Donald Winslow's blog

The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, H.R. 1, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on 20 May 2025. Rumor has it the text of the bill is a thousand pages, so I read the summary.

The first four words in the summary are “This bill reduces taxes…”, and yet the bill would actually increase taxes on those who make responsible energy choices by removing clean energy income tax credits and by imposing sizable fees for the registration of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles.

Notably, the bill would also reduce SNAP food assistance benefits, expand applicability of work requirements for SNAP recipients, allow for no errors in payment of SNAP benefits, eliminate the SNAP Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Grant Program, limit SNAP benefits to citizens and permanent residents, extend various crop subsidies, increase Dairy Margin Coverage, extend the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program, rescind various conservation grants authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act, increase funding for agricultural trade promotion and USDA research, double funding for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, provide competitive grants for remodeling Agricultural Research Stations, extend the SRS program by which the Department of Interior and the Forest Service pay states and counties containing federal land, require federal agencies and contractors to purchase “biobased” products, extend funding for “advanced” biofuels (including wood pellets), increase funding for plant pest and disease management, modernize international trade technology and data collection on imported agricultural products, increase funding for the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank, increase funding for sheep production and marketing, increase funding for shipbuilding, increase funding for missiles and missile defense systems, increase funding for drones and employ artificial intelligence (AI) to pilot drones and make decisions, increasing financing of loans by the Department of Defense (DOD) Office of Strategic Capital, deploy AI to accelerate audits of DOD financial statements, modernize military aircraft, prevent the retirement of F-22 fighter jets, increase funding for nuclear weapons, increase funding for military operations in the Indo-Pacific and support to Taiwan as well as secret military space-superiority programs, militarize the borders, enhance military intelligence, authorize military branches to acquire land and construct buildings, revise eligibility for student aid (specifying eligibility for certain nationals of Cuba, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and several island nations), calculate need-based federal education assistance based on median program costs rather than the cost at the student’s institution, restore an exemption for farms and small businesses on the FAFSA financial aid application form, terminate the ability of undergraduates to receive subsidized loans, require higher education institutions to make risk-sharing payments to the government based on nonrepayment of loans by borrowers, establish the Promoting Real Opportunities to Maximize Investments and Savings in Education (PROMISE) grant program, allow for-profit higher education institutions to derive all their tuition and fees from federal funds, remove references to “gainful employment” from the Higher Education Act of 1965, limit the ability of the Department of Education to regulate federal student aid programs, rescind various grants for alternative energy and energy efficiency, direct FERC to award certificates for cross-border energy infrastructure, allow for permitting of carbon dioxide and hydrogen pipelines, provide compensation for energy projects that have had federal approval revoked, repeal a provision requiring the DOE to draw down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, repeal and rescind CAFE standards and many environmental programs established under the Inflation Reduction Act, reallocate 600 megahertz of the radio spectrum to nonfederal use, prohibit states and localities from regulating AI, develop automated decision-making for Department of Commerce systems, reduce Medicaid fraud, require states to check the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File (which now includes some individuals who are not, in fact, dead) for Medicaid recipients, reduce federal Medicaid contributions, regulate pharmacies and medical providers, prohibit federal funding of “gender transition procedures”, prohibit federal funding of community health organizations that provide abortions, require recipients of benefits under Medicaid expansions to work or perform community service, prohibit income-based special enrollment periods under the Affordable Care Act, transfer the duties of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to the Securities and Exchange Commission, reduce funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, increase funding for Customs and Border Protection, provide funding to FEMA to reimburse state and local law enforcement for protecting a residence of the President, provide funding to FEMA to monitor drones and prepare for a couple of large sporting events, increase fees for immigration programs, require Congressional approval of rules that raise revenue, limit the ability of courts to use federal funds to issue contempt citations for noncompliance (by the federal government) with court orders, immediately resume onshore oil and gas leases by the Department of the Interior, prohibit the Department of the Interior from requiring a permit to drill for oil or gas if the leaseholder pays $5000, decrease minimum royalty rates for onshore and offshore oil and gas development on federal lands, hold annual geothermal lease sales, reissue oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), require the Department of the Interior to conduct at least 4 lease sales in ANWR within 7 years, restore the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska oil and gas program, open the Boundary Waters to mining, resume federal coal leases without finishing the BLM’s comprehensive review, decrease the royalty rate on coal, modify the NEPA environmental review process, allow a project “sponsor” to pay a “fee” (bribe) for the preparation of an Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement, rescind funding for the Council on Environmental Quality, establish a filing fee for protests of oil and gas leases, direct the Department of the Interior to hold offshore oil and gas leases in the Cook Inlet in Alaska and in the “Gulf of America”, establish requirements for fees for renewable energy developments on federal lands, rescind funding for NOAA programs, provide funding to the Bureau of Reclamation that increases mining capacity, open sensitive lands in western states to mining, rescind Forest Service funding for wildfire prevention and old-growth forest protection as well as “restoration” (maybe just as well) and environmental reviews, prevent the National Park Service (NPS) and the BLM from implementing certain conservation projects, rescind funds for hiring more NPS workers, establish a statuary park named the National Garden of American Heroes, require the Forest Service and BLM to enter into 20-year contracts with individual companies for logging and vegetation “removal”, increase timber harvests on federal lands by 25%, sell certain lands to counties in Nevada and Utah, reduce benefits for federal employees, provide funds to the FAA for certain improvements, provide funds for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, make permanent certain income tax provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act including tax rates and the increased standard deduction, increase the tax deduction for qualified business income, increase certain tax exemptions to $15,000,000, increase the alternative minimum tax threshold, establish above-the-line tax deductions for car loans and other purposes, allow tax-free withdrawals from 529s for secondary schools and homeschooling, establish a charitable giving exemption for tax filers who do not itemize, establish the Money Accounts for Growth and Advancement (MAGA) program, phase out tax credits for nuclear power production and hydrogen production, terminate the IRS Direct File program, extend the termination of tax-exempt status to “terrorist-supporting” organizations, and increase the statutory debt limit by $4,000,000,000,000.

 In June 2013 an intelligence assessment that determined that Bashar al-Assad’s regime had used chemical weapons against rebel forces prompted US President Barack Obama to provide direct military aid to Syrian rebels (Reuters, 14 June 2013).

By August 2014 Syrian rebels had themselves become a palpable threat to American interests. Following US airstrikes in Iraq targeting the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), ISIL forces in Syria beheaded an American journalist, James Foley. One week later another American, Peter Theo Curtis, was freed by Nusra Front militants in Syria (Associated Press, 24 August 2014).

It should be pointed out that the groups receiving US aid are not the ones responsible for these two kidnappings. In fact, ransom from hostages is a major source of funding for these Islamist militias. Nevertheless, this sequence of events illustrates a frequent theme in American foreign policy. US intervention in a conflict facilitates a shift in power, but the new power structure is as great or greater a threat to American security.

There are once again calls for US military action in Syria. Perhaps the Obama Administration will authorize attacks on ISIL within Syria. Hopefully, they will not be foolish enough to direct airstrikes against the Syrian regime. If the US were to attack Assad directly, we might expect the same outcome as in Iraq. A brutal dictator is driven from power, a brief “democracy” is established, and then the country fragments into opposing factions because the dictator is no longer there to keep militias in check.

Literature Cited

Associated Press, 24 August 2014. US says American held in Syria has been freed.

Reuters, 14 June 2013. US accuses Syria President Bashar al-Assad on chemical weapons, plans military aid to rebels. Reuters, accessed on 14 June 2013 at http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/us-accuses-syria-president-bashar-al-assad-on-chemical-weapons-plans-military-aid-to-rebels-379389.

The Arab Spring of 2011 swept Hosni Mubarak from power in Egypt. The military took control of the country until elections could be held and a constitution ratified.

 On 15 April 2013, the Cairo Criminal Court ruled in favor of Mubarak’s appeal of charges for killing protesters in January 2011 (Nouran, 27 April 2013). He obtained a release order because he had been detained for longer than the legal duration of two years for preventive custody. However, he continued to be held on charges of financial corruption, having amassed a fortune exceeding the capabilities of his legitimate earnings.

Mohamed Morsi was inaugurated as president on 30 June 2012 in what was widely regarded as Egypt’s first democratic election. One year later, millions of protesters demanded Morsi’s resignation(Kingsley, 30 June 2013).On 3 July 2013 the army removed him from power (Fleishman and Hassieb, 3 July 2013).

 Morsi’s removal was followed by counterprotests and violence, as Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood party clashed with his opponents and the police and army (Michael et al., 5 July 2013; Tait, 5 July 2013).On 8 July 2013, over 50 pro-Morsi protesters were killed, as were 3 members of security forces (Solovieva, 9 July 2013).

There has been much debate, inside and outside Egypt, on whether Morsi’s ouster should be considered a coup or a revolution (e.g.; Farwell and Arakelian, 16 July 2013). Clearly it was both. The Obama Administration in the USA has avoided calling it a coup, because using that term would make it illegal to continue to provide military aid to Egypt’s army (Democracy Now!, 16 July 2013).

 The primary strategic interest that western powers have in Egyptian politics is the preservation of Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel (Farwell and Arakelian, 16 July 2013). Because most of the USA’s aid for Egypt goes directly to the military (Democracy Now!, 16 July 2013), the military will continue to be able to operate independently from civilian government and will continue to be the true seat of power.Any election can be followed by a coup, with or without popular support. Democracy in Egypt will not be possible with this degree of foreign intervention.

Literature Cited

 Democracy Now! 16 July 2013. “The jailers should be jailed”: Sharif Abdel Kouddous on the embrace of Egypt’s military post-Morsi. Democracy Now! http://www.democracynow.org/2013/7/16/the_jailers_should_be_jailed_sharif, accessed 16 July 2013.

 El-Behairy, Nouran. 27 April 2013. Court accepts Mubarak’s appeal, Daily News Egypt, http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/04/27/court-accepts-mubaraks-appeal/, accessed 28 April 2013.

 Farwell, James; and Darby Arakelian. 16 July 2013. Mohamed Morsi Coup: Ditching Morsi was a choice, not a coup. Policymic, http://www.policymic.com/articles/54805/mohamed-morsi-coup-ditching-morsi-was-a-choice-not-a-coup, accessed 16 July 2013.

 Fleishman, Jeffrey; and Ingy Hassieb. 3 July 2013. Egyptian army ousts President Mohamed Morsi, Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-egypt-morsi-20130704,0,5033651.story, accessed 4 July 2013.

 Kingsley, Patrick. 30 June 2013. Protesters across Egypt call for Mohamed Morsi to go. The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/30/mohamed-morsi-egypt-protests, accessed 1 July 2013.

 Michael, Maggie; Sarah El Deeb; and Lee Keath. 5 July 2013. Clashes erupt in major pushback by Egypt Islamists, Associated Press, accessed on 5 July 2013 at http://news.yahoo.com/clashes-erupt-major-pushback-egypt-islamists-192005534.html.

Solovieva, Daria. 9 July 2013. How Mohammed Morsi’s ouster in Egypt may help radicalize Islamists. International Business Times, http://www.ibtimes.com/how-mohammed-morsis-ouster-egypt-may-help-radicalize-islamists-1337341, accessed 9 July 2013.

Tait, Robert. 5 July 2013. Egypt crisis: Mohamed Morsi supporters shot dead as they march on military barracks, The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/10162440/Egypt-crisis-Mohamed-Morsi-supporters-shot-dead-as-they-march-on-military-barracks.html, accessed 7 July 2013.

US President Barack Obama asked for an intelligence assessment to determine whether there is solid evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons against rebel forces. The resulting assessment concluded that Assad has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin. We may hope that this assessment is more reliable than the forged evidence used to justify the invasion of Iraq. In any case, on the basis of this report the Obama Administration intends to provide arms to the rebels and perhaps establish a no-fly zone. Given that Russia has been supplying arms to the Assad regime, this would appear to reopen the Cold War.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/13/syria-crisis-chemical-idINDEE95C0J020130613

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/14/syria-crisis-scenarios-idINDEE95D01620130614

Newtown families are lobbying Congress to pass effective gun-control legislation (Democracy Now!, 10 April 2013). Senator Inhofe had the nerve to say, “I think it’s so unfair of the administration to hurt these families, to make them think this has something to do with them, when, in fact, it doesn’t.” And I suppose it has nothing to do with the 6-year-old who was shot and killed by a 4-year-old yesterday. Or the “random” attacks and targeted assassinations we read about or that touch our lives more closely. It has nothing to do with my cat getting shot while accompanying my wife and 2-year-old son to the park, nothing to do with the dancing friend we lost last year to gang violence.

There may not be an easy solution to violence, but seeking a solution has everything to do with its victims.

Democracy Now!, 10 April 2013, Headlines, http://www.democracynow.org/2013/4/10/headlines

In just a few days, barring a last-minute deal, we in the States will be plunged into the horrors of sequestration. Er..uh..what exactly is sequestration? Is it worse than a blizzard? Well, I don’t know, but I reckon it’s something along the lines of what they call “austerity” on the other side of the Atlantic. “Austerity”, roughly translated into the language of US politics, means “spending cuts”. There may be some tightening of interest rates and whatnot thrown in, but basically austerity means spending cuts.

Hollande, France’s new “leftist” leader, complains that austerity measures inhibit economic growth and calls on the European Union to loosen its grip on Greece’s economy.

Standard & Poor’s just downgraded the UK’s credit rating because the British economy isn’t growing (actually, it’s contracting) and austerity measures are still being implemented. The Labour Party blames the austerity measures for stifling economic growth.

On this side of the pond, the US economy also contracted in the last quarter. The Republicans complain that rampant spending is stifling growth. How can that be? Well, it’s actually tax increases that they’re worried about. But a larger budget increases the pressure to raise taxes, so the Republicans want spending cuts.

Once again we’re working under the assumption that perpetual growth is possible, desirable, and necessary. Instead, we should be planning for ecological sustainability and economic stability. We need to live within our means–reduce our footprint and balance the budget.

This morning I opened yesterday’s paper and was surprised to see sample ballots! Surprised because I didn’t know there was election tomorrow and also surprised because I have never seen sample ballots in the Shawnee News-Star before.

Saves me the trouble of scanning them and putting them online.

I was not able to locate the sample ballots on the News-Star’s website, so if you don’t have a print subscription you’ll need to walk downtown to your public library to see them. While you’re downtown, stop in the County Building and ask why the Pottawatomie County Election Board doesn’t have a website.

Probably because the voters won’t give them money for it.

One of the questions on tomorrow’s ballot does ask voters to fund information technology upgrades–the County wants to raise tariffs for improvements in the 911 emergency response system. Also, there are school board elections and several school districts have bond issues on the ballot.

If you’re not sure what school district you’re in, the city has a map here.

So don’t forgot to vote tomorrow, and, more importantly, figure out what or who it is that you’re voting for or against before you get to the polls!

I use Gmail for my main email account, but I usually use Firefox browser with the Mozilla Adblock Plus plugin to avoid seeing ads. Today I thought I’d try out Google’s Chrome browser to see how well it integrates with the Gnome Desktop’s “Online Accounts” feature. That feature hasn’t really worked well for me, because I’ve never figured out how to unlock the desktop keyring. I know the password, but it doesn’t prompt me for the keyring password when I need to open it.

Anyway, while going through my email I opened this action alert from the Union of Concerned Scientists and was amused to see the targeted ad Google put above the message. It seems to reinforce the point UCS is making!

Shawnee’s homeless population has suffered a couple of setbacks in the last few months. First, the Shawnee Public Library has started making loiterers leave the library property. Second, the Shawnee City Commission voted not to rezone the Shawnee Rescue Mission’s property on Louisa to permit an overnight shelter. Third, the City Commission voted not to approve a rezoning request to allow a soup kitchen on Main Street. Fourth, the city personnel have been trying to discourage the homeless from visiting city parks.

The change in practice at the Shawnee Public Library came about because other members of the public at the library complained about homeless members of the public at the library. Some patrons report feeling intimidated by the presence of homeless individuals. Since homeless people are members of the public, they are allowed to use library resources (such as books and computers). However, anyone sitting on the bench outside the library is now asked to leave.

So what is the purpose of the bench? Libraries in Oklahoma City have in fact removed benches, and the library in Shawnee has removed some of the more comfortable furniture inside. These changes only cause us to become more destitute as a society. A public library is more than a collection of books; it is a public space. I say the bench is a library resource.

The Shawnee Rescue Mission will have a day shelter, but not this winter. They had asked for the rezoning so they could also establish an overnight shelter. Many members of the community have voiced support for the shelter, but some with businesses nearby have opposed it. Notably, Commissioner Harrod’s daughter said that an overnight shelter would hurt their business. Others complained that a homeless shelter might house criminals. It was Commissioner Harrod who introduced the motion to deny the rezoning.

But denying the rezoning for a homeless shelter will not make the homeless go away. Indeed, they are by definition homeless, so they have no place to go. We can try to move them from one place to another, but avoiding the problem doesn’t solve it.

Some community members expressed concern over allowing a soup kitchen on Main Street, complaining that it would hamper efforts to revitalize downtown. Someone wants to serve food in the center of your village and you’re worried that’s going to lower your standard of living?

The City of Shawnee is no longer allowing churches to reserve park shelters to feed the hungry. Rumor has it the churches don’t bother reserving the shelters, so this policy change has not hampered their efforts.

Where’s Occupy Shawnee? Where’s Food not Bombs? Where’s the ACLU? Where’s Habitat for Humanity?

I know it took me a while, but I finally published the election ballots for 6 November in my precinct in Shawnee, Oklahoma. There’s more going on than just the presidential race (don’t even bother with that), so point your browser to http://donaldwinslow.info/sampleballots.html and read all those state questions! You’ll have to zoom in.