Jim Beard offers a novel idea for counteracting the Trump/Republican Big Beautiful Bill.

Dear Neighbor,

April has come and gone and most of you have filed your taxes by now. For some of you, nothing has changed since last year. You either owed about the same amount as previous years, or you got a refund of about the same size. If that is you, then you are not who this article is intended to talk to. I am specifically writing to folks who received a sizable refund which they did not get in past years.

The refund probably gives you a warm feeling. I am here, however, to burst your bubble. Remember Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. Well, the law that came out of that was pretty ugly. There is a good chance that your big refund came out of that law. Part of the source of money for these tax cuts came on the backs of the poor. Our entire federal social safety net was put in peril by that law. So, I am writing to those of you who are well enough off to not have an immediate need for that refund. I know that you are out there. Take that money and give it to non-profits who will help the poor — a food pantry, for example. Just make sure that whoever you donate to is reputable.

Many of us were appalled by that ugly law. So, instead of being the beneficiaries of that law, let us take that money and in some small way counteract some of the damage done by it. May God bless the poor as they struggle to survive.

“Dear Neighbor” authors are united in a belief that civility and passion can coexist. We believe curiosity and conversation make us a better community.