During a recent White House press conference, Biden administration press secretary Jen Psaki put Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and other Congressional Republicans on blast for their advocacy against the Build Back Better agenda, which includes proposals to support initiatives like fighting climate change and improving health care access. Republicans, including Graham, have complained about the price of the proposals, and recently, those on Graham’s side obtained a so-called score from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for the plan that was based on misrepresentations about the way that Democrats are approaching the legislation.
New: Jan. 6 committee to vote to recommend Trump White House chief Mark Meadows for criminal prosecution at 7p today — expected to be unanimous, per source close to the investigation
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 13, 2021
CBO scores are, as explained by the advocacy group Indivisible, “just the price tag of a bill as determined by” the office. Speaking with reporters and referring to the figures that Republicans obtained, Psaki commented as follows:
‘This is not a CBO score. This is a fake CBO score. It’s not about the existing bill anybody is debating or voting on. This is about proposing the extension of programs, that has not been agreed to, without the commitment of the president, which he’s made repeatedly publicly, that he would never support extending these programs if they weren’t paid for, period. That has been his commitment; that is his commitment.’
Here's the Jan. 6 Select Committee report recommending holding Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress:
The report details a Jan. 2 call with "Trump and State and Federal officials to discuss overturning certain States' electoral college results." https://t.co/BJQZRRQzly
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 13, 2021
Psaki then went after Graham and other Republicans for their hypocrisy — they backed the tax cuts that Trump signed into law early in his time as president, even though the costs incurred by those measures in the form of lowered government revenue were not “paid for.” As Psaki explained the situation:
‘It shouldn’t be lost on Senator Graham; maybe it is lost on Senator Graham, I don’t know — that the plan they proposed and passed for and passed into law, the 2017 tax cuts, were $2 trillion, which were not paid for in any way, shape, or form. That didn’t seem to upset them at all. And I will say, and they can thank us in any way they would like for this, that what our projections and the projections of our economists project, is that for our plan, as this plan continues in the second decade, it would actually reduce the deficit by $2 trillion. So, we’re actually covering their irresponsible tax cuts to corporations and high net wealth individuals. They’re very welcome for that.’
Check out Psaki’s pointed comments below:
Jen Psaki shreds Lindsey Graham and congressional Republicans for passing the Trump tax cuts and not paying for them and said that BBB cuts the deficit by $ 2 trillion so Democrats are covering Graham and GOP's "irresponsible" spending. pic.twitter.com/DnIqFsa6gg
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) December 10, 2021
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has also criticized Republicans in Congress for the so-called “fake” CBO score stunt. As he put it, “No amount of partisan trickery from Republicans will change the fact that their tax cuts for the rich bill added nearly $2T to the deficit while Democrats are fighting to pass legislation to lower costs, create good-paying jobs and cut taxes for working families, while making sure the biggest corporations and wealthiest few pay their fair share.”
Trump in Sept. 2016: "The mob takes the Fifth. If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?"
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 13, 2021
