bill will hurt lowest earners and help the rich (of course!);
- NYT’s Jamelle Bouie on Republican hypocrisy and the countryside;
- Trek v. Wars, and how Wars reveals conservatives’ authoritarian fantasies.
NY Times, Tony Romm, 16 May 2025: G.O.P. Tax Bill May Hurt the Lowest Earners and Help the Richest, subtitled “Even though most Americans may see lower taxes, Republicans’ spending cuts could outweigh those benefits and leave some worse off.”
May? May? It’s always happened like that in the past. That’s why some from the left criticize NYT for being too accommodating.
As Representative Jason Smith commenced a marathon session this week to consider a sprawling and expensive Republican tax package, he took special care to emphasize his party’s commitment to “hard-working Americans.”
“Pro-growth tax policy will shift our economy toward one that serves them, not the wealthy and well-connected,” Mr. Smith, the Missouri lawmaker who leads the House’s top tax panel, proclaimed.
But the proposal he is trying to get to President Trump’s desk ultimately tells a more complicated story. The Republican tax plan may offer only modest gains to everyday workers, according to a wide range of tax experts, and some taxpayers may actually be left in worse financial shape if the bill becomes law.
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For example.
NY Times, Jamelle Bouie, 17 May 2025: Republican Hypocrisy Reaches Into the Countryside
President Trump won his second term in office with the overwhelming support of rural America.
Not only was overall turnout up in the nation’s rural counties, but Trump won many of those areas by more than two-to-one. And while it is a little too much to say that Trump’s dominance with rural voters delivered him the White House, it is true that without this over-performance, his path to victory would have been harder.
Given the importance of rural voters to his political coalition — and that of any Republican who hopes to follow in his footsteps — you might assume that Trump would prioritize the interests of rural voters. This is, after all, what you’re supposed to do in a democracy: reward your supporters for their support.
Not so for Trump and his Republican allies in Congress. If anything, their agenda is calibrated to devastate rural America.
Consider the budget proposal now making its way through the House of Representatives. To pay for their $3.8 trillion tax plan, which includes possibly trillions in tax cuts and extensions for the wealthiest Americans, Republicans want to cut $700 billion from Medicaid and other federal health programs. If passed into law, these cuts — some which come in the form of work requirements for Medicaid — could cause as many as 8.6 million Americans to lose their health insurance.
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And this. I’ve never been a Star Wars fan — it struck me as juvenile space opera, from the first time I watched the first film — while Trek instilled in me an idealism about the future at an early age, and which I’ve never abandoned. In both cases, I have not followed up on the subsequent TV series and movies. Especially since Trek has veered away from the point of the original series. (There’s a narrative pattern here: adaptations usually dilute the premise of the original in favor of themes more palatable to the masses. Just consider the original novel FRANKENSTEIN compared to the many, many adaptations and sequels by others.
Mother Jones, Sam Van Pykeren, 16 May 2025: How Star Wars Reveals Conservatives’ Authoritarian Fantasies, subtitle: “Republicans are gunning for their own galactic empire. And they’d blow up a planet—or this country—to make it happen.”
Running late this afternoon, or I’d explore this in detail.
