WEBVTT - Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) Talks Trump Tax Bill

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news Now.

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<v Speaker 2>As Republican lawmakers work to advance President Trump's tax bill,

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<v Speaker 2>today we look across the aisle to see how House

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<v Speaker 2>Democrats are watching this process. Joined by Democratic Congresswoman Debbie

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<v Speaker 2>Wasserman Schultz of Florida. She's live with us from Capitol Hill. Congresswoman,

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<v Speaker 2>it's great to see you give us a sense of

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<v Speaker 2>what we're in for here tonight. The state of play.

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<v Speaker 2>We understand the takeout food is arriving. Are you going

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<v Speaker 2>to be there all night?

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<v Speaker 3>You know, it's unclear because the Republicans are rounding up

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<v Speaker 3>as many of their folks as they can to try

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<v Speaker 3>to ram through the worst bill that I've seen in

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<v Speaker 3>my entire career. It's an abomination. It would kick seventeen

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<v Speaker 3>million people off of their healthcare. It is the biggest

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<v Speaker 3>cut to nutrition assistance, meaning they're going to force millions

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<v Speaker 3>of people to go hungry, including veterans, the disabled, elderly children.

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<v Speaker 3>This is a bill that is a massive tax cut

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<v Speaker 3>giveaway to billionaires and wealthy corporations. That is what this

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<v Speaker 3>whole bill is in service to, and their massive spending

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<v Speaker 3>cuts are essentially trying to make as much room as

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<v Speaker 3>they can to take care of their wealthiest, most fortunate donors.

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<v Speaker 3>It also blows a four trillion dollar hole in the

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<v Speaker 3>deficit and makes increases the debt ceiling by five trillion dollars.

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<v Speaker 3>That from the party that says that they actually care

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<v Speaker 3>about deficit spending, they should never say that. Have that

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<v Speaker 3>come out of their mouths again, well.

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<v Speaker 4>As we consider who will ultimately benefit from what is

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<v Speaker 4>largely an extension of existing tax rates set by the

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<v Speaker 4>twenty seventeen tax bill, the President and your Republican colleagues

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<v Speaker 4>argue that this is making sure that most of the country,

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<v Speaker 4>including I'm sure the vast majority of your constituents, don't

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<v Speaker 4>see a tax hike at the end of the year.

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<v Speaker 4>Is it not good that that will be avoided?

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<v Speaker 3>In the words of our previous president, who actually handed

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<v Speaker 3>President Trump the most like the best economy in the

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<v Speaker 3>entire world, that's malarkey. Because it is July. We can

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<v Speaker 3>deal with expiring tax cuts in separate legislation and focus

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<v Speaker 3>on making sure that we have tax breaks that actually

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<v Speaker 3>help the middle class and working families, and and you know,

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<v Speaker 3>if they wanted to extend those tax cuts to the

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<v Speaker 3>wealthiest most fortunate Americans. You know, be my guest, but

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<v Speaker 3>don't skew the tax breaks so disproportionately to people who

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<v Speaker 3>are already successful and leave the middle class out. This

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<v Speaker 3>bill has you know, taxes, you know, cuts in taxes

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<v Speaker 3>on tips that actually expire in a couple of years.

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<v Speaker 3>They're capped at twenty five thousand dollars. I don't think

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<v Speaker 3>folks who earn tips know that. And the tax breaks

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<v Speaker 3>for the wealthiest, most fortunate Americans, the millionaires and billionaires,

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<v Speaker 3>they're made permanent. So you know exactly where Maga Republicans

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<v Speaker 3>and Trump's priorities are taking care of the most fortunate

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<v Speaker 3>and taking healthcare and food assistance and energy tax credits

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<v Speaker 3>that make sure that we can keep energy savings, energy

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<v Speaker 3>savings high and our electric bills low. That's the goals

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<v Speaker 3>of this bill.

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<v Speaker 2>Congresswoman. We have seen that individual components of this bill

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<v Speaker 2>poll pretty well. And you know how this goes. You

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<v Speaker 2>take out components of a bill and it pulls differently

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<v Speaker 2>poorly than the big beautiful bill, as the President calls it.

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<v Speaker 2>Some do poorly. In this case, we saw Tony Fabrizio's

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<v Speaker 2>poll find that two thirds of voters agree there's waste,

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<v Speaker 2>fraud and abuse in Medicaid that justify reforms. How do

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<v Speaker 2>you message against that as a Democrat?

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<v Speaker 3>This bill, this bill cuts a trillion dollars out of Medicaid,

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<v Speaker 3>and the Congressional the Independent Congressional Budget Office says that

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<v Speaker 3>it causes seventeen million people to lose their healthcare through

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<v Speaker 3>Medicaid and the ending of tax credits in the Affordable

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<v Speaker 3>Care Act. You know, when Republicans say that they are

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<v Speaker 3>going after people who shouldn't have Medicaid, they cite undocumented

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<v Speaker 3>immigrants andrant undocumented immigrants are already prohibited from getting access

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<v Speaker 3>to Medicaid and they're not on Medicaid. There isn't a

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<v Speaker 3>trillion dollars of Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse. They know it.

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<v Speaker 3>And the analysis from the Independent Congressional Budget Office says

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<v Speaker 3>that as well.

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<v Speaker 4>Well as we consider questions around immigration and the housing

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<v Speaker 4>of migrants specifically, President Trump yesterday, of course, was in

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<v Speaker 4>your state of Florida to visit a new migrant facility

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<v Speaker 4>that's being dubbed Alligator Alcatraz. Take a list in, Congressman

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<v Speaker 4>to what the President said during his tour.

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<v Speaker 1>Very soon, this facility will have some of the most

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<v Speaker 1>menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet.

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<v Speaker 1>We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland, and the only

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<v Speaker 1>way out is really deportation.

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<v Speaker 4>Congressman, I know you've put out a statement around this facility,

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<v Speaker 4>but if these migrants do need to be housed somewhere,

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<v Speaker 4>what in Florida would be a better solution? What would

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<v Speaker 4>you recommend to the president and Governor DeSantis for.

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<v Speaker 3>That matter, Keley Donald Trump is full of baloney. He

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<v Speaker 3>isn't having the most violent, dangerous undocumented immigrants detained. The

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<v Speaker 3>overwhelming majority of people that are detaining are having ice

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<v Speaker 3>agents that are masked, snatched people off of job sites,

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<v Speaker 3>and they're taking in people who are here making a

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<v Speaker 3>better way of life for themselves, in our family, that

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<v Speaker 3>have been contributing to our economy. He made a million

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<v Speaker 3>people undocumented overnight by yanking TPS and humanitarian parole from

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<v Speaker 3>half a million Venezuelans and half a million Haitians who

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<v Speaker 3>did it the right way, followed the rules. I mean,

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<v Speaker 3>he is lying when he says that he is prior

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<v Speaker 3>poritizing the worst of the worst, and that alligator Alcatraz

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<v Speaker 3>so called Alligator. Alcatraz site is on a very environmentally

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<v Speaker 3>sensitive site that was abandoned years ago when they were

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<v Speaker 3>planning an airport because it was deemed to environmentally sensitive.

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<v Speaker 3>We're in the middle of hurricane season. Just yesterday, while

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<v Speaker 3>DeSantis and Trump were doing their press conference, it started

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<v Speaker 3>to flood while he was speaking because it was raining

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<v Speaker 3>so hard, and their infrastructure is so flimsy that it

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<v Speaker 3>would blow away like match six in a hurricane, to

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<v Speaker 3>say nothing of the fact that it is on sacred

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<v Speaker 3>tribal land that they have never consulted with the Mikasuki

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<v Speaker 3>tribe of Florida on This is a boondoggle and a stunt,

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<v Speaker 3>and an inhumane one at that, and it's wildly inappropriate.

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<v Speaker 2>We heard from the President yesterday when he was delivering remarks,

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<v Speaker 2>he had advice for migrants on how to outrun alligators. Congresswoman,

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<v Speaker 2>don't run in a straight line. Run like this, he said,

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<v Speaker 2>waving his hand from side to side. I'm not sure

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<v Speaker 2>what motivates comments like this. What did the President mean?

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<v Speaker 3>Joe, have you ever reported on an ice detainee escaping?

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<v Speaker 3>I bet you haven't, because it doesn't happen. And it's

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<v Speaker 3>also the fact that the majority of the detainees that

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<v Speaker 3>Trump has been rounding up have been law abiding people

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<v Speaker 3>who are simply here to make a better way of

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<v Speaker 3>life for themselves and their families, who contributed to our economy.

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<v Speaker 3>And you know, just before this segment, your reporter reported

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<v Speaker 3>on the hit to the economy that rounding up these

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<v Speaker 3>undocumented immigrants and the fear of deportation are having on

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<v Speaker 3>beer sales and soda sales, and it's gonna hurt construction

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<v Speaker 3>companies and restaurants and farmers. I mean, they're all sounding

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<v Speaker 3>the alarm bell here. The Trump administration is really going

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<v Speaker 3>through a process of trying to bleach America, not making

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<v Speaker 3>America safe, and with no regard for people who are

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<v Speaker 3>fleeing countries where they're being oppressed, that they face danger,

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<v Speaker 3>and they're going to try to send people back to

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<v Speaker 3>that danger. When we are a refuge and always have been,

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<v Speaker 3>and we certainly need to make sure we get rid

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<v Speaker 3>of criminals. But that's not what Donald Trump is trying

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<v Speaker 3>to do. It's very obvious.

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<v Speaker 4>All right, Congresswoman, we appreciate your time. As always. Democratic

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<v Speaker 4>Congresswoman Debbie Wasser and Schultz of Florida, thank you