CGTN Poll: Almost 90 percent of respondents believe 'big and beautiful' bill won't make America great again

The comprehensive tax cut and spending bill, strongly advocated by President Trump, narrowly passed after a dramatic standoff in the Senate. However, Vice President Vance's tie-breaking vote, which "broke the deadlock," further deepened divisions within American society and heightened global concerns. A global online survey conducted by CGTN revealed that 89.1 percent of respondents believe this so-called "big and beautiful bill" has laid bare the deep-seated contradictions of "American democracy" and will fail to "Make America Great Again."

The New York Times described the bill as a "reverse Robin Hood – taking hundreds of billions from the poor and handing it to the rich." The bill plans to slash federal Medicaid funding by at least $600 billion over a decade, stripping health coverage from about 11 million people while drastically increasing premiums and deductibles for another 24 million. 88.2 percent of respondents criticized the bill as a severe blow to the U.S. healthcare system, warning it would degrade Americans' quality of life. The proposed tax cuts are projected to swell the federal deficit by $2.4 trillion over 10 years, with interest payments surging by $551 billion. 89.3 percent of respondents are concerned that this will exacerbate U.S. debt risks, potentially triggering a full-blown economic crisis.

The bill's overtly exclusionary and expansionist tones have also sparked public outcry. It imposes new taxes on investments from countries like the UK and Germany, starting at 5 percent in the first year and potentially rising to 20 percent by the fourth year. 84.9 percent of respondents criticized the move, saying it will discourage international investors from investing and setting up factories in the U.S., making the vision of reshoring American manufacturing difficult to achieve. 

Additionally, the bill allocates $175 billion to restrictive immigration policies, including interior deportations, border wall construction, and surveillance tech. 80.2 percent worry this will broaden immigration enforcement and worsen the already chaotic state of illegal immigration control in the U.S. Additionally, the bill plans to increase the defense budget by $150 billion. Eighty percent of respondents strongly disapprove, fearing that the inflated defense spending will intensify the global arms race and seriously threaten world peace.

Since the bill's introduction, the extreme partisan theatrics surrounding it have reached new heights. 85.7 percent of respondents noted that the bill has deepened divisions between U.S. parties and within the GOP itself, laying bare the failures of "American-style democracy." Another 92.3 percent believe the bill does not solve America's long-term problems and instead worsens the country's unstable situation. 86.3 percent predict the bill will amplify public dissatisfaction with the Trump administration, keeping its approval ratings depressed for the foreseeable future.

This survey was published on CGTN's English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Russian platforms, with 7,344 people participating and sharing their views within 24 hours.