- RAWSTORY.COM - Raw Story - 01/Jul 23:33

MAGA acting like 'Mafia wannabes' by passing Trump budget: analyst

President Donald Trump and his MAGA faithful are acting like television gangsters on shows like "The Sopranos" or "Boardwalk Empire" to pass Trump's budget, according to one analyst. "Like the Mafia wannabes, congressional Republicans have talked themselves into a plan so incomprehensibly reckless that to describe it is to question its authors’ sanity," political commentator Jonathan Chait wrote in an essay for The Atlantic. "...The final details still have to be negotiated, but the foundational elements are clear enough," the essay continues. "Congress is about to impose immense harm on tens of millions of Americans—taking away their health insurance, reducing welfare benefits, raising energy costs, and more—in order to benefit a handful of other Americans who least need the help. The bill almost seems designed to generate a political backlash."Trump's megabill, known as the "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act," has become a point of contention in Congress. Several MAGA politicians like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Republicans in vulnerable districts have spoken out against the bill. Experts say the bill could cause massive harm to low-income Americans if it is passed. As Chait notes, it would add more than $3 trillion to the debt, force more than 10 million Americans off of Medicaid, and significantly reduce federal food assistance. A series of polls show that between 42% and 64% of Americans oppose the legislation despite Trump's insistence that it pass. The Senate voted 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie, to advance the legislation on Tuesday morning. It will now head back to the House for reconciliation.