Best analysis I have seen on the big bill.
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I haven't read the article yet, just skimmed all the headings (I will read it later). One thing the article does not appear to mention is probably the most important of all: ICE expansion.
From Harvard sociologist/political scientist Theda Skocpol:
Last spring, when Dan Ziblatt and I taught a comparative course on democratic backsliding, our study of the Hungarian and German (1920s-30s) cases left me slightly reassured about the United States today. Hungary is highly centralized, and in Germany the most important state transformation happened just before Hitler was appointed Chancellor, when the previous government nationalized the Prussian police and bureaucracy, removing it from Social Democratic control in federated Germany’s largest state. Not long after, unexpectedly, Hitler could easily turn the centralized agencies into his Gestapo core. I thought last year that the USA was somewhat protected against any similar coerceive authoritarian takeover by its federal structure, given state and local government rights to control most U.S. police powers (I presented this argument in my Madison lecture for the Sept 2024 American Political Science Association).
But now I see that the Miller-Trump ethno-authoritarians have figured out a devilishly clever workaround. Immigration is an area where a U.S. President can exercise virtually unchecked legal coercive power, especially if backed by a Supreme Court majority and corrupted Department of Justice. Now Congress has given ICE unprecedented resources – much of this windfall to be used for graft with private contractors Trump patronizes, but lots of to hire street agents willing to mask themselves and do whatever they are told against residents and fellow American citizens. The Miller-Trumpites are not interested only in rounding up undocumented immigrants. They will step up using ICE and DOJ enforcements use to harass Democrats, citizen critics, and subvert future elections if they can.
This is the key story unfolding right now. Governors and civic groups and media outlets need to get clear on this imminent threat and work together across the board to reveal and push back against the emerging ICE police state.
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Finally had a chance to read the whole thing. Well worth the time. Thanks for posting it, @Mik
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@wtg I wish all bills would publish something like this. With AI it should be really easy for voters to stay informed.
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@wtg I wish all bills would publish something like this. With AI it should be really easy for voters to stay informed.
@Mik said in Best analysis I have seen on the big bill.:
@wtg I wish all bills would publish something like this. With AI it should be really easy for voters to stay informed.
I would much rather private citizens and journalists do this as private/non-governmental efforts using whatever tools of choice, so the power that writes the legislation don’t also get to pick-and-choose what to highlight or what to obscure in the summaries. Still comes back to freedom of the press, freedom of information, freedom of expression.
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With a bill this long it might be a good idea to use AI to keep the legislators informed.
@Steve-Miller Good idea.
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We don’t hear it now. The so-called Tea Partiers used to like the idea of “one issue, one bill.”
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Rural and working-class areas receive proportionally smaller benefits despite often supporting the policies politically.
Yup. It doesn't pay to be ignorant.
Supporters acknowledge the high costs but argue pro-growth policies will create prosperity that makes the debt manageable.
Supply-side advocates believe tax cuts will generate enough additional growth to ultimately resolve fiscal imbalances through higher tax revenues from a larger economy.
Does "trickle down" ring a bell for these fantasizers? We know from experience that prosperity is not the bottom line for corporations. Profits is the name of the game.
Public understanding of the bill has been shaped by media coverage that focuses heavily on political process rather than policy substance. This reflects broader problems in how complex legislation gets presented to voters.
Yup. The MSM is failing its duty.
The combination of these effects would create a more manufacturing-oriented, fossil fuel-dependent economy with less universal healthcare coverage. Whether this represents progress or regression depends largely on one’s political and economic philosophy.
I guess that's what it boils down to.
The reliance on omnibus procedures and party-line voting represents a departure from deliberative processes that historically characterized congressional decision-making.
A big problem that bears repeating over and over again.
