Simpson skips over negative impacts of One Big Beautiful Bill | Opinion
Rep. Simpson
Congressman Mike Simpson has been promoting the benefits of “The Working Families Tax Cut” (formerly known as “The Big Beautiful Bill”) as the largest in history for the working and middle-class families through his emails and meetings with select groups in the state. He neglects, however, to mention other significant parts of this legislation that eliminates or makes health care more expensive, reduces food assistance and makes college less affordable for working families.
Rather than ease the financial burdens of the lowest income earners, this legislation increases them. The net effect is a loss in income for the bottom 20% while the top 20% enjoy an overall gain with the additional tax exemptions and deductions included in this law. This rebranding is a disingenuous attempt to hide yet another transfer of wealth from working class people to the highest income earners, along with increasing the national debt.
Make no mistake, the policies of the current administration, which the entire Idaho congressional delegation voted for, by far favor wealthy Americans. Don’t be fooled by the campaign to rename this unpopular legislation into anything other than yet another handout to the wealthiest Americans.
Carol Sevier, Boise
Misleading survey
“Do You Support Giving Free Health Care to Illegal Aliens?”
I recently received this survey question from U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson — a question that lacks the factual information needed to answer “yes,” “no,” or “unsure.” In fact, there’s no such thing as blanket free health care for undocumented immigrants, and there are no proposals for it.
In fact, the very limited federal dollars for health care received by undocumented immigrants is far outweighed by what they pay in federal, state and local taxes.
The fraction received by undocumented immigrants is less than 1% of U.S. health care dollars, primarily for emergency life-saving services and conception-to-end-of-pregnancy services. I would not deny life-saving services to any human being, documented or not.
Providing these limited benefits with my tax dollars is far more beneficial to me, my family and my country than other current uses of my dollars.
I was sorry to see Simpson’s introductory text loaded and full of name-calling and incorrect dollar costs — a disservice to constituents.
We need a citizenry educated with straight, truthful information to make smart decisions — not call-outs for emotional response based on inaccuracies.
Barbara Kemp, Boise
Trump at the UN
If you listened to President Trump’s recent address to the United Nations Assembly held in New York, and if you are like me, you thought that Trump is stark raving mad. And yet this is who our congressional delegation as well as our governor have hitched their wagons to. They are supporting without prejudice an incompetent, narcissistic madman.
This is embarrassing. It is leading our country into a deep despair. Beyond the SS-style ICE raids made by masked men, there is the complete dismantling of CDC, NIH, our economic viability, our health care system and any safety we had.
His cabinet that the Republicans just rubber-stamped? Really? RFK who has no medical background; Kristi Noem who is just a “model” posing in front of detention centers, Hegseth who uses unclassified channels to send very classified stuff that puts our military in extreme danger, and Patel and Bondi who have become the president’s revenge agents.
Even if you wanted to get rid of democracy, there were less insane leaders to choose from! Seriously Republicans! Do better now. Less than 50% of the people wanted this. It is not a mandate.
Alisa Rettschlag, Boise
Authoritarianism
I’m baffled at the vitriol aimed singularly at the President. This anger needs to be equally directed at the elected officials who are willingly ceding legislative power to the President. Saying the quiet part out loud: They support the replacement of checks and balances with an authoritarian regime. Hold Congress accountable. The president isn’t doing this alone. Vote the sycophants and cowards out of Congress while you still have the chance.
Shannon Wilcox, Boise
Trump
January 2025: Condemning the Biden/Harris administration, Trump claimed he would reverse the “horrible betrayals”; railing against a “radical and corrupt establishment that extracted power and wealth from our citizens.” Again, recurring and distinctive self-projections coming from the most corrupt, criminal and psychologically impaired person to ever serve in the U.S. presidency.
“The golden age of America begins right now…From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world.” Owing to Trump’s pervasive pattern of grandiosity and fantasies of superiority, our nation’s institutional foundations have been systematically dismantled to the detriment of our mainstream citizenry. Does “unconditional pardons” to 1,500 convicted rioters for their January 6, 2021, attack on our U.S. Capitol exemplify “The golden age of America?” Does not his obsession with “power,” exemplified by his illegal use of worldwide tariffs, vindictively using our DOJ against his perceived political enemies and ordering military occupations of “Democratic” cities/states essentially speak to the degree of his narcissistically fragile ego?
A most concerning revelation: Hundreds of senior military leaders stationed throughout the world were summoned to Quantico, Virginia, to meet with “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth and President Trump. Yet again, “grandiosity” rules over national security.
Joel A. Price, Boise
Shutdown
Our national government has shut down because of substantial disagreement regarding Medicare and Affordable Care Act. Digging into the Text of H.R. 1-119th Congress (2025-2026) can be quite daunting. As it relates to the current shut down, the drawn battle-line involves whether Congress should restore funding to the ACA and Medicaid. The GOP says no because they need to have the cuts to pay for the tax cuts to the wealthy. The Dems want the funding restored. The American Medical Association issued a statement on 3 July 2025 expressing outrage at the passage of OBBBA which will cause an estimated 11.8 million people to lose health care coverage. The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill estimates that 338 hospitals will close because of the Bill, 33 in Speaker Johnson’s Louisiana. I don’t like what Speaker Johnson and Senator Thune say because I disagree with what they’ve said. They’ve made statements the D’s issues can be discussed only after the current legislation is passed. Looking to poker, I call your hand. Please show us the legislation that backs up what you’ve said. Put the cards on the table.
Lawrence G. Sirhall, Jr., Boise