This is the Moment When Everything is on the Line

Democracy is under assault right before our eyes, this moment we have feared has arrived. [Trump has] taking a wrecking ball, a wrecking ball to our founding fathers’ historic project: three coequal branches of independent government.

— Gavin Newsom, the governor of California

This is the moment when everything is on the line. Right now, Donald Trump is making his boldest move yet to dismantle our democracy. We are facing a critical turning point in American history.

He is working to transform the U.S. military into a political weapon aligned with his regime. His grotesquely expensive and self-glorifying parade, planned for Saturday, is not just a spectacle—it’s a symbol of authoritarian ambition.

Active-duty troops have already been deployed against citizens exercising their Constitutionally protected rights to protest and assemble.

This is not a drill. This is not a time for silence, or for standing on the sidelines.

For those who believe in democracy, the rule of law, and the basic dignity of all people, now is the time to rise in solidarity. We must stand together, speak out, and resist the normalization of authoritarianism. Our future depends on it.

One Big Disaster of a Bill

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Is One Big Betrayal

The House GOP’s H.R. 1—the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA)—is a reckless, cruel, and corrupt piece of legislation. Disguised as reform, it’s actually a massive transfer of wealth to the rich, while gutting programs that support everyday Americans.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, this bill would explode the federal deficit by $2.4 trillion, handing billions in tax cuts to the wealthiest households—while demanding brutal sacrifices from seniors, working families, and the poor.

The harm is staggering:

• Nearly 14 million people would lose health coverage—many with chronic conditions, many just above the poverty line.

• Medicaid and Medicare would face devastating cuts—despite Republican claims to the contrary. PAYGO rules mean this bill triggers over $500 billion in automatic Medicare cuts.

• Meals on Wheels warns that the bill represents the largest threats in history to the seniors and homebound individuals it serves.

• SNAP benefits (food assistance) would be slashed, increasing hunger and hardship across the country.

But it doesn’t stop there:

• The bill gives Executive Branch officials free rein to defy the courts—undermining the rule of law by eliminating consequences for contempt.

• Climate science under siege: Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that fund clean energy and climate resilience are facing renewed attacks from lawmakers who deny or downplay the climate crisis—threatening critical investments in sustainable infrastructure, job creation, and emissions reductions.

• It forces the sale of public lands to expand fossil fuel production—sacrificing our environment for short-term profit.

• And the process has been an insult to democracy: votes taken in the middle of the night, bills rushed through unread. Even Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene admitted she would have voted no—if she had known what was in it.

A Call to Conscience

From Friends Committee on National Legislation:

H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” is misleading in name. It marks the U.S. federal government’s deliberate rejection of the basic pillars that support strong communities: access to food, healthcare, economic opportunity, and responsible stewardship of our environment. We call on Congress to honor the Light within all of God’s creation and reject this path. 

The bill proposes the largest reduction to nutrition assistance in the nation’s history, punishing parents already navigating low wages, rising costs, and childcare gaps. Instead of relief, it offers a maze of bureaucratic red tape—just to feed their children. An estimated three million adults would lose this critical lifeline, and one million children would face a greater risk of hunger. And yet the bill offers nothing to ease the burden of working families. 

It rips health care from nearly 14 million people—many just above the poverty line, many already managing chronic illness. And the bill’s tax provisions favor those already thriving. Major investments indulge the war industry. Everyday people will shoulder the consequences.

Poverty is a calculated public policy decision.