[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 27 (Monday, February 10, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REPUBLICAN BAIT AND SWITCH

  (Mr. JEFFRIES asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the Republican 
bait and switch that has been taking place throughout the 119th 
Congress.
  The Republican bait and switch has three elements:
  Part 1: Talk about lowering the high cost of living but do nothing 
about it.
  Part 2: Enact massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy 
corporations that will do nothing to improve the quality of life of 
everyday Americans.
  Part 3: Stick working-class Americans with the bill for those massive 
tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations by destroying Social 
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as we know it.
  House Democrats want nothing to do with the Republican bait and 
switch, and we will do everything possible to stop it.
  The cost of living in the United States of America is far too high. 
Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs are too high. Insurance costs 
are too high. Utility costs are too high. Childcare costs are too high. 
America is too expensive.
  It is not acceptable, in the wealthiest country in the history of the 
world, that far too many everyday Americans are struggling to live 
paycheck to paycheck. It is time for us to do something about the high 
cost of living and to build an affordable economy for hardworking 
American taxpayers.
  House Democrats hear you. We see you. We feel you when it comes to 
the pain being experienced by the American people, and we are 
determined to do something to make life better for you.
  The Republican bait and switch has a very different plan. Last year, 
all we heard from our Republican colleagues was the need to do 
something about the high cost of living, while at the same time they 
ran away from Project 2025 as if it didn't exist.
  This year, Republicans have spent all of their time implementing the 
most extreme parts of Project 2025 that have done nothing to lower the 
high cost of living. There has not been a single thing, a single bill, 
a single idea, or a single proposal from my House Republican colleagues 
to do anything about the high cost of living in the United States of 
America. Why? It is a Republican bait and switch.
  Part 2 of the Republican bait and switch is that their true objective 
is to enact massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations 
just like they did in 2017 when the GOP tax scam was passed where they 
set in motion legislation where 83 percent of the benefits would go to 
the wealthiest 1 percent.
  My House Republican colleagues are back at it. There they go again 
with the same plan but nothing to drive down the high cost of living. 
Everything is about massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy 
corporations, who in many cases aren't even asking for it. They 
certainly don't need the relief that everyday Americans need, that 
working-class Americans need, that middle-class Americans need, and 
that all those people who aspire to be part of the middle class need. 
It is a Republican bait and switch.
  What is the final element of the Republican bait and switch? Enact 
these massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations and 
stick working-class Americans with the bill.
  The nerve of this group of people who spent all last year lecturing 
the country about how they were going to do something to drive down the 
high cost of living, do nothing about it, are planning to enact massive 
tax cuts for their billionaire buddies, and then, as the final element 
of the Republican bait and switch, stick working-class Americans with 
the bill.
  House Republicans have no plan to love and cherish Medicaid. Let's be 
very clear about that. They have no plan to love and cherish Medicaid. 
Their plan is to destroy Social Security, destroy Medicare, and destroy 
Medicaid as we know it.
  With Republicans controlling the House, the Senate, and the 
Presidency, it is their intention to try and do it. Just watch what 
happens at the Republican budget hearing that is upcoming in terms of 
what is proposed. The cuts to Medicaid will be devastating. Hospitals 
will close, including in rural America and urban America and in the 
heartland of America.
  Nursing homes will be shut down. Everyday Americans, children, 
seniors, and those who are suffering with disabilities will be hurt as 
part of the Republican effort to target earned benefits like Social 
Security and Medicare and to destroy Medicaid as we know it. It is the 
Republican bait and switch.
  We will continue to expose it to the American people. House Democrats 
want nothing to do with it, and we are going to do everything in our 
power to stop it.

                          ____________________