Last Year, Republicans Put Lipstick on a Pig

Unsplash; William Warby (Pig), Virginia Berbece (lipstick)

Robert Kramer removes the lipstick from the Republican legislation called the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" to discuss who it creates as the losers and winners.

Trump proudly named his porcine project "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" or

(OBBBA) for short.

And the Republicans in Congress who do the shoveling for him got out

their shovels and buried the facts.

So now this Pig has been turned loose on the most vulnerable Americans, including millions of disabled individuals and their exhausted caregivers. 

Here’s what Trump’s pig is dumping on America.

•       Medicaid Funding and Access: The bill is estimated to cut federal Medicaid spending by over $1.2 trillion by 2034, likely reducing home- and community-based services (HCBS) and causing millions to lose coverage.

•       SSI Benefits Reduced: Up to 400,000 low-income, disabled individuals living in households with others could see reduced monthly SSI payments, as the rules for calculating benefits based on shared living situations were changed.

•       Medicare Eligibility: The bill restricts Medicare eligibility for certain legally present immigrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, starting 18 months after enactment.

•       SNAP (Food Stamp) Benefits: Benefits are reduced for low-income households by enforcing stricter work requirements and cutting off certain non-citizen residents.

•       Medicaid Expansion: Work requirements are implemented for

Medicaid eligibility, which could lead to coverage loss for individuals with disabilities.  

Adding some rouge (or ruse) to the Pig, OBBBA includes a new $6,000 tax deduction for seniors aged 65 and older, this benefit specifically excludes individuals under 65 who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). 

Here’s what no amount of cover-up can cover up.

•       Work Requirements: New, rigid work requirements for the Medicaid expansion group are expected to cause millions to lose coverage, with people with disabilities being particularly vulnerable to these reporting burdens.

•       Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS): Reduction in

federal funding is expected to force states to cut optional benefits, primarily affecting home-based care that allows disabled individuals to live independently.

•       Medicare Cost-Sharing: Provisions blocking rules that ease access to Medicare Savings Programs are estimated to increase out-of -pocket costs for roughly 1.4 million dually eligible individuals.

•       Benefit Cuts for "Public Assistance Households": A proposed rule change associated with the administration's agenda would remove SNAP as a qualifying program for the "public assistance household" rule. This could lead to a one-third reduction (approx. $300/month) in SSI benefits for nearly 400,000 low-income recipients living with family.

•       Increased Eligibility Reviews: The bill mandates more frequent eligibility redeterminations—twice a year instead of annually—starting December 31, 2026, which is expected to cause many eligible individuals to lose benefits due to "churn" and paperwork errors. This doubles the paperwork burden on family members caring for disabled individuals. Many won’t be able to keep up.

•       Expanded Work Requirements: The bill expands work requirements for SNAP to adults aged 55–64. This change is projected to take food assistance away from approximately 3.2 million people, including many with disabilities who struggle to navigate the exemption process. And people with disabilities may not have the physical ability to work at any job. So, while described as a work requirement, it is a built-in denial.

•       Benefit Level Freezes: The bill restricts future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan, effectively reducing the purchasing power of SNAP benefits over the next decade.

We’ve seen what the Pig takes away from the poor and disabled, so who takes home the bacon?

•       OBBBA reduces taxes for the wealthiest Americans by permanently extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act  

•       Top Marginal Rate: Permanently cut

•       Estate Tax: Raises the exemption for estate and gift taxes to $15  million per individual, or $30 million per married couple 

•       Pass-Through Deduction: Makes the 20% deduction for passthrough business owners permanent.

•       Investment Incentives: Provides increased exclusions for capital gains on qualified small business stock and higher deductions for goodies private jets. So, these Pigs do fly!

•       Overall Benefits: The top 5% of earners are estimated to receive over 45% of the total tax cuts from the bill.  The top 1% of earners receive an average tax cut of approximately $61,000 to $68,260 

We can all see through the lipstick on Trump’s Pig now.

Here’s what Trump’s pig is dumping on America.

Here’s what Trump’s pig is dumping on America.