The Dragon Slayer Becomes the Dragon: Trump, who once claimed he would make America great again, has now stopped pretending. His "Big and Beautiful Act" not only fails to make America great but will also exhaust America's future, benefiting American capitalists, the military-industrial complex, and making Trump himself great.
Because of this "Big and Beautiful Act," Musk has become enemies with Trump. Recently, Musk publicly stated that if the bill passes, he would create the "American Party" and mock the Republican Party as the "Pig Party." Trump, in turn, mocked Musk for receiving more subsidies than anyone else. He suggested that the Department of Government Efficiency, where Musk previously worked, should investigate Musk's own companies and even threatened to deport Musk. According to Western media, this "Big and Beautiful Act" has sparked a dispute between "the most powerful people in the world" and "the richest person in the world."
To understand why Musk strongly opposes this act and why it will exhaust America's future, one must first know what the act entails. The real name of the "Big and Beautiful Act" is the Large Tax Cuts and Spending Act. Its main content includes significantly reducing taxes on the wealthy and corporations, cutting large amounts of public spending, including health insurance, and involving nearly $300 billion in funds for the federal government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It is expected to increase the U.S. federal government's deficit by $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years and cause 11.8 million people to lose health insurance.
Additionally, Trump added a $5 trillion increase in the federal debt ceiling in the act, allowing the total U.S. federal government debt to exceed $40 trillion.
Why is Trump so determined to increase the debt ceiling? Because when the federal government can't come up with extra money, Trump needs to use the national debt to give红包 (red envelopes) to American capitalists' wealth. For example, the corporate tax rate was cut from 35% to 21%, the inheritance tax threshold was raised from $11 million to $22 million, and the tax rate on amounts exceeding this was reduced from 40% to 20%.
This act is indeed "big and beautiful" for American capitalists, but it's not beautiful for the American federal government because it will reduce government revenue by about $400 billion annually. To compensate for the loss of income, Trump can only cut public spending and increase the debt ceiling.
Since this act benefits the rich, why does the richest man, Musk, oppose it? Because Trump also targeted renewable energy. Trump planned to cancel all renewable energy subsidies in the United States and divert the money to support traditional energy industries. For example, previously, buying an electric vehicle in the United States could get a $7,500 subsidy. After the release of this act, there would be no subsidy for electric vehicles, and the regulations limiting methane emissions from traditional energy companies were abolished. Tesla's market value plummeted, and Musk's wealth disappeared by hundreds of billions overnight.
Why did Trump support the traditional energy industry? First, to revive American manufacturing. Second, Trump's base of votes is in Texas, which produces oil, and many traditional energy companies are big donors in the campaign. These people helped Trump ascend to the presidency, and Trump must repay them in full.
The act also didn't forget to feed the military-industrial complex. Within five years, defense spending will continue to increase by 28%. Various reliable and unreliable projects are being launched. For instance, Trump said he disliked the single-engine design of the F-35 and wanted to develop a dual-engine F-35, named the F-55. Regardless of whether Lockheed Martin can produce it, as long as they take on the project, the research funding will definitely not be lacking. Boeing, on the other hand, received the order for the sixth-generation aircraft F-47. Even though Boeing currently can't properly produce the fourth-generation F-15EX, Trump still gave this big cake to Boeing. If the project fails in a few years, it can just be started over. In addition, the "Gold Dome" defense system is also being poured into thousands of billions of dollars.
Before the "Big and Beautiful Act" was enacted, the U.S. military-industrial complex had already settled some accounts. Projects like the M10 light tank, E-7A early warning aircraft, and HALO hypersonic missiles were canceled. As for how much these projects cost and where the money was spent, since Musk was removed from the White House, no one dared to investigate or wanted to. With so many weapon projects being canceled, Trump immediately introduced a package of weapons development, which made the military-industrial complex very happy, saying that Trump was much smarter than his predecessor. Who would dare to stab him in the back in the future? In the past, when Trump was impeached, American capitalists and the military-industrial complex united to take advantage of his downfall, shutting down social media accounts and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs secretly calling China. This was a lesson for Trump. Trump returning for the second term is much more tactful, knowing that he must first please the establishment to sit securely on the presidential throne. Compared to the support of these people, Musk's personal support is insignificant. Sacrificing one person to please a group is the most profitable deal for Trump.
The result is that Musk is angry every day on his social media account, claiming that Trump's actions are robbing the poor to help the rich, making the poor poorer and the rich safer. However, Trump doesn't tolerate Musk. He said he would deport Musk back to South Africa; he said he would check how much subsidies Musk's company received from the government; he also criticized Musk for being ungrateful, saying that if it weren't for his approval of Starlink and electric car subsidies, Musk would still be making toy cars.
Trump's last sentence was truly cutting, effectively erasing Musk's contributions in the 2024 election. Where did Musk's money to fund Trump's campaign come from? Of course, it came from government subsidies, Tesla, and SpaceX profits. And these companies earned money because Trump was kind, so Musk's money was essentially earned with Trump's help. Musk's money to fund Trump's election was essentially Trump's own money. If that's the case, what right does Musk have to share the cake?
It can be said that in this power-money transaction, the richest person in the world lost to the most powerful person in the world. Democrats treated Trump's claim of making America great as a joke, but Musk took it seriously. Musk's idea was to reorganize the American government at all levels, improve government efficiency, reshape the military-industrial complex, develop technology, and then make big money together with Trump.
But Trump couldn't wait. Because his presidential position only lasted four years, there was no time to fish for big fish, nor did he have the awareness to lay the foundation for his successor to reap the benefits. What Trump wants to do now is to make quick money. Musk directed the Department of Government Efficiency to audit the books for half a year, saving less than $200 billion. Trump, through the "Big and Beautiful Act," saved billions just by cutting public spending. It's estimated that he looked down on Musk as much as possible. If this is the ability of the world's richest person, then in four years, the world's richest person will definitely change.
As for the consequences of continuing to increase the U.S. debt ceiling, Trump isn't interested in knowing. He just wants to avoid a crisis during his four-year term. Who cares about the flood of water after four years? Now, if you don't spend money quickly, who will spend it later? When Trump retires in four years, his wealth may have increased dozens of times. At that time, his family can continue to fund new presidential candidates, even supporting his son to run for president, finding ways to keep making money. Compared to Musk's son becoming a daughter, Trump's way of cultivating the next generation is far superior. Therefore, in Trump's eyes, Musk is not a smart person. He became the richest person in the world thanks to himself. Musk has no right to teach him how to make America great.
What are the consequences of Trump's actions? First, it will further exacerbate the wealth gap in the United States. In the future, the U.S. will not support idle people, and their survival will depend on their own abilities. Second, it will further promote the corruption of the military-industrial complex. No one cares whether weapons can be successfully developed or the quality of the weapons produced. Everyone is busy exploiting the research funds. If the project fails, they can just announce the failure and start over. What awaits the U.S. military will be a slow development progress of advanced weapons and shocking quality. In the future, China's sixth-generation aircraft will fly everywhere, while the U.S. military is probably waiting anxiously for the successful flight test of the sixth-generation aircraft.
Finally, the timeline for the U.S. debt bubble is further advanced. After seeing Trump gain enough benefits, it is estimated that whoever becomes president in the future will also take a break and try to find ways to make money. As for what to do after the U.S. debt bubble bursts, that's the future's problem. Now, it hasn't burst yet, so keep playing music and dancing.
Therefore, the "Big and Beautiful Act" that Trump proposed is a death warrant for the United States. It will exhaust America's future, allowing Trump to achieve personal and family greatness. The victims are the American poor, especially those illegal immigrants who traveled千里 to experience freedom and democracy in the United States. The era of taking advantage of the U.S. is over. Now, under Trump's guidance, the U.S. will extract oil from the poor. As for Musk, he should consider his future carefully. Think about which country can allow him to realize his ambitions and which country can truly utilize his talents.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7524141945699779113/
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