Elizabeth Warren Goes Scorched Earth On Treasury Nom Asking Him How Many Will Lose Medicaid To Pay For Tax Cut

Forbes Breaking News

At today's Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) grilled a top Treasury Department nominee over the number of people who will lose Medicaid to pay for a tax cut.

Transcript

00:00And being proud that the United States has these economic rules, I think that's a better way to go.

00:06Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:08Thank you, Senator Warren.

00:10Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:12So Donald Trump ran for president on the promise to lower costs,

00:16a promise that he abandoned almost as soon as he got elected.

00:20He also promised his, quote, riches held donors that he would deliver big tax breaks.

00:27So right now, Senate Republicans are working overtime to pass billionaire tax giveaways,

00:33partly paid for by kicking 14 million people off their health care,

00:38and partly paid for by using magic math to pretend that those tax giveaways don't cost as much as they actually cost.

00:47Now, we've seen this play before.

00:49In 2017, Trump's first tax giveaway to the wealthy was supposed to cost just one and a half trillion dollars.

01:00And that was after there were a bunch of budget gimmicks to keep the total down.

01:05But even that wasn't a big enough giveaway.

01:08After the bill passed, the Trump Treasury Department drafted regulations to implement the new law,

01:14and corporations sent armies of lobbyists in to write even more loopholes into the tax laws.

01:23Now, Mr. Morrissey, you were Deputy General Counsel at Treasury at this time,

01:28so you may remember lobbyists from foreign banks like Credit Suisse and Barclays,

01:34one big new international tax loophole for loans that they make to U.S. subsidiaries.

01:41Do you know how much those big banks pocketed from that extra giveaway engineered in the Treasury Department?

01:52Senator, I'm familiar with many of the regulations under TCGA, but not the answer to your specific question.

01:59Well, then I will tell you.

02:00It was $50 billion, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

02:07Now, today, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are working to pass a new set of tax cuts

02:16for billionaires, millionaires, and giant corporations.

02:19This one, the price tag is around $4 trillion.

02:23And this time, they are planning to pay for it, in part, by slashing Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act

02:30by nearly a trillion dollars and kicking 14 million Americans off their health care.

02:35It is hand out time for billionaires and austerity for everyone else.

02:41Mr. Morrissey, you're nominated to be General Counsel at Treasury,

02:45meaning you would help in the drafting and the implementation of this bill if it passed,

02:51maybe adding another $50 billion tax loophole here and another $50 billion tax loophole there.

03:00So, Mr. Morrissey, I just want to make sure you think through what this means.

03:05Do you know how many people will have to lose their Medicaid coverage just to pay for one of those

03:14$50 billion tax loopholes out of a $4 trillion Trump tax giveaway?

03:23Senator, if I were to be confirmed, I would be committed to making sure that folks working

03:28at Treasury on tax issues are clear that the policy judgments in these space belong to the Congress.

03:33That's not the question I'm asking here, Mr. Morrissey.

03:36I know you'd like to duck this one.

03:37My question is, when you create a $50 billion tax giveaway, do you know how many Americans

03:46lose Medicaid coverage to make up $50 billion?

03:52Do you know what those numbers are?

03:54These are just numbers.

03:55Senator, again, the policy judgment is with the Congress.

03:58No, it's not a policy question I'm asking you.

04:02If you're going to be over at the Treasury Department and you're talking about being in a position

04:07where you can actually create a $50 billion loophole, and I know you can do that because

04:12you've done it in the past, I just want to make sure when you're doing the pluses and

04:17minuses of doing this, you have some idea how many Americans will lose their Medicaid coverage

04:23in order to make up for a $50 billion loophole.

04:26Do you have any idea how many people have to lose Medicaid coverage to create $50 billion?

04:33Senator, whatever judgments this Congress makes in the statute to do that?

04:36Ten, a thousand, a million, do you have any idea what that number is?

04:40Senator, if I'm confirmed, I'm committed to making sure we are implementing...

04:43Do you not have any idea about what that number is, or do you just not want to say it?

04:48Senator, my role would be on the legal side, the policy judgments, the weighing of these

04:52important issues.

04:52I will take that if you just don't want to have to admit it.

04:54It's 700,000 people to make up for a $50 billion loophole.

05:01It's like cutting off every single Medicaid recipient in the state of Nevada just to fund

05:08another $50 billion loophole like the ones you all managed to do last time around when

05:14you gave foreign banks this special loophole.

05:17And that's what this bill is all about.

05:19Taking from struggling families to give handouts to billionaires and big corporations.

05:25In fact, according to independent experts, Trump's big, beautiful bill will take money

05:31away from the bottom 40% of families and turn around and shovel nearly $400,000 to everyone

05:40who's in the top one-tenth of one percent.

05:43So let me just ask you one last question.

05:46We'll finish this up.

05:47At a time when families are struggling with higher costs under President Trump, do you

05:52really think that Trump's big, beautiful bill should take away money from working-class Americans?

05:59Mr. Morrissey.

06:01Senator, I think the tax legislation that this Congress passed in 2017 raised living standards

06:06and helps Americans across the spectrum.

06:08And if Congress decides to take new action, I'm committed to working at Treasury to make

06:12sure we implement that.

06:13You know, I just got to say, tax cuts for the wealthiest, a $50 billion loophole here,

06:18another one there, and so what?

06:20If hundreds of thousands of people lose their Medicaid and access to health care, that's what

06:27this bill is all about.

06:29And I think it's obscene.

06:31Thank you, Ms. Chairman.

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