Before I wade into today’s commentary, you should know that Republican Senators Susan Collins, Rand Paul and Thom Tillis, all of whom voted against President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted for the bill after gaining several sweeteners for Alaska, share my July Fool’s Day recognition. More on their votes later.
Commentary
Last November, Americans voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump’s promises to make America great again, a mandate to secure our border and deport illegals, drill baby drill to restore our energy leadership, strengthen our military and reduce our taxes, among other things.
The legislation that provided the means to fulfill those promises became known as the president’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” and I believe it was the responsibility of Republicans in the House and Senate to expedite its passage, to demonstrate that they were united and loyal to their president.
Oh, I understand they are elected to look after the interests of their constituents, but the majority of voters, even those in swing states, liked what they heard from Trump.
Looking back to Biden’s massive Infrastructure Bill, commonly referred to as the climate bill. Did those Democrats who supported this bill believe their constituents wanted $7.5 billion spent on electric vehicle charging stations, and spending billions more on electric school buses, known for their problems? How about the expenditure of $66 billion for Amtrak?
The July Fools
Susan Collins’ vote wasn’t a surprise. She always finds an issue for her to cross over and vote Democrat. This time it was her fear of the cutbacks in Medicaid that would affect some 400,000 Mainiacs.
Thom Tillis said he voted against the bill because he believed the cuts in Medicaid would affect thousands of North Carolina residents.
Since Tillis announced that he will not be running for another term, he could have voted in favor with no need to be concerned with voter backlash
With a concern that the bill would increase the national debt, Rand Paul said his vote was for fiscal sanity. Chances are he believed the numbers provided by the CBO, though it has a track record of being wrong. His lone vote based on the debt won’t buy him anything with his Kentucky constituents except that he stood on principle.
Lisa Murkowski’s vote for the bill was tied to financial benefits for Alaskans, like receiving 70 percent of the royalties on new offshore lease production, a $50,000 deduction for whaling boat captains, and a tax exemption for native Alaskan fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. Alaskans will also get more food stamps and be exempt from the work requirement.
“No Vote” Paul accused her of softening the effects of the legislation’s deep spending cuts byr in her state, while hanging the rest of the country out to dry.
Although Speaker Johnson continues to say the bill sent over from the Senate will pass as I write this, but e too, is facing a few “yes vote” holdouts. When they’re named, I’ll be adding them to my list of MAGA saboteurs.
May God continue to bless the United States of America
