Fr Liam Power: The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and The Welfare State

Labelling a political opponent as communist or socialist or using so-called red-baiting as a political tactic has been a regular feature of the Trump administration. 

During the election campaign, Mr Trump branded his opponent, Kamala Harris, as ‘Comrade Kamala.’ He characterised her as “among Marxist district attorneys with a record of being anti-police and pro-criminal…” 

He is deploying that historically loaded label to cast his opponents from judges to educators as threats to American identity, culture and values. 

“We cannot allow a handful of communist radical-left judges to obstruct the enforcement of laws,” he said during a speech in Michigan a few weeks ago. 

The President and other White House officials, such as presidential aide Stephen Miller, use the term communist to denigrate past policies on transgender, diversity, and immigration issues.

Red-baiting is an effective way to denigrate political adversaries as it is loaded with negative connotations. 

Rhetorically, it carries great emotional power, particularly for the older generation, who grew up in the shadow of the Cold War and the threat of nuclear war. (The tactic is also employed in the European context.) 

 I see this rhetoric as a mechanism for obfuscation and cover-up when principles of social justice are being ignored. 

I will comment on the Big Beautiful Bill (The Budget Reconciliation Bill) recently passed into legislation by Congress. But first to reflect on Christian principles of social justice. 

Strange as it may seem, even though Marxism and Christianity are fundamentally incompatible, Marxist doctrine has had a positive influence on Catholic social teaching and has informed the development of Liberation Theology. 

In particular, the Marxist tool for analysing society uncovered the level of exploitation of the proletariat or ordinary worker. The analysis identified the sources of power and control. It challenged us to recognise and uphold the dignity of the poor and exploited and to fight for their rights.

However, Christianity cannot accept the materialist philosophy of Marxism, which totally rejects the spiritual dimension and denigrates religion as “the opium of the people”. 

According to Marxist theory, history and society are shaped only by the material world and economic factors. The Gospel would totally oppose the Marxist claim that progress towards the utopia of a classless society will only happen through revolution and class conflict. Christian principles will always respect the right to private property and recognise the duty to respect lawful authority.

Applying principles of Catholic Social Teaching and viewing the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ through the prism of a Marxist hermeneutic, a Christian would be dismayed and horrified. 

The bill represents a fundamental threat to democracy, not from left-wing socialist doctrine, but from right-wing fascism. Catholic Social Teaching emphasises the duty of government to care for its people. The bill caters only to the super-rich, the donors and oligarchs who bankroll campaigns and expect returns. Tax cuts will benefit the rich. To pay for the tax cuts, it punishes the sick, the poor, the elderly, the undocumented: those who should be the primary beneficiaries of our compassion and welfare.

Take the cuts to Medicaid. It is estimated that 10.5 million people will be eliminated from the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programme. In New York alone, it is estimated that over one million people could lose health coverage. As patients lose insurance, revenue for primary health care facilities will drop. This means that rural hospitals and nursing homes will be forced to close or at least cut back on services, such as paediatrics, obstetrics, and gynaecology.

The millions of people who depend on food stamps to eat will also be affected. A single mother told Catholic Charities staff (who operate a food pantry for those who are hungry): “I have a disabled child at home, and I can only work when she is in school. I rely on food stamps to feed myself and my daughter. If this is cut, I can honestly say we just won’t be able to eat.” 

The Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities (an independent NGO) estimates that the overall package will mean a 20 percent reduction in funding for food stamps, that is $186 billion through 2034. This is the largest cut in the history of the Food Stamp programme. 

It will affect more than 40 million people who receive basic food assistance.

The Budget Reconciliation Bill also cuts programmes, which protect God’s creation and offers support for fossil fuel exploration. The bill finances immigration provisions that will harm families and children in that family members will be separated.

The provisions of this Bill are fundamentally opposed to Catholic social doctrine, which, in harmony with some tenets of Marxist theory, upholds the principle of the Common Good, and engages a society which promotes the idea of integral human development for all its citizens. Underpinning this moral imperative is the concept of the Welfare State, which seeks to eradicate poverty, unemployment, provide health care and access to education. All Christian Churches fully support this concept.

It is the responsibility of society to establish a just social welfare system. To dismiss this as communist or socialist is simply outrageous and should not be tolerated in a democracy.