On today's FAFO

July 3, 2025

America’s got herself a raging case of Donorrhea for her birthday. And he got his wish, with the Billionaire Bullshit Bill passed, in no small part thanks to legislators like Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Well played, madam. You and every single Republican. I guarantee none of them read the bill’s text and don’t realize the real consequences of what they’ve done. That might be to our advantage. It’s not all doom and gloom in the long run, so keep reading, okay?

Yes, we knew this would pass and yes, veterans will lose their food stamp benefits and VA health care. Kids in foster care will lose their state health insurance. We will pay the interest rate on the trillions that the bill adds to the debt, because yes, you and I pay the interest. Rural hospitals and health clinics will close. And MAGAts, blinded by the light and by Faux News, won’t believe anything until this hits them right in their pocketbooks and believe me, it will. Red states will start drowning after there are no FEMA funds to rebuild after a natural disaster. Seniors will no longer have Meals on Wheels. Lack of access to prenatal care means worse outcomes for babies being born as Republicans are demanding; they will be born with more medical needs that cannot be accessed and cannot be paid for. Grandma and Grandpa won’t be able to afford a retirement home but take heart because Peter Thiel will get a new superyacht and Jeff Bezos will rent out the island of Mykonos for his first anniversary celebration (if his marriage lasts that long; I say 18 months).

And ICE? Oh, they made out like bandits. The cost of their concentration camps works out to the cost of health care for about 17 million people. But what will they do when there’s no one left to detain? That’s why they are talking about rescinding citizenship. But then once that’s done… what? If you remove the base of your pyramid—the income that the lower and middle class generate by their jobs and taxes—then what’s left to stand on? You’re already eliminating a big source of income: the taxes that migrants pay when they buy goods. Lowering revenue is against the most basic principles of economics. If there’s no demand, you don’t need to provide a supply.

The GOP planned it so that a large part of this won’t go into effect until 2026—safely after the midterms, because they know there will be a lot of anger and they know this is the most unpopular legislation in American history. The rich will get richer, but will they really? Will they get rich when there isn’t revenue? When people are out of work and losing their health care and struggling? Sure, they can buy stock but if no one is buying from those companies, what then? All the tax cuts in the world won’t help them if there’s no money to be made.

But cutting social programs to pay for tax cuts is the GOP’s calling card. The idea is to reward their faithful and punish Democrats for, I don’t know, caring about other people.

However. The old saying is true: be careful what you wish for. The tide has turned, and now Republicans are beholden to the ones who require SNAP and Medicaid. Look at Donorrhea and the gains he’s made among Latinos, the working class people of color, and white working-class voters. This bill is aimed directly at them, and they don’t even realize it yet, but they will soon enough. It will raise their costs on everything. Housing, food, taxes, everything. They won’t have access to hospitals or prenatal care or good schools or meals for their children. Those cheering the passing of this bill don’t realize that they’re standing under the sword of Damocles, and that the GOP just cut the cord. There will be a fierce backlash. And that, ironically, may be the thing that saves us. Robespierre said “The king must die so the people can live” and when people are cornered, they’ll realize this.

Go out and tell our story

Let it echo far and wide

How justice was our battle

And how justice was denied

And say to those who blame us

For the way we chose to fight

That sometimes there are battles

Which are more than black or white

And I could not put down my sword

When justice was my right

My part may lead to heaven or hell

And God will say what’s best

But one thing he will never say

Is that I went quietly to my rest

Go out and tell our story to your daughters and your sons

And them in our struggle

We were not the only ones

Broken maybe from your parliament

In your classroom with your pen

Teach every child to raise his voice

And then, my brothers, then

Will justice be demanded by ten million righteous men?

Make them hear you.

--From “Ragtime”