During Thursday's Senate Democrats' press briefing, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) discussed the effects of the proposed Republican-backed budget reconciliation.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Okay, good afternoon, folks, and I'm proud to be joined by my colleagues, Senators Merkley,
00:17Warren, Baldwin, Blumenthal, and Wyden, and thank them for joining me in standing up against
00:25tax cuts for billionaires and for fighting for working families.
00:29That's what we're doing.
00:30So today, the Senate Republicans will vote to move forward with a budget resolution that
00:36will decimate Medicaid, housing, veterans, SNAP, and more, all in pursuit of tax cuts
00:43for their billionaires' club.
00:45We will highlight the devastating Trump tariff tax, all to help the billionaires as well.
00:52And since they don't want to tell you how much this will cost, allow me.
00:57If passed, this will add $37 trillion to the national debt.
01:03That's more than double the totality of our national debt today.
01:07And I find this very interesting, because some of the same Senators have had very deep
01:12concerns about the debt not too long ago, and are now on board with this reckless, irresponsible
01:19plan.
01:21Let me give you a couple of quotes.
01:22I have a whole bunch, but I'm only doing two.
01:26Senator Thune, we need to start tackling this debt, and we need to start doing it now.
01:32Senator Cruz, debt is out of control, and it's jeopardizing the future for our kids.
01:38I've got two little kids, and the idea of handing them a $16 trillion debt I think is
01:44immoral.
01:45So what does he think of $37 trillion if 16 is immoral?
01:50Now, American families are going to be screwed by these cuts, not to mention the higher costs
01:56they'll be saddled with because of the crippling Trump tariff tax coming our way.
02:03We welcome the opportunity to have this debate in the open for all Americans to see.
02:09So tonight, Senate Democrats will do everything in our power to do what Republicans won't
02:16do, fight for American families.
02:20People are going to see who's on whose side.
02:23They are for the billionaires.
02:26We are for American families.
02:28And under the Republican plan, families lose, billionaires win.
02:32That could sum up the whole fight very, very succinctly.
02:37So tonight, we'll focus during debate time on preserving Medicaid.
02:44And we'll continue with preventing tax cuts for billionaires, protecting veterans and
02:48national security, exposing corruption within the administration, defending Social Security,
02:56and stopping the seemingly never-ending rise of costs to American families highlighted
03:03by the Trump tax, tariff tax.
03:05Tonight, you'll see our caucus forcing votes, fighting for American families, and asking
03:11Republicans where they stand and who exactly they're fighting for, and on top of gutting
03:17essential programs.
03:19As much as we saw in the budget that's been revealed, their proposal that's been revealed
03:23in the last few days, yesterday – and I'll focus on the tariffs here – yesterday, the
03:29President made one of the dumbest decisions in history, one that will negatively impact
03:34every single American family, every single one.
03:39He's walking us into the dumbest and most avoidable recession, probably, in history.
03:45And let's call the Trump tariff tax, for what they really are, a huge tax hike on American
03:51families.
03:53And not just any tax hike, uh-uh, J.P. Morgan called it, quote, the equivalent to the largest
03:58tax increase in 1968 – since 1968.
04:02Here's what Bloomberg said, quote, roughly $2 trillion was erased from the S&P 500 at
04:09the start of U.S. trading on Thursday, amid worries that President Donald Trump's sweeping
04:14new round of tariffs could plunge the economy into a recession.
04:19And it claims more than 80 percent of the companies in the S&P were trading lower.
04:24Stock market has plummeted, retirement savings are tanking, consumer confidence is falling,
04:30consumer expectations for the future are historically low, companies are already announcing layoffs
04:36– I saw Stellantis just knocked off – it was going to fire 800 people, lay them off
04:42– all for these Trump tax – the Trump tariff tax.
04:49All for that, so they can have more money to reduce taxes on the billionaires.
04:54The average American family is going to pay more for everything – for food, for gas,
05:00for cars, for groceries, for clothing, for beer, for you name it.
05:06It makes no sense.
05:09And the bottom line is that they're not fighting for American families, they're
05:15just aiding and abetting what they're doing and making it even worse with the Trump tariff
05:22tax.
05:24They even decided that they would tax penguins.
05:31Because two islands are included – I forgot the names of the islands, they're not here.
05:39Not Greenland.
05:40There are two islands that were included that only have penguins on them, but they were
05:45included in the Trump tariff tax.
05:49But that shows how haphazard, how sloppy, how careless they are.
05:53And one final thing here.
05:56This Trump administration is run by a group of billionaires.
06:00They're in a billionaire bubble.
06:03These billionaires don't have any understanding of what the American family is going through
06:07and how much worse it will be with the Trump budget and with the Trump tariff tax.
06:14They're just isolated, they don't understand, they're mean, they're nasty, they're uncaring,
06:21and we, tonight and tomorrow, are going to show the American people just who they are.
06:26Senator Merkley.