    [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2025)]
    [Senate]
    [Pages S1361-S1362]
    From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                                     BUDGET

      Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, last night, almost every single House
    Republican signed their names to what would be the largest Medicaid
    cuts in American history. The havoc, the damage that that would do to
    tens of millions of American families would be almost unprecedented
    when it comes to Medicaid.
      Why did Republicans do it? So they could cut taxes for the
    billionaires club. The Republican agenda is quickly taking shape. Under
    Donald Trump's Republican Party, billionaires win; American families
    lose.
      Last night proved that Senate Democrats are right. It doesn't matter
    if Republicans go with 1 bill or 2 bills or 50 bills. The endgame for
    Republicans has always been the same: cutting taxes for billionaires
    and forcing American families to pick up the tab.
      Now the attention returns to the Republican Senate. Republican
    Senators know these billionaire tax breaks are unpopular, particularly
    because it will push deep, nasty cuts to Medicaid.

    [[Page S1362]]

    When I hear the Republican leadership talk about the bills they
    propose, they never mention the tax cuts to billionaires, which is the
    crown jewel, in their minds, of what they are doing. But they are
    afraid to mention it because they know how unpopular it is with the
    American people.
      They know it is going to increase the deficit by up to $5 trillion.
    These deficit hawks over on the other side of the aisle and the House
    are willing to increase the deficit by that much.
      So what are they doing about it, knowing how high it would increase
    the deficit, rising interest rates, rising costs, risk of economic
    downturn? What do they do? Instead of facing the problem head-on, they
    are resorting to budget gimmicks to hide the true cost of their
    billionaire tax cuts.
      They want to use something--some of them--called a current policy
    baseline. In essence, current policy baseline is an attempt to
    magically turn $5 trillion of deficit spending into zero dollars on
    their balance sheets. The deficit would still be there. It would still
    go up by $5 trillion in actual terms, but this sleight of hand, this
    hocus-pocus, says it is not going to appear on a balance sheet because
    we are calling it current policy baseline.
      Congress--Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative--has never
    used a ``current policy'' baseline for reconciliation and for good
    reason. Any junior high school math student could tell you their
    current policy baseline gimmickry is utter nonsense. It is an attempt
    for Senate Republicans to hide the true cost of their billionaire tax
    cuts from the American people.
      At least House Republicans are being honest about the outrageous cost
    of their tax cuts in terms of the deficit. In fact, the House Freedom
    Caucus is being far more honest about the deficit than our Senate
    Republican colleagues. Maybe the Freedom Caucus should send the debt
    clocks that Representative   Thomas Massie wears on his lapel to the
    Senate Republicans.
      What happened in the House last night and what happened last week in
    the Senate is only the beginning. Democrats are going to fight these
    billionaire tax cuts tooth and nail. Democrats are glad to have this
    debate because the American people will be aghast when they learn what
    is really in the Republican tax bill, and that is tax breaks--huge tax
    breaks--for their billionaire buddies who are all doing well, God bless
    them. The last thing America needs is another tax break for them--who
    are so rich already.
      Americans are worried that with these tax breaks, inflation is going
    to get worse. Americans are worried that Donald Trump will start a
    trade war with our allies and make trips to the grocery store an utter
    nightmare.
      We learned yesterday, for instance, that consumer confidence saw its
    biggest drop last month in 4 years--in 4 years. So this idea that the
    Republicans can hide what they are doing to the American people is not
    working, and we Democrats are going to make sure that Americans know
    exactly what they are doing in terms of their tax breaks for
    billionaires hurting the average American.
      The issues that Americans are actually worried about are costs, are
    inflation, are getting decent healthcare. But what are the Republicans
    spending their time on here in Congress? Cutting taxes for billionaires
    and then hiding the true cost on the deficit with a sleight of hand.
      They are also slashing away at Medicaid and SNAP and so many other
    services that bring down the cost of living. This is absolutely not
    what the American people signed up for, and Republicans know it because
    they don't talk about it.

      Talk about how close to $2 trillion in your plan goes to the very
    wealthiest in America. You can't talk about it. Do you know why you
    can't talk about it? Because you know how unpopular it is.
      Yes, it is true that the small number of very wealthy, greedy people
    who want their taxes even lower has a disproportionate hold on the
    Republican Party in the House and Senate. So they are doing it, but
    they are afraid to talk about it.
      And for sure, when it comes to these tax cuts, when it comes to the
    cuts in Medicaid, and so many other bad things their budget does,
    Democrats will fight tooth and nail to prevent them.

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