On Wednesday’s “CNN News Central,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) stated that things like no tax on tips and other tax reductions in the reconciliation bill are “little flourishes” “that are designed to cover the horrible job that they’re doing.”
Co-host John Berman asked, “So, Russ Vought from the White House said that there are a number of things in this bill that he believes are very popular. Some of those would include, I imagine, a reduction of taxes on tips, a reduction on taxes for seniors on Social Security, an increase of the Child Tax Credit. How do you feel about those measures?”
Doggett responded, “Well, I think the Senate accomplished a near-impossible task. They took an ugly bill and they made it even uglier. So, I’m concerned about the 17 million Americans who would lose their access to a family physician, the 17% increase in energy costs that we will have, and the largest cut in food assistance, as well as the fact that, after they do all that, they leave us with trillions of dollars of new debt.”
Doggett continued, “These little flourishes that were added, like no tax on tips, are issues that are designed to cover the horrible job that they’re doing. And I think you need look no further than the comments of some of the Republican senators, Sen. Tillis (R-NC) calling it a betrayal by Donald Trump, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) saying that this bill’s not ready for prime time and the House should make more changes in it, and of course, their buddy Elon Musk, condemning it as the largest increase in our nation’s debt in history.”
Doggett further stated that the benefits for the middle class in the bill would be “very little compared to the cost of this bill.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett