As it turns out, we aren’t quite so divided as a nation.
Again and again, surveys show that Americans agree that billionaires and corporations don’t need more tax breaks.
We agree that we want quality, affordable health care, housing, child care and education. We agree that our children should not go hungry.
We agree on equal rights for all, and that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is going too far.
Americans also agree that we don’t want regime-change wars around the globe.
Where the divide shows itself is in government, where the Trump administration and leaders in Congress don’t agree — with us.
President Donald Trump and the GOP’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” took more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in order to give massive tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations.
And while Americans grapple with rising housing prices, Trump reportedly told U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson that “no one gives a s— about housing.”
This administration’s war of choice on Iran also illustrates this tension.
Dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” this war is profoundly unpopular, with a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll putting support at a paltry 27%. This is sure to be even less popular if the conflict drags on or includes U.S. boots on the ground.
In addition to being unpopular, Operation Epic Fury is enormously costly to U.S. taxpayers.
The war cost taxpayers an estimated $2 billion per day in its first week and has cost about $1 billion per day since then.
According to the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, that $1 billion per day alone could instead cover the daily costs of Medicaid coverage for the 16 million people who, as a result of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” will lose it — and for the food assistance for the 41 million people who rely on SNAP.
As Americans are losing these economic lifelines, the war is going to make life even more expensive.
Trump’s war has spiked the price of gas at home and around the globe, threatening world economies with instability.
Families already struggling to make ends meet are having to fork over even more money for transportation to and from work. Food prices could also balloon as costs for transportation and fertilizer rise.
