00:29It's a great way to start because the bill that got through the House, of course, was just down to that one vote. And I tell you, we're going to win this one because we Democrats go to the grassroots. We understand that political change hardly ever is top down. We believe it's grassroots up.
00:49And we've been spending our day working, for example, on exposing the flaws in the House health care package. It's a huge gift to special interests.
01:02And the reality is that we believe what they're trying to do in the House is make choices that are against the needs of working families in terms of health care and energy.
01:15And they're basically getting all the breaks to the people at the top.
01:18And if we get this out, we're going to prevail. And the reality is Maureen is asking about whether it's going to add $2 trillion to the deficit.
01:27Maureen, we think it'll be adding more. In terms of debt, this is a wrecking ball. It's a wrecking ball for working families.
01:33The question was, how can they cut anything with Medicare if we pay premiums for our coverage?
01:50Well, you know, the reality is that, you know, Medicare is a program because so many seniors, you know, rely on it.
01:59We've got to have as much cost containment as we possibly can.
02:04And these guys don't want to do anything to contain that cost.
02:07For example, we're against, you know, upcoding, which is something where the insurance companies basically say you're sicker than you actually are.
02:16And the reality is that Medicare in particular, if you look at these kinds of kinds of programs,
02:22has got to have cost containment that at the same time ensures good care.
02:27And the Republicans are not making that possible.
02:33The question about the food distribution programs, the food distribution programs are going to get clobbered.
02:44And I think I'm even more concerned about them than I am some of the health care programs because we've gotten so much coverage with respect to Medicaid.
02:55I think the Republicans are going to be saying to themselves, we better give a little bit on it.
02:59I think they're going to try and hide the food distribution cuts, and I think they're going to be massive.
03:04And particularly, if you talk about kids and seniors, you know, what happens is if they don't get a good diet, very often they get sick,
03:14and then they end up being much more challenging in terms of getting health care.
03:20What we ought to be doing is making it possible for vulnerable kids and disabled folks and seniors to be able to get affordable nutrition
03:28and be in a position to stay healthy.
03:31What will happen when people lose SNAP and Medicare is the true cuts won't happen until 2028.
03:46I think we're going to start seeing real pain, you know, next year.
03:50You know, health care is a $5 trillion enterprise and it doesn't move that quickly.
03:55And I think we're going to begin, if the Republicans were to pass the House bill,
03:59and we're going to make sure that they don't, we're going to be pulling out all the stops to get a better shake
04:03for seniors and the disabled and working families, I think we'd start seeing some of the effects next year.
04:13We would certainly see, apropos of your very good question, there's going to be a $500 billion cut in Medicare.
04:22That could be kicking in early next year in terms of providers in rural areas.
04:27What are you most afraid of in this, in this bill?
04:30What I'm afraid of is that all the cuts are coming from seniors, kids, the disabled,
04:38and it's all going to benefit the people at the very top.
04:43As Senator Warner said and introduced me in a very inflationary way,
04:46I'm the point person for the Democrats on taxes.
04:49We Democrats want a tax bill that gives everybody in America the chance to get ahead.
04:55That's what we think is America at its best.
04:58Republicans don't favor that.
05:00They want the tax breaks for the people at the top.
05:11Question was, could tax benefits for American manufacturing replace tariffs?
05:16You're being way too logical, Nancy.
05:18I've said that for quite some time.
05:20For example, with the big pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer paid virtually no taxes over a period in the last few years.
05:34And basically, they just figured out how to do business overseas and duck paying taxes in the United States.
05:41And, you know, my concern is that we ought to have tax benefits creating opportunities for more high-skill,
05:50high-wage jobs rather than tariffs that make it hard for the middle class to pay for essentials.
05:55And, by the way, those tariffs that hurt the middle class mean that they're going to find more things unaffordable,
06:01and that hurts the economy and them.
06:03The question was about SSI disability for epilepsy.
06:11I'm curious as to what's going to happen to disabled folks.
06:14I think disabled folks are also going to get hit very hard.
06:18There's so many disabled folks that would just like the opportunity to get more chances to work,
06:25to get ahead, and be in a position to help themselves, and what these cuts in disability benefits are going to do
06:34is take away all of those kinds of opportunities.
06:40How will cuts to Medicaid hurt special education teachers?
06:44Well, what we know is that a lot of the folks who are benefiting from special education from the teachers
06:52and the families, they depend on Medicaid.
06:55Medicaid is a lifeline for them, and you make cuts to Medicaid.
06:59That's going to make the whole special education initiative much harder
07:04and much harder to get the dollars out in an effective way.
07:08So now we have one of my favorite colleagues.
07:24He's somebody who I got to know years back when he was in the House of Representatives.
07:28He's been a leader in the Senate in terms of a smart foreign policy.
07:34He's particularly knowledgeable about taxes.
07:37He's always coming to us on the Finance Committee with good ideas.
07:40He's an appropriator, so the fact is the appropriator and the Finance Committee
07:45have got to work together on health care issues.
07:48So it's a pleasure to be able to introduce Senator Van Hollen now.
