Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) and CNN anchor Kate Bolduan got into a heated 10-minute debate over President Donald Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill’ Wednesday morning.
Some congressional Republicans are balking at passing the budget. They feel it does not go far enough to cut "waste, fraud, and abuse." Other members of the party claim the cuts go too far and will have a negative impact on their constituents.
Barr is not one of those Republicans. He not only praised Trump’s effort to sway members but said those who are not going to vote for this bill are committing “political suicide.”
Bolduan played Barr interviews with 5 GOP members who on Tuesday said they could not vote for the bill as it stands.
“How do you address the concerns over how much this costs and how much this adds to the deficit?” Bolduan asked. “Is it even possible to allay those concerns at this point?”
“Well, look, first of all, the CBO score is wrong,” Barr later added. “The CBO doesn't do this scoring dynamically and what we know about this bill is it's jet fuel for the economy. You and the–"
Bolduan interrupted, “Congressman, you say the CBO is wrong, but you have your fellow republicans are concerned because the CBO is the only nonpartisan scorekeeper that congress has and I have seen and highlighted over the years covering congress, how lawmakers on both sides of the aisle lean on the CBO when it is to their benefit and say what you just said, when it is not to their benefit.”
Barr attempted to interrupt but Bolduan made a strong point, “So it is definitely used in a partisan way, though it is a nonpartisan arm. And their duty is to score these things. So you have republicans in your in your conference who do not agree with you and who are very concerned about this, adding 3.8 trillion to the deficit.”
“It won't,” Barr said, “This is a jet fuel for the economy. We will never get our debt and deficit under control. We will never balance the budget if we don't have robust economic growth. We have to grow this economy so fast and I think with this bill, we will grow our economy over 4% GDP because of the massive stimulus that will provide.”
He went on a diatribe about the bill however, Bolduan challenged him again. “The concern with some of your colleagues, though, is that what you're looking at is ten years out and you all might not even be in congress ten years from now and a lot can change, as we can see in a matter of four.”
She went on to say, “So the wealthy will see an increase in resources, the least wealthy will see a decrease. You might not believe it,---”
Barr interrupted, “Wrong, wrong, wrong.”
The pair stepped over each other not letting the other speak
“Let me ask you a question,” Bolduan said.
“Let me tell you what the facts are,” Barr challenged, “Kate, Kate that's wrong."
“Congressman, let me ask my question about it,” she replied as they continued to step over each other.
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“I'm not here to get in a fight,” Bolduan said before pressing Barr. “You have republican colleagues who this is what is concerning them and why they are not right now. They are not a yes vote. So if you have fellow republicans who are concerned that this is what they are going to have to face, questions on going home, does that not give you any pause about what the result of this could be for you?”
“No,” Barr replied. “In fact, I see more unity today, this morning, than ever before, and we are going to pass the bill. A lot of those concerns have been allayed with some of the last-minute changes, and because of the president's engagement.”
Barr went on to make his point, but the tension in the interview was clear.
“You said something important there. You said ‘the last minute changes.’ Would you support not pushing this through and voting on this today, and giving this more time so you can explain all of these changes and maybe get more analysis? Bolduan asked.
“No, Kate. Kate. No, no, this is spin. That's not correct,” Barr said.
“The bill worked through regular order. 12 different appropriations, 12 different committees. The Ways and Means Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the vast majority of the bill is done.”
Barr went on to make several points before Bolduan ended the interview.
Watch the full interview here or click the link.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
