In House floor remarks, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) slammed the GOP reconciliation budget bill.
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00:00The chair recognizes the gentleman from California, Mr. Kahana, for five minutes.
00:07Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the fiscally irresponsible one big beautiful bill
00:16that simply gives tax breaks for the richest Americans and takes away services for working
00:24and middle class families.
00:25Here are the facts.
00:27We currently have about a $36 trillion debt, and we're spending right now $2 trillion more
00:36every year than we take in.
00:38The Republican budget would add $3.8 trillion to that deficit.
00:47It will do that over 10 years.
00:50And how are they going to get those $3.8 trillion of tax breaks?
00:56Well, let me just outline who those tax breaks are going to go to.
01:02$96 billion a year are going to go to people who make over a million dollars a year.
01:09If you are a millionaire in America, you are going to get about $82,000 a year of tax breaks.
01:17And if you are making under $100,000, you get about $750 in tax breaks.
01:24So $82,000 of tax breaks to the millionaires, $750 to working and middle class families.
01:33That's not a fair deal.
01:35Democrats believe that we need to raise taxes on people who are making over a million dollars,
01:40not give them $82,000 a year of tax breaks.
01:45And by the way, the tax breaks for those millionaires and billionaires, they're permanent over 10 years.
01:52The tax breaks the Democrats support for working class families, like no tax on tips, they only want them four years.
01:59Democrats have been fighting to get the no tax on tips for 10 years.
02:03They say, no, for working families, we only want it four years.
02:06Tax breaks for the billionaires in my district in Silicon Valley, those we want 10 years.
02:11And then, what are they cutting?
02:14They're cutting $700 billion in Medicaid cuts.
02:19That's just a fact.
02:20Just go Google it.
02:21You'll see the cuts.
02:24They claim that people aren't going to lose their health care, but the independent CBO says that up to 14 million Americans may lose their health care.
02:34Up to a million of American children, kids born in the United States, may lose their health care.
02:41It is the largest cut to Medicaid in the history of this country, all to finance $96 billion a year of tax breaks to the millionaires and billionaires.
02:54Those are the facts.
02:57Look, CBO did an analysis, and they said that the top 10% in America are going to benefit enormously from this bill.
03:07And if you're in the top 10%, if you make over a million dollars, over half a million dollars, you should applaud.
03:15But the bottom 10%, the folks who are working hard, struggling to make ends meet, the truck drivers, people who work at Walmart, nurses, HVAC technicians, they are going to lose 4%.
03:30This bill benefits those who are already doing well and ignores those who are working hard and struggling the most.
03:40It is the exact opposite of what we should be doing.
03:43Even Donald Trump challenged the Congress to say, raise taxes a bit on the rich.
03:48I'm fine with it.
03:49But did the Republicans do that?
03:50No.
03:51They cut them further for the wealthy.
03:53You ask what the Democrats believe?
03:57We believe that the tax breaks and the tax cuts should be going to the working and middle class in this country.
04:03We believe we should be taxing more the people who are making a million and billion dollars a year.
04:09And we believe we should not be cutting Medicaid, essential health care services that help families, that support hospitals, and that support the health of so many seniors in this country.
04:24This debate is about whose side are you on?
04:28Are you for those who have already benefited from the income divide?
04:32Or are you for the working and middle class?
04:34I hope enough Republicans on the other side will say no to these cuts of working class benefits.
04:42They will say no to the tax breaks for the millionaires and billionaires.
04:46And we'll say no to piling on more debt that will raise interest rates, hurting our economic growth, exploding our trade deficit because of our reliance on foreign firms and foreign investment, and crippling ordinary Americans' ability to get loans.
05:03It is bad economics.
05:05We need a new government.