Michelle Fischbach is Full of **it

            Michelle Fischbach is tickled pink about all the great stuff in the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill.” She recently sent out an email bragging about it, including a list of ways it supposedly helps her district. Here it is with my response:

 - “Keeps Minnesotans from facing a 24% tax hike”

I assume this is some kind of average, but presenting it that way is misleading because 24% of a small number is a lot less than 24% of a large number. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, “Minnesotans in the bottom 20% of earners – those making less than $36,000 a year – will receive an average tax cut of $240 in 2026, while those in … the top 1%, incomes over $927,000, will receive an average tax cut of $52,370.” (Fargo Forum, July 12) Fischbach also makes no mention of the massive impact these cuts will have on the federal deficit.

- “Increases the standard tax deduction for seniors to $6,000”

It didn’t eliminate taxes on Social Security income, but whatever.

- “Makes Death Tax exemption permanent and raises it to $15 million, helping family farms pass down their life's work to the next generation”

This is more properly called the estate tax, and it is the main mechanism we have for preventing the kind of intergenerational transfer of wealth that creates aristocracy. Claiming it’s for the benefit of family farms is how the billionaires’ buddies disguise its real intent.

- “Invests in national defense, funding the Golden Dome missile defense shield”

Creating an effective missile shield involves huge technical challenges, enormous expense, and the prospect of militarizing space and sparking a new arms race. It does, however, hold out the prospect of lucrative new defense contracts for Elon Musk and company.

- “Funds programs to deport illegal immigrants and completing the wall to secure our borders”

Indeed, the bill pours massive new funding into Trump’s war on immigrants, threatening a vast increase in the goon squads that have been rounding up law-abiding, hard-working immigrants. I don’t know who’s going to pick our vegetables and roof our houses.

- “Supports our small businesses by cutting red tape, making the 199A small business tax deduction permanent, and doubling the small business expensing limit to $2.5 million so they can grow and invest in their operations”

The biggest problem for small businesses is big businesses. I’m all for helping them where we can, but it needs to be accompanied by vigorous antitrust enforcement.

- “Puts a stop to Green New Scam spending and funding for ‘climate justice’ projects”

She can stick her head in the sand and pretend climate change isn’t real and doesn’t have a disproportionate effect of economically disadvantaged communities, but forests are burning and you can’t just blame Canada. Climate denialism is both bad for our health and bad for our economy.

- “Cuts waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid program, making is stronger for the people the programs were intended for like children, pregnant women, and those with disabilities”

Does she really think you can find $800 billion worth of waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid program? Just trying to root out those ills is going to put an enormous administrative burden on states and localities and paperwork burden on the needy.

- “Creates a $50 billion Rural Transformation Fund for state investments in rural health”

Rural health care is seriously threatened by Medicaid cuts, and this is what conservatives like to call “throwing money at the problem.” Wouldn’t it make more sense to pay for actual health care instead of a bail-out scheme that isn’t adequate anyway?

- “Pulls federal tax dollars away from abortion providers like Planned Parenthood, redirecting funding to providers who love and support both mothers and their unborn children”

I’ll just note that Planned Parenthood provides an array of services that millions of women depend on, so cutting their funds is just another attack on health care.

Paul Harris