Friday, July 4

The United States Congress has officially approved President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which includes a slew of massive new changes that will be coming to the country over the next few days.

The bill barely passed through the Senate on Tuesday, with the 100-member group tying on a 50-50 vote after some minor changes were made to the initial proposition, raising the projected spending deficit. Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to act as the tiebreaker and approved the bill, allowing it to advance. It then went to the House of Representatives, where it also squeaked through with a final vote of 218-214. Now, Trump will officially sign the bill later today at 5:00 pm EDT, bringing it into effect on the nation's independence day.

The bill includes various different sections that will bring about major changes in the everyday lives of Americans, and many of these issues have been heavily disputed.

The largest part of the bill is the extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts, which will be made permanent now that the bill is going into effect. These tax cuts are projected to help stimulate the economy and grow the country, but they also increase the federal deficit by trillions of dollars, making it a highly debated issue between Republicans and Democrats.

Trump also originally claimed that he would completely eliminate all Social Security taxes, but that idea was not approved by Congress. Instead, seniors that are 65 or older will receive a temporary tax deduction of up to $6,000 between 2025 and 2029. Nevertheless, seniors that received an adjusted gross income of under $75,000 will have their Social Security tax completely removed.

The bill also increases the cap limit on tax deductions for state and local taxes, or SALT. Currently, the limit is $10,000 for deductions, but the bill will temporarily increase that limit to $40,000 before bringing it back down to $10,000 in five years.

Workers will also receive deductions in taxes on overtime and tips, with limits of $12,500 for overtime and $25,000 for tips. However, these deductions do not apply for workers with an adjusted gross income of under $150,000. The nation's child tax credit will also be increased to $2,200.

Additionally, the bill authorizes billions of dollars in funding for military enhancements, defense spending, and border controls, raising the estimated deficit growth.

However, in order to reduce the massive deficit growth that would already be coming from the bill, Republicans also included Medicaid cuts, which are projected to save up to $1 trillion alone. These cuts involve more frequent re-verification of someone's eligibility for Medicaid, and restrictions will increase significantly. This is expected to lead to the loss of Medicaid for millions of people across the country, who will lose eligibility due to the stricter rules and requirements.

It also tightens restrictions for eligible recipients of SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and increases the requirements for state funding to the program. This is expected to save almost $300 billion.

Lastly, clean energy tax breaks will be phased out as the Trump administration scales back the United States' renewable energy initiatives. New wind and solar projects beginning in 2025 will receive the current tax break, but that deduction will go down to 60% if construction begins in 2026 and all the way down to 20% in 2027 before all clean energy tax breaks disappear in 2028. This is projected to save another $500 billion.

Despite these savings, the bill is still expected to raise the federal budget deficit by a net $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years, as it spends $4.5 trillion and saves $1.2 trillion.

Fact of the Day (The Fact Site): If you cut down a saguaro cactus in Arizona, you can be charged with a class-4 felony and penalized with jail time. 

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): A wise man will be master of his mind, a fool will be its slave. (Publilius Syrus)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Desultory (adj, DEH-sul-tor-ee) - Desultory is a formal word used to describe something that lacks a plan or purpose, or that occurs without regularity. It can also describe something unconnected to a main subject, or something that is disappointing in progress, performance, or quality.

In a Sentence: After graduation, I moved from job to job in a more or less desultory manner before finding work I liked.