Action 146 Now what?
Background: For the past 6 months, all of us have tried our best to defeat the Big Ugly Bill, starting with Action 16 which we sent on January 23. Maine people who have read about the bill do NOT support it. Congressional Republicans however are mindlessly dancing in celebration of its passage this afternoon (1). What a display of the deadly combination of stupidity and arrogance! Here’s a reminder (2) of some of the provisions in this bill:
· Gives away more than $5 trillion in tax benefits predominantly for the wealthy. Throws a few crumbs at the working class, like the “no tax on tips” – a cruel joke played on innocent people who pay little attention to politics.
· Guts Medicare by more than $1 trillion, causing 17 million Americans to lose their health insurance. People, some you know, will suffer and die as a direct result of this bill. Republicans obviously couldn’t care less.
· Triggers automatic $500 billion across-the-board cuts to Medicare. Whoa, you probably haven’t focused on this issue, but it’s going to result in a hit to your social security income.
· Threatens the closure of more than 300 rural hospitals and more than 500 nursing homes, a primary reason Susan Collins voted against the bill in the Senate. But she voted to advance it to the House for a final vote anyway, when she could probably have stopped it right there in the Senate, if she had the courage.
· Throws millions of veterans, homeless or former foster youth off food assistance. Starves the poor so the filthy rich can throw vulgar wedding parties etc. Leaves the Trump grifting operations intact.
· Raises Americans’ utility bills and eliminates good-paying jobs by gutting and eliminating energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
· Gives ICE a bigger annual budget than the entire US Marine Corps. Cruelty is the point. New prisons are being built by the private prison industry as feeder facilities for deportations. Because there aren’t enough undocumented criminals to fill these facilities, guess who will be rounded up next?
Action: So what do we do? Bernie Sanders says this:
> “Short-term, our immediate goal has to be to defeat Republicans and re-take control of the House and maybe the Senate in the next election by electing candidates who are willing fight back against corporate greed and create an economy that works for all of us, and not just billionaires and large corporations.
> We need to elect people up and down the ballot who have the guts not only to stand up to Trumpism, but to take on the monied interests and fight for a working class that has been ignored for far too long.
> Long term, we must continue our work to build a political movement which is taking on the billionaire class, the right-wing extremist Republican Party and a corporate dominated Democratic Party leadership which is wedded to maintaining the status quo.
> A great nation is not judged by the number of billionaires it has, or by the tax breaks that large corporations receive. It is judged by how we treat the most vulnerable amongst us: the children, the sick, the elderly, the disabled and the poor.
> If there has ever been a time in American history when our people must stand together in the fight for economic, social, racial and environmental justice — now is that time.”
We are in this fight for as long as it takes to get the ship of state on the right course. Remember, “The promise of tomorrow is not born from hope, but from resolve”. (3) Run for office or help someone else run. Contact your county Democratic party and volunteer to turn out the vote in 2026. (For Hancock County, call 207-664-6012). Participate in mass demonstrations, safely and peacefully, such as the one on July 4 from 12-2 in Ellsworth: (theme, Take America Back).
Extra Credit:
(1) https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLqI2isSvls/
(2) based on a message from Nick Guthman of Blue Future, 2:56 pm July 3, 2025
(3) said by a character in a Korean drama on Netflix. You never know w