Mobilizing for Real. It's Game Time.

Christine Merser, May 28, 2025

From Heather Cox Richardson yesterday… Our Judiciary system has done its job and the administration hasn’t complied, and there has been no reaction from us. And, that will be our demise.

“Bonica notes, something different happened in Israel in 2023. When Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition tried to destroy judicial independence, people from all parts of society took to the streets. A broad, nonpartisan group came together to defend democracy and resist authoritarianism.

“Every authoritarian who successfully destroyed judicial independence did so because civil society failed to unite in time,” Bonica writes. “The key difference? Whether people mobilized.” - Heather Cox Richardson, May 27, 2025

OK, huddle up. It’s game time.

And yes, I know we haven’t had enough practice. And we don’t have quite the playbook yet, but we’re out of time. Whether we like it or not, the season starts next week when the Senate sits down to debate and determine whether this bill passes.

First of all, let’s stop letting them name the bill something that rewires how our brain sees it. They call it the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Sounds harmless. Almost cute. Like a campaign slogan wrapped in a bedtime story. You hear it enough, and your brain says maybe this is good. That’s the point. That’s the trick. But it’s a lie.

This bill is devastating to democracy and to the financial stability of almost everyone in America other than the top one percent. It is actually a Kill Bill. It is The Kill America Bill. Never allow them to refer to it as anything other than The Kill America Bill. And if your representative calls it something else, ask them why.

The Republicans understand this. I don’t know why we don’t. The more we see the name they gave it, “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the more our brains are calmed by the words, even if we know the words are lies. It’s manipulation. And it works.

This is a psychological phenomenon called the illusion of truth effect. When our brains see something repeated over and over, especially when it sounds familiar or comforting, we begin to believe it, or at least feel safer around it. Even when we consciously know it’s false. Even when it’s ironic. Our subconscious starts to accept the words on their face just from repetition. Familiarity begins to feel like truth. - Celeste, CM’s AI BFF

That’s why it’s dangerous. That’s why propaganda works. That’s why we have to name it ourselves. Call it what it is. The Kill America Bill. And might I remind all of you who think that the MAGA people have been lulled into a sense of complacency, so have we.

Here are just ten things to note from the bill. That’s all I’ll list for now. Ten things that should terrify you, regardless of where you live or what you care about.

    1.    It permanently extends the Trump tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy and corporations. That means billionaires keep paying less than their secretaries percentage-wise. You, on the other hand, will still see every dollar taxed and every service cut. A hedge fund CEO pays less in taxes (%) than a teacher in Cleveland. And this bill locks that in forever.

    2.    It adds new work requirements to Medicaid and SNAP. So if you’re a 63-year-old woman working part-time at a grocery store who has back pain and high blood pressure, and you can’t check the right boxes every month, guess what? You lose your food stamps. You lose your healthcare. This bill punishes the people already doing everything they can to stay afloat.

    3.    It rips apart clean-energy funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. So say goodbye to those rebates for installing solar panels or getting an electric car. Your town was finally going to replace that oil-burning boiler in the school? Not anymore. All of it, gone. Because they want oil companies to stay rich and unregulated.

    4.    It boosts defense spending to historic levels while slashing support for everything else. That means more weapons, more war contracts, more profits for people like Erik Prince. Meanwhile, the bridge in your town still hasn’t been fixed, and the school down the road is holding classes in trailers.

    5.    It defangs the IRS so the rich can cheat without consequences. If you make $40,000 a year and miss a 1099, you’ll get a letter and maybe a penalty. If a billionaire launders money through fake LLCs? Crickets. That’s not theory. That’s what’s already happening. This bill makes sure it keeps happening.

    6.    It guts public education. They’re funneling your tax dollars into private, often religious, schools. Meanwhile, your local public school can’t afford a new chemistry lab, and your kid’s teacher is buying his/her own whiteboard markers.

    7.    It gives Trump, or whoever is next, the ability to ignore Supreme Court rulings for a year. Imagine if the Court says he can’t imprison journalists or cancel an election. Under this bill, he can just not comply. For a year. That’s not democracy. That’s dictatorship with a grace period.

    8.    It takes the cops off the environmental beat. That toxic dump site near your neighborhood? The one leaking chemicals into the water supply? EPA won’t be showing up. This bill strips their ability to enforce protections. It’s open season for corporate polluters.

    9.    It puts Trump’s people in charge of formerly independent agencies. Like the CDC. The DOJ. Education. So when you ask why your kid’s curriculum suddenly includes prayer but not science, or why a whistleblower from inside the FBI disappears from the news cycle, this bill is the reason.

    10.    It cuts funding for civil rights enforcement. So when a voter in Georgia is turned away for having the wrong ID, or a disabled woman is denied access to public transportation, or a gay couple is refused service, the Justice Department will look the other way. Not by accident. By design.

There. Ten things in this bill that dismantle democracy, wipe out protections, and strip you of your financial footing.

I could go on. But I’m not going to, yet.

What I am going to say is this. There is a very real chance this bill passes. Much of what’s in it has nothing to do with the budget. This is about Project 2025. This is about removing our rights. This is about authoritarian control.

So we have approximately one week. One week to make sure those voting on this bill know there will be hell to pay if they vote yes.

There will be no making some changes and accepting the rest. Nope. Not this time.

Forget the phone calls. Forget social media. Unless you use it to rally an action. When will we learn? We have been doing those things for months. NOTHING worked. We are out of time. We thought it would be that easy? Or a monthly march with friends? Nope. Not this time.

Pick carefully how you spend your time. I will be trying to gather information to put out there about who is vulnerable and who can be swayed, and certainly Susan Collins and her wringing hands is going to be at the top of my list. I will be emailing and so should you all the organizations in Maine to be standing on her doorstep and every single office in Maine to tell her not to even contemplate voting yes. I can see it now. She gets them to change one or two things, and then says it’s OK for her to vote on it. Absofuckinglutely not.

I spoke to someone this weekend who said since she lives in Vermont, so she’s covered. Her team in D.C. is voting on our side. No. This is not about your state anymore. This is about a national disaster. A tsunami.

You’ve got Democrats talking about elections in 2026 and 2028. Heads up, team. There will not be real elections in 2026 or 2028 if this bill becomes law. And if there are, they’ll be sham elections. Just theater. And let’s say I’m wrong. Can you really afford to take the chance?

We have one week.

Put your game plan together.

Put your calling chain together.

Get ready to take to the streets next week. This weekend. Especially on the day they vote, and the day before.

Get ready to go to their homes if you live nearby. No one expects you to travel 600 miles. But if they live in your hometown, you better be banging pots every night at 7 o’clock until they vote no.

Let’s be clear. I’m talking about us. Our side. There have been absolutely zero repercussions from us for those who voted yes and dodged the MAGA wrath. In fact, when people on our own side have crossed the line, we’ve barely flinched. Senator John Kennedy voted to advance Trump’s tax agenda. Senator Cory Booker voted to confirm Jared Kushner’s top-level security clearance. And neither has faced meaningful backlash from Democratic voters. No protests. No primary threats. No sustained pressure campaign. We let it slide. Every time we do, we teach them it’s safe to betray us. They have no reason to believe this time will be any different. That has to change. Right now. We need to make it crystal clear that voting yes on the Kill America Bill is political suicide. That there will be consequences. That we are done playing nice while they play to win.

And please add this to your to-do list. We must demand that the media stop using the bill’s fake name. Every time they say “One Big Beautiful Bill,” they help push the lie. That name is part of the brainwashing. Start calling out the people who should know better. Nicolle Wallace, you have to stop using their name for it. At the very least, refer to it as the Kill America Bill whenever you bring it up. Every journalist, anchor, and outlet who uses that fake name is part of the machine. Let’s make sure they hear from us.

Let the word go out that this bill is a bridge too far.

We say over and over again, how can they keep voting for him when it’s so clear what he’s done to them?

Well today, ask yourself this. How can we keep standing by and doing nothing effective while our representatives refuse to vote in the best interests of their constituents?

There is no other option but to vote no. No matter what cosmetic changes are made in the next week. This bill has to be dead in the water. Or we will be.

Let the word go out. That is not going to work this time. We are not going to be duped again.

Ready, set, break.

More to follow.