It’s certainly understandable if you missed the shenanigans in Washington, D.C., during the July 4th weekend. Most Philadelphians were focused on holiday plans, beating the hot weather, and the ongoing citywide strike by AFSCME DC 33 workers, who were fighting for better pay and benefits. But in the early morning of July 3, Washington GOP politicians were preparing to pass a massive tax break for their donors.

The big budget bill, championed by President Trump and Congressional Republicans, is a giant tax and spending bill that cuts massive holes into the social safety net, including Medicare, to give enormous tax breaks to multimillionaires and billionaires. The bill throws 300,000 Pennsylvanians off their health care, and 140,000 Pennsylvanians off SNAP food assistance. It also adds $3.4 trillion to the national debt to pay for the spending and billionaire tax cuts.

 How hard is it to pay back $3.4 trillion in debt? To get a sense of this massive number, if you were to stack $1 bills from the ground, $3.4 trillion would reach nearly to the moon. 

 The big budget bill also swells spending on ICE activities from $8 billion to $100 billion. ICE will use this money to tear families apart, many of whom have been here for decades, and to build family detention facilities through large, corporate, for-profit, private prison operations. This bill will help Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons fulfill his dreams of breaking up families like a business. In his words, “like (Amazon) Prime, but with human beings.”

 Supporters of the big budget bill may cite the provisions endorsed by both parties — no federal tax on tips or overtime — as reasons to celebrate. But these tax relief measures for working people are capped (workers will still get taxed over $12,500 on overtime pay and $25,000 on tips), and these breaks will expire after a few years, unlike the tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, which are permanent. Deep cuts to Medicaid, SNAP benefits, and killing the subsidies that help people pay for their health insurance, mean these workers may pay much more out of pocket each year because of the GOP bill. It’s three-card monte on steroids.

 Even Republican megadonor Elon Musk called the cruel and short-sighted bill “a disgusting abomination,” citing it as the reason for his split with the Republican party. Like his broken promise to release the Epstein files, Trump’s broken promise not to touch Medicare is leaving more people than just Musk feeling swindled.

 While Washington politicians cut benefits, our House Democratic Majority has been working to strengthen the social safety net and help struggling Pennsylvanians. We support Governor Josh Shapiro’s plan to increase our investment in Medicaid by $2.5 billion. Shapiro signed my bill, which will greatly increase food donations in Pennsylvania, into law. We passed a working Pennsylvania tax credit bill that will give one million working Pennsylvania families real money each year: between $200 and $2,000 back after filing taxes. And my minimum wage bill, written with Reps. Jason Dawkins and Roni Green (Districts 179 and 190), is in discussions to be part of the annual budget deal.

 Like many of you, I’m discouraged and disgusted by what is happening in Washington, but I urge you to stay involved, voice your concerns, and, most important, vote. If there’s anything my office can do to be helpful to you or your family, please reach out to us at 215-482-8726.