WEBVTT - Rep. Mike Lawler Talks SALT Standoff, Trump Middle East Trip

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news, turning from markets to

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<v Speaker 1>the nation's capital. In fighting between House Republicans threatening to

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<v Speaker 1>delay a much anticipated tax bill, the key issue salt

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<v Speaker 1>cap increases. One man the center of all of that,

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<v Speaker 1>among others, Congressman Mike Lawler of New York. The congressman

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<v Speaker 1>joined us now from Capitol Hill for more. Congressman, Welcome

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<v Speaker 1>back to Bloomberg Survevance. Sir, it's good to see you again.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks for having me.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk about progress made this week. Speak of Johnson

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<v Speaker 1>keeps saying we're getting closer and closer. What's your assessment

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<v Speaker 1>of how much progress we've made so far this week?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, finally this week we had the opportunity to sit

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<v Speaker 3>down and go through real numbers and start to have

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<v Speaker 3>a negotiation. And I think that was long overdue. We

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<v Speaker 3>had been pushing for months to have that conversation with

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<v Speaker 3>the Ways and Means Chairman, with the Speaker, and so

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<v Speaker 3>we finally began that process.

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<v Speaker 2>And obviously, you.

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<v Speaker 3>Know this is something that's going to have to be

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<v Speaker 3>negotiated over the weekend to get to hopefully an agreement.

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<v Speaker 3>When it comes to the issue of salt.

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<v Speaker 1>We understand the proposal a tripling of the deduction to

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<v Speaker 1>thirty thousand. Could you give us a sense on how

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<v Speaker 1>far apart you are right now?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, there's a number of issues.

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<v Speaker 3>Number one, the marriage penalty and eliminating that for those

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<v Speaker 3>filing jointly. Number two, you know, there is real concern

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<v Speaker 3>about reverting to a ten thousand dollars cap.

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<v Speaker 2>Which none of us support. That is a real challenge.

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<v Speaker 3>Number Three, the fact is, these income limits are a

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<v Speaker 3>problem four hundred thousand. While it may sound like a

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<v Speaker 3>lot in some areas, in an area like mine, you

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<v Speaker 3>know a cop and a teacher who are married and

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<v Speaker 3>you know have a combined income. So the fact is

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<v Speaker 3>we have high property taxes coupled with high income taxes,

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<v Speaker 3>and you'll blow right past the thirty thousand dollars cap

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<v Speaker 3>without a problem. You look at my district, three of

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<v Speaker 3>the four counties that I represent are in the top

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<v Speaker 3>sixteen highest property tax counties in America. And so there's

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<v Speaker 3>a real issue here in terms of the numbers, and

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<v Speaker 3>so we're working through it. You know, I've read the

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<v Speaker 3>art of the deal. I'm not going to negotiate in public.

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<v Speaker 3>But the fact is that you know, we need to

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<v Speaker 3>make some significant concessions to get to a number.

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<v Speaker 4>Congressman, what would you like to see cut to offset

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<v Speaker 4>some of the increases to the salt tax deduction because

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<v Speaker 4>ultimately sell cap, because that's a real concern right now

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<v Speaker 4>for market is how much does that alone increase the deficit?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, a few things.

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<v Speaker 3>Number One, any cap is a savings okay, because the

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<v Speaker 3>fact is that the cap consalt expires at the end

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<v Speaker 3>of the year, So we are actually giving them a

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<v Speaker 3>pay for by agreeing to a cap. That's number one,

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<v Speaker 3>and people should recognize that as part of these negotiations.

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<v Speaker 3>Number Two, there's a number of levers that can be

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<v Speaker 3>dealt with here in terms of savings versus adjustments within

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<v Speaker 3>the tax code. That's what we're talking about. We're waiting

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<v Speaker 3>to hear back from the Speaker and then be able

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<v Speaker 3>to make an honest determination as to what we can

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<v Speaker 3>get to.

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<v Speaker 4>There's also this issue, Congressman, that as a debate has

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<v Speaker 4>raged on, there's been an argument that you have pioneered

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<v Speaker 4>saying that moderates make the majority for Republicans and that

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<v Speaker 4>you need to be able to punch above your weight

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<v Speaker 4>because without you, they wouldn't have the position that they

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<v Speaker 4>actually have. How much is this sort of setting the

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<v Speaker 4>stage for what's to come. How much do you see

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<v Speaker 4>this as a theme that we're going to hear about

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<v Speaker 4>quite a bit as we had to the midterms.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, listen, we have a two hundred and twenty seat

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<v Speaker 3>majority and three of us one districts that Kamala Harris won.

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<v Speaker 3>You lose the three of us and you're in the

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<v Speaker 3>minority very quickly. So you know, look, I think the

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<v Speaker 3>reality of this is math. And I certainly respect all

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<v Speaker 3>of my colleagues. They're all here to represent their districts

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<v Speaker 3>as am I and my district has different needs than

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<v Speaker 3>some of my colleagues who are in safer seats, who

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<v Speaker 3>are in more Republican seats. That's just a reality of life.

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<v Speaker 3>And so to me, this is about a compromise. None

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<v Speaker 3>of us are going to get everything we want in

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<v Speaker 3>this bill or any bill, but all of us have

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<v Speaker 3>to find a way to work together to keep the

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<v Speaker 3>majority and make sure that we're delivering for the American

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<v Speaker 3>people and our districts. And that's what I'm doing in

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<v Speaker 3>fighting for this issue, fighting to protect medicaid.

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<v Speaker 2>I have one of the highest.

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<v Speaker 3>District with one of the highest number of recipients of Medicaid.

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<v Speaker 2>There are people who rely.

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<v Speaker 3>On these critical programs, and I'm doing everything I can

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<v Speaker 3>throughout this process to protect that, including blocking any changes

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<v Speaker 3>to f MAP, per capita caps, block grants, dish cuts.

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<v Speaker 3>We've been able to do that throughout this process and

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<v Speaker 3>make sure that those who rely on these programs receive

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<v Speaker 3>the benefits that they need, while making sure that we

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<v Speaker 3>eliminate waste, fraud and abuse, prevent illegal immigrants from receiving

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<v Speaker 3>Medicaid benefits, make sure that able bodied adults without dependence

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<v Speaker 3>are working, we're going to school, and making sure that

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<v Speaker 3>those who are no longer eligible are not continuing to

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<v Speaker 3>receive benefits. Those are common sense reforms that the vast

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<v Speaker 3>majority of the American people's support.

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<v Speaker 1>A Congressman, you mentioned the out of the deal. Let's

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<v Speaker 1>talk about the author of the out of the deal.

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<v Speaker 1>The President's on its way back to Washington. Do you

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<v Speaker 1>have plans to speak to him and you have a

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<v Speaker 1>decent sense of what his position is.

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<v Speaker 3>I will be reaching out to connect with him, for sure.

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<v Speaker 3>I think he obviously had a very successful trip in

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<v Speaker 3>the Middle East, brought back significant investment into the United States.

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<v Speaker 3>In agreements with Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Cutter, and that

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<v Speaker 3>obviously bodes well for the American economy as we move forward.

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<v Speaker 3>So this was a great trip for the President. As

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<v Speaker 3>chair of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, certainly

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<v Speaker 3>I'm looking forward to getting a readout of more details

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<v Speaker 3>on what occurred on the trip. But I think it

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<v Speaker 3>was a big win for the President and so he

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<v Speaker 3>comes back obviously on the prespice of getting you know,

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<v Speaker 3>one big beautiful bill passed, and so we have a

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<v Speaker 3>little bit of work to do still. But I think,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, it's been a very good week for the President.

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<v Speaker 1>I know you've been up all night. I just wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to squeeze in one more question that I think is

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<v Speaker 1>relevant to a lot of our audience. You've co sponsored

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<v Speaker 1>the Trust Act Trusting Congress Act to band stock trading

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<v Speaker 1>in Congress. Can I just say, Congressmen, we all find

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<v Speaker 1>it absolutely ridiculous that people in Congress have looser regulations

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<v Speaker 1>restrictions to trade stocks that we do as financial journalists. Congressmen,

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<v Speaker 1>can we actually do something about that sometime soon?

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<v Speaker 2>Look, I am in full support.

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<v Speaker 3>The fact is you're here to serve if you want

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<v Speaker 3>to make money leave you know. This to me is

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<v Speaker 3>a very common sense reform to make sure that members

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<v Speaker 3>of Congress or their spouses. We've seen some spouses who

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<v Speaker 3>are prolific traders in recent years. The fact is they

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<v Speaker 3>should not be benefiting from inside knowledge or information gleaned

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<v Speaker 3>from meetings they have, committee hearings they hold, or legislation.

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<v Speaker 2>That is pending.

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<v Speaker 3>And it's just a reality of life that anyone in

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<v Speaker 3>this position is provided with more information than the average person,

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<v Speaker 3>and therefore it is imperative to make sure that members

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<v Speaker 3>of Congress or their spouses are not benefiting from that information,

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<v Speaker 3>and all of their assets should be put in a

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<v Speaker 3>blind trust period.

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<v Speaker 1>If that that could have tried inlet should start a

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<v Speaker 1>hedge fund. Congressman, appreciate your time, sir, Gonna have a

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<v Speaker 1>busy weekend. I'm sure let's hopefully catch up against soon.

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<v Speaker 1>Congressman might lalla there