*Welcome to The Poverty Trap, a newsletter and podcast for people who are fed up with the inequality baked into America’s system and want to individually and collectively make change.

“Public lands eligible for sale in the bill encompass over 250 million acres, including local recreation areas, wilderness study areas, inventoried roadless areas, critical wildlife habitat and big game migration corridors.” Wilderness Society Analysis of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as of 6/16 2025. NOTE: On June 23, the Senate parliamentarian flagged the public lands’ sale for removal from the [Sen R. Reconciliation] bill because it “contains material extraneous to the budget reconciliation process” under the Byrd Rule.

In my last post, I wrote a bit about the idea of loss, and what we have been losing as Americans in just in the last 6 months — our values and ideals, and even the hope to pursue the elusive American Dream. And the losses continue.

* “If an individual is denied coverage or disenrolled because they do not meet the Medicaid work requirements, they would be ineligible for subsidized marketplace coverage.” CNBC Analysis published June 25, 2025.

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