Friday Insights-July 4, 2025
A day to celebrate?
Happy Independence Day, I think. Two hundred forty-nine years ago, the United States declared its independence from England. Today, we celebrate that historic day, but do so in a country that again is governed by a king. And ironically, our king often appears every bit as made as King George III.
Yesterday, if we are lucky, will prove to be the apex of the second Trump administration. The Republican Congress, dismissing concerns about increases in the national debt, cuts in federal services to millions of Americans, and worsening income inequality, gave Trump and the authors of Project 2025 what they wanted. King Trump will sign the bill later today.
The question now—and the reason why things may be downhill for King Donald from here—is whether the dire predictions many economists have made about the One Big Beautiful Bill will come to pass. If they do, the Republicans have fewer than 19 months until voters reestablish Congress as a co-equal branch of government.
A summary of what is in Trump’s magnum opus may be found here. If you read the summary, you are likely to have a better understanding of the bill than virtually all the Congressional Republicans who voted for the legislation.
The Center for American Progress has published a summary of egregious provisions in the legislation. It’s worth a read. The group concludes:
By stripping away health care and food assistance from working-class people and undermining production of American-made energy, the OBBBA will increase the cost of living and lower after-tax income for the bottom 40 percent of earners while giving the top 20 percent of earners a $6,000 per year average tax cut. Several lesser-known, yet no less extreme, changes to the bill will further increase costs, embolden the Trump administration’s overreach, and waste taxpayer dollars.
I will spend part of today reading the bill, as well as summaries. The exercise is likely to cancel any joy the holiday may otherwise bring.
What’s next for Trump? Time to party.
Now that many of Trump’s top 2024 campaign promises have been fulfilled, what will the King do next? Will continuing the tariff wars, stepping up efforts to annex Canada and Greenland, and stepping up deportations be enough to keep Trump dancing? No. With America now launched into its “Golden Age,” best exemplified in the redecorated Oval Office, it is time to party.
Yesterday, King Trump launched what for him will be the highlight of his two terms in office—the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. Trump launched the celebration in Iowa with fireworks and a preview of what is to come. Spoiler alert: Not everyone will like the King’s plans.
Trump announced that an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, featuring a fight, will be held at the White House. That will be a first. With luck, neither fighter will die.
What is it about the UFC that so enthralls Trump? How many other 79-year-olds follow these brutal fights as Trump does? Pathological?
Goodbye, Space Shuttle Discovery.
As a native Washingtonian and a fan of America’s space program, I was pleased when Space Shuttle Discovery was placed on display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum at Dulles Airport. I recall watching the Shuttle, carried on the back of a converted 747, fly over Washington before touching down at Dulles, before being placed on exhibit.
After lobbying by the Texas congressional delegation, and perhaps as part of an effort to get Texas budget deficit hawks to support the One Big Beautiful Bill despite estimates that it would increase the national debt by $3.8 trillion over ten years, a provision to move Discovery to Texas was included in the bill. Representative Chip Roy (R-TX), who was expected to vote against the bill, ended up, like most of his colleagues, voting “aye.” (Please note that I am speculating that the provision may have pushed Roy over the line.)
Estimates of the cost of moving Discovery to Texas run as high as $300 million. The 747 that took Discovery to the Smithsonian is no longer in service. Logistics experts will now need to determine how to transport the spacecraft to Texas.
Could the $300 million be better spent somewhere else? Why not ask someone about losing their health care or paying more for their student loan?
Thank you.
Enjoy your July 4th, if possible. This one will be more enjoyable than next year’s, although it may be less interesting.
Thank you for reading today’s Friday Insights. I appreciate it.
Dean’s Issues & Insights has also enjoyed a flurry of new subscriptions—special thanks to these new subscribers.
On a day we should be celebrating, many of us are in mourning. Yesterday's passage of Trump's Big Ugly Bill was hard to watch. The cruelty of this administration knows no bounds.
This is indeed a mixed feeling of Independence Day.
From the symbolic language of "kingship" to the transformation of the nation's space heritage into a political bargaining chip, all of this is both infuriating and sad. When you wrote about "a piece of legislation that may be the peak", I couldn't help but think of the old saying - "History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes." What we are experiencing is exactly the rhyming part: excessive concentration of power, whitewashing of reality, and sacrificing the weak to maintain the feast of vested interest groups. As for the "exile" of Space Shuttle Discovery, it is almost a perfect metaphor for the style of this administration: dismantling public memory, exchanging obedience for transactions, and using national symbols as power chips. That is not just a waste of $30 billion, but also a cultural plunder. Thank you for writing this in sharp and calm language. We need more voices like yours - not just to record, but also to remind, awaken and persist. May today's reflection also become next year's action