In Response to the Big, BRUTiful Bill
- POORMAG
- 17 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Big, BRUTiful Bill
July 7, 2025
By Angel Heart
A few months ago, I had a severe toothache. It was the kind of toothache that made my face throb. I had a terrible headache for days on end, and it was difficult for me to eat. I surely needed medical help, and right away. And since I’m a United States Army Veteran, I turned to my VA Clinic for help. When I called to inquire about what to do, and how to schedule, the Veterans Representative reply was, “the VA only provides scheduling with the Dental Clinic, for Veterans with a 100% service connected disability.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! It made me think I need to make an appointment under my Medi-Cal coverage. Medi-Cal is medical coverage obtained by persons & families living at, or below poverty level, in the state of California - Many of whom qualify for, and receive food stamps - also known as SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
On July 3, 2025, President Trump passed The Big Beautiful Bill. This bill includes cuts to food stamps, estimated at $1.2 trillion, and specifically cuts federal funding for SNAP by $285 billion. States will also be required to shoulder costs at a higher rate than previously responsible for. The bill also imposes new work requirements, at an 80 hours per month stipulation, for able-bodied adults within the outlined age range of 18 - 65. The Big Brutiful Bill limits future increases to the Thrifty Food Plan, which determines SNAP benefit amounts, potentially causing benefits to grow at a slower rate than food costs. It also changes how utility expenses are calculated, which may lead to reductions in benefit amounts to about 600,000 households.
This bill also creates significant cuts to Medi-Cal, by at least 28.4 billion dollars, in the state of California, with employment requirements for “able-bodied” adults at a rate of 80 hours per month, which could lead to millions of people losing their health coverage. If my Medi-Cal were to be cut, I don’t know what I’ll do if I were to ever need dental care again. When I had that toothache, it was already difficult finding a dentist or a dentist's office to help me, as there was only one endodontist listed as “accepting new Medi-Cal patients” in the city of Oakland. This bill isn’t beautiful, it’s brutiful. It’s an act of violence to all poor, houseless, disabled people, including children and elderly who rely on SNAP and Medi-Cal. This bill allows for significant tax-cuts for the wealthy, which is essentially funded, or paid into, by the poor. It allows for nearly sixty percent of the benefits of this bill being directed to the “elite,” or the “top” twenty percent of the population.
As a woman, United States Army Veteran who lives below poverty level, I’m grateful to be part of a revolutionary movement. The project called Homefulness at POOR Magazine, provides access to The POOR People's Clinic where I can be seen by a Medical Doctor, Chiropractor, Existential Therapist, 5-Point Acupuncture, Sound Therapy, and many other modes of healing that is often invalidated by the medical-industrial-complex. It’s one of the many ways communities can think, and enact ways of healing, and supporting one-another, that isn’t rooted in dependence on the current system of government. It’s what the Co-Founder of POOR Magazine, Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia calls, “Interdependence,” which is a reference to Indigenous Ways of Knowing, and providing love, and support to one another in our communities. It’s a nod to the ancient, cultural practices historically demonized by the White, patriarchal stomping out of, natural care and remedies, created and provided by women.
By MONIQUE
I am a 36 year old Afro American woman seemingly of able bodied single filing in the lower 30% tax payer level, with no dependent making less than $30,000 a year, surrounded by women, all my relative men are dead, imprisoned, or estranged, never to have been able to hold one single place of employment for more than eighteen months. I am the daughter of a mother with terminal illness, and chronic debilitating conditions forever evolving plus aging. I am a granddaughter of a grandmother raised by her fathers ex ex-wives folks, and a third grade education.
Why the last time I went to update my coordination entry via BACs, Bay Area Community Services, there was an update made to the list of questions , and the question that really was freaking outlandish to me was “have you ever had an abortion?” Are you for real, who’s asking, where is this really getting reported, and whom the actual fuck, and why it this relevant to my housing score exactly?
The White Supremacy House in DC under President tha Fuck Trump passed a tied bill, winning with the vote breaker of VP Vince 51 to 50. This bill will make cuts, break, and permanent dismantling of Medicaid, SNAP and will increase sending of weapons of war I mean increase spending and energy production aka help erect facilitation of wars and policing and around 100 billion $ flushed into ICE.
In California according to United Way Over 100,000 children depend on SNAP, supplement nutrition assistance program, millions on Medicaid will be without access to essential and emergency care. And 2.4 million Bay Area residents rely on Medicaid equaling 25% of our population.
In California according to Straight Arrow News 17 million people will lose healthcare, that's 13.7 million people nationwide. United Way reports from other independent studies predict 51,000 additional deaths every year.
What is a ITIN? For families who individual entities of that unit file taxes. Taxpayer identification number. The reconciliation bill eliminates child tax credit (ctc) and earned income tax (etic) for ITIN families, or supposedly these individuals.
For me this means essential aid like InHome care essentials like caregivers and vendors jobs or entupernuerengunuity law abiding people, human beings, entities, sole properties, etc. For me and working in the nonprofit sector I believe we as non profit are already seeing cuts to funding and scrambling to find grants and residual income to the funding of regular programing.
~Losing Our Benefits and Assistance
By Jay Paulino
I am the son of a Formerly unhoused mother of six. I am trying to get Cash Assistance to help me get started with my life or at least on track. I just graduated high school two years ago and I see my people struggling and suffering from the plans the State has made within the Political-Republican Party. I also understand that it will take my assistance away. If this does happen my family won’t be able to eat as good as we do now.
Who? Our President is taking away our Support to Live. There’s war going on and a few other issues Donald John Trump/Our President of the United Snakes can prevent happening. The Government is slowly ripping us apart with Sweeps every single week taking People’s Life or Belongings and throwing it away like it’s trash. It happens on a regular basis. It's sad. Seventeen million people are most likely losing food stamps, Cash Assistance and Medical.
Why does it affect us? We are already worrying about paying for housing. There are people living on the street, dying and sick as well because there’s no proper functional housing for the percentage of people living on the streets. California is one of the highest states that pay more than others because of how expensive it is to live. Why? Take away our Cash benefits if we are already struggling or in a stuck situation. I’m just saying millions of people are going to lose coverage. Our Pay is a little lower because the Government wants to take a chunk of that, going to CHP,OPD, SFPD and CTS (California HIghway Patrol, Oakland Police Department, San Francisco Police Department and CalTrans).
Sounds like the Richer People are becoming Wealthier and The Poor Keeps Getting Poorer.
By Momii Palapaz
I have collected meager benefits from medicare since retiring in 2019. I am a 71 year old Japanese American elder, living in Huichin, aka Oakland, since 1995. Already, my rent is going up to $1139.07 in August. My health insurance doesn’t include pharmacy services. I pay nothing now, but am limited to the cheapest referrals for doctor and dentists visits. My retirement money is less than $2,000.00 and my husband's is less than $700.00. So what’s wrong with this picture?
The big beautiful bill is really a baaaad brutal beat down of poor people. President cheezeit, to curry favor and make nice with billionaires, is cutting out the only health care in USA. Claiming that “waste fraud abuse” is rampant, the party of the extremely rich will be the beneficiaries of our monetary losses in receiving health care. 19-64 year old able bodied adults - 4.8 million people will soon lose medical, medicaid, and medicare, SNAP.
Prez cheezeit says he won’t touch the medicare program. LIES LIES LIES. According to website American Prospect, these cuts “have forced nearly half a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicare, the health program for the elderly....Medicare is one of the programs that will face the axe, and the damage sums to $490 billion over the next ten years, starting in the next fiscal year that begins in October. While many of the safety-net cuts in the bill are delayed to help Republicans with their re-election campaigns, the Medicare cuts must begin next year."
Going back to the 1960’s, decades ago, cheezeit is using this same corrupted program where welfare recipients were under strict, unrealistic requirements to take classes in job preparation, find jobs and prove they are worthy of getting a pittance to survive. The government didn’t take into account that many of the welfare recipients had children, were single mothers, survivors of domestic violence, disabled and elderly. Today its an exhibition of the system that has only gone backward, exposing their ignorance and dispassion. A multi pronged weapon against poor people, the government, is creating pandemonium and divide and conquer amongst all populations on turtle island.
What does it look like in the bay area? Poor Magazine Homefulness, is a family of staunch and determination. We are of color and poor and have been making our own decisions. Decades ago, the sliding scale cafe and Decolonize Academy was launched in a world that treats the unhoused and poor as trash. Permanent housing was constructed and today filled with 20 plus residents, living free on native land back in deep east Huichin.
As an Alternative to the money based systems of health care and survival, POOR MAGAZINE started its own clinic in 1997. Through self determination and liberation, we now have doctors and dentists to do checkups FOR FREE. We are fighting for each other not at each other. We are determined to Fight for a self governed and free community with health clinics and more free food. There is a bottomless resource of those who are also feeling the future demise and are ready and available - hospital employees, nurses, health care workers, and in home care - waiting to be organized.
