do we really need a sequel to this
About the Bigger Beautifuler Bill, the NEW proposed legislation
I think it’s safe to say that Americans have a really tricky relationship with sequels. A 2021 study from Morning Consult found that 53% of audiences want sequels to their favorite movies and tv shows. However, that same poll paradoxically found that only 37 percent of audiences were excited for the then-new Halloween Kills, and 57 percent of respondents did NOT want more Sopranos content.
“But Dean,” you’re asking. “The thumbnail for this article is the Big Beautiful Bill. What does this have to do with sequels? Why are you talking about The Sopranos?”
Well, friends - didn’t you hear? The Big, “Beautiful” Bill is getting a sequel. And like many of the worst-received sequels, it’s shaping up to be much uglier and on-the-nose than the original.
This comes from exclusive reporting at Fox News, of all places, with reporter Elizabeth Elkind sharing a scoop she received from a conservative think tank known as The Economic Policy Innovation Center, aka “EPIC For America,” who have been attempting to groom the minds of Conservative congressional figures with a memo pushing for new policies to implement in a new reconciliation bill.
As Elkind puts it, the memo “advises lawmakers to broadly push for further Medicaid and regulatory reforms, crack down on federal dollars for government pensions and student loans, and use fiscal policy to extend conservative goals on abortion and transgender treatment.” So, in other words: the last bill, but worse.
Remarkably, the memo is actually available in full in Elkind’s article, so I thought we might have a look at some of the bigger things it’s proposing. According to the memo, it is of the utmost importance that further restrictions are made to Medicare, Medicaid, transgender rights, and immigration. They call for:
Extending the prohibition of taxpayer funding for big abortion providers.
Prohibiting Medicaid funding for “gender transitions.”
Imposing an excise tax on higher education institutions that “allow males to participate in women’s sports.”
Holding sanctuary states accountable for enrolling undocumented immigrants on welfare
Investing in election security.
As you can see, almost all of these are suggested expansions of things already being done by Trump’s bill or are proposals pushed by Trump on behalf of the Heritage Foundation. Almost none of these are made clear on HOW they would be enforced, and it should be noted that some of these provisions, such as “Medicaid funding for gender transitions,” did not pass the Byrd Rule in the Senate the first time, and would likely not pass again.
What is incredibly sneaky about this list is “investing in election security,” something not actually mentioned anywhere else within the memo. I went to EPIC For America’s website, expecting this to be some sort of Trojan Horse for furthering Trump’s proposed mail-in ballot and voting machine ban… but to be as fair as humanly possible, that is actually not what EPIC is proposing. In fact, they seem to be proposing something so rational there’s not a chance in Hell Trump would let it pass.
“Mail-in ballots are tamper-proof and do not face the same vulnerabilities that make secure online voting impossible,” they write. “States have systems in place to ensure that every vote gets counted and that voter privacy is maintained. These ballot status verification systems are a key part of the U.S. election integrity infrastructure.”
I’m not going to give EPIC for America credit for being some kind of progressive Trojan Horse here, but I have to give credit where credit is due. If there are legitimate protections put in place to protect elections, then that part of EPIC’s provisions would be an objective success. I cannot say the same for the remaining sections of the memo:
“Make America Healthy Again,” begins section 2. “End the Obamacare discrimination against vulnerable Medicaid recipients. Reduce the Medicaid FMAP floor that subsidizes large, wealthy states. End the special Medicaid subsidy FMAP treatment for Washington, DC. Enhance Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to allow higher contributions, expand eligible medical expenses covered, and enable greater access to HSAs, including for veterans. Strengthen Medicare, including by maximizing flexibility in Medicare Advantage, implementing site-neutral reimbursement, and reforming uncompensated care and bad debt reimbursement. Improve Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs). Reduce the Cost of Living and Create American Jobs. Reduce or eliminate regulatory fines and fees that drive up costs. Eliminate remaining Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) green energy tax credits. Create Universal Savings Accounts to promote pro-family savings. Finish defunding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Reform the Highway Trust Fund to focus on worthwhile infrastructure.”
Most of this is calling for a further dismantling of the Affordable Care Act and a continuation of gutting necessary government programs. Anything that does not apply to either, once again, comes without explanation on how such things would be possible. For instance, “Reduce the cost of living and create American jobs.” This is such a vague suggestion it borders on insane. For example, The Hill points out that the Big Beautiful Bill has a conservative projection of a 0.6-0.9% increase in labor supply, equivalent to 1.5 million new workers. However - they ALSO point out that this change comes with a lack of certainty in whether workers will be PAID more.
Meaning: more workers. Less pay. At a place that already began with the project loss of over 900,000 clean energy jobs. Please tell me how we are going to create MORE jobs when the very legislation this is expanding has already KILLED jobs.
The memo then sticks the landing with the oath to “Support DOGE and Codify President Trump’s Executive Actions,” stating we need to “ensure Food Stamps are provided only to those who meet federal income and asset rules by ending broad-based categorical eligibility…reform federal bureaucrat compensation and retirement…eliminate public sector student loan forgiveness…reform taxpayer subsidies for multiemployer pension plans…[and] repeal the municipal bond tax exclusion.”
Translation: make America worse for lower income Americans and students and, well, everyone else except the wealthy, it seems.
This has not been an extensive breakdown of the memo from EPIC For America, and frankly, I’m not equipped to break down every single suggestion being made here. Yet from what I’ve seen, and what you’re watching happen here, we’re already starting off on a disastrous foot. These are of course suggestions from a conservative think tank, right?
Well, guess which conservative think tank helped inform the Big Beautiful Bill…
And what did they create?
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David French NYT column: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/opinion/trump-constitution-unitary-executive.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20250821&instance_id=160974&nl=opinion-today®i_id=75896381&segment_id=204354&user_id=fe5628a957346ed1517719b4bf1e7d2b
Tjus is so disheartening. Thing is there isn't much we can do about it. The TX gerrymandering is blatant corruption. I always thought our Constitution would protect us. No longer. If anyone had a chance read the opinion piece by David French re: changing one line in Article II to prevent what djt is doing now. Cannot happen now but maybe in the future when more people care about saving our democracy.