At today's House Budget Committee hearing, Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) tore into the GOP reconciliation budget bill.
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00:00I recognize Ms. Stacey Plaskett from the Virgin Islands for three minutes.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chair, and my fellow member of the Ways and Means Committee, which I agree is the greatest committee in the Congress.
00:13We have come to the end of a very long week here in Washington, and anyone watching now will likely have watched this week as we work through the night.
00:21Starting on Tuesday, Ways and Means Committee spent over 18 hours working through the night and into Wednesday trying to avert the catastrophic impact that this legislation will have.
00:32We watched Republicans give away the farm to greedy billionaires, the CEOs, and corporations, making permanent tax cuts for the richest and trying to trick the rest of Americans with a set of minuscule measures that are all temporary and only serve to pull the wool over taxpayers' eyes.
00:52That overtime tax that they were talking about? Temporary.
00:57Tips? Temporary.
00:59Taxes for the wealthy? Permanent.
01:03Don't be fooled. It's about the wealthy people in this country, not you and me.
01:08Our Republican colleagues in the Energy and Commerce Committee tried to rip away health care from Americans that need to pay for their giveaways to big corporations and the rich.
01:19Republicans are stealing from the poor and giving to the rich, feeding the king from the people's forest, from their own communities,
01:28while coasts playing as robbing hoods.
01:32My colleagues talk about a strong country.
01:35We're going to be weaker because of this legislation.
01:38You can believe that.
01:40And listen, when Democrats were in charge, we instituted so many things that expanded work for all Americans.
01:50We increased health care.
01:53We guaranteed safe, affordable, high-quality child care for every worker and family.
01:58We supported new energy.
02:03We supported growing this economy.
02:05Democrats temporarily expanded the child tax credit, giving so many children a chance.
02:12And we did this in a manner because we were concerned about the deficit.
02:16Listen, I'm concerned with SNAP.
02:18I'm concerned with Medicaid, Pell Grants, energy manufacturing.
02:23Those are important to me.
02:24That represents trillions of dollars that they have cut.
02:28But if they're really interested in being fiscally responsible, then don't give such big cuts to the rich.
02:35Actually try and balance a budget.
02:37Actually try and bring down the deficit.
02:40If you want to take away all of those things from the neediest, take away some shit from the rich as well.
02:46But you don't want to do that.
02:48You want to give them more off of the backs of American people.
02:52You're going to cut SNAP by $300 billion.
02:57Medicaid, health care for the poorest, $700 billion.
03:01You won't even give a cut to individuals making over a billion dollars,
03:07which would have taken away a trillion dollars that we could put back into other things.
03:13This is about the wealthy.
03:15This is not about the American people.
03:17I yield back.