One Big Beautiful Bill

This will be my first post in my study of all of the positive things that have come out of this administration. I have promised a deep dive, and this is as deep as I can go. One by one, I intend to cover the tax cuts, the border, drug deaths and imports, etc.

Today? The One Big Beautiful Bill. Signed July 4, 2025. I am going to look at all of the tax cuts for working families.

No tax on tips or overtime, the child tax credit was preserved, the standard deduction went up, a new temporary deduction on senior taxes, the SALT deduction cap went up, car loan interest is deductible, a lower top marginal tax rate, an expansion of the estate tax exemption, and business full expensing.

These are great, really and truly! I have been a server, and had many hourly positions while raising my family. When I heard about a lot of these, I was really excited. So, lets look.

No tax on tips or overtime, If you’re a server, a factory worker, a nurse pulling double shifts, anyone working per hour — you get to keep more of your money. That a big deal. Especially for those of us living pay check to pay check. Finally, a break!

Here’s where I have to stop and breathe for a minute. Because, I took a look at how all of these tax breaks work and how they are paid for, because that money has to come from somewhere, right? Taxes are basically income for the government.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office — the people whose entire job is to count without picking a side — found that our poorest neighbors, the bottom 20%, gain nothing from the tax cuts. Zero. Because they already owe no federal income tax. The standard deduction already covers them.

If the standard deduction is 16,100 dollars per year, you don’t get an extra deduction if your income is less than that.

So the “no tax on tips or overtime” provision? Its not a tax cut, it’s a deduction. A deduction doesn’t help you if you have nothing to deduct from. Remember that you have no income tax if your income is less than 16100 per year. So, no deductions.

However, the child tax credit was doubled. That is good news and would have expired last year.

Some seniors will enjoy less or no taxes on their incomes, this is targeted, and does not apply to all retirees, but will definitely benefit some. People who receive Social Security already do not pay taxes if their combined income is 25k or less for a single person and 32 for a couple filing jointly.

The SALT cap… The cap on deducting state and local taxes from your federal return was raised from $10,000 to $40,000 for 2025, rising 1% per year, before reverting to $10,000 in 2030. Higher earners see their deduction cut by 30% above $500,000 income. Upper-middle-class homeowners in high-tax states like New York, California, and New Jersey will benefit from this cap. This is a mixed provision — it helps people in those states but primarily those with significant property and income taxes to deduct.

The car loan deduction allows purchasers to deduct up to 10k in car loan interest on American built vehicles. Great, if you can afford a loan and your credit is good enough to let you get one.

The lower top marginal tax rate is lowered from about 40% to 37%.The bill permanently cut all marginal tax rates except the lowest, including reducing the top rate from 39.6% to 37%, at a cost of about $340 billion over the decade. This part of the bill primarily the highest earners. The top rate only applies to income above roughly $600,000.

The estate tax exemption went up from about 14 million to 15 million, meaning heirs don’t have to pay taxes until the estate has more value than that.

The business full expensing allows businesses to write off the full cost of investments in one year rather than depreciating over time.

So, the Big Beautiful Bill did have some tax cuts, credits, and deductions that will benefit the average person. No tax on tips or overtime, no taxes on Social Security below a certain level, the child credit, and raising the standard deduction. For the 80% of people who are middle class or lower (wage-wise), these are beneficial. The rest are really only beneficial for the 20% that live in the upper middle class and above levels of income.

How does the government fund these cuts? The bill is paid for — partially — by cutting $187 billion from SNAP. Food stamps. And cutting deeply into Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 10.9 million Americans will lose their health insurance by 2034 because of this bill.

Our poorest neighbors lose an average of $1,600 a year in resources. So, the 10% of our neighbors who sit at the lowest end of the earning scale, lose upwards of 16000dollars a year when you add up SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare and the other government assistance programs that were cut to pay for it. (https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2025/jun/how-medicaid-snap-cutbacks-one-big-beautiful-bill-trigger-job-losses-states)

What about the top 1%? They gain more than $50,000 a year. The estate tax exemption was expanded — meaning the children of the very wealthy inherit even more, tax-free. The top income tax rate was cut permanently.

Nearly 60% of the total benefits of this bill go to the top 20% of earners.

It means that 80% of Americans — our working neighbors, our middle class neighbors, our struggling neighbors, our poorest neighbors — share 40% of the benefits. While bearing the cuts to the programs that keep them fed and healthy.

That’s the math. I didn’t make it up. The CBO did the math. The Joint Committee on Taxation did the math. The Penn Wharton Budget Model did the math. They all came up with versions of the same answer.

Now. Am I saying there’s nothing good here? No. I told you I was going to be honest and I meant it both ways. There are some potentially good things, tax wise in this bill.

However, I find myself looking at 10.9 million people about to lose their health insurance. I find myself looking at 4.7 million people losing food assistance. I find myself looking at the woman in the ghetto who can no longer feed her children. I find myself looking at the elderly neighbor who can’t afford her prescriptions.

And I find myself asking the same question I always end up asking. How do these changes reflect loving Christ? Of knowing only Him and Him crucified?

I don’t have an easy answer. I never do. But I’m going to keep looking. Keep counting. Keep bearing witness.

>https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-05/61422-Reconciliation-Distributional-Analysis.pdf<

>https://www.brookings.edu/articles/one-big-beautiful-bill-a-preliminary-assessment/<

>https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/big-beautiful-bill-senate-gop-tax-plan/<

>https://taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/one-big-beautiful-bill-what-we-know-so-far<

>https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu<

>https://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/what-does-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-cost/<

>https://www.americanprogress.org/article/7-ways-the-big-beautiful-bill-cuts-taxes-for-the-rich/<

>https://www.americanprogress.org/article/1-trillion-in-medicaid-cuts-1-trillion-in-tax-giveaways-for-the-richest-1-percent-the-one-big-beautiful-bills-budget-math/<

>https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2025/jun/how-medicaid-snap-cutbacks-one-big-beautiful-bill-trigger-job-losses-states<

>https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-tax-cuts<