#5calls.org

ICE/CBP have gone unfunded for 3 days; how about 3 years? The best way to claw back the $170 billion immigration enforcement surge in the Big Beautiful Bill is to just claw it back. The 2nd-best way is to slowly drain it by never funding the underlying appropriation. @ryanlcooper.com makes the case:

In July of last year, congressional Republicans passed H.R. 1, a budget bill that slashed billions in funding for social safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP while allocating $170 billion to immigration enforcement activities over the next four years. H.R. 1 made Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the highest-funded US law enforcement agency, granting the agency over $73 billion in funds over the next four years. This increase, which tripled ICE’s annual budget for immigration enforcement and detention activities, omitted corresponding funding increases for immigration courts and other services that protect detainees’ due process and basic human rights.

Empowered by this massive slush fund, ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have escalated their abuses rapidly, with ICE officers executing nonviolent protestors on video, entering homes without judicial warrants, and abusing and outright disappearing detainees. Despite the Trump administration’s constant claims to be arresting and deporting “the worst of the worst,” internal ICE data leaked to the CATO Institute late last year revealed that 73% of ICE detainees had no criminal conviction, and only 5% had a violent criminal conviction.

There are 53 Republican senators, 45 Democratic ones, and 2 Independents that vote with the Democrats. VP Vance is a tiebreaker vote.

So to block the bill, at least four Republican senators need to find their spines and the Democrats and Independents all need to keep their spines. This will not happen without direct action from voters.

They are only going to resist this bill if they hear from voters in their states. They do not care if some person from California calls them.

It's really fucking bad for everyone except the ultra-wealthy, surprise surprise.

I'm going to go through some of the features of this budget in reblogs, but trust and believe that it's horrible for the vast, vast majority of Americans, including you.

Highlights include:

Extends the Trump tax cuts passed in 2017. This continues $3.7 billion in tax cuts for the wealthy. If this budget does not pass, these tax cuts will expire and go back up without any action.

$150 billion in additional military spending

Work requirements for Medicaid. "childless adults without disabilities would be required to work 80 hours per month to qualify for benefits.". They expect millions of people to fail to meet work requirements and lose Medicaid.

Planned Parenthood and trans care. "Bans Medicaid from providing funding to Planned Parenthood as long as the organization continued to provide abortions, and would bar Medicaid from covering gender affirming health care to any beneficiaries. "

Reduces SNAP food stamp access that 40 million people use. "mandates work requirements for able-bodied SNAP enrollees who don't have dependents.".

Clean energy "dramatically scaling back many of the tax credits for clean energy."

Border walls and ICE. "$46.5 billion toward completing Trump's border wall. It also allots $5 billion for Customs and Border Protection facilities and more than $6 billion to hire and retain more agents and officers"

Student loans. "cut $330 billion from the student loan system by scrapping several existing repayment options, including the Biden-era SAVE program that based payments on income and household size.". Does anyone want to have student loan payments that you cannot afford?

Guts Obamacare. "Saves $100 billion, but will result in millions of Americans becoming uninsured if they fail to adhere to new paperwork requirements or can no longer afford insurance premiums."

Weakens federal courts that keep using orders that his actions are illegal and unconstitutional. It prohibits courts from enforcing contempt citations for violations of injunctions or temporary restraining orders unless the plaintiff pays a bond. Bonds can be EXTRAORDINARILY EXPENSIVE and are not currently required in these cases. The provision "would make most existing injunctions—in antitrust cases, police reform cases, school desegregation cases, and others—unenforceable," says the god of constitutional law, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

So, you folks in red states and you folks in wobbly blue states (PA, NC, etc), you need to call your senators and save us all.

Call every day. Call after hours so you can leave a voicemail and not talk to anyone.

For real y'all, millions of people are going to starve, go broke, and be without medical care if this bill passes. Which is a feature, not a bug, of the Trump administration.

If you haven't heard of it, 5calls.org is a nonprofit that helps you find your state's congressmen and -women to let them know how you feel about today's issues, including the new tariffs, the Medicaid debacle and cutting off weapons sales to Israel.

Today I called about executive orders, judicial checks, and democracy. I mostly got voicemails, but I talked to two humans at local offices. I hate doing that but they do listen. Text of what I said below.

I’m calling about the constitutional crisis being instigated by Trump’s executive orders. Many of them have been blocked by courts, but there’s no evidence the executive branch is listening. I’m especially concerned about Vance’s remarks about not listening to judicial decisions. The courts are the key check and balance for our democracy. It’s vital that [your rep] be prepared to take action to stop executive orders that have been ruled unconstitutional but are still being carried out. [if voicemail, leave name and zip code]

Posting this link again. Time to call the offices of your senators and ask them whether they have any least shred of integrity left. Protect RBG’s legacy.