Action 139 Kill BUBB
Background: The Big Ugly Budget Bill is wending its poisonous way through the Senate. The bill is so noxious that Paul Krugman has dubbed it “a sadistic monstrosity” (1). One of the most important things our Congress critters can do, right now, is to defeat and dismember this bill*. We have to use whatever influence we can muster to get them to kill it, pick it apart, discard the poisonous provisions, and go back to something approaching “regular order” (2). Individual legislators may be persuaded by a variety of reasons to work against the BUBB. We can help them to find those reasons, and let them know we are watching their response.
What are some of the obvious and also some of the sneaky poisons in the bill? They are numerous and include the following sampling. You may find others in your news feeds. The bill:
· Drastically cuts SNAP, Medicaid, education, research, public broadcasting, clean energy, and much more, while at the same time providing hefty tax benefits to the very rich. (4, 1)
· Deprives millions of people of medical insurance funded by the affordable care act. (3)
· Adds trillions to the national debt (5) and billions to our already bloated military budget. Adding to the deficit automatically requires cuts to Medicare.
· Requires anyone suing the government to pay a bond before the court can enforce injunctions or restraining orders against illegal actions by the Trump government. (6)
· Prevents states from regulating artificial intelligence (AI), including its use in political campaigns and elections. If a state does not comply, they would lose federal funding for internet expansion. (7)
· Repeals most federal clean energy and climate programs, ensuring higher levels of climate pollution and higher energy bills for millions. (you can join a phone bank against this provision)
Action: Continue to contact our delegation about the “sadistic monstrosity”. Also, write a letter to the editor. Join the phone bank June 24 on climate. Prepare for another peaceful protest on July 17. “Good trouble lives on”. (8) Remember, the federal budget is more than just a set of numbers. It expresses the policy priorities of our nation, and right now those priorities are totally messed up.
Contact:
Senator Susan Collins: Email: www.collins.senate.gov/contact/email-senator-collins/form
Phone: (202) 224-2523 (DC office), (207) 945-0417 (Bangor office)
Senator Angus King: Email www.king.senate.gov/contact
Phone: (202) 224-5344 (DC office), (207) 945-8000 (Bangor office)
Representative Jared Golden: Email: golden.house.gov/contact
Phone: (202) 224-3121 (DC office), (207) 249-7400 (Bangor office)
Representative Chellie Pingree: Email: https://pingree.house.gov/contact/
Phone: (202) 225-6116 (DC office), (207) 774-5019 (Portland office)
Urgency: Do something about the budget bill, every week, starting now.
Extra Credit:
(1) https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/reverse-robin-hood-and-trumpian-totalitarianism
(2) https://www.brookings.edu/articles/restoring-regular-order-in-congressional-appropriations/
(3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTgX35jS5WA and https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-republicans-massive-budget-bill-impacts-the-affordable-care-act
(4) https://www.instagram.com/p/DLK7gH3P-Bp/ and https://bobbyscott.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/scott-republican-budget-big-bad-bill and https://taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/house-budget-bill-fails-key-tax-reform-tests
(5) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/big-beautiful-bill-house-tax-trump/
(6) https://campaignlegal.org/update/these-hidden-provisions-budget-bill-undermine-our-democracy
(7) https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/budget-bills-troubling-ai-provision
(8) https://goodtroubleliveson.org/?SQF_SOURCE=50501 More information will develop on this. Rallies are already scheduled in Auburn and York!)
* Arguably the other most important thing they could do is reassert their Constitutional responsibility as the branch with the sole power to declare war, and prevent us from entering ano