President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” : A Comprehensive Overview and Analysis

 

If there is anything we can all agree on about Donald Trump, it’s his propensity for hyperbole. Going all the way back to when he first appeared on Robin Leach’s “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”, Trump  has always described anything he’s involved with as “the biggest”, “the most”, “the best”, “the greatest ever”, and so forth. Everything he does is over the top. 

Trump, the son of a real estate entrepreneur, learned as a child that it’s not what you actually say or do, it’s all about the perception. So, now, here we are with President Trump’s 870 page “One Big Beautiful Bill” which (allegedly) contains the greatest sweeping changes in our country’s history. The bill, we're told, will become legendary. Aren’t we blessed to be here and now to witness its unveiling? But just what is in this bill and is it as wonderful as it’s being portrayed by the Republicans? Is there anything in it we're not being told? 

The bill was officially known as H.R. 1 “One Big Beautiful Bill” (aka “OBBBA”) and was sponsored by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and originated in the House Budget Committee May 20, 2025 (I’m sure he’ll find an extra special “something” in his Christmas stocking).

The bill passed in the House with a 218 to 214 vote after barely sliding by a vote in the Senate, 51 to 50, marking a significant victory for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) despite three Republican senators voting against the bill--- Rand Paul (R-KY), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

The bill, which focused on tax cuts, was considered by many to be an extension of President Trump’s earlier bill, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”). The bill represents a saving of about $3.7 billion tax dollars to taxpayers (or if you look at it another way, $3.7 billion in taxes that the federal government won’t collect for various programs).

The bill makes Trump’s previous tax cuts permanent, while increasing spending for border security,  military expenditures, and energy production (with little funding for alternative energy projects). Two compromise points was postponing the sale of public land for the time being and temporarily prohibiting state regulations over artificial intelligence (AI).

Funding for the increases came, in part, from reductions in the budgets for programs like Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutritional Aid Program, better known as “SNAP,” as well as other healthcare and nutritional support programs. Some opponents claim that the reductions will potentially leave some without healthcare and leave the underserved even worse off. Congressional Republicans deny this will happen.

For some reason, I’m reminded of when President Ronald Reagan made a similar cut in the National School Lunch Program. At one point, after being criticized over the cuts in fresh fruits and vegetables being available to school age children living poverty, he said the ketchup, which was readily available in school lunchrooms, should be counted as vegetable (also mentioned was pickle relish). It’s just not the same Gipper.  The cut of 1.5 million dollars was intended to give schools more “flexibility” to the lunch programs, however, it backfired. As I’ve said on many occasions, perception in politics is everything.

With respect to Medicaid, which was created in 1965, approximately 71.4 million people are currently using Medicaid which is intended for low income individuals and families as well as those disabled and unable to work. A further 7.3 million are enrolled in the Children’s health Insurance Program (“CHIP”), which brings the total to 78.7 million people who benefit from Medicaid, or roughly 24% of the U.S. population.  

As an aside, both Medicaid and Medicare were expanded under President Obama’s healthcare legislation, known as the “Affordable Care Act” in an effort to  provide coverage for those without any healthcare and to provide a bridge for those who fell through the cracks. So, I guess “Obamacare” has effectively been replaced by “OBBBAcare”!

Some of the changes made under Trump’s bill includes changing annual application enrollments to every six months and additional residency verification requirements in order to eliminate non-citizens from applying. Medicaid has always been for low income or handicapped individuals and their families. Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, there will be tighter restrictions on incomes.

Federal provider coverage will dropped from 6% to 3.5% over the next seven years.  That’s expected to have an adverse effect on small community clinics and rural hospitals (especially in low income areas like the Ozarks and Appalachia). The bill mandates that “able bodied” adults to work or volunteer up to 15 hours per week. This also applies to those receiving SNAP benefits to work or volunteer a minimum of 15 hours weekly.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, an estimated 12 million Medicaid recipients could lose coverage over the next decade. Proponents claims that only those able to work and obtain coverage on the open market and those who’ve obtained coverage fraudulently (such as illegal immigrants) will be affected.

Social Security will also be affected. Once considered to be “untouchable”, Congress regularly raids Social Security with the assurance that these “loans” with be repaid but has resulted in concerns that the national retirement safety net  will go broke over the next few decades. 

A good piece of news is that individuals dependent on tips or overtime to make ends meet with no longer be required to pay taxes on their income up to $25,000. Many individuals, especially in the service industry, aren’t paid a standard wage. Instead, they depend on tips while others, especially in manufacturing, count on overtime to make ends meet.

Previously, workers were required to pay taxes on this extra but essential income, under Trump’s bill, they will be tax deductible on the first $12,500 of overtime earned. The child tax credit will be increased by $200, making it now  $2,200 and then adjusted for inflation thereafter.

Taxpayers will be able to write off a portion of their state and local taxes (SALT) on their federal taxes up to $40,000 on incomes up to $500,000 until 2029 when it will drop back to the current rate of $10,000. The deduction benefits those who pay high property taxes, which tend to be the wealthy. Private jets will now be tax deductible. In another prop for the well-to-do, individuals can now pass up $15 million to their heirs tax free (if any of you are rich, I’m available for adoption).  

Private school vouchers were also added to the bill. Families who earn less than three times the local income average may now receive up to $5000 in tax credits to be used for homeschooling and private schools (including religious based schools). Private colleges with a student population of 3000 or more, will pay up to 8% in taxes on their endowments. Students will now be capped on the amount of federal loans they can borrow for college. 

Car buyers will be able to write off up to $10,000 in interest annually on car loans IF the car is assembled in the United States. A boon for American auto workers. Additionally, those 65 and over will be able to deduct up to $6000 in taxable income off the top through 2028.

According to a Penn Wharton Budget Model Forecast, the beneficiaries of this portion of the bill will be those in the upper income brackets, especially the top 1% (as if they need another tax break). Low income families currently receiving Medicaid and/or SNAP benefits could lose around $28,000 over a lifetime while those earning $58,000 or more could see savings as much as $65,000 over the same period.    

When it came to the energy and the environment, it was a victory for oil and gas companies. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” cut President Biden’s clean energy tax breaks for alternative energy sources (such as wind and solar power), especially those with “foreign ownership or other connections” (ie: China). Companies currently involved with alternative energy will continue to be eligible for the full tax credits. However, starting in 2026, new construction projects will be eligible for just 60% of those credits, dropping to 20% in 2027, and disappearing altogether by 2028.

It bears mentioning that the bill includes language encouraging continue and accelerate oil and gas leasing as well as permits oil and gas companies to us deductions built into the bill to avoid paying so-called "must pay" minimum corporate taxes of 15% imposed by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. 

The U.S. military is the largest in the world, exceeding the next ten nations combined (including China, Russia, India, France, and the UK), but under Trump’s bill, they’ll received an increase over their current budget by $150 billion dollars, with an emphasis on rebuilding a badly depleted military in addition to creating a missile defense “Golden Dome” along the lines of Israel’s “Iron Dome” (look for China to build a “Jade Dome”) next.

In 2024, the Heritage Foundation published a summary of U.S. military readiness and key foreign threats. According to the report, the U.S. military was not adequately prepared for a two front war or a prolonged war across a broad single front. The U.S. Army’s capacity was listed as “weak” while its capability was “marginal”. The Navy’s capacity was categorized as “very weak” while its capability was “marginal” and its readiness was “weak”.

The Air Force was “very weak” when it came to readiness. Its capability and capacity were both determined as being “weak”. The Marines, as expected, were listed as “strong” when it came to readiness and capability, yet “weak” in regard to capability. The Space Force was “marginal” across the board (making us vulnerable to Martians I suppose). Overall, the report indicated that the current state of our military was on the low side of “marginal”.

The Golden Dome will be specifically designed to stop incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles (“ICBMs”) as well as the latest in high tech destruction, hypersonic missiles which travel at five times the speed of sound and “fractional orbital bombardment systems” or  as they’re better known, “FOBS”.  FOBS are a type of multiheaded nuclear ballistic missiles which, after launch, remain in low earth orbit, until being directed toward their intended target much like a maneuverable  glider.

 As an aside, in the event the crisis is alleviated (such as capitulation or diplomacy), they can redirected into space and detonated.  Critics say the “Golden Dome” only heightens global tensions while proponents believed it will serve  to deescalated the threat of a global war.

Trump has promised (and largely delivered) to enforce existing immigration laws and improve border security. Accordingly, thousands of migrants have been rounded up and deported. In an effort to continue and step up efforts, the Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”)  was being given an additional $150 billion to their budget, which had been reduced to just $8 billion dollars by previous administrations. The increase now makes ICE the top funded federal law enforcement agency in the country.  

In summary, President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will extend tax cuts over the next decade, resulting a savings of approximately $4.5 trillion dollars to taxpayers and corporations. Border security and immigration enforcement will see an increase in their Christmas stockings of $129 billion dollars, and the military will get an increase over their current budget of $150 billion dollars. That should buy a lot of new toys for them to blow up.

On the down side, the Congressional Budget Office said that Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will likely add $3.4 billion to the federal deficit over the next decade. The debt ceiling will be raised to $5 trillion dollars, ostensibly to help pay for current and future federal programs.

Medicaid will see a drop of $930 billion dollars over the next decade (some see it as a savings since it will reduce from the roll those not legally entitled to the various programs covered under Medicaid). Because of reductions in Medicaid, nursing homes receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding will face a hiring moratorium.  

The bill also provides Big Pharma with a major break. It limits Medicare's ability to negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. Other public assistance programs, such as SNAP, will see a reduction of $287 billion over the next ten years (the same reason as above). Meanwhile, the so-called “green industry” will lose some $488 billion dollars in federal support.

In conclusion, President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is largely positive overall for most Americans, and certainly for big business as well as the very well-to-do. However, as usual, lower income brackets (and by extension, minorities) and some seniors didn’t fare well with reductions in the social safety net programs. However, many of the tax breaks and other cuts are temporary which may be the best a deeply divided Congress can do.

The military, as is usually the case, made out like a pirate (or should I say “privateer”?). For those who are curious, the budget for intelligence agencies are separate and are generally kept secret from the public as well as the majority of Congress.  Thus, their budgets are apparently none of our business even though we fund them through our tax dollars. Tax breaks on income, especially tips and overtime, were long overdue, but come on, private jets? Really? 

 Crackdowns on illegal immigration and dramatic improvements in border security are seen as a good thing for national security, though it may be closer to the proverbial closing of the chicken coop after the foxes are in. Educational funding had a number of pros and cons but ultimately benefited the kids, which is what matters the most (now they need to figure out how to improve the quality of their education).  

Finally, all things considered, after having spent a lot of time researching the bill, I’m not sure I would have called it “One Big Beautiful Bill”, but I guess “One Big Not Ugly Bill” doesn’t sound as marketable.

 

Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking individuals. We ask, however, that you "like" us on whatever platform you found us on in order to keep our articles available for free to others. Lastly, in order to keep costs down, we depend on passive marketing, and therefore, depend on our readers to please forward our posts along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

 

H.R. 1 One Big Beautiful Bill text

Big Beautiful Bill 101: What you need to know about the newlaw

Affordable Care Act

Senate passes Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” in 51 to 50 voteafter marathon session

Ketchup as a vegetable

Can Donald Trump build the ‘Golden Dome’ over the US?

What are the key items in Trump’s sprawling budget bill?

Is the Pentagon headed for a military readiness crisis?

Military Readiness: Implementing the GOA’s recommendations…

Executive Summary of the 2024 Index of U.S. Military Strength

7 Overlooked Provisions In Trump and The GOP’s Ugly Tax Bill

 

“No King” But Plenty of Fools? Civil Disobedience Then and Now

 

Growing up in the 1960’s and 70’s, I remember watching major historical social events such as Hispanic civil rights activist and labor leader Cesar Chavez leading his migrant field worker’s  on a “1000 Mile March” (or "Peregrination") from the farm fields of Southern California up along the coast educating farm laborers about their newly won rights, including the right to organize.

Then there was no looting or defacement of the Lincoln and Washington monuments. No one peed in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool while listening to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s stirring “I have a Dream” speech (aka “March for Jobs and Freedom" speech, 1963).  

There were the famous protests for civil rights led by likes of Rev. King,  A. Phillip Randolph, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, such as the Montgomery Bus Protest (1965/66), the Birmingham campaign (1963), the Selma march (1965), or the Chicago Peace March (1967) or the March against the Vietnam War (1967). Then there was the “Poor Peoples Campaign in 1968 which was aimed at alleviating the economic poor and improving housing for all races, but where was the violence? There wasn't any.

 Chavez, King, Abernathy, and all the others never intentionally blocked traffic. They never looted or defaced property. They didn’t try and keep people from going to their jobs to earn money in order to put food on their table or keep a roof over their head. They didn’t try to keep ambulances from helping individuals in crisis.

No one blocked the fire department from trying to save someone’s home and their possessions, not to mention their lives? They didn’t loot, commit arson, deface public and private property, throw trash cans everywhere or set bonfires in the middle of road? None of that happened? They didn’t intentionally assault anyone? They didn’t even spit on anybody or scream in their ear? Once again, the answer is no. Leaders repeatedly reminded their followers to avoid violence at all costs. They were also encouraged to respect people’s personal space.

Vehicles weren’t attacked with rocks, bricks, chairs, or pummeled with boards and hammers.  Protest signs weapons. They simply conveyed a message.  What about protesters randomly attacking police officers or federal agents? That rarely happened, and when it came to assaults and law enforcement, protestors were just as often on the receiving end.

Didn’t  “social justice warriors” like King, Chavez, Wilkins, and Abernathy modelled their protests after the anarchist, Mahatma Gandhi? Afterall, aren’t you supposed to substitute yourself in place of the message?  Isn't ending dialogue the goal right?

Well, no. While they did model their protests on Gandhi, he was all about non-violence, passive resistance, and trying to create dialogue. Gandhi wasn't an anarchist although some try to portray him as such today. So, today’s protests and protestors (aka “social justice warriors”) are nothing like their Civil Rights movement counterparts. So, if not the Civil Rights Movement, what about other protests? Incidentally, while Caser Chavez was a major proponent of migrant rights and founder of the United Farm Workers, he opposed illegal immigration, believing it harmed those here legally and gave the impression that all Hispanics were criminals. 

There were the anti-war protests, often led by individuals like Tom Hayden, Jerry Rubin, and Abbe Hoffman.  in Lafayette Park, the National Mall, and the campuses at universities like Berkeley, Kent State, Chicago, and throughout the U.S., as well as the 1971 Mayday Protest. There was the protests by Native Americans, led by individuals like Dennis Means, Russell Means, and Clyde Bellecourt. They led a series of non-violent protests (known as the “Trail of Broken Treaties), including occupying the offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but that too was non-violent.

Following a notoriously violent police raid in 1969 on a gay nightclub in New York’s Greenwich Village, gays, fronted by leaders like Phyllis Lyons and Frank Kameny, began openly (yet peacefully) protesting for a change in laws to decriminalize homosexuality. The “Women’s Liberation Movement” , whose leadership included Bella Abzug, Democratic presidential candidate, Shirley Chisholm, and Gloria Steinem, also started in the 1970’s over a number of issues ranging from equal pay and treatment at work, abortion, separate credit and financial rights, etc. None of these protests involved spitting on people, arson, or looting (although a few innocent bras were burned).

In Chicago, in 1968, there was the infamous “police riot”, ordered by Chicago political boss Mayor Richard Daley during the Democratic Party National Convention, on anti-war demonstrators.  The result was 11 deaths and nearly 800 injuries, which include 152 officers. The officers used nearly everything at their disposal. They were wildly swinging their batons and deploying voluminous amounts of tear gas, causing confusion and panic among the protestors and innocent bystanders. Many of the injuries were head and neck related or the result of being trampled.  

The following year, in 1970, on the relatively quiet campus of Kent State University in Ohio, just over 300 or so students had gathered to protest the expansion of the war in Vietnam into Laos and Cambodia. The Ohio National Guard was called in to maintain “control” over loud but otherwise well behaved students. For reasons still unclear, 28 members of the National Guard opened fire on the peaceful crowd.

By the time the shooting stopped some 13 seconds later, 67 rounds had been fired and four students lay dead. Two were 19 and two were 20. Nine students were badly injured. Although there was a hearing, not one of the 28 members of the National Guard or their officers, were found guilty. As a result, over four million students across the country staged a mass walk out and there was no looting. No arson. A friend of mine, who was a student journalist at Kent State at the time, told me that despite the anguish and anger, there was no talk of revenge on the National Guard members or the judge.

None of this is intended to imply that the 1960’s and ‘70’s lacked violence from the Left. They did, and lots of it, such as the Watts Riots in LA which spread across the nation or the riots following the murder of MLK in 1968. However, the majority of violence, as it pertains to protests, didn’t come from the protestors themselves. It came for the “Establishment” and those on the Far Right. So, what happened? What changed?

By the mid-1970’s, protesting was becoming organized and financed. There were individuals called "coordinators" who were considered “experts” at organizing a protest (Saul Alinsky is considered to be the "father" of modern protests). They would train or bring in certain individuals to be “squad leaders” to lead the direction of the protests, who continuously reported to the coordinators.

They would also work with coordinators and others to create local specific slogans for signs and banners which were produced out of state and shipped in to avoid being traced by law enforcement with other signs, more generic, were homemade. 

Seminars would be formed to help participants learn how to deal with police tactics, passive resistance, how to non-aggressively provoke the other side and law enforcement, and deescalate any anxiety participants might have. They would also practice ways to non-aggressively resist, rehearse their message, and gain the media’s attention in a way to make it appear that they have the moral high ground.

Links would be established with like-minded groups, organizations and legal aid societies, including a bail fund.  Key individuals would be given an 800 phone number which will connect them to a lawyer  on standby who will help with the bail and obtain their quick release from jail.

By the early 2000’s, tactics changed again. Protests became almost indistinguishable from riots. Violence, once shunned by earlier organizers (including Alinsky), became virtually “de rigueur”. The actions of the individuals took the forefront, often obscuring the message of the protest. 

Actions could include trying to block vehicles with your body (especially if the media was present), ignoring the other person’s personal space while over emphasizing yours, shouting (or screaming) the opposition down, spitting on someone to provoke a reaction,  exaggerated acting to an action, using certain words, phrases, or sounds to rally and surround a perceived “threat”, as well as protesting without a permit or illegally blocking traffic (even King obtained a permit).

Physical violence, with the aim to intimidate and demoralize the other side, has also found its way into modern “protests” in a way that would have appalled Dr. King, Cesar Chavez, or Shirley Chisolm. As an aside, some use protests today as a cover for looting, theft, arson, disfiguring or destroying public and private property (which is solely intended to create an added strain on local first responders).  If these wannabe “social justice warriors” truly want to change the system, they need broad public support across social, racial, and economic lines. What they are doing is not how you get it. Mayhem, rather than the message, seems more and more to be the objective. That only weakens the message and prevents the change you want. 

Many of today’s faux revolutionaries think they’re recreating the “social revolution” of their grandparents from the 1960’s and 70’s, when, in fact, they’re acting like spoiled or coddled children not getting their way in a toy store. They spend to much time in the world of make believe instead of reality. In the words of their ideological model, Vladimir Lenin, they are little more than “useful idiots”.  How can you be  an “anarchist” while living in mom and dad’s basement and off their parent's credit cards? The closest many will get to Marx is watching Harpo, Groucho, and Chico on late night TV. 

Personally, I’m not sure I’d even give them that. I prefer to think of them as cannon fodder and eventual statistics. Their ‘60’s and 70’s predecessors were mostly successful with their goals when based on non-violence. The actions of the current generation  will likely result in failure because of choice to use violence. Regardless, if they continue with their present strategy, the end result will be that they accomplish nothing with the exception of alienating people to their cause and enhancing the power of the surveillance state and the empire.  

 

Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking individuals. We ask, however, that you "like" us on whatever platform you found us on in order to keep our articles available for free to others. Lastly, in order to keep costs down, we depend on passive marketing, and therefore, depend on our readers to please forward our posts along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

 An Organizers Guide To Protests and Political Change

How to Organize a Protest

APWU: Our Labor History: Cesar Chavez Leads “1000 Miles March”for Farm-Worker Rights in California

Cesar Chavez

Cesar’s Thousand Mile March: A 59 Day Trek

Martin Luther King Jr.: 8 peaceful protests that bolsteredcivil rights

Malcolm and the Civil Rights Movement

Speaking and Protesting In America: Protesting in the 1960’sand 1970’s

Leaders in the Struggle for Civil Rights

 

Anti-War Protests of the 1960-70’s

1968 Democratic National Convention Protests

The Whole World Was Watching…

Kent State Shootings

Watts Riots

 

 

America: A Nation of Exiles, Misfits, and Second Chances. But has it gone too far?

America. There has always been something truly unique about this country. People of all sorts have been coming here almost ever since its discovery, and they keep coming despite all our faults and failures (and there are many).  Nations, far older than us, are constantly comparing themselves to us. We’ve become the world’s yardstick for practically everything, but who are we really?

We don’t tend to think about it much, but most of those who came here to settle were misfits and exiles. They were people who didn’t fit into society any longer. They came to escape the restrictions their native country had placed on them. For many, they were locked into an economic and social caste system irrespective of their intelligence, ability, or motivation.  

Many were just one slippery step from debtor’s prison. Others had already fell victim to the harsh judicial system, often for petty crimes committed in the name of survival. The lucky one’s found themselves “transported”. This was a way to be rid of petty criminals, social deviants, and malcontents while emptying out their overcrowded prisons and relieving a marginal social safety net based largely on charity.  They were typically sent abroad as “indentured servants” to work off their sentences in places which were often difficult and dangerous (Georgia and the swamplands of South Carolina were often a key destinations).

Meanwhile, others simply wanted to chance to start life over again and a chance to show the world (and themselves) what they could do if given the opportunity, and so they came by the tens of thousands.  Many bore  the same title of “indentured servant” as the felons, though under slightly better circumstances in most cases.

These individuals were mostly young, poor, marginally educated, with very limited opportunities. Many were orphaned. They voluntarily leased themselves out for a set period of time. This usually covered their passage (typically in steerage) as well as their labor with the hopes that, in the end, they would get their chance at a new life. It was a difficult and often risky choice, with many never seeing the end of their bondage, but it was better than what awaited them if they had remained.

A surprisingly large segment of immigrants also came to avoid religious persecution. It was commonplace for each country to have an official religion, often headed by a monarch,  to which everyone was expected to participate, if not in person, then financially. It wasn’t uncommon for so-called “dissenters” to find themselves harassed by authorities, fined, imprisoned, or stripped of everything they owned in order to pay the mandatory tithes. This new country demanded none of that. There would be no state mandated religion.  It’s easy to understand why, to believers, this was seen as the “promised land”.

Not much has really changed in all those centuries since the first Europeans set foot on this continent. We still attract the world’s misfits, exiles, and those looking to start over. America is a different sort of country. It is not a nation which evolved organically over time like Europe or Asia. We came about in less than a blink of an eye in terms of history. We were created as an experiment, born out of a sense of justice, fair play, and individual sovereignty.

 In lieu of having a long history to shape our nation, ours was based a heritage of ideas stemming from the Enlightenment, Judeo-Christian morals, and the philosophies of the Near East, Ancient Greece and Rome.  Even our government was modelled on the Roman Republic. All of which is nicely summed up in our traditional national motto---"E pluribus Unum” (“Out of Many, One”) along with our official national motto, “In God We Trust”, which reflects the desire of many to come here to seeking their religious freedom.   

The Statue of Liberty, which graces the entry into New York, reminds us that we are still a nation of second chances. It’s often the first thing arriving immigrants see. The plaque at its base bears the  famous poem by Emma Lazarus entitled “The New Colossus” which speaks of America as the “Mother of Exiles”. It urges the world to “…Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breath free. The wretched refuse of teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift up my lamp beside the golden door!”

Marvelous words expressing the aim of America to welcome all those seeking to be free, but something has changed since those words were pinned in 1883. America was conceived of as a welcoming melting pot, where all would leave behind the worthless hatreds and prejudices from wherever they came. Here they would become a new people---“Americans”--- sharing a common language with a shared set of values, laws, and uniquely American traditions.

Somewhere along the way something changed. We no longer concerned ourselves with those who come here in defiance of our laws. We stopped being proud to be Americans. Today, we have some 13+ million illegals living here with millions using taxpayer based social services they never paid for. They have no interest in adopting our language, laws, traditions or values. Worse, we have politicians, cities and groups which are fine with that. What happened?

According to a U.S. government budget committee report on the costs of illegal immigrants to taxpayers dated January 11, 2024, 69% of illegal immigrants don’t have an education beyond high school (compared to 35% of Americans) which impacts their work skills and employability. Each individual cost taxpayers approximately $68,000 each over their lifetime or about $42 billion.  In addition, the children of illegal immigrates (including children born in the U.S. of parents here illegally) received roughly $68.1 billion dollars (as of 2019) in taxpayers funded services. Taxpayers also picked emergency care and other medical costs to the tune of $7 billion dollars annually.

Some hid behind the 14^th Amendment, which was intended to provide citizenship for recently freed slaves following the Civil War, in order to claim legal status, thanks “anchor babies” as noted above. More recently, others have claimed asylum status when they’re only seeking employment without applying for a work permit (employment isn’t recognized as a legitimate reason for asylum status under international law).  Still others send their children with strangers and then come seeking to be reunited with them.

Even certain religious institutions blatantly choose to ignore immigrations laws, believing that somehow they are exempt from following the law, and going as far as not just encouraging them to migrate, but providing them with shelter, housing, job contacts, and even how to manipulate the system to access taxpayer based services. Of course, these immigrants fill pews and church coffers, as well as improve their political clout.

We became fixated on the “right” of these individuals to enter our country undeterred while other nations, ever anxious to rid themselves of hungry mouths they can’t afford thanks to antiquated societal norms, openly proclaim that we had no legal right to protect and secure our border.

Somehow, our right of national sovereignty had come under attack while their sovereignty remained securely intact. Immigrants now come, not to be Americans, but to transplant their country, language, values, traditions, and all! Some intend to even transplant their religious values despite not being compatible with ours. We’re the ones expected to conform and adopt, not the immigrant. What went wrong?

Our  English language is treated as unimportant. The government now caters to “diversity” instead of promoting emersion. Immigrants view the taxpayer funded social security net as an entitlement just for being here. They regularly send money home to support their families and community, which is perfectly fine. But why do they refuse to apply for work permits and pay their fair share of taxes to the country which makes it all possible?

At about the same time, we started to see more and more people no longer identifying as Americans. They had become hyphenated Americans, be it cultural, racial, ethnic, or whatever. In addition, the very notion of “American” increasingly became as a form of slander. The “ugly American” of the 1960’s had suddenly returned home.

We were increasingly taught to be ashamed of our collective history. Entire chapters of our history have become distorted and rewritten. Critical thinking skills have been replaced, and with it, the quality of education. Discipline is now seen as a form of suppression. In colleges and universities, students aren’t expected to take responsibility for the debts they willingly incurred despite many earning majors where there is no demand in the job market.

Even the Pledge of Allegiance is no longer publicly acceptable. Neither are displays of the American flag (which is now considered a “trigger object”).  Statues and monuments deemed “offensive” by a select few are defaced, vandalized, and removed.  Individuals with criminal histories are portrayed as heroes while law enforcement is viewed with contempt.

While America has always welcomed various religions, how do we deal with a religion which wants to impose its own religious laws on society, going so far as verbal and physically attacking people, blocking sidewalks and traffic while they “pray”? They become incensed at criticism of their faith but encourage attacks on other religions. In Europe, this has proven to be a disaster as the governments continually cave to their demands while punishing the victims.  

This is all part of a new narrative being preached throughout America---the “Gospel of Political Correctness” as proclaimed by so-called “woke” Millennials and Gen Z. To contradict the gospel in any way is regarded as blasphemy or heresy, often resulting in being  “canceled” (sounds like a euphemism used by the Gestapo or KGB). The good news, however, is that you’re freely entitled to their opinion at any time, whether you want it or not.

How does a nation founded on freedom of speech, religion, and association cope with this? How does a nation protect its national security when our borders are ignored?  How do we address the issue of hyphenated loyalties, a declining education system, no common language, or an agreed upon history survive? Historically, nations similar to this  have become ungovernable and ultimately imploded. No nation can be pulled in multiple directions and hold in the long run  (I’m reminded of Yugoslavia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as the Ancient Roman Republic).

I’m reminded of a quote by Theodore Roosevelt (perhaps our greatest president and certainly my favorite). In speaking before the Knights of Columbus at Carnegie Hall in 1915, the former president addressed many of these same issues when he said, “In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he’s an American , but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room but for one flag…We have room for one language here, and that is the English language…and we have room for but one sole loyalty, and that loyalty is to the American people”.

I couldn’t have said it better Teddy. Well done. The question  which needs to be addressed is whether we are going to heed Roosevelt’s word, spoken some 110 years ago or are we going to go the way of the Yugoslavia past or current Europe? America has always been a country of second chances for those with nowhere else to go. But for us, here and now, there’s no place for us to go. There’s no one coming to our rescue. Republics rarely, if ever, get second chances.

 

Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking individuals. We ask, however, that you "like" us on whatever platform you found us on in order to keep our articles available for free to others. Lastly, in order to keep costs down, we depend on passive marketing, and therefore, depend on our readers to please forward our posts along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

 

Poems: The New Colossus

“Americanism”  by Theodore Roosevelt (1915)

Theodore Roosevelt: No Room in This Country for Hyphenated Americans

Hyphenate American

House Judicial Subcommittee Report: The Costs of IllegalImmigration to Taxpayers

Indentured Servants  

Pardon Me! President Joe Biden's January 19th Presidential Pardons

I can understand the need to grant a pardon. Sometimes the Justice system makes mistakes. Perhaps the sentence doesn't fit the crime or there was really no crime committed at all. Maybe the individual convicted have sufficiently reformed to earn special consideration to reenter society ahead of completing  their sentence. What I don't understand are certain politically motivated pardons. 

However, some pardons have nothing to do with clemency. Instead of empathy, they are based on purely political motives. Maybe someone is calling in a favor or the right palms were greased. Pardons are sometimes issued for purely personal reasons like bailing out a friend of family member. 

Regardless of the reason, I think most of us would agree that before a pardon is issued, especially a Executive Grant of Clemency by the President of the United States, there has to be some form of guilt involved. In most cases, the individual has already been arrested, convicted, and sentenced. But, in the absence of a conviction and sentencing, is there any reason for a pre-emptive pardon? Should someone be given a de facto "Get Out of Jail Free" card? 

To me, this seems to imply some measure of guilt of a crime. Maybe it's fraud, theft, or or some other possible criminal act which has yet to be discovered. President Gerald Ford (the only president never to have been elected) granted outgoing President Richard Nixon, a full and unconditional pardon following his resignation. Why? 

Some will argue that it all politics. After all, after Vice President Spiro Agnew was forced to resigned after facing charges of financial fraud while he was Governor of Maryland, Nixon reached over the heads of numerous senior members of Congress to select the junior Congressman from Michigan, Gerald "Jerry" Ford to replace Agnew. Ford had already voiced his support of Nixon and faith in the integrity in the office of the presidency. But, maybe it had nothing to do with ideological reasons and everything to do with personal ambition.  Others said it was Ford's deep belief on the American system and that he was just trying to protect the presidency from a imperial Congress and pettiness.

Richard Nixon was long known for being a very astute of political chess. He was nothing if not Machiavellian. There's no doubt that as the Watergate hearing wore on, Nixon was weighing all his options in light of some serious circumstantial evidence of criminal behavior. Many in his own party, trying to save their own political skin, were increasing turning against him, and then along comes Jerry. For Ford, here's an opportunity of a lifetime, to become President of the United States without paying decades of political dues. It was a Machiavellian match made in political heaven. 

So now comes along President Joe Biden. As his term came to an end, Biden embarked on a record breaking pardon spree. Where these justified, righting some judicial wrong, or were they an attempt at using the presidential prerogative to cover up some undiscovered crime like some crime boss?  Let's look at who Joe Biden pardoned on his final day as President and as he ended 54 years in politics. 

On January 19th, 2025, President Joe Biden granted a full and unconditional pardon to members of Congress who served on the Select Committee to investigate the January 6th protest, which included the former and now incoming president, Donald Trump.  The unconditional pardon included their staff and all those who had testified or provided evidence as to the events of January 6th. Did Biden inadvertently establish as precedent to exempt all elected officials and appointed staff, witnesses, and so forth from personal attacks ("character assassination") made under the guise of official business?   

That same day, Biden issued a full and unconditional pardon to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Chief medical Advisor to the President. Fauci, as you will remember, was the central character behind the COVID-19 pandemic scare and for promoting "the jab" campaign, which involved using a series of mostly minimally tested vaccinations aimed at stopping the virus and bringing the so-called pandemic to an end

President Biden also issued another full and unconditional pardon to General Mark Miley for any and all supposed "offences" committed from January 1, 2014 under January 19, including any violations committed under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) in his role as Chief of Staff of the Army and his role as Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.. What the heck did this guy do?  

Apparently, Miley and Trump simply didn't hit it off. They had several very loud and vocal disagreements on a wide number of issues, including his refusal in 2020 to deploy troops to protect against violent protestors. He went over President trump's head by telling Chinese officials that Trump would be prevented from taking any actions against China. Miley often called Trump "fascist to the core" and a "wannabe dictator". 

Next to be pardoned was the whole Biden family clan! Listed are James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valeria Biden Owens John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden. Is Joe Biden expecting some sort of political St. Valentine's Day Massacre? It sounds like something some Mafia don might do. 

Of course, we shouldn't forget that on December 1, 2024, President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, for any and all crimes he may have committed. No conflict of interest there! Hunter has been accused of all sorts of crimes from possession and use of cocaine, to money laundering, his involvement in Ukrainian politics which may have been a trigger point for the war between Ukraine and Russia, among other allegations.  

Varying from the theme slightly, Biden pardons former Kentucky Democratic party boss, Gerald "Jerry" Lundergan, whose daughter, Kentucky Secretary of State, Alison Lundergan Grimes, attempted to unseat Senator Mitch McConnell's in 2014 and got clobbered. Lundergan was also Kentucky State Chairman of the 2008 Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign.  The former head of the Kentucky Democratic Party, Jerry had been charged and convicted on several counts of fraud. 

Specifically, Lundergan was found guilty of making more than $200,000 in secret contributions to his daughter's 2014 campaign, and then committed fraud by trying cover up the evidence, including falsification of documentation and intent to obstruct. As a result, he was required to pay a $150,000 fine and serve 21 months behind bars in a federal prison. He was released in 2023 without completing his full sentence.

The next beneficiary of Biden's Executive Grant of Clemency was Ernest William  ("E.W") Cromartie for "offenses against the United States". What were those "offenses"? Cromartie was a  powerful black councilman from Columbia, South Carolina who had been found guilty of several counts of income tax fraud. 

The Columbia powerbroker had plead guilty in April 2010 of tax evasion and structuring bank deposits in such as way as to avoid federal income tax reporting. He admitted to intentionally avoiding paying more than $25,000 in federal income tax. As a result, he was required to pay $58,000 in fines as well as serve a 366 day prison sentence. He also had to surrender his law license. 

Finally, President Biden signed a pardon for Daryll Chambers, Leonard Scott, Jr., Ravidath Ragbir, Kembia Smith Pradia, and the late Civil Rights leaders, Marcus Mosiah Garvey.  In 1998, Daryll "Wolfie" Chambers of Wilmington Delaware was sentenced to 17 years in prison on non-violent drug related charges. After getting out, Chambers became a activist against gun violence. He is now the founder and Executive Director of The Center for Structural Equity, which is a foundation for the promotion of youth development and creating positive change in "Brown and Black Communities" according to their website. 

The Trinidad born Ravidath "Ravi" Ragbir is a advocate for immigration reform and immigrant rights. Ragbir, who had lives in New York City since immigrating in 1991, was convicted of a "nonviolent offense" (mortgage fraud) in 2001 and sentenced to 30 months imprisonment. Despite becoming a permanent resident of U.S. in 1994, his felony conviction placed him on the list for possible deportation since his release.  In 2006, a federal immigration judge issued a deportation order without a hearing, which many immigration rights advocates called unduly harsh.  In 2016, Ragbir first filed his request for clemency. 

Since 2007, Ragbir has been the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition ("NSC") which, in partnership with the Greenwich Village based Judson Memorial Church, provides assistance to new arrivals, most of whom are here illegally, and accompanies them to their appointments to Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") offices as needed.  NSC also strives to educate immigrants on their rights  and helps to navigate them through the Justice system and provides a bond fund to help with bail in the event of arrest. 

Don Scott is the current Virginia Speaker of the House who, in 1994, had been convicted on nonviolent drug related charges and served seven years. Scott, a Texas native,  graduated from Texas A&M, graduating in 1987 with  BA in Agriculture. After gradating, he joined the U.S. Navy and served as an officer on the USS John Hancock (DD 981) until his honorable discharge in 1991.

After leaving military service, Scott attended Louisiana State University's law school where he obtained his law degree in 1994. That same year, Scott was busted for drug possession and sentenced to seven years in federal prison  In 2019, Scott was elected to the Virginia House of Representatives, representing the 80th District. The following year, Scott endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden at the 2020 Democratic Party Primary. By 2023, after Democrats  took control of the state legislature, Don Scott was elected as the first black Speaker of the House. 

The next to be pardoned was Kemba Smith-Pradia. In 1994, Kemba was convicted on nonviolent drug related charges and sentenced to 24 years in federal prison, of which she only served 6.5 years. According to court records, Ms. Smith-Pradia had been involved in a volatile relationship with a reputed drug dealer by the name of Peter Hall while she was attending college. 

Although she claimed to have never used or been directly involved with drugs, in 1994 she was caught up in a police sting operation and charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine after she was allegedly present during some of Hall's drug dealings. Despite this being her first conviction, federal drug laws at the time mandated her lengthy prison sentence without parole (she was also seven months pregnant at the time of her conviction).  

Given the circumstances of her case, President Bill Clinton granted her a pardon in 2000 after serving 6 1/2 years of her sentence. After being released, Ms. Smith-Pradia became a criminal justice reform advocate. She has written a book ("Poster Child") about her experiences and founded a non-profit foundation, the Kemba Smith Foundation, which deals with domestic violence, racial equality, and justice reform. Her book was also turned into a BET produced movie, "Kemba". 

So, if President Clinton granted her clemency, why did outgoing President Joe Biden need to grant her a second presidential pardon? Well, apparently her first pardon didn't totally erased her convection charges. It just got her a early release. According to Ms. Smith-Pradia, she has been unable to go back to school and earn a law degree because the federal charges were still on her record. Biden's pardon is "full and unconditionally", meaning that it's as if it never happened as far as the courts are concerned. As a result, Ms. Smith-Pradia is how free to pursue her law degree if she still desires to do so. 

Our last recipient of President Biden's January 19th Executive Clemency Declarations is Marcus Mosiah Garvey. Of the five pardons, Garvey's is perhaps the most intriguing. In 1923 the Jamaican born Marcus Garvey was convicted of mail fraud (attempting to illegal sell company stock), a felony, and sentenced to five years in a federal prison. So, why did it take over a hundred years since his convection for Garvey to receive a presidential pardon? Who was Marcus Garvey? 

Born in 1887 in St. Ann's Bay Jamacia, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, better known as the "Black Moses", was a black nationalist leader and credited of organizing and leading the largest race based economic and social movement is U.S. history. Led by his son, Dr. Julius Garvey, a retired surgeon and executive director of The Marcus Garvey Institute for Human Development, has worked tirelessly for decades to rehabilitate his father legacy which included the founding of the Black Star Line, a black owned shipping company, and the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL). 

His ideology, known as Garveyism, has influenced such diverse civil rights leaders as Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Supporting him in his efforts has been the Congressional Black Caucus, led by Congresswoman Yvette Clark (NY-D), members of the Jamaican community, and various African-centric organizations and educational programs as well as by Ms. Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados and current chairwoman of the 15 member association of Caribbean nations known as "CARICOM". The pardon was additionally supported by former President Barack Obama. 

Garvey has been called a revolutionary and proponent a Pan-Africanism and a "back to Africa" movement, as well as known for being the first person "of color" to lead a mass movement in the United States and one of the few in the Western Hemisphere at that time. Even after 85 years since his death, the teachings of Marcus Garvey, which embraces racial separatism, continues to find a willing ear in the African centric Rastafari movement to the Nation of Islam and the Black Power Movement. 

In reviewing all of President Biden's pardons, I found it interesting that Biden issued 19 pardons related to the use, possession, and distribution of cocaine related charges from April 25, 2022 until the time he left office in addition to ten other pardons for individuals serving time on meth, marijuana, or other drug related charges. There were three pardons related to attempts to provide a foreign power (including Iran) with U.S. government secret technology. Additionally, Biden set a record of sorts by reducing the sentences of roughly 2500 individuals. 

Why is that?  Why were nearly all of Joe Biden's drug related pardons related to individuals who had been convicted on cocaine charges? Cocaine and its derivatives like crack, is pretty serious. Could it be because of  Hunter's use and abuse of the drug and there was some sympathy for its users? 

In wrapping this up, it should come as no surprise to anyone that those involved with politics who were granted clemency were all Democrats. No Republicans, Independents, or third party individuals were granted a pardon. Biden excused three individuals convicted of providing state secrets to a foreign power, including Iran. We used to call that treason, and those found guilty were rarely ever released, yet here's three. 

Then there's Dr. Fauci, who, as far as I know, has never been charged or convicted of anything except of being unpopular, which isn't a crime. Then you have a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who was guilty of not getting along with his boss. If that was a crime, I think most of us would be serving life sentences. 

Then we come to the members of the Select Committee who investigated the January 6th protests, their staffs, and all those who gave evidence. Why do they warrant a "full and unconditional" presidential pardon?  There's nothing unusual about a Select (or "special") Committee unless it could be proven that the committee was convened solely as a political weapon to be used to intimidate or manufacture evidence. If so, then the actions of the committee becomes possibly subject to censure or contempt of Congress charges (a misdemeanor). Regardless, that would ultimately be a matter for the Department of Justice to determine.  So, why issue a pre-emptive pardon when there's been no hint of impropriety? 

Most curiously, why would President Biden feel the need to pardon his immediate family? What possible federal crime could they be guilty of? Does it in some way related to the attempted political or character assassination of Donald Trump, members of his family or friends? If that's the case, then Biden needed to pardon just about everyone in the mainstream media! 

Of course, I think most of us can understand why he pardoned Hunter. There's no telling what federal crimes he may have committed. It's like how some families try to cover for that alcoholic uncle or crazy aunt. In this case, a father trying to protect a troubled son.  Nevertheless, the blanket pardon of Hunter Biden goes to show that there are some who are above the law as well as the fact that we have a two tier justice system in this country. One for the rich and connected, and another for the rest us! 

I think President's Biden's mass pardons, especially those done for obvious political reasons or to coverup unethical behavior, helps to demonstrate why the president's unlimited ability to issue pardons for virtually any reason, whether there's been a conviction or not,  needs to be limited in scope and subject to review and approval.

 Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you found our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free thinking individuals. We do ask, however, that you be sure to "like" us on whatever site you found us on in order to keep our articles available for others, and that you please pass our post along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

Office of the Pardon Attorney (DOJ: Pardons Granted by President Joseph Biden (2021 - Present)

The Center For Structural Equity

New Sanctuary Coalition

Faith-based immigration rights advocate faces threat of deportation

Don Scott (Virginia politician) 

President Biden Pardons Criminal Justice Advocate 24 Years After Her Release From Prison

More than a century after mail fraud convection Marcus Garvey gets presidential pardon

Marcus Garvey

Why Biden pardoned  Mark Miley ahead of Trump taking office

Jerry Lundergan

The Reckoning: Taking Back the American Dream

The Greek philosopher, Plato, said in his two famous political works, "The Republic" and "Laws", that unchecked economic inequality was a principal reason for the fall of democracies and the rise of demagogues.

But as History has repeatedly shown it's not only democracies, but nearly every form of government which will eventually collapse under the weight of economic inequality, which typically brings about political failure, from the ancient empires of Sumer and Babylon to Pharaonic Egypt, Rome, and up to modern times.   

Today, economists and political scientists are looking at the strain that climate change, rising prices and taxes, population migration, aging populations, crumbling infrastructures, rising public and private debt, public apathy, and failing school systems as symptoms of an increasingly unstable United States and Western Europe. Even China, India, and other nations along the Pacific Rim are seeing cracks in their economies as monies are diverted more and more to critical services.

The gap in quality of life between the top 20% and the remaining 80% has grown along every measurable statistic for the last 30 years. The cost of an average house has risen approximately 817% between 1970 and 2024, which is higher than the average rate of inflation (4.19% for housing compared to an overall inflation rate of 3.94%), All items, excluding food, rose 627% between 1967 and 2024. 

Using data from the Center For Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), between February 2020 and November 2023, average wages rose 19.4%. For individuals in production and non-supervisory roles, 21.9%, while for high demand non-technical positions such as hotel and restaurant workers, their wage shot up 31.6% (note that these jobs represent 80% of the job market). While an average increase in wages of 19.4% is pretty good, the Consumer Price Index, which measures the overall change of prices, went up 18.8% for the same period. 

Starting with the COVID pandemic in 2020 and continuing through November of the following year, the price of food jumped 24.7%, exceeding the average growth of wages by 5.3%.  So, if you're seeing the content of your grocery cart getting smaller while the amount at the checkout counter getting higher, it's not your imagination or because you're unnecessarily splurging. For instance, the price of a loaf of bread has increased 28.8% since the pandemic while the cost of eggs have jumped 24.7%. 

While the consumption of red meat has been steadily declining, it still remains a staple for many U.S. households. Since COVID-19, the price of beef went up 30.3%, with the highest jump in price occurring in 2020 during the peak of the lockdown. Interestingly, the cost for chicken rose by the same percentage (driven up, in part, by the arrival of the "Bird Flu"). Milk, another staple found in most homes, saw a 20.4% increase per gallon. The good news (if there is any), is that the prices of milk and milk related products (such as cottage cheese, sour cream, and butter) are showing signs of stabilizing and in some instances, even dropping.   

As an aside, most Americans tend to struggle with their weight. Americans are notoriously overweight according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which say that one in three Americans are over their optimal weight. Just over one in three men (or about 34.1%) are considered obese while about one in four women (27.5%) are "chubby" while 42.4% of both genders are considered seriously overweight. This, of course, is part of the reason for the explosion in diabetes and heart disease. 

While some individuals are overweight due to genetic or other medical conditions, most are tubby due to their lifestyle. One common recommendation from physicians to deal with our weight problem is a combination of regular exercise and adopting a healthy diet. However, the NIH reports that the cost of many diet suggested foods, such as vegetables, fruits, and oils, have risen in price by an average of 17.9% since the pandemic. Ironically, Unhealthy foods have seen an increase in price of just 9%!  The single exception was the price of fast food, which rose 14.7% between 2019 - 2022.  It should be mentioned too that since 2000, the cost of medical care, including prescriptions, increased by 121.3%. 

Based on data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the price of fruits increased 9.5% between 2021 and 2022 while the cost of fresh veggies rose by 7.9% over the same period. Even the cost of eating out has jumped in price. On average, restaurant food prices have risen 7.1%. Of course getting to and from the grocery store, local eatery, work or just about anywhere else requires a vehicle of some sort. So, what about the cost of gas?

Under President Donald Trump, the average price of gasoline ranged from a high of $2.81 a gallon in 2018 to a low of 2.26 in 2020 (equaling President Obama's low in 2016). Under President Joe Biden, gas was $3.10 a gallon for regular in 2021 and rose to a high of $4.06 for a gallon in 2022. This is higher than the three previous presidents, Trump, Obama, and George W. Bush. However, in looking at the broader picture, from 2020 through the end of 2023, gas prices have risen by a astonishing 30.4%, thus outpacing wage growth for all but a few.

Despite the increase the cost of living for practically everything, not everyone is feeling the pinch. According to a recent study, conducted on behalf of Bank of America in 2024, roughly 30% of American households are living paycheck to paycheck (a similar study reported by CNN put that percentage at 35%). Another 20% or so percent can't afford to miss anymore than one paycheck before their financial house of cards begin to fold.  

What's meant by the expression "living paycheck to paycheck"? According to the Bank of America study, living "paycheck to paycheck" means spending 90% or more of your income strictly on necessities such as rent/house payments, food, utilities, or medical bills. 27% of all Americans have no money in savings. 27% of those over 50 years of age are in the same boat. On top of that, 40% of Americans have less than $1000 set aside for emergencies according to the American Bankers Association. Of that, 49% have $500 or less available while 36% said they have just $100 for emergencies (and yet, we can afford to send $64.1 billion dollars to prop up the Zelensky regime in Ukraine to fight a war that we encouraged). 

So, while the average American struggles to keep a food on the table and roof over their head (13.7% of Americans are food insecure while 14% of Americans have experienced homelessness at some point), the federal government lets approximately $92 billion dollars in corporate welfare annually slid by. Corporate welfare includes tax credits, give backs, preferable regulatory treatment, no bid contracts and automatic contract renewals, debt write-offs, deep discounts, bailouts, low or no interest loans, public grants, public-private partnerships (public money financed ventures), subsidies, and more.   

 From 1980 through 2021, the level of income for the Top 1% rose by 574%. For the Bottom 20%, it was just a paltry 31%. For the Top 0.01%, their wealth grew 832%. The Top 1%---about 12,000 households--- are 139 times richer the Bottom 20%. According to the Organization of Economic Co-Operative Development (OECD), a international economic and social policy forum, the United States has one of worse levels of income inequality among its 100 nation members. 

In 1971, 61% of American families made up the Middle Class. Today, that percentage ranges from 46% to 55% and declining. 50 million Americans now fall below the poverty threshold, and yet the federal government is doing little to stop the millions of illegal immigrants, the majority of whom falling into the poverty category, into the United States. Of course, we can't forget that women, on average, still earn just 82% of what men earn despite being mandated by federal legislation. 

One other factor to look at is the wage inequality between CEOs and their employees. In 1965, the average CEO made roughly 21 times that of their employees, which sounds reasonable. As of 2023, that percentage is 290 times more than their employees (there are 58 companies where that ratio is 1000 to one).. To put it another way, between 1978 and 2023, the pay of the average worker (wage and benefits) rose by 24%. Over that same time period, pay and benefits for CEOs and senior officers went up 1085%. The median pay for a CEO in 2023 was $16.3 million dollars according to a report published by the Associated Press (the data was comprised by Equilar). 

Can the United States continue with this level of income inequality? Ever since the decline of organized labor in the late 1950's, the income ratio between the working class and corporate leadership has been expanding, in part because the composition of their compensation package has changed to include more stock options and performance incentives. 

Meanwhile, similar types of incentives for employees have been reduced or cut, not to mention wage and/or benefits through so-called "voluntary give backs" out of fear that their jobs would be eliminated or the facility closed and sent overseas. Is this cost cutting measures to protect the business's profitability or merely a form of extortion? 

Since 1967, the Middle Class has been on a downward spiral, nearly matching the decline in public union membership. This decline of the union rank and file has meant a decline of union and non-union bargaining power and political clout which by extension, has directly affected the Middle Class. A strong working class, union or not, tends to mean a vibrant and financially healthy Middle Class. 

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, economic instability, coupled with public apathy, demagoguery and a well educated citizenry are a greater factor in the fall of democracies as well as empires, second only to severe and sustained climate events, than all other reasons. We have those in spades. 

Right now, we're facing not only extreme income inequality, but a strain on the economic elasticity of our social safety net, made all the worse by an defacto invasion, albeit non-military (at least at this point) of hoards of poor, largely poorly educated people who are interestedly solely in economic opportunities with no desire to contribute to their new homeland .

A people seeking to migrate or seek refuge will adopt to their new homeland's values and traditions. They will adapt to the laws and find ways to contribute. They will pay for public services through taxes. They will learn their adopted country's language.

 An invading army will do none of these things. Their objective is to supplant everything they can by any means available. They'll establish exclusive enclaves, turning them into semi-automatous zones of occupation, daring their hosts to enter. They will pervert the laws of their hosts. They will plead for tolerance when their numbers are small but offer none when there number have grown. 

Distrust in the government and media are at all time highs and have been that way for decades. Mediocrity at all levels of society, especially politics, are accepted as the norm. Excellence is often mocked if not actively discouraged. Herd mentality is the rule. 

The good news to all this is that there's a growing resistance to the ruling Status Quo. People are walking away from the Corporate imposed partisanship.  People are not just questioning so-called "authority", they're challenging it. The scripted narrative is no longer accepted. 69% of the public has little or no trust in the corporate media.

Increasingly, we're waking up to being played by the ruling class. The approval rating of Congress is laughable 17% We're refusing to accept the artificial divisions they want us to play. It's time we stop playing by their rules and start working to build a society which can benefit everyone. Not by mandating equal outcomes, but by ensuring equal opportunities. We need a society that our Founding Fathers would be proud of.   

 Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you found our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free thinking individuals. We do ask, however, that you be sure to "like" us on whatever site you found us on in order to keep our articles available for others, and that you please pass our post along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

Average Gas Prices Under The Past Four Presidents

Wages and Prices: Who Is Keeping Up with What? 

Healthy Food Prices Increased More Than The Prices of Unhealthy Options during the Covid-19 Pandemic...

Nearly Half Have less than $500 in Savings

Survey: One in Four Americans Have Less than $1000 in Savings

The typical CEO makes nearly 200 times more than their workers