The bill is a trillion-dollar tax break for the wealthy elite and a big, ugly, “disgusting abomination” for the rest of us.

We can expect an acceleration of the police state from local police departments to immigration patrols to the Pentagon. Billions of dollars will be allocated to keep citizens in control during this time of dissent and protests.

Another disgusting abomination is the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Israel is used to snapping their fingers and the U.S. saying how high. Disregarding his own intelligence sources and relying on Israel’s intel, trump sent several bunker-busting bombs to Iran. All paid for by taxpayers like you and me. Regardless of how one feels about Iran, it is a sovereign country and to be bombed by a foreign power will bring consequences for the U.S., and its people.

Our minds were temporarily taken off the content of the Big Ugly Bill and the destructive wave left by Musk. It’s all still there.

Many of us would agree that there should be a review of the federal budget for staff redundancy, department efficiency and wasteful areas. We will probably never get to this point. There is so much waste and inefficiency being perpetrated by the MAGA minions in front of our very eyes. Musk took a high-powered chain saw to programs and budgets without any concern for consequences on real people.

Here’s a primer on a few key components of the damage between the two of them:

– DOGE cuts have affected over 40 departments, agencies and commissions. The hardest hit has been USAID and  the Department of Education. Even non-threatening, nonpartisan programs like veteran affairs, national parks and the National Weather didn’t escape the whacks. Over 200,000 federal employments have been kicked to the curb, compromising citizens’ access to information and vital services.

– Under HR 1, Medicaid would be cut by $800 billion dollars and recipients will have a required work component tied to their benefits. Much of the costs of the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (aka SNAP or food stamps) will be passed onto the already overburdened  states. The mandatory work program extends the work age from 54 years of age to 64, ensuring your broken-down body will die a premature death. $60 billion in new money will go to “farmers”–code word for agribusiness not family farmers.

– Other reversals by previous Democratic presidents to minimize the climate crisis will open up full access to public lands for drilling, logging and mining by corporations we already know have a history of corruption, greed and no accountability for their damage to the environment.

– We can expect an acceleration of the police state from local police departments to immigration patrols to the Pentagon. Billions of dollars will be allocated to keep citizens in control during this time of dissent and protests. A current example of this is Trump sending the National Guard to quell the opposition to ICE raids in Los Angeles against the wishes of the governor and mayor.

– The status of nonprofits who don’t align with the MAGA agenda will be more easily targeted by the subjective criteria of being terrorists. MAGA won’t even have to prove you’re a national threat as they will have the ultimate power to defund, co-opt and eliminate their political enemies.

– The president’s lack of understanding about how tariffs work is causing major ripples across the global markets. Trade wars are bringing the higher costs to consumers.

On top of everything else, people are dealing with the Big Ugly Bill (HR 1), the DOGE disaster, MAGA legislators, MAGA courts, ICE raids, and  now—an undeclared war. That’s a lot that is demanding our attention. If we don’t find the time and energy, this democracy will be shaken to its core. We can contain our pain and suffering by making our voices heard and disrupting authoritarianism beyond protests.