Did You Know?
We all talk about “unintended consequences” of actions or laws on our local level, such as the threat to our well-being posed by the recently proposed “Project Blue” which would build water-and-power-hog data centers.
Now we need to talk about the intended consequences that are also a threat to the quality of life for people who call Arizona home.
The so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by the radical right-wing Republicans in Congress has intended consequences that will negatively impact you and your family right here in Arizona:
It adds an estimated $1 Billion to the Arizona budget to make up for cuts to our Federal funding. Sure, we could just ignore people who need food or medical care and let them die, but most Arizonans are not that cruel. They’re also not interested in the increase crime as desperate people steal food and other goods.
It phases out tax incentives for clean, renewable energy. In addition to adding to our climate change problem, this will make our energy costs go up! That’s because clean energy now costs less than fossil fuel energy, and battery storage is rapidly improving.
It will close down some of our rural hospitals and clinics. These hospitals and clinics save the lives of many rural residents who only have Medicaid as their insurance. If Medicaid quits paying, they can’t survive.
It makes huge cuts to public education funding, particularly hurting students who have physical or learning disabilities. Because private schools don’t have to serve those students, vouchers don’t help them, and these cuts add to the burden on our local public schools and our state.
It sells 3 million acres of public lands. Supposedly this is to help relieve the housing shortages, but the areas around Sedona and Mount Lemmon have been suggested. I’ll take a wild guess that most of us won’t be able to afford anything that’s built in these areas, and the wealthy will be sitting on porches enjoying the forest we used to camp in.
It will cut food stamps for many of the 784 thousand Arizonans who need help feeding their families. Most “able-bodied” people on food stamps (now called SNAP) already work, but don’t make enough to cover rent and food.
It increases the national debt by $4 trillion! Even though the national debt is used as the excuse to cut services to the working poor, this shows cutting the debt wasn’t the real goal. The tax cuts – most of which will go to the wealthy – are the biggest driver in this increase. This means more of your tax dollars will be used to pay interest on that debt, rather than making sure our Arizona roads, airports, and food are safe. It will probably also cause an increase in interest rates, making it even harder to afford a house.
Congressional Democrats did not vote for this bill because Democrats believe in laws that help everyone – not just the wealthy and big businesses. We believe in lending a helping hand so people can get a useful education, grow their businesses, get a job with a living wage, take care of their families, and prosper. This bill does the opposite.
Marian Hill