- 9 minutes ago
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I would like to begin, just as you said on Ways and Means, with the president's suggestion last night that
00:05if indeed you and your colleagues retain the House majority and the Senate majority is retained too, that every American
00:10is getting a $5,000 check. Has that come through the Ways and Means Committee before he said it on
00:15the stage?
00:15No, it has not come through the Ways and Means Committee. I think what the president is trying to explain
00:19is that everybody has an opportunity right now to benefit from the economy. Whether or not you're looking at what
00:24we're able to do with the working families tax cuts bill, you have $82 billion of tax refund checks that
00:30have been written. Seniors got more money back on their taxes. They were able to set up the Trump accounts
00:37for children now so that when they actually become adults, they are invested in what's going on in the economy
00:44of our country.
00:44They're invested in the stock market. They're invested in businesses. So I think, you know, this president has gone out
00:50of his way to make sure that there is something for everyone. It's not for the Bill Gates of the
00:55world. It's for working families. It's for the middle class. And I just look at all the work that we
01:00have done so far on Ways and Means. I would love to be able to come back and pass another
01:04reconciliation bill. I don't know that the $5,000 checks will be a part of that, but there's a lot
01:09that we can do as far as tax cuts to make sure that people are getting to keep
01:14a lot more of what they make. So you automatically wouldn't be an automatic yes on a $5,000 check?
01:19Look, everything has to go through a negotiation and figure out how much it costs. We're not just going to
01:24blindly say this is what we're going to. We have to look at the budget.
01:26We've got to make sure where those dollars are coming from. But again, I think the point that the president
01:30is trying to make is that, you know, everyday Americans are being able to take advantage of this economy.
01:36Look, just the no tax on tips alone. You know, the average person who works on on tips is making
01:42an additional $7,000 a year. That is that is, you know, material and that makes a lot of difference
01:48in a lot of people's lives.
01:49You know, people who are working overtime and not having to pay taxes on that. Those are making a difference.
01:53I think what you're trying to this president is really saying is, look, we have something for everybody in this
01:58economy.
01:58Well, to your point on costs, we, of course, just in recent weeks, saw the national debt top $40 trillion.
02:05We pay close attention to the bond market here. The long end in terms of long term borrowing costs are
02:10indicating that that is not something that the market is very comfortable with, in part because they aren't confident that
02:15that trajectory is likely to change anytime soon. Can you say it will? How would that happen?
02:20Well, I would say it would depend. If you have Republicans in office, we've already shown that they are willing
02:24to cut regulations, that they're going after waste, fraud and abuse, that they are actually doing what job creators need
02:31to be able to continue to invest in their employees and continue to invest in growth.
02:35If you've got these trade deals that are coming out of this administration, there's having all of these foreign investment
02:39dollars in our country. Yes. If we're able to go on that trajectory, I think Scott Besson said it best
02:45yesterday.
02:46You know, the way that you get out of debt in your country is to be able to increase your
02:52economy. And they've shown that. I mean, look at the jobs market last month alone. They created 162,000 jobs
02:58just last month in this country on the private sector, not on the public sector.
03:03You know, in Dallas, just a few weeks ago, we were able to have a job fair. We had 670
03:09businesses that represented. They were hiring for 68,000 jobs. This is not accidental. I think, you know, people are
03:16very supportive of what's going on in the economy right now. They want to continue it. But to your point,
03:21will it continue? It's going to depend on whether or not you've got Republicans in there who are serious about
03:26going after the waste, fraud and abuse, serious about cutting regulations, serious about tax cuts.
03:31It's too, which has a revenue impact that factors into this. It always cracks me up when we say that.
03:36Okay, so a company that is, they're already counting on future income, and they say it's a loss. When we
03:42actually cut taxes for seniors, when we cut, they're like, oh, that's a cost. Well, no, I think what we
03:50do is we-
03:51So there's less money coming in.
03:52They get used to taking people's money, and then they act as if it's theirs. And when you actually don't
03:57take as much, it's all of a sudden, it's a costly bill. No, you're letting people choose how they're going
04:03to spend their own money. They work for it, let them keep it.
04:05And when you see confidence like that, you're seeing businesses that are growing because the businesses feel confident. You see
04:12people who are spending more in the economy. They're making more, they're spending more. And this is how you get
04:16the economy growing. And that's one way out of debt. You've got to increase your revenue. How do you increase
04:21revenue? Part of that is making sure that your businesses are growing.
04:24And when we look at tax cuts, while the percentage might be decreasing, what we found, though, is the checks
04:32that they're writing to the government are larger because they're making more money.
04:35Well, as we talk about one of the things that's fueling the economy, you mentioned the jobs figures. Where we're
04:39seeing that in part is in construction because there is a massive investment being made into building out data centers.
04:44This is a big issue in Texas. I don't have to tell you that Governor Abbott has now suggested new
04:50data centers should move forward until audits are completed. Ken Paxton is now-
04:53I would argue it's not just data centers. I mean, I look at Texas and all around, we're seeing investments
04:58in our infrastructure. We're seeing investments in buildings. We're seeing investments in housing, in building new housing. And so I
05:04think construction is a great indicator of the growth that we're seeing in this state.
05:10Just on data centers, though, what is the right answer for Texas?
05:13Well, the right answer, quite honestly, look, I used to be a council member. I was a mayor. Those are
05:18issues that you decide at the local level. Only they can decide.
05:23If those, if those are make sense in their, in their communities. You know, some people are very, you know,
05:29some, some of the cities, some of the towns that we have seen these, these data centers be located in
05:32are experiencing phenomenal economic growth. And as a result, their taxes have been, you know, wiped down by almost 50%.
05:40And while they're giving bonuses to, to teachers. I mean, those are some of the things that are happening. But,
05:45you know, if you've got, if you've got constituents, you've got questions about it, I think it would be in
05:49the best interest of the developers.
05:51Have those conversations. Be transparent. Talk about what it's going to look like, what it's going to sound like. Are
05:56you going to listen to, you know, the, the concerns of the constituents?
06:00And I think, you know, city councils and mayors need to do the same thing. Now, I am all supportive
06:04of the governor and the president's ideas that, you know, if you are, if you are building a data center,
06:09you got to bring your own power.
06:10It cannot increase the cost of, of energy. You've got to make sure on the water side, it's either a
06:16closed water loop and it doesn't affect the local water supply.
06:19I think those are great ideas. And you've got to make sure that the taxes that are being, you know,
06:23accumulated are actually going to help people.
06:26I think it is not a federal issue. I don't want D.C. coming in when I was mayor and
06:31telling me what I have to put or what I can't put in my city.
06:33I think that they need to listen to the constituents in each of those communities. Well, I'd like to ask
06:38you before we let you go about the other races here in Texas, aside from your own.
06:43We heard a lot from President Trump last night about Ken Paxton, including repeating some criticism about his appearance.
06:49You might not like the way he dresses or his suits or his the way he speaks. Is he doing
06:54Ken Paxton any favors with that kind of rhetoric?
06:57I think, you know, look, you have the president who came out and endorsed Ken Paxton during the during the
07:02runoff.
07:02And I think as a result, you know, Ken had a splurge in support and a splurge of voters that
07:07came out.
07:08I think you're going to see the same thing. I mean, President Trump did not just kind of just recklessly
07:13decide where they were going to have this first midterm convention.
07:15They decided to do it in the heart of the country, in the heart of Texas. And I think he's
07:20getting out and he's campaigning for Ken.
07:21And I think Ken Paxton will definitely benefit from that. But I mean, the economy is also going to is
07:25also one of the things that he can he can tell when we talk about affordability.
07:29I mean, there's a reason why housing prices have have decreased when we are enforcing our immigration laws.
07:35What we found during the Biden administration is housing went up 20 percent.
07:38Now that we are actually having people who are being deported, housing costs are going down.
07:41We talk about affordability of on of gas, you know, under the Biden administration had all these regulatory wars.
07:48Well, now diesel's almost at six bucks. But you had all these regulatory wars that we were putting on our
07:52own American producers.
07:53And then they were even having to release from our reserves to try to decrease costs.
07:59What we're doing under the Trump administration, even though you've got what's happening in the Middle East, even though you
08:04have that, we are actually with the deal that we did with Venezuela, Texas is benefiting from that because that
08:09crude is coming into our refineries in Texas.
08:11Well, not yet. You're seeing. But the plans are being made to be able to do that.
08:15And yes, those plans are moving forward and the market is responding and you don't have the gas prices that
08:22you had under the Biden administration, even though we do have the conflict that's going on in the Middle East,
08:28because there are plans.
08:29Part of our working families tax cut bill that chopped down the unnecessary war of regulations against our American producers.
08:37All of those things. This isn't just like a one strategy for, you know, this is a multiple prong approach.
08:43And I think, you know, you're seeing it in the economy. It's only been it hasn't even been two years,
08:48by the way.
08:48Fair enough. I've got 30 seconds left. I ask you this is the finance chair of the NRCC.
08:52Are you expecting that Trump via MAGA Inc. is going to be pouring even more money into Texas? Do you
08:57hope he will?
08:57I do. I do. I don't think anybody wants to see.
09:00How much time does he have to do that? It's September 10th as we speak right now.
09:02Well, you know, that's almost two months before the election and that could be a lifetime.
09:06And we all we all know what can happen in just a few weeks.
09:09But I think, you know, you look at Tallarico and just the stark difference between what, you know, what he
09:14has voted against and how Texas has been able to just prove themselves, you know, a stronghold in the rest
09:20of the country.
09:21So I think I think they're going to support it. I think they're going to put their money in it.
09:25Republican Congresswoman Beth Van Dyne of Texas.
Comments