Donald Trump's bill is big, but far from beautiful

No one disputes that President Donald Trump's “One Big Beautiful Bill” is big - hundreds of pages of significant tax and spending measures.

- Carl P. Leubsdorf, Tribune News Service

But it’s far from beautiful. Indeed, it will cause untold damage to the nation’s economy and health system, reverse recent efforts to encourage alternative energy sources, widen the gap between the wealthiest and poorest citizens, and increase the federal deficit. Polls show it is increasingly unpopular with the public, prompting North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis to warn GOP colleagues it will likely prove a political albatross in next year’s elections that could cost them control of Congress.

Trump and his GOP allies have ignored such criticism in touting the bill, noting it would extend the 2017 tax cuts, reduce taxes on tipped income and add billions for immigration enforcement and defense. Without action, they warn, many Americans would face big tax hikes, though, in fact, there is time to prevent that in a separate, less costly bill. The administration also claims, unconvincingly, that a combination of the tax cuts and the benefits from the president's controversial increase in import tariffs will spur economic growth and reduce the deficit.

But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and other independent analysts note that past Republican tax cuts failed to provide predicted growth and predict that, instead, the bill will increase the deficit by several trillion dollars.