WASHINGTON, D.C. – While the ink is definitely dry on the budget reconciliation measure signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, the war of words over the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” continues.
Democrats are labeling the tax provisions of the budget measure “… the largest redistribution of wealth and the largest cut to health care in American history.”
“If you’re not a billionaire, the Trump Tax will screw you over,” according to Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, predicting the dire effects of what he calls a “… deeply unpopular billionaires-first budget bill and Trump’s erratic tariff policies.”
But U.S. Rep. Blake Moore says that the simple fact of who the budget bill actually helps is getting lost in all the contradictory messaging.
“Opponents of the bill relentlessly claim that it is a giveaway to the wealthy and that’s simply not true,” he argues in a July 17 message to 1st District constituents.
“Nearly one-fifth of the entire tax portion of this bill is to enhance the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and keep it from reverting to the pre-2017 level of $1,000 per child.”
The Trump tax cuts, officially known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, represented a significant overhaul of the US tax code, impacting both individuals and businesses.
The TCJA significantly reduced the corporate tax rate and adjusted individual income tax rates, the standard deduction, the child tax credit and a deduction for pass-through business income.
The TCJA was a temporary measure that was slated to expire in 2025.
Moore says that the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which only Republicans in Congress voted for, set the Child Tax Credit permanently at $2,200 per child.
“In addition to that permanency, we enacted something that hasn’t been done before,” Moore explained. “We indexed the CTC to inflation, so that $2,200 amount will continue to increase year over year.”
The budget reconciliation bill also made the temporary 2017 doubling of the standard income deduction permanent and enhanced it.
At the DNC, Martin insists that Trump is steering the U.S. economy toward a financial crisis while shuttering hospital and nursing homes.
Not so, according to White House officials, who contend that the Big Beautiful Bill protects and strengthens Medicaid for those who rely on it—pregnant women, children, seniors, people with disabilities and low-income families—while eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.
They proudly acknowledge, however, that the budget reconciliation measure removes Medicaid coverage for illegal aliens and enforces work requirements for the able bodied, while leaving Medicare untouched.
The DNC is meanwhile fighting back by launching a website that shows possible state-level and national impacts from the budget cut, including how they will affect Utahns. That website can be found at www.TrumpTax.com
“After six months in the White House,” Martin says, “(Trump) is robbing working Utahns to fund tax handouts for his billionaire backers.”
While acknowledging that the Senate version of the “Big Beautiful Bill” was no longer deficit-neutral like the earlier House version, Moore emphasizes that about 90 percent of American will benefit from the permanent increase in the standard deduction, including many of whom are working families.
Working families are also expected to benefit from the budget reconciliation bill’s tax relief for tipped workers, overtime workers and senior citizens.