This Bill Isn’t Beautiful. It’s Brutal.

A single vote just gutted healthcare, food aid, and our collective dignity.

It’s been a heckuva news cycle—again.

I just came off a staff retreat in Atlanta, where we grounded ourselves in a truth that feels more urgent by the day: we are no longer doing business as usual. We were agitated to consider that part of our work now means (1) defending what remains of our democratic systems, (2) defeating the rise of authoritarianism and fascism, and (3) simultaneously creating the new world we want to live in - what I’m calling the Third Way.

And then, while we were still processing that, Trump and the Republican-dominated House passed the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” by a single vote.

Even if the news cycle moves on before we can catch our breath, this moment deserves reflection.

I’ve been reading Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson, and I’m grateful for how clearly she named what’s actually in this bill. It may come dressed up with headers like “Thrifty Food Plan” or “Investment in Rural America,” but once you get past the doublespeak, here’s what it really does:

• Slashes $715 billion from healthcare (mostly Medicaid)

• Cuts $300 billion from SNAP, impacting children, seniors, and disabled adults

• Triggers $500 billion in Medicare cuts

• Pours billions into ICE and border militarization

• And funds massive, permanent tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy

Former Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty once said, “Budgets are moral documents.” This one? It fails the test. It betrays working Americans and bolsters an oligarchy that feeds off public harm.

My husband likes to remind me, when I say, “It’s capitalism,” that really, it’s crony capitalism. For a long time, I thought he made that phrase up—turns out, it’s real. The term describes what happens when businesses cozy up to government in mutually beneficial ways (think of all those contracts one particular electric car company keeps winning—and the deregulation that follows).

This budget doesn’t represent a new moral failure - it’s the same old logic repackaged - the same logic used by enslavers and segregationists who stoked fear and racism to maintain elite power.

To reframe through Richardson’s lens:

• White fear becomes political leverage

• Mass detention becomes a profit model

• Rule of law becomes optional for the powerful

Basically: what’s old is new again. Only now, there’s cryptocurrency and fewer masks.

But fear-mongering isn’t helpful—and I don’t want this post to tip you into despair. If you’re feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or panicked, take a breath with me. (Try a 4-4-8 breath: inhale for 4, hold for 4, release for 8. It helps. And, it’s called pranayama.)

We have to be rooted in clarity. We have to name what’s happening. And we have to call truth to power.

So let this be an invitation, not to spiral, but to stay grounded and responsive:

• Contact your reps (especially in the Senate)

• Support local organizations (like Family Forward Oregon)

• Stay informed—but don’t doomscroll

• Keep building community, joy, and resistance

I believe in collective care. I believe in shared power and radical hope. And I believe we deserve a government that serves people, not profit, not corporations, and not an elite few.

So I’m going to keep showing up, even when it hurts, especially when it hurts.

And I hope you’ll show up with me.

Tell me how you’re holding this moment. Paid subscribers can comment.

🌀 And don’t forget: Tell me what you value. The more of us who name our values together, the closer we are to reshaping our social contract—and imagining a Third Way forward.

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Also, for whimsy, check out Elle Cordova’s look at this alliteration.