OPINION:
Many said it couldn’t be done: one big bill that would incorporate huge chunks of the Republican agenda. Any one of the major provisions would have been a serious political and legislative lift.
With tax cuts, changes in Medicaid eligibility, boosts to defense spending and money for border security, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a historic achievement from a political standpoint and pure legislative logistics.
Still, all glory is fleeting. Now comes the harder part. Republicans have to sell it, get credit for it, and tackle deficit reduction and entitlement reform in meaningful ways.
Republicans can’t do what they often do: pat themselves on the back, do a round of Sunday shows, have a cocktail and think their work is done. The sales job on this mammoth legislation needs to be a sustained national campaign to tell people what’s in the bill that benefits their families and businesses, particularly regarding their personal economics.
If you don’t tell people why the big bill is a big deal, it’s not, and Democrats will frame the narrative heading into the midterms just like they did after the 2017 tax cuts. Republicans need to get up on TV with ads and execute a national public education campaign, fast.
Most Americans likely have no idea how the tax provisions will affect their families. They likely don’t know about the increases to the standard deduction, already doubled in 2017, or the huge increases in the state and local tax deductions. They likely don’t appreciate how the new provisions for overtime, Social Security and tips will benefit them.
Americans likely have no idea that the Republican-led Congress just passed what is perhaps the most significant measure in history to address our national savings crisis and income inequality, with new $1,000 funded, tax-deferred investment accounts for children.
Revising the business deductions to allow immediate expensing of capital investments can have a massive impact on business growth and job creation.
President Trump and congressional Republicans need to start personalizing the impacts of this, the way the Bush administration did two decades ago. They need to tell Americans how this impacts the average family, as well as the average farm and small-business owner.
Despite what Democrats and today’s democratic socialists may tell you, cutting taxes is good for the economy.
Tax cuts aren’t good just for people; they are also good for government revenue.
That, however, presents Republicans with another pressing challenge.
Using history as a guide, federal government revenue will increase in the coming years because of the changes to the code signed by Mr. Trump.
The Kennedy tax cuts increased government revenue by 32% from 1964 to 1968. The Reagan tax cuts increased revenue by 33% from 1983 through 1989. The George W. Bush cuts of the early 2000s increased revenue by 44% over the following four years, and the 2017 Trump tax cuts boosted federal tax receipts by 22% from 2018 to 2021.
These new changes to the code will likely do the same.
That’s a lot of money flowing to Washington. The 2017 gains were squandered by bipartisan lunacy during the COVID-19 crisis. The challenge for Republicans now will be to avoid spending the increases in receipts and use them instead to close the budget deficit.
For politicians, even Republicans, that’s like putting raw meat in front of a hungry dog.
Here’s another hard one for triumphant Republicans: The provisions to remove illegal aliens from the Medicaid rolls, along with work requirements for the able-bodied, were a good start toward long-needed reforms.
Experts believe Medicaid is rife with $300 billion or more in annual waste, fraud and abuse of the system. Republicans need to advance more commonsense reforms that are salable and explainable to the public.
Yes, unhinged Democrats will tell you millions will die, taxpayers should foot the bill for everyone and waste and fraud aren’t a big deal.
Most Americans aren’t stupid enough to buy that line.
No Republican can talk credibly about fiscal responsibility, closing the budget gap or controlling federal spending without tackling the bloat and inefficiencies in Medicaid. Whether they have the stomach to keep going is anyone’s guess, but it’s clearly necessary.
There’s no time for summer vacation for the slim Republican majorities or the Trump White House. If they want a big, beautiful 2026, they need to blunt Democratic criticism, educate voters on the act’s benefits and continue the reforms necessary to tackle the fiscal challenges still threatening our prosperity.
Without the right sales job, that may prove harder than all the hard work on Capitol Hill.
• Tom Basile is the host of “America Right Now” on Newsmax TV, a Washington Times columnist and an author.
