'The Largest Wealth Transfer In American History': Brian Schatz Tears Into Republicans' Budget Bill

Forbes Breaking News

During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen Brian Schatz (D-HI) spoke about the Republicans' budget.

Transcript

00:00The senator from Hawaii.

00:03Mr. President, there's a sort of general rule in politics,

00:07which is that if you start your meeting at 1 a.m.,

00:14you're probably not proud of what you're doing.

00:18Now, there are some instances in which you start the meeting at 7 p.m.,

00:24and it goes long, and then you have to vote at whatever hour you finish.

00:28But to convene at 1 a.m. is an intentional thing, right?

00:32It is to say, I would very much like if nobody saw what we were up to.

00:40And that's exactly what happened at 1 a.m. today, Wednesday morning.

00:47Republicans in the House know that the bill that they are considering is super unpopular,

00:54but they've been ordered to pass it anyway.

00:58That is what's happening on the other side of the Capitol right now.

01:03House Republicans have convened the Rules Committee at 1 a.m. to advance their tax bill,

01:08and it's because they know this bill stinks.

01:13For starters, it is the largest wealth transfer in American history.

01:19Think about that.

01:21There's been a lot of wealth transfers in American history,

01:23but this is the biggest one in terms of the tax code.

01:27It's not like they're redistributing wealth among the wealthy.

01:31They are literally taking from the poor,

01:34people who don't have enough money,

01:36and shoveling it straight into the pockets of people who already have more than enough.

01:42This bill is about making the richest people ever to walk the earth even richer.

01:49How do they plan to do that?

01:53By kicking 14 million Americans off of health insurance

01:58and denying food assistance to millions more.

02:02People will be turned away at hospitals and go to bed hungry,

02:08all so that billionaires have a bit more.

02:12You do not need fancy polling to tell you that this is super unpopular.

02:18And so Republicans have decided to fix that problem

02:21by convening the hearing in the middle of the night,

02:23hoping that people will not notice.

02:26The plain facts of the bill are so egregious,

02:30and as I started to write these remarks,

02:33I had a problem,

02:35which is how do you describe this thing accurately

02:37and not sound like you're frothing at the mouth like a partisan

02:42and sort of overstating the case?

02:44Because this really is kicking 14 million people off of Medicaid,

02:50kicking millions more off of food assistance,

02:53and then that is the savings that is generated

02:57in order to fund these tax cuts for billionaire corporations

03:02and the wealthiest people in the United States.

03:06And what happens if something is both true

03:08and sounds like a partisan accusation?

03:11But that's where we're at.

03:14This is actually what they're trying to do.

03:16And here's the thing,

03:17even the biggest cuts to Medicaid in history

03:19are still not enough

03:21to cover the costs of these enormous giveaways.

03:24So the Republicans have turned

03:25to one of their favorite punching bags,

03:28solving the climate crisis.

03:32Never mind that hundreds of billions of dollars

03:34are being invested in clean energy across the country,

03:37mostly in Republican states and districts.

03:41Never mind that those investments

03:42are creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs.

03:46Never mind that even if you don't care about any of that,

03:48there is a basic principle in running a smart economy

03:53and running an investable economy,

03:56and that is that when the private sector

04:00makes an investment on the basis of the tax code,

04:04and they are in the middle of that investment,

04:07that you can't pull the rug out from under them.

04:10And the reason is very simple.

04:11Besides fairness,

04:13and besides the fact that we are undermining progress

04:15towards actually addressing

04:17an existential crisis for the planet,

04:21it also makes the United States

04:23very hard to invest in

04:24because if you were a business

04:26and you were looking at the federal tax code

04:28and you're saying,

04:28I'm going to make a five,

04:30maybe ten-year investment,

04:32capital investment,

04:34chips, manufacturing,

04:36climate, agriculture,

04:38hospitality, real estate,

04:40transportation, infrastructure,

04:41whatever it may be,

04:42but you're doing it on the basis

04:43of what the federal tax code says.

04:47And then your investment committee,

04:50the board of directors,

04:52whomever it may be,

04:53will say,

04:54well, how do we know these things

04:55are going to stay on the books?

04:57And the normal answer is,

05:00well, come on,

05:00the federal government

05:01is not going to pull out

05:02a tax incentive structure

05:04in the middle

05:05of your investment and construction cycle,

05:08and the truth is,

05:10yes, they are.

05:12And so this doesn't have

05:13just climate implications

05:15or economic implications

05:18in terms of the specific projects.

05:20It actually has to do

05:22with how stable

05:23of an investment climate

05:25we establish

05:27in the United States of America.

05:30You know,

05:31we're no longer doing

05:32all of the above.

05:33The argument that we used to have

05:35between the political parties

05:36was Democrats would say,

05:39we've got to transition

05:39to clean energy.

05:41Republicans would say,

05:42no, let's do clean energy,

05:43but let's also do

05:44these other things.

05:46But now the Republican position

05:48is picking winners and losers

05:51and basically riding

05:52the losers into the ground.

05:55Here's the very tough truth.

06:00Coal is on the way out,

06:02whether you like it or not.

06:04Trump and Republicans

06:06would rather revive it

06:08for a few more years

06:09just to squeeze

06:09a couple more years

06:11of profitability out of it

06:12because after all,

06:13their capital investments

06:16are fully amortized.

06:18So a couple more years

06:20of profitability

06:20means no more investment,

06:22but a couple more years

06:23of revenue.

06:25And so that's what they're doing.

06:27This is going to raise costs

06:29for Americans.

06:30Let's be clear.

06:31This is going to raise costs

06:33for Americans.

06:34There was a time,

06:36and I was part of these debates

06:37in the state of Hawaii.

06:38There was a time

06:39when there was a trade-off

06:41between how much consumers

06:43had to pay

06:44and our climate objectives.

06:48But those trends have changed.

06:52So now wind is the cheapest

06:53form of energy.

06:55Nuclear is among

06:56the cheapest forms of energy.

06:58Solar is among

06:59the cheapest forms of energy.

07:02For me,

07:03in the state of Hawaii,

07:04to bring in

07:05low-sulfur fuel oil

07:06on a fuel tanker

07:07and then light it on fire

07:08for electrons

07:08is the single dumbest thing

07:10you could do

07:10even if you didn't care

07:11about climate.

07:12It's simply cheaper.

07:14It is simply cheaper

07:15for consumers

07:16and businesses

07:17and for the climate crisis

07:20and therefore

07:21our ability

07:22to fiscally manage

07:23the climate crisis

07:24as we see

07:25increasing disasters

07:27both in their severity

07:28and how often they happen

07:30and then every,

07:31what,

07:32year,

07:32year and a half

07:32we do a $150 billion

07:34emergency supplemental

07:35because there are now

07:37wildfires

07:37where there have never

07:38been wildfires,

07:39floods where there

07:40have never been floods,

07:41tornadoes where there

07:42have never been tornadoes.

07:43This is not made up.

07:44Nobody gets to deny

07:45this anymore.

07:46And so there is a reason

07:50they convened at 1 a.m.

07:52and it is not because

07:53that's prime time in Hawaii.

07:56They didn't convene at 1 a.m.

07:58because they like to see

07:59each other past midnight.

08:00They convened at 1 a.m.

08:02because they are about to pass

08:04one of the most unpopular

08:07pieces of legislation

08:08that has ever been passed

08:10out of the United States

08:11House of Representatives.

08:12And I just wonder why

08:16if I'm a House member

08:17and I'm being told

08:18we're going to make

08:20all these changes,

08:21all these things

08:21that you're voting for

08:22are going to be excised

08:25from the Senate version,

08:26don't worry.

08:28Well, my view would be

08:29if you're going to fix

08:29all that stuff,

08:30why are you making me

08:31vote on it now?

08:34Why are you making me

08:35vote on it now?

08:36And the answer is very simple.

08:39Donald Trump showed up

08:40in the caucus,

08:40used a couple

08:42of expletives.

08:45They implied that

08:46voting no was a betrayal,

08:48that standing up

08:49for your constituents

08:50is a betrayal.

08:52And I think they're all

08:53going to fall in line.

08:55And so it is up

08:56to the United States Senate

08:57to fix this bill

08:58or kill this bill.

09:00And so that's the task

09:02in front of us.

09:03And I am hoping

09:05that cooler heads prevail.

09:07I know there are

09:07a number of Republicans

09:08that hate these Medicaid cuts.

09:10I know there are

09:13a number of Republicans

09:14who have a ton

09:15of clean energy investment

09:16in their state.

09:18And there's plenty

09:19of political room

09:20to criticize

09:21the Biden administration

09:22or say,

09:22I'm against the Green New Deal

09:24and still be for wind

09:25and solar

09:26and nuclear

09:26and geothermal

09:27and agriculture

09:29that's done

09:30in a more climate-friendly way.

09:31All of that is

09:33available to us.

09:36We don't have to do things

09:38in the maximally

09:39unpopular way,

09:41but the speaker

09:42apparently

09:44wants to do it that way.

09:47I yield the floor.

09:48I yield the floor.

09:49I yield the floor.

09:50I yield the floor.

09:51I yield the floor.

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