[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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