The Big ... um, Bill

I’m all laid low, either by a cold or by smoke from the wildfires… Can’t prove one way decisively, but the air smells like smoke, and there are 24 chickens in my kitchen, and we are trying to get the coop ready for them outside. The chicks are at that awkward adolescent stage now—here they are at just over three weeks, bustling and growing.

Well, between bouts of changing the chicken water (they poop in it constantly) I attended a town hall zoom meeting with Representative Bill Huizenga, a die-hard and lock-step Trump supporter. Rumor has it that he is planning to run for Michigan’s open Senate Seat next year, and maybe he thinks his plan will help him.

He came across perfectly pleasant during the Town Hall meeting, and he fielded questions for Republicans and Democrats, mostly about the big bill that House Republicans just passed. The Republicans clearly asked very particular questions, such as, “Why did he and the others pass a big new bill increase the deficit?” Huizenga’s response was basically, I understand your concern, but it was the best we could do.

Another man asked, “Would you fight for a National concealed carry statute,” from a guy who apparently feels oppressed having to lock his gun away as he crosses Illinois and Massachusetts. Yes, Huizenga said, that seems reasonable. This shows how the focus of our lives varies greatly.

When others, opposed to the bill, expressed concern , I noticed they didn’t speak as clearly. They were good about the overall message: “These cuts are hurting people,” but when it came to being specific, the callers mumbled, became angry, and expressed frustration. One man cursed (said the f-word) and Huizenga ended the call.

I do not know how these calls were screened or who chose which callers would have their questions addressed. But it reminded me that one thing that we can do is make sure we are prepared to express our concerns and complaints clearly, especially to people on the other side, or to non-voters (who say it doesn’t matter) or even folks who voted for Trump, whenever we have a rare opportunity to be heard by them.

For me that requires that I get it right in writing first before trying to say it aloud.

If some of you are trying to articulate how bad the big bill is, in order to contact your senators before it passes, here are some sources and info that might help you get your ducks, or your frustrations, in a row

In truth, this bill is profoundly awful in many ways, which means that in order to be convincing, you may need to choose an angle.

The Cost of Health Care

Here’s Elissa Slotkin on video explaining why your health care costs will rise for everyone as a result of this bill. In short, they will drive people off Medicaid and Obamacare and this will mean less health insurance for Americans. Then, these uninsured people will use the ER as their only health care and this will cause hospitals (who cannot turn away patients) to have to raise prices for those with private insurance since they’re got to pay the bills.

Elissa Slotkin has another video you can see on You Tube where she says these are the three biggest concerns she has about the bill:

1. President Trump’s tax plan that cuts health care and skews benefits to the wealthy

2. Cuts to research funding that cede ground to China

3. A provision, buried deep in the bill, that makes it easier to ignore federal court orders

Conservation and the Environment

If you’re concerned about conservation issues, check out the League of Conservation Voters page. I’ve summarized their main points here, but there are more details on the site:

In short, they call it, “the most anti-environmental legislation ever passed in a chamber of Congress.” Their top five reasons for stopping it are:

1. Higher energy costs for our families and communities.

2. Harms public health, by eliminating pollution reduction programs.

3. Selling off our public lands and waters to billionaire polluters.

4. Putting billionaire polluters above the law, by allowing oil and gas companies to avoid responsibility for the impacts of pollution they create and sidestep environmental review, community input, and judicial scrutiny simply by paying a fee.

5. Threats to the economy and national security, costing jobs and resulting in clean energy manufacturing moving to China.

Tax and business implications

Some of you might be concerned about the tax implications. Here is what the “Tax Foundation,” a center-right nonprofit complained about in the bill:

“The bill further complicates the tax code in several ways, sending taxpayers through a maze of new rules and compliance costs that in many cases probably outweigh any potential tax benefits. No tax on tips, overtime, and car loans comes with various conditions and guard rails that, if enacted, will likely require hundreds of pages of IRS guidance to interpret. The changes to the IRA credits, while commendable in many ways, keep in place some of the most complicated rules, e.g., bonus credits for meeting prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements, and add new “foreign entity of concern” restrictions that may make many of the credits cost prohibitive.”

(The Tax Foundation is the world's leading nonpartisan tax policy 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For over 85 years, our mission has remained the same: to improve lives through tax policies that lead to greater economic growth and opportunity. Our vision is a world where the tax code doesn’t stand in the way of success. Every day, our team of trusted experts strives towards that vision by remaining principled, insightful, and engaged and by advancing the principles of sound tax policy: simplicity, neutrality, transparency, and stability.)

A Comprehensive Review

The most comprehensive critique of the bill I found (weirdly) was on Reddit. This person has read the 1000-page bill and is trying to make sense of it. These are the concerns so far, and you might go through them and decide to focus on a few of them. Each can be researched.

This reddit post concludes: “This bill isn’t just ‘big.’ It’s a roadmap for dismantling oversight, hollowing out federal protections, and handing Trump sweeping, unchecked control… It quietly guts federal protections and reshapes entire agencies.”

The highlights:

• Closure of the U.S. Department of Education

• 25% expansion of logging in national forests, bypassing environmental reviews and fast-tracking timber production

• Rollbacks on clean energy incentives, cutting tax credits for EVs and renewables, gutting key climate provisions

• More public lands opened up for drilling, mining, and logging, with royalty breaks for fossil fuel companies

• Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, ending U.S. participation in global climate efforts

• Executive Order 14215, forcing independent federal agencies to follow White House legal interpretations and centralizing authority under the presidency

• Pension changes for federal workers hired before 2014, cutting take-home pay by raising required contributions, reducing future payouts, and eliminating early retirement supplements

• REINS Act-style regulation repeal, where major federal rules expire unless Congress re-approves them every 5 years allowing Trump to quietly erase protections without rewriting laws

• Expanded executive control over agency budgets, allowing the White House to move federal funds internally without explicit congressional approval

• Restoration of impoundment powers, giving Trump the ability to block or delay spending already passed by Congress reviving powers stripped after Watergate

• Creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), placing White House–aligned teams inside every federal agency with access to internal systems and influence over hiring and daily operations

• Sharp cuts in regulatory enforcement, with agencies like the EPA, CFPB, and Labor and Transportation Departments halting enforcement of key safety, environmental, and anti-discrimination rules

• Trump’s personal control over economic policy, strengthening his power to direct tariffs, pressure private companies, and dictate pricing with little resistance treating the U.S. economy like his own business

So whatever aspect of the bill alarms you most, think about it, write about it, and become articulate enough to argue your case. There’s so much more than is listed here—for example, none of them mention cuts to public broadcasting! Protesting is very important, but being able to articulate in a letter to your senator is critical. And even more critical is being able to discuss these issues with our neighbors and family. Some, about 41% of Americans, have drunk the kool-aid and probably will not listen to you—I’m pretty sure this includes my Representative Bill H., but others might just listen as America is poised to become a more brutal, less beautiful nation.