The hard-right lawmakers are insisting on steeper spending cuts to Medicaid and the Biden-era green energy tax breaks, among other changes, before they will give their support to President Donald Trump’s “beautiful” bill. They warn the tax cuts alone would pile onto the nation’s $36 trillion debt.
The failed vote, 16-21, stalls, for now, House Speaker Mike Johnson’s push to have the package approved next week. But the Budget Committee plans to reconvene Sunday to try again. Lawmakers vowed to negotiate into the weekend as Trump is returning to Washington from the Middle East.
“Something needs to change or you’re not going to get my support,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.
I wonder if the overall thinking is that people need to feel progress to feel good about their lot in life but they can’t constantly deliver that, so they need the political “heels” to come by make things feel worse and then cede to people to make it “better” to make people feel like progress is made
Kind of like how the net result is increased tariffs but because they were temporarily more severe, the general reaction is “the tariffs are gone, what a relief”
Rolling that boulder up the hill requires it roll back downhill so people can cheer it being rolled up the hill again.