Over opinionated with Josh Scott
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- Josh Scott, Host of Over Opinionated.
Over opinionated with Josh Scott
The Big Beautiful Bill Unpacked #85
Trump's signature legislative achievement of his second term has finally become law. The massive 887-page "Big Beautiful Bill" represents a sweeping attempt to reshape America's economic, healthcare, and immigration landscapes while extending the tax cuts that defined his first administration.
For Christians concerned about life issues, the bill delivers a significant win by temporarily defunding Planned Parenthood—potentially shuttering 200 clinics across the country. While this provision lasts only one year, it represents concrete action on an issue many voters prioritized in the 2024 election.
The bill's new Medicaid work requirements have sparked intense debate. Able-bodied adults 18-64 must now engage in work, education, or community service for approximately 18.5 hours weekly to maintain benefits. Critics argue millions will lose coverage, while supporters see this as encouraging self-sufficiency while protecting benefits for those who truly need them—pregnant women, elderly, disabled individuals, and nursing mothers remain exempt.
Border security receives massive funding with $46.5 billion allocated toward completing Trump's promised border wall. The legislation provides another $75 billion for detention facilities and ICE operations, representing the largest investment in border security in decades. The tax provisions create new deductions for tipped workers and those earning overtime, though these benefits phase out in 2028 and must be claimed when filing annual returns rather than being exempt from regular paychecks.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation adds $3.4 trillion to the federal deficit over a decade while potentially leaving 11.8 million Americans without health insurance—figures Republicans strongly dispute. The bill also raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, potentially avoiding financial crisis later this summer.
How will these sweeping changes affect your family, business, or community? What provisions matter most to you? Share your thoughts with us and subscribe for continued analysis as these policies begin impacting American life.
All right, everyone. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July, independence Day. Hopefully you didn't commit the sin of gluttony by eating too many hot dogs, as easy as that can be. I'm going to talk about a few things. We're going to talk about the big beautiful bill and we're going to read the Declaration of Independence in honor of it being the 4th of July weekend. I hope everyone had a good weekend, continues to have a good and safe weekend. But, as we always do, we're going to read the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and then we're going to read the Declaration of Independence.
Speaker 1:If you stick around until after that, we're going to talk about Trump's big beautiful bill that was signed into law yesterday, because there's so much stuff in it. There's actually a video you can watch on YouTube about it being read in the Senate chambers. It is 15 hours long. I listened to about an hour of it. It's a long bill, so there's going to be stuff in it that I don't know of, but the stuff I do know of, the stuff that is being widely reported, the stuff that people are arguing about, we're going to talk about and then after that, after that, after this, we'll be getting back on to king david's life and we'll be doing a part two in king david's life. But this is kind of big. Uh, this bill is um, well, it's a huge deal, so we got to talk about it.
Speaker 1:So the lord's prayer, our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for divine is thy kingdom, the power and glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Speaker 1:We'll go to the Apostles' Creed and read it. The Apostles' Creed. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, which was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and buried. He descended into hell In the third days. He rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From hence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body and life as everlasting Amen. The Holy Catholic Church means universal, and many people believe hell is just to be death.
Speaker 1:Okay, now let's go to the Declaration of Independence. We're not going to do this all the time, but we're going to add it to our reading because it's the 4th of July weekend In Congress. July 4th 1776, the unanimous declaration of the 13 United States of America. When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them to another and to assume, among the powers of earth to separate, the equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitled them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which implied them to separation. We hold self to be self-evident. That all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain and inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, government are instituted among men, delivering their power from the consent of the governed. That when any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to us to abolish or to alter or abolish it and to institute a new government laying its foundations on such principles and organization. It is powers, in such a form as them shall see, most likely to affect their safety and happiness, produce, indeed, with dedication, that governments along established should not be charged of light and transition causes and accordingly, all expressionath, so that mankind are more deposed to suffer while evils are suffering, the right of themselves to abolish the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuse and aversion, pursuing invaluable in valuable, the same objectives, endeavors a design to reduce them under absolute depose, it is their right and their duty to throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patience suffered under these colonies and such is now the necessary which contains them to alter their form system of government.
Speaker 1:The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeat injustices and all having indirect objects the establishment of an absolute tyrant over these states. To provide this, let's say let's facts be submitted to a canny world, he has refused his assent to all the most wholesome and necessary of public good, to law the most wholesome and necessary of public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance unless suspended in their operation till the assist should be obtained. And when suspending, he has utterly neglected to attend them. He has refused to pass over laws for the accommodations of large districts of people, unless these people would require the right of representation and legislation, a right intimate to them and forbidd them to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncustom and distant from the depose of their public records, for the solid purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures, he has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for opposing with mainly firmness of his invasions on the rights of the people he has refused for a long time. As such, dissolving to cause others to be elected will bear the legislative powers incapable of annihilation have returned to the people at large for their exercise, the state remaining in the means of expulsion and all the dangers of invasion without the conclusions within them.
Speaker 1:He has endeavored to prevent the population of the states for the purpose of obtaining the laws of naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass the encouragement of their migration hikers and raising the considerations of appropriating new lands. He has objected to the administration of justice and he has refused his assets to the law for establishing judicial power. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of the office and he the amount of payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices and sent henceforth swarms of other offices to harass people and eat out their substances. He has kept us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature. He has afflicted to hinder the military independence and of the superiority to the silver power.
Speaker 1:He has combined with others to subjugate us to a jurisdiction of foreign to our constitution and acknowledge by our laws his assess and acts of legislation for quartering of large bodies, arms of truth, among us, for protecting them by a mock trial from punishment by any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world. For imposing taxes on us without consent. For depriving us in much cases of benefits by trial of jury. For transporting us beyond sea and tried of pretending offenses. For abolishing the free system of English law in a neighbor, provence, providence establishing and hereby arbitrary government and enlarging its boundaries as to render it once an example of unfit institution and instruments in intruding the same absolute law of these counties, colonies. For taking our way, our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, altering fundamental forms of our government for suspending our own legislations and declaring themselves invested in the power of the legislations and cause whatsoever.
Speaker 1:He has abdicated governance here by declaring out his protections and wages of war. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts and burned our towns and destroyed the lives of our people. He at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death. Desolation and tyranny already begin, with circumstances of cruelty and profound scales parallel in the most barbarous ages and total unworthy heads of civilized nations. He has consents our fellow citizens take captive on high seas and bearing arms against the colonies and become executors of their friends and beverage to follow himself. He has actually the domestic insurrection among us and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers and the merciless Indian savages who knows no rules of warfare and is indigenous, distinct from all sexes and conditions In every state.
Speaker 1:Of these oppositions we have petitioned for regards in the most humble terms. Our relative petitions have answered alone by repeating in juries a prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to rule a free people. Nor have we been wandering in our attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by the legislature to extend our unwarranted justification over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our immigration settlement here. We have appealed to the native just and magisterium and we have conjured them, by the side of our own common kindred, to disavow the person which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence, to have to bend down to the voice of the justice and of consternance. We must therefore acquire in the necessary which denounces our separation and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war in in peace, friends. We therefore, the representatives of the united states of america in congress assembled, appealing to the supreme judge of the world of the gratitude of the intentions to do in nature and by the authorities of good people, these colonies, summately published and declared that these united colonies are of right, ought to be free and independent states, that they should absolve all allegiances from the British crown and all political connections between them and the state of Great Britain is it ought to be totally dissolved, and that as free and independent people they have full power to levy war, conduct peace, contact allies, establish commerce and to do all other acts and things which independent states may right to do, and for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protections of divine providence. We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortitudes and our sacred honor. Thank you for bearing with me as I read that and I know I'm not a good reader, I know I mispronounced words, so please forgive me. That was penned down by the famous Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.
Speaker 1:The third president of the United States offered the Declaration of Independence. You know, before I get to the big beautiful bill, after reading the Declaration of Independence, I just want to state this is a secession document and so many people that have talked so poorly about the South for succeeding during the Civil War quote-unquote Civil War and leaving the United States and becoming their own country. We did the exact same thing to Great Britain and the South had more precedent, legal precedent and more historical precedent to do it than the colonies did. Now you can disagree. You can disagree with the reasoning. You can say that you believe the Civil War and the South left because of slavery. We can have that debate. But secession is an American thing, it's very American. It's inseparable from our history as Americans and the South choosing to leave the Union is exactly what the 13 colonies did to Great Britain and you can't say it wasn't because it was. And you could say well, there's a difference. They would be betraying the Union instead of the crown. And my question that is so what? That's what their forefathers did. That's what their forefathers did.
Speaker 1:Thomas Jefferson, who wrote this document, would have agreed with the South's right to leave the Union. He, he would have I'm not saying all the founding fathers would have, I'm not saying everyone that's sound, the Constitution would have, because that's not true. But the birth of our country starts with this document. The birth of our country starts on this document. That's when we recognize our independence. When we recognize our independence isn't when we recognize our Constitution. Our Constitution didn't come until 1789.
Speaker 1:We left the United Kingdom. When we left the United Kingdom on July 4th 1776. There's a little bit of a time difference there. And when we left we operated on the Articles of the Confederacy. Now you can say it was a bad governing document, and I would agree with you in some states. In some ways, yeah. But guess what happened after that? The states that freely joined the Articles of Confederation left to join what the Union. They actually made the Union. They actually made the Constitution. Don't forget, the states made the Constitution. The states made the federal government. The federal government did not make the states. So all those sovereign states, did it take them a while to leave? Yeah, because they were concerned about a very big federal government, understandably too. And when they signed, they signed under the notion they believed they could leave if they wanted to. Why? Because they had left two previous governments, the British crown and the Articles of Confederation. So that's about as far I'm getting, to the Civil War.
Speaker 1:I just think it's hypocritical to belittle the South for doing exactly the same thing that you're celebrating this weekend. You can say, well, it's the reason they left, okay, then say you don't support the reason they left. Then say you don't support the reason they left. Do not say that you're against them leaving on principle, because if you're eating a hot dog and singing the Star-Spangled Banner, you're celebrating the secession of these colonies.
Speaker 1:Remember, thomas Jefferson wrote down that these colonies are free and independent states. What do you mean by that? He didn't mean state the way we mean state. He meant independent countries. In his world, virginia was a country, massachusetts was a country, georgia was a country that were uniting. He wanted some form of unity between these states. That's true and that's why Thomas Jefferson was opposed to the Constitution.
Speaker 1:And you could say well, I love the Constitution, I love the Constitution too, but it's not a perfect document and we need to be very careful. We need to put a little bit more nuance in the way we view history and the way we view these things. Now you can say it was wrong. But you could say if you say the confederacy was wrong and you say the founding fathers were wrong, then I have a little more respect for your position because it's more coherent. And there are people people believe it or not. There are proud Americans that believe what the founding fathers did in leaving Great Britain was wrong and they shouldn't have rebelled against the government. I'll leave that up for you to decide. I'll leave that up for you to decide. I just want to point out the hypocrisy. So, but yeah, there's room for us to grow. Let's go back, and I want to read just a little. Go back to these With these truths to be self-evident, meaning they're obvious, that they're abundantly obvious.
Speaker 1:That all men are created equal, that they have been endowed by their creator. That's not an atheist document right here either. I'm not claiming Thomas Jefferson was a Bible-believing evangelical, because he wasn't. He was a deist. He believed in a God, but he did not believe in the true God of the Bible. He might have said he did, but he didn't believe in the Trinity. He didn't believe Jesus was divine. He also was not an atheist that some people like to claim.
Speaker 1:We hold these truths to be self-evident. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created, equal and dialed with their creator with certain and a-lible rights. Among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This comes from the philosopher Thomas Paine. We change the word property to happiness. Now we always lift up to that note In the same document we call Indians savages, we call Native Americans savages, and that same very document. So we definitely had room to improve and we had to put aside our prejudice to allow everyone to be able to live to this document, allow everyone to be able to live to this document.
Speaker 1:But now I'm going to go to the big, beautiful bill and we're going to read some things and discuss some things about it. Okay, guys, I'm going to read you an article from cbsnewscom by Kate Hubbard or, yeah, harbard forgive me for mispronouncing her name. Here's what's in Trump's big beautiful bill passed by Congress Washington. The House passed a massive spending and tax bill that includes signature policies of President Trump's second-term agenda Thursday, spending the so-called big beautiful bill to the President's desk ahead of a July 4th deadline. Mr Trump signed the bill into law on Friday afternoon. The House approved the bill in a 218-214 vote Thursday, after the Senate narrowly passed the bill Tuesday in a 51-50 vote that required Vice President JD Vance to break the tie.
Speaker 1:At the center of the big beautiful bill is an extension of Mr Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Job Acts, which was slanted to sunset and to end at the end of the year. To sunset and to end at the end of the year. The legislation would make most of the tax cuts permanent, while increasing spending for broader security, defense and energy production. The bill is partially paid for by significant cuts in health care and nutrition programs like Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program or SNAP. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will add $3.4 trillion to federal deficit over the next 10 years and will leave millions without health insurance. Republicans in the White House dispute these forecasts.
Speaker 1:Senate Republicans use a process known as a budget reclamation bill, to pass the bill, which limits the types of policies that can be included, in a simple majority vote. A handful of provisions initially approved in the bill were immediately removed, including one that would have ordered the sale of public lands and others that would have paused state regulations on artificial intelligence. The House passed its own initial version of the legislation last month with some key differences to the final Senate-crafted version. The lower chamber approved the Senate's changes Thursday. Spending the measure to the president's desk. Here is what's in the 887-page bill. 887-page bill.
Speaker 1:The legislation provided restrictions on Medicaid, which provides governing-sponsored health care for low-income and disabled Americans. The bill imposes work requirements for some able-bodied adults and more frequent eligibility checks. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would result in 11.8 million Americans losing their health coverage over. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would result in 11.8 million Americans losing their health coverage under Medicaid over the next decade. Let's pause right there and talk about that. So Democrats are claiming that we're just being evil and kicking everyone off of Medicaid. Everyone's going to lose their health care and people will lose their health coverage because here's what you got to do.
Speaker 1:Anyone that's over the age of 18 and under the age of 64, that is well-bodied, that is not on disability, that is not a nursing mother, a caretaker for someone who is sick in the family, that has to have caretaking someone that is not working a job. Even that job could be a part-time job. The work requirements are extraordinarily reasonable. You can go to college, you can work a part-time job, you can do volunteer work for around 20 hours a week. I think the official hours is 18.5. That's not unreasonable guys. All this is doing is it's giving people incentive to work or go to school or volunteer for some of the benefits that they are doing. Other states have already done this. Indiana has done this.
Speaker 1:And will some people be dropped off of this? Yes, because there are some people that aren't going to work, that aren't going to go to school, they're not going to contribute to America. And if you're dropped off of this because you're just being lazy, you're not disabled, you're not a nursing mother, you're not going to college, you're not taking care of a family member, then you should be dropped off of this. You should not be getting Medicaid, you should not be getting SNAP benefits if you're not willing to contribute to the United States of America. If you're not willing to work, if you're not willing to do anything for yourself, the taxpayer should not have to pay for you. Now, how is this going to be implemented? We can criticize that.
Speaker 1:I do worry about how it's going to be implemented, how we're going to be showing the federal government that someone is actually doing legitimate volunteer work for a 501 C organization organization, or how people are doing, you know, in school or a part-time job, okay. So I do think we need to be gracious in implementing this and setting up the proper channels that it can be done easy so they can keep their benefits. Also, I do think this protects the benefits for those that need them, but from people that just are not willing to work. Yeah, absolutely. I do think this protects the benefits for those that need them, but from people that just are not willing to work. Yeah, absolutely I do. I don't think you should be on Medicaid if you're not working or SNAP if you're not working and you're not on disability and if you don't meet the exceptions and there's a lot of exceptions out there. I'll look at them and I'll read some of them before we end the podcast. There's a lot of exceptions for this guys. It's not unreasonable. It's not. Then you shouldn't be getting Medicaid, you shouldn't be getting food stamps. So I think this is a good thing. It's a good way to save some money.
Speaker 1:Now I'll say this the bill. So some of the reason libertarians like Thomas Massey wouldn't vote for the bill. It does add $3.4 trillion to the federal deficit and I've come to the conclusion that America is never, under a Republican or a Democrat, going to start to pay off the national debt. We're just not, because you're going to even have to cut entitlements and this does cut entitlements in a good way, because it just does it for lazy people mostly. It does do that and I want to see how it's implemented. If it's being implemented in a way where they can't submit stuff easily to keep their benefits, then I condemn that right. We have to have a smooth way of going about this.
Speaker 1:No one that's working, no one that's meeting the work requirements, should be kicked off Medicaid food stamps. They shouldn't. I agree with that, no one should. But if you're just being lazy, then yeah, you should be kicked off Medicaid food stamps. They shouldn't. I agree with that, no one should. But if you're just being lazy, then yeah, you should be kicked off, and I'm not saying you can never get back on it again.
Speaker 1:If you get kicked off and you go, oh crap, I need to do something that gives you a kick in the rear end, that encourages you to go get a part-time job or to go do something to earn your benefits back, then I'm fine with that. Or here's an even here's an idea that could be even better, and this is why republicans really put in there. What if you find a job that gives you more than the federal benefits does and you no longer need those benefits? That's a win for amer and that's a win for you, because you're providing them for yourself and it takes the burden off the taxpayers and you're being self-sufficient. That's a good thing, not a bad thing. Do I realize that some people aren't able to do that and some people need federal help? Yes, that's why we have that. But I do support the work requirements. I just want them to go smoothly, and let's keep an eye on how smoothly they go. We'll see what happens, but in principle, I think we all should be able to support this.
Speaker 1:Now, if you want to really reduce the federal deficit, do you have to cut back entitlements like we just did. Yes, you also have to cut the military, and Republicans will never do that. So Democrats are willing to do that, but they're not willing to cut back the federal deficit. Both parties are going to have to cut something that they don't want to cut, and I understand both of their concerns. So, in my mind, I'm beyond the idea of us getting out of debt, because I just don't see it happening If we can just manage it enough to where we have more money coming in. That's what this is partially trying to do, by cutting taxes, giving us more wealth into our economy so that we can be better off.
Speaker 1:But America has an addiction to spending and Congress is the world's worst, because we need a lot of these government programs. Maybe we don't need them to the degree we have them. That would include the military and that would include entitlements, and that's not a conversation people are willing to have, because if you cut the military well, you're not a patriot, you hate America and you hate our troops. If you cut entitlements, even if you do it the smart way, the way the Republicans are doing it, you hate poor people and you want them all to die, and no one wants that optic when they're running for re-election. Let's just be honest. I can tell you that because I'm not running for election and I'm a podcaster and mostly this podcast is mostly a spiritual podcast. But I keep up with politics. I never quit. I don't quit reading the news. I didn't quit reading the news when the United States hit Iran. I didn't quit reading the news.
Speaker 1:With all of this, I just wanted to focus more on the Bible, because there are so many people that do political podcasts and yes, it's important and yes, I'm going to cover it. That's why I'm covering it now. Podcast, and yes, it's important and yes, I'm going to cover it. That's why I'm covering it now. But there are people that listen to my podcast that wouldn't listen to it because they know me and there is a real need for spiritual content and real biblical stuff out there. And I'm not saying I'm the best. I'm not Dr James White, I'm not Dr Brown, I'm not Keith Foskey, I'm not Mike Winger, I'm not. I'm a redneck with the Bible that asked the Holy Spirit to help me. And I have a lot more resources. I do have a lot more resources than the early church did. But that's all I can do and that's all I'm trying to do. That's all any of us can really do is try our best, and God has gave us this wonderful book called the Bible and I think we should read it. That's why I want to turn this into a more biblical podcast that occasionally talks about politics and cultural issues. Oh so, forgive me for my rant, I'm going to keep going.
Speaker 1:The Senate parliamentarian determined that a measure cutting federal funds to states that use Medicare infractions to prove health care coverage to undocumented immigrants, along with banning medical from covering gender transition surgeries, wasn't complex with the Senate recommendation rules. The parliamentarian also weighed in on what's known as the provided tax, which states use to help fund their portion of Medicaid costs. And, below to the Senate GOP initial plan, senate Republicans proposed steeper cuts to Medicaid funding in part of inclement lowering provision tax from 6% to 3.5% by 2032. The timeline is delayed by one year for Senate GOP initial proposals after the issue became one of the bill's sticking points in recent weeks. It's a departure from the initial House bill, which sought to lower federal costs by freezing states providing taxes at current rates and providing them from establishing new provider taxes. This bill also includes a hospital stabilization fund after some GOP senators expressed their concerns over how hospitals could be impacted by medicaid restrictions. Allowing 50 billion for royal hospitals over the same period that the providers tax would be lowered, and all that does is help. It helps hospitals in the countryside that would be impacted by the Medicaid tax so they don't go out of business. So I keep seeing Democrats say they're going to go out of business, but the Republicans provided a $50 billion provision for those hospitals so they didn't go out of business.
Speaker 1:That's not bad. That's pretty good. Homeland security and immigration that's not bad, that's pretty good. Homeland Security and Immigration this legislation includes more than $46.5 billion for the border wall construction and expenses, $45 billion to expand detention capacity for immigrants in custody, and about $30 billion to fund for hiring, training and other resources for US Immigration and Custom Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE. That is great, guys. We have got the money to finish the border wall.
Speaker 1:Trump's promise in 2015 that he started working on when he was president in the first term is now coming true. We're going to finish the wall. We're going to get very close to it. By the end of Trump's term, we should have the wall finished, and if we don't, then that is a huge failure on President Trump's wall. If we don't, we should have at least 90% finished by the time he is gone. That is amazing. That is a good way to preserve our country, to keep flows of illegal immigrants out. That will help us in putting more resources into ICE, which does a great job in protecting our country from illegal immigration.
Speaker 1:And you can say they're mean. I've seen the left call them Nazis, so such horrible things for men and women that are trying to protect us from illegal aliens. That doesn't mean I hate illegal aliens. You know my position. You have to come. I want legal immigrants to come to the United States. You just got to come here the right way and we don't know who's coming across the southern border, so we have to stop it. That's a good thing. That's not unchristian to protect your people. That's not. And it's providing. It's providing $45 billion to expand capacity for immigration customs.
Speaker 1:So this will this. You know if we have detainment centers trying to get them the resources they need to as well. So so we're going to care for these illegals while they wait on the court date. Okay, they should still be treated humanely. I've seen some stuff where they haven't been treated humanely and that's bad Overall they are, but they should have warm beds, they should have warm meals until they can have their court date and if the judge says they have to go home, then we send them home. We don't need to be cruel to these people. They're still made in God's image, but we have to protect our citizens. Okay, we have to protect our citizens and illegal immigration hurts our citizens. Let's continue. It also includes a minimal $100 fee for those seeking asylum, down from the $1,000 fee outlined in the initial House bill. The Senate Parliamentary ruled out the $1,000 fee outlined in the initial House bill. The Senate Parliamentary ruled out the $1,000 fee for anyone applying for asylum, so that makes it easier for people seeking asylum. You still have to go through proper channels, but it makes it easier, so liberals should like that.
Speaker 1:Increasing the state and local tax deductions are salt. The package also includes incentives to the caps on the state and local deductions, raised it from $10,000 to $45,000 after five years. It would also return $10,000, a departure from the initial House bill passed. The issue was a major sticking point in the House where blue state Republicans threatened to withhold their support without increase to the deductions, but with no Republicans halting from blue states in the Senate, the upper chamber has been consistent with its own dynamics. Before the rule, taxpayers could deduct all their state and local tax from federal taxes, which some policymakers have said mainly benefit wealthy homeowners and states with high taxes such as New York and California. But advocates for increasing the cap argue that the $10,000 cap is increasingly impacting middle-class homeowners who live in regions where property taxes are rising.
Speaker 1:Green energy policy the final bill passed by the Senate would largely terminate numerous tax incentives from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act for clean energy, electric vehicles and energy efficiency programs that benefit customers. It would end tax credits for new and used electric vehicles, installed installation of home EV charging equipment and installations, and energy efficient heating and cooling systems. The bill also ends the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which gives funding to non-profit organizations providing financial for projects that reduce pollution and greenhouse gases emissions in the community's existing contracts and grants under the programs are not effective. Restrictions on food stamps the bill shifts costs of SNAP and food stamps to some states. The federal program is currently fully funded by the federal government. The federal government would continue to fully fund the benefits for states that have an error payment below 6%, beginning in 2028, states with an error rate above 6% would be on the hook for 5 or 15% of the cost. States are also given some flexibility in calculating their share. This package also aligns with the initial home version on age requirements and able-bodied adults to qualify for SNAP benefits. Currently, in order to qualify, able-bodied adults between 18 and 54 must meet work requirements. Both Senate and House bill would update the age requirement to 18 and 64, with some exceptions for parents.
Speaker 1:Alaska and Hawaii could receive waivers for work requirements if it's determined that they are making good faith efforts to comply. That's mostly because Elisa Murkowski was pushing for Alaska to have an exception to the rule so she could sign the bill. That's mostly what it was and she got the non-contiguous states to have an exception. You can disagree with it, but sometimes it gets hard when you make these bills. You have to make compromises for certain representatives and senators to sign on, senators to sign on and that's 100% because of Lisa Murkowski being a moderate Republican from Alaska, pushing for that and other things before she would vote for it and that's something she provided for Alaska that Alaska and Hawaii will get that and other states won't. They'll get that exception. It does say if they're making a good faith effort to comply, but how are people going to interpret that? To enforce that law on me? So they basically get an exception. The rest of the 48 do not.
Speaker 1:The legislation would rise to that ceiling by $5 trillion, going beyond the $4 trillion outlined in the initial House-passed bill. Congress faces a deadline to address the debt limit later this summer. Bessette has agreed Congress to address the debt limit by mid-July, saying that the US could be unable to pay as early as August when Congress is on recess. By adding the national debt ceiling as a part of the larger package, republicans in Congress aim to bypass negotiations with Democrats on issues. Congress aimed to bypass negotiations with Democrats on issues. Unlike most other legislations in the Senate, the budget recognizes the progress that governs the impact requires a simple majority rather than 60 vote, therefore, to move others with a bill Tax child credit.
Speaker 1:So if you have a kid um under the age of 18, this would apply to you. The current two thousand dollar tax credit is set to return to the pre-2017 level of one thousand dollars in 2026. The tax credit would permanently increase to $2,200 under the bill, $300 less than the initial house past time Limits on overtime and tips deduction. So this has a lot of people that work overtime and people that work in the service industry that make tips. This is important to you and there's something that really bothers me about this and I'll tell you when I get done reading it. The bill would allow individuals to deduct a certain amount of tip wages and overtime wages. The provision would expire in 2028. The no tax on tips provision in the spending bill would create a new deductions for Tripped workers, eliminating that they owe in federal income. Tipped workers would also have to pay State and local income and payrolls tax.
Speaker 1:The Senate version Very varies from the initial house provision on a few key points, including how a worker could claim in. On a few key points, including how a worker could claim in deductions, the Senate proposal limits that the deductions of $2,500, while the early house was a cap. So you have okay. So if you're working a tips job at a restaurant or whatever you're getting tips, or if you're working overtime, this is you can only claim this on your tax deduction. Oh to $25,000. The house version was unlimited. The Senate version caps it at $25,000.
Speaker 1:If you make $26,000 you still have to pay taxes on, but when you get your pay stub if you, if you're working and you make overtime, you will still pay taxes on it. On your pay stub, you're still going to pay taxes on it. You can deduct that at the end of the year when you're getting your taxes. So you can get it back at the end of the year. But throughout the week, if you get paid once a week or twice a week or, sorry, if you get paid once a week or once every two weeks, guess what You're still paying taxes on that overtime. So if you need help that week and you worked extra overtime to provide it, you're still paying taxes for it. That's dirty. That's dirty. They should just say you don't have to pay taxes on this. I mean, that's one thing that really bothers me about this bill.
Speaker 1:Now, tips is a little different. If you're working a service industry job, a lot of times you're supposed to just well, you are supposed to just write how much you make on tips At the end of the year, save a certain percentage and pay it back to the government. Now, a lot of people that do this don't really write their tips down or they skew it a little bit. I didn't make that much on tips. Okay, I'm not saying that's right. I'm just saying a lot of people do that. You're going to be able to write off $25,000 on that. I just wish they wouldn't do that.
Speaker 1:Instead of just giving people their money back at the end of the year, why don't you just let them keep it? And why is there a provision that it's only until 2028, during an election year? So in 2028, when we have our next election, if a Democrat comes into office in 2029, this could go to the wayside and you're just getting taxed again. So is it better than what it was before? Yes, but it could have been so much better. It could have helped the families out immediately and right now, but instead we'll help you out at the end of the year. That frustrates me. That frustrates me.
Speaker 1:Under the initial House measure, meanwhile, only people with an annual income of $60,000 or less would qualify for the tipping tax break, while the Senate version phases out benefits for individuals whose incomes exceed $150,000 or couples who exceed $300,000. Changing to standard deductions, the bill seeks to permanently expand basic standards deducted, which was nearly doubled in 2017. The increase will expire at the end of the year. That's the end of the bill. That's the end of the article discussing the bill and I do think that was. I do think that's very important. I think overall, it's a good bill. Um, there may be things in the bill that I do not like, but overall I think it's a good bill.
Speaker 1:I, I I'm at. I absolutely love that. We're going to we're basically going to finish the wall. We've come very close to it. We're going to spend a lot more money on the wall and on ICE agents that President Trump promised. I voted for that. I want the border wall.
Speaker 1:You can call me a racist. You can call me evil. You can call me Nazi. You can call me all the names you want to call me. You can say I'm a bad Christian because I want to protect the citizens of this country. That doesn't mean I hate the people that are past the border wall, because I don't hate those people. I do love them. I do want them to become Christian and go to heaven, and I'm okay with some of those people becoming American citizens. But I want to know where they're coming from and who they are. That's not much to ask. That's not much to ask.
Speaker 1:I think this was a good bill. I understand it could have been better, but when you're dealing with a Congress as divided as it is, it gets messy. It gets messy. This is representative government and if we had the clear closure, if we had to break the filibuster we can't. You don't have to break the filibuster when you're passing the budget bill. But I'll be honest, I'll be honest, guys.
Speaker 1:This I don't think this Senate, I don't think that the United States of America is mature enough to have, uh, the filibuster rule right now. I know we always debate, go back and forth between who you know, go back and forth between, um, what party it is, if we want it, dare or not. In principle I like it, but I don't even. I just don't think we're mature enough to handle it. I don't, this country's not mature enough, this Congress is not mature enough to handle it. And you could say, well, this would hurt, this could put out a bunch of bad legislation. Yeah, it could, and then we could vote those people out and we can get rid of that bad legislation. But that's just a side note.
Speaker 1:I do want to share something else this bill does, and I think it's something Christians have been pounding for and we finally got it. It's only for a year, but it is for a year. So I'm going to read you all a little bit about that. All right guys, I'm going to read y'all a little bit about that. All right guys. I'm going to read just a little bit from an NPR article.
Speaker 1:A provision in Trump's MAGA bill spending bill defunds Planned Parenthood. The organization says 200 clinics may close. Most are in states where abortion is legal. That's great, that's a win. They could close 200 clinics because we're not going to fund them. Absolutely, I'll take the win.
Speaker 1:Now does the article go on to whine and cry? Yeah, you know they're going to. You know they're going to. Oh well, what about? We don't only kill babies, we do other things. 200 clinics, baby. That is what I voted for. That is what I voted for. That is a good thing. That is lives being saved. And, yeah, it's only for a year, but 200 clinics has an impact for years and has an impact on human beings not being murdered. Hallelujah, hallelujah, praise God. And you can get a lot of these things from pregnancy resource centers. Ultrasound Counseling will have you be a good parent. You can get a lot of these health benefits from pregnancy resource centers and hospitals. So you know what? I'm just going to read that little clip right there.
Speaker 1:A provision in President Trump's mega-expanding bill defunds Planned Parenthood. The organization says 200 clinics may close. Most are in states where abortion is legal. Good, good, you do not have a right to kill a baby. Good, oh well. What if, shut up, you kill babies? Moloch is crying that you cannot sacrifice more and more childs to him. Devils are screeching in hell right now as we are preserving life.
Speaker 1:And I voted for it. If you listen to this podcast, if you agree with me, more than likely, you voted for it. Congratulations, seriously, congratulations, congratulations. We did this. We did this by the grace of the Holy Spirit and by the ballot box. This is why I always tell people you've got to vote. This is why voting is so important. It is life and death and we won this fight. It's not a permanent win, but we did it.
Speaker 1:Be proud, be humble. It's a victory in a battle. It's not over yet, but be proud, be humble. It's a victory in a battle. It's not over yet, but be proud. Be thankful to the Holy Spirit that we did this. I'm going to read you one more thing. For those of you that are in the 9th Congressional District Congressman Morgan Griffith is your congressman and as he is mine. He made a statement on the passing of the bill and I just want to read it.
Speaker 1:A day ago, griffith's statement on the House passing of the Reconciliation Bill, the US House of Representatives voted to pass Senate Bill HR 1, the budget requisition bill. This requisition package goes to President Trump to be signed into law. Following the passage of the bill, us Congressman Morgan Griffith issued the following statement Say I vote in favor of HR 1, the budget reconciliation bill. As with every bill, I weighed the pros and cons. The positives of the bill clearly outweigh the negatives. A tax structure that encourages growth in the economy is extremely important. This bill contains a number of constituents of pro-small businesses policies to help family-owned farms and family-owned businesses. In addition, it adds no tax on tips for most of our service industry, improving weighted staff and hospitality workers. It also implements wage work for overtime for hourly workers. Another significant impact is the increase of money to help protect our nation's border.
Speaker 1:The emulation of American energy potential contained in the bill is significant and will lead to the increase in population. Because of this bill, american energy's costs are expected to stabilize and even be lower in the common decades. On Medicare, we strengthened the program for the traditional Medicaid population. That population includes pregnant women, the disabled, the elderly and the young. Opponents criticized the community engagement or work requirement provisions for ably bodied medicaid Expanded recipients.
Speaker 1:I consider this a strength of the bill. While commonly called work requirements, the community engages in provisions of able-bodied medicaid expansion recipients, does not require a Work requirement to per se but per se, but would require them to contribute to our communities to engage only in an average of 18 point hours a week. Eligibility can be achieved by participating in education or substance abuse recovery programs, holding a traditional job or volunteer community service. I believe it is only fair to expect those able-bodied Medicaid expansion recipients to contribute to the communities. According, I sponsored the bill. Accordingly, I sponsored the bill. He voted for it. I agree with him. I agree with him on that. So I just want to read that for everyone that is a 9th district resident. That is our congressman's reason for voting for the big, beautiful bill.
Speaker 1:I'm going to read y'all guys a scripture verse of the day and then we will be on our way.
Speaker 1:All right, guys. Most of the time I try to pick a bible verse that relates to the topic if we're doing a political show, but there's only one that kind of came to mind and I didn't like how it tied in, so I'm going to read you guys something from a private devotion I've been reading in 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy, chapter 1. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. And what this reflection that St Paul is telling us is when we look upon our own sins, when the Holy Spirit opens our heart up enough to open up to put us in a place where we're seeing our own sins, the sins of the rest of the world don't look as big as ours. Our sins look so horrible to us because the holy spirit has opened up our hearts to where they he's, showing us how bad they truly are, and that Jesus Christ came into the world fully.
Speaker 1:Here is a trustworthy saying that is full of acceptance. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, whom I am the worst of. That. Jesus Christ came to die for us, the worst of us sinners, and we should focus more on our own sins than the sins of other people. It's hard to do, isn't it? And but he came and died for everyone. He came and died for the sinners of the world. God bless you, guys, and we will be back here next week, hopefully next week. Talk about part two in the life of David series. I believe we're going to be talking about David and Goliath, one of the greatest stories of the Bible. God bless you and have a big, beautiful weekend.
