Republican Bait and Switch

Floor Speech

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the Republican bait and switch that has been taking place throughout the 119th Congress.

The Republican bait and switch has three elements:

Part 1: Talk about lowering the high cost of living but do nothing about it.

Part 2: Enact massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations that will do nothing to improve the quality of life of everyday Americans.

Part 3: Stick working-class Americans with the bill for those massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations by destroying Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as we know it.

House Democrats want nothing to do with the Republican bait and switch, and we will do everything possible to stop it.

The cost of living in the United States of America is far too high. Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs are too high. Insurance costs are too high. Utility costs are too high. Childcare costs are too high. America is too expensive.

It is not acceptable, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, that far too many everyday Americans are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. It is time for us to do something about the high cost of living and to build an affordable economy for hardworking American taxpayers.

House Democrats hear you. We see you. We feel you when it comes to the pain being experienced by the American people, and we are determined to do something to make life better for you.

The Republican bait and switch has a very different plan. Last year, all we heard from our Republican colleagues was the need to do something about the high cost of living, while at the same time they ran away from Project 2025 as if it didn't exist.

This year, Republicans have spent all of their time implementing the most extreme parts of Project 2025 that have done nothing to lower the high cost of living. There has not been a single thing, a single bill, a single idea, or a single proposal from my House Republican colleagues to do anything about the high cost of living in the United States of America. Why? It is a Republican bait and switch.

Part 2 of the Republican bait and switch is that their true objective is to enact massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations just like they did in 2017 when the GOP tax scam was passed where they set in motion legislation where 83 percent of the benefits would go to the wealthiest 1 percent.

My House Republican colleagues are back at it. There they go again with the same plan but nothing to drive down the high cost of living. Everything is about massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations, who in many cases aren't even asking for it. They certainly don't need the relief that everyday Americans need, that working-class Americans need, that middle-class Americans need, and that all those people who aspire to be part of the middle class need. It is a Republican bait and switch.

What is the final element of the Republican bait and switch? Enact these massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations and stick working-class Americans with the bill.

The nerve of this group of people who spent all last year lecturing the country about how they were going to do something to drive down the high cost of living, do nothing about it, are planning to enact massive tax cuts for their billionaire buddies, and then, as the final element of the Republican bait and switch, stick working-class Americans with the bill.

House Republicans have no plan to love and cherish Medicaid. Let's be very clear about that. They have no plan to love and cherish Medicaid. Their plan is to destroy Social Security, destroy Medicare, and destroy Medicaid as we know it.

With Republicans controlling the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, it is their intention to try and do it. Just watch what happens at the Republican budget hearing that is upcoming in terms of what is proposed. The cuts to Medicaid will be devastating. Hospitals will close, including in rural America and urban America and in the heartland of America.

Nursing homes will be shut down. Everyday Americans, children, seniors, and those who are suffering with disabilities will be hurt as part of the Republican effort to target earned benefits like Social Security and Medicare and to destroy Medicaid as we know it. It is the Republican bait and switch.

We will continue to expose it to the American people. House Democrats want nothing to do with it, and we are going to do everything in our power to stop it.

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